Friday, July 9, 2010

Gettin' Scrapbook Organized

Scrapbooking is one of my favorite pasttimes. I love having a creative outlet, although I admit I'm not a crafts person. Scrapbooking is great because, unlike other crafts which require a long learning process or alot of skills, it can be very simple or extremely elaborate. No design is wrong if the scrapbooker is happy with the result. I love sharing my work with others, too, especially when the ones I'm sharing with are in the photos! It's a nice distraction that helps clear my mind while I work at creating something beautiful.

My only problem is, I don't have the luxury of a scrapbooking room. Whenever I scrapbook it's in the dining room, so that I can spread my materials out on the table. I didn't have a whole lot of supplies, so I kept them in a couple of boxes: a plastic container with all my tools, stickers, ribbons, etc, and a wicker basket for my albums and papers. Unfortunately it wasn't very organized. Every time I sat down to do a page, I'd have to rummage through my plastic container looking for scissors, tape, punches, or any number of tools I needed. It was also a hassle getting all the papers out, going through them, trying to figure out what paper would look nicest against the colors in the pictures. It got to the point that I dreaded doing any scrapbooking because the set up, preparation, and clean up took longer than the actual page. I would think about it, then shake my head and walk away. I knew I needed to get my supplies organized, but I just kept putting it off.

Then my kid sister sent me two boxes chock full of scrapbooking supplies. One box had just paper and cardstock - some of the most beautiful designs and a wide variety of colors. The other box had papers as well; plus ribbons in all shapes and sizes, different types of fasteners, pens, pencils, paints, rubber stamps, you name it, it was there. I was in scrapbooking heaven! Or at least I was, till I went to the dining room to put everything away. There was no place to put anything! This is how my scrapbooking corner ended up looking:

Now, anyone who knows me, knows I absolutely hate clutter. I can't stand to see things thrown around. I actually feel as though I can't breathe if things aren't where they need to be. So you can just imagine what this bunch of boxes was doing for my nerves! I had to get this organized, and quick.

I had been to Big Lots and noticed that they had some large tower sized containers that would work well for my supplies, but I wasn't sure the $18 they were charging was a fair price, so I decided to shop around. First I tried Bed, Bath and Beyond. The cheapest item I found was a 3 drawer plastic filing cabinet on clearance for $27.99. Everything else was $35 and up. No thanks. I knew better than to try The Container Store. I know they have everything, just not at the price I'm looking for. Walmart has no selection; they only have storage bins, which was exactly what I was trying to get away from. I finally found this at Target:

It's 12X12, which is perfect for my papers and larger cardstock. The price: $11.99, and this was the last one they had. I decided the storage tower at Big Lots was a great deal after all, so I bought one:

This thing is great!!! It has 4 narrow drawers and 3 deep drawers. It's not as wide as the first container (which is now purched on top of the tower), but I was able to get all my 8 1/2X11 cardstock in the first drawer. The second drawer has all my pens, pencils, tape, glue, that sort of stuff. Drawer number 3 contains appliques, fasteners and rubber stamps, and drawer #4 has alphabet letters of all kinds: stickers, cardboard, pins, etc. Then in the first deep drawer I have all my larger tools, such as scissors, punches, and cutters. The second deep drawer has all my ribbons. The last drawer has stickers, cut-outs and stencils.

I can't believe how accessible everything is now! Why didn't I think of this sooner? Oh well, never mind that. I still have the large plastic bin but it's only about a quarter full with items that don't fit in the tower. I also kept the wicker basket to keep albums in. My next project is getting all my photographs in order so I can begin scrapbooking again. Now I can forget about the nightmare of set up and focus on just being creative. I love being organized!

3 comments:

Mrs. O said...

You should have asked me and I would have told you that $18 was a STEAL for that organizer. I used to have one for my dollhouse miniature supplies and when I bought it over 10 years ago, it cost $30 at Costco!!

At least you'll get lots of use from the supplies! And J won't have to worry that you'll be spending money on scrapbooking! :D

Kristi said...

We are so alike in that fashion. Now, you will be able to be inspired to scrapbook instead of feeling smothered by the disorganization! The bins look absolutely wonderful and will be sooo functional! I'm happy for you.

Sherri said...

Oh I LOVE organization.
Having to drag everything out and then clean everything up takes all the fun out of crafting!

I keep all my yarns and "works in progress" in those same type plastic drawer containers. I use the big 3 drawer ones. I need a few more, but I have to say that the more I have the more I am going to need...lolol

Now go enjoying the blessings of crafting!