Hello friends, and welcome to the third and final post in my craft stash organization series. I hope you’ve been following along and learning some helpful tips and tricks for organizing your own craft stash.
If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out the first two posts in the series to learn how to declutter your craft stash and choose the perfect organizer for your craft supplies!
Part 1: How to Declutter Your Craft Supplies and Make Room for the Good Stuff
Part 2: How to Choose the Perfect Organizer for Your Craft Supplies
I saved the best part of the series for last. Today, I’m going to show you how to arrange and organize your craft supplies in your craft space. By the time you’ve completed this series, you should have a beautifully organized, Pinterest-worthy craft stash that crafters everywhere will envy. Let’s get started organizing!
How to Organize Your Craft Supplies and Make Your Craft Stash a Show-Stopper
1. Color Your World
Ever see those craft rooms that look like a rainbow of colors and give you serious craft room envy? Their secret is knowing how to work with colors! (And some of them are literally arranged according to the colors of the rainbow!)
Have some fun and show off those colorful craft supplies! You can organize your craft supplies by color, or get a little crazy and mix and match. No matter what way you choose to go, make sure the colors complement each other.
And before you decide to ROYGBIV it up, make sure you have enough colors to make it noticeable! Linda from Craftaholics Anonymous has beautifully arranged her craft supplies by color, and the result is stunning!
2. Feel the Texture
Want to turn your craft stash into eye candy? Think texture! Craft supplies have such a myriad of different textures, so play up those features when you’re organizing your supplies. You might find it fun to group similar textures together, or mix and match them.
For example, if you’re organizing your fabric, you might have separate groups for cotton, flannel, fleece, burlap, etc. Or you might decide that you like the look better when they’re all together. Don’t be afraid to experiment to find what works best for you and your space!
3. Size Matters
To get the super organized look you see in magazines, keep similarly sized items together. For example, group together all of those little 2 oz. bottles of paint, make sure all of your fabric is folded to the same dimensions, and keep like-sized ribbon spools together. This will not only make your craft supplies look good, but you’ll have an easier time fitting them together in a bin or container.
4. Keep Like Supplies Together
This is one of the most important parts of organizing craft supplies! It’s so helpful to store your sewing supplies in one spot, paints and brushes in another, paper and scissors together, etc. Not only does this make it easier to find what you’re looking for, but it also makes it really easy to see everything you have all at once and put it away.
Plus it gives your craft stash that nice, organized look that you see online and in magazines. Check out the tips below for ideas on organizing different types of craft supplies!
5. Keep it Organized
Now I’m going to let you in on the number one secret to making your own craft stash look like something out of a magazine. Are you ready? It’s really so simple, but completely necessary. Ok, the secret is organization!
In order for your craft stash to look spectacular and be in tip top shape, you have to keep it organized! You can have the best shelving in the world and the most amazing array of craft supplies in the country, but none of that will matter if it’s not organized. Do yourself a favor and keep those craft supplies organized so that all of your hard work won’t be for nothing!
Organizing Fabric
Fabric is the craft supply that takes up the majority of my space. There’s just so much of it! Luckily, fabric is one of those craft items that looks beautiful no matter where you store it… on shelves, in a drawer, or in a box or container. The key to making fabric storage look good is to fold it neatly so it’s all the same size. This fabulous tutorial shows you how to fold your fabric so that it will fit perfectly on your shelves.
Another great way to keep fabric organized is to wrap it around a piece of cardboard, like they do in the store. You can recycle some old cardboard boxes for this or use magazine backing board like the girls from So Sew Easy.
If you have scraps of fabric that are too small to stand alone or put on a bolt, fold them and put them in a box, bin, or container. You might want to consider arranging your fabric by color, texture, pattern, etc. so that you can easily find what you’re looking for. Plus, it will give your fabric collection a really cohesive look!
See also: How to Organize Fabric Scraps
Storing Fabric in a Filing Cabinet
Organizing Paint
If you’re anything like me, then you probably end up buying a new bottle of paint for every craft project. For some reason, I end up needing a different color for every craft, hence my collection of 654 different colors of paint. Luckily, they’re pretty cheap, and it’s not too hard to organize paints.
The way to make your paint supplies look great is to organize the bottles by color and size. You can store your paints in a bin or container, or organize them on shelves, like Trish at Uncommon Designs does with her cube shelf.
Store your paints with the bottoms facing out so you can easily see what color is in each bottle. And don’t be afraid to think outside the box with your craft supplies. It’s always fun to display them in new and unique ways, like Jessica from Mad in Crafts who created her own paint storage from PVC and wire shelves.
See also: Organizing Craft Paint with Towel Bars
Organizing Paints with PVC Pipe
Dresser Drawer Repurposed into a Paint Shelf
Organizing Paper
I don’t have a huge amount of paper, but I know many scrapbookers do. Sorting paper by color, pattern, and/or holiday is a huge help, as it is so frustrating to end up with a random pile of assorted colors and patterns.
The great thing about paper storage is that there are so many options! You can use almost any office supply filing system or paper tray for your scrapbook paper. You can even find organizers especially made for that 12×12 sized paper. Or you can make your own organizer to get that perfect fit, like Diane from In My Own Style.
If you just have a little bit of paper, you could also use an accordion file or small box or bin. For larger paper collections, consider a filing cabinet. There are a ton of different options that are perfect for organizing paper!
See also: Paper Storage in a Fabric Bin with Hanging File Folders
DIY Wire Paper Storage Rack
Organizing Tools and Miscellaneous Supplies
There are so many fun and creative ways that you can organize your craft supplies. Use these ideas for all of your remaining craft supplies and miscellaneous things you don’t know what to do with!
- Put those beautiful shelves to good use and store your craft supplies right out in the open.
- There are such a huge array of decorative bins and boxes available at almost any store. Or get creative and make your own from a cardboard box! Old cereal boxes can be turned into beautiful magazine holders and drawer dividers.
- Glass jars are perfect for craft storage, and you can even repurpose your own spaghetti sauce jars! Baby food jars are fantastic for storing smaller craft supplies.
- Plastic containers make great craft storage, and you can typically find them in any size you need. Clear containers allow you to easily see what’s inside.
- Baskets make beautiful craft storage and are great for storing craft supplies of any size.
If you’re buying bins or containers for your craft supplies, make sure to measure your shelves or wherever you’ll be placing the bins so that you know they’ll fit. Also, look around the house before going to the store and see what you might repurpose or reuse for craft storage, like Kristyn from Lil’ Luna does with a piece of wood and some glass jars.
Don’t forget to think outside the box. Just because something is labeled as storage for one thing doesn’t mean it can’t be used for something else. I use this “scrapbook” case for my sewing tools and accessories. Do what works for you!
See also: Craft Storage from Plastic Shoe Bins
Labeling Your Craft Supplies
Now, for the pièce de résistance (I’m throwing in French here, so you know we’re about to get super fancy)… labeling! Labeling should be the last thing you do when you organize your craft stash. That way you know for sure that you’re actually going to be storing paints in the box you label “paints” instead of later finding out the box works better for paper.
So organize all of your craft supplies first, and make sure they’re organized how you want them to be. Then, let the labeling fun begin!
If you love chalkboard labels, I recommend this adhesive chalkboard contact paper. I use it for labeling a lot of things around my house. I like it because you can cut it to whatever size you want, and if you decide you want to change what’s in the box, just erase the the label and rewrite it! It’s also a lot cheaper than buying those pre-cut chalkboard labels!
Jen from Pink When has an awesome faux chalkboard label tutorial with printables. These are fake chalkboard labels, so you can’t erase and rewrite them, but they’re still really nice looking, and you only need your printer to make them!
If you have a cutting machine and want to get even fancier, Ginger from Ginger Snap Crafts has a great tutorial that shows you how to cut your own labels from vinyl.
If you prefer to make your own labels, you can always use blank sticky labels and either write directly on them or use your printer. I use these Avery shipping labels for labeling stuff around the house.
I like Avery labels because they have a bunch of customizeable options online. Just go to their site, enter your product number, and it gives you a ton of free templates that you can use to make your own beautiful labels.
You can also download and print free craft labels here:
Cute Craft Labels at Tatertots & Jello
Vintage Craft Labels from Lil Blue Boo
Organizing Craft Labels from Anders Ruff
Labels by Color at Craftaholics Anonymous
I thoroughly hope you enjoyed my craft stash organization series and got some great ideas for organizing your own craft stash! You should be on your way to creating your very own gorgeous craft stash! If you’d like even more craft room inspiration, check out my Pinterest board craft rooms and storage! There are so many fabulous craft room ideas!
Follow Celeste @ Decor by the Seashore’s board Craft Rooms & Storage on Pinterest.
If you have any questions or need some advice about organizing your craft supplies, feel free to leave a comment. And if you found this series helpful, I’d be so happy if you shared it with your friends and family!
If you missed the first two posts of the series, don’t forget to check them out! They’re full of information that will help you create a beautifully organized craft stash!
Part 1: How to Declutter Your Craft Supplies and Make Room for the Good Stuff
Part 2: How to Choose the Perfect Organizer for Your Craft Supplies
Loving all these gorgeous photos! *happy sigh*
I just switched my craft room to another room in my home, so now the reorganizing (and yes, even some purging!) begins… I’ll be referring to several of your great ideas here! I especially like the paint storage ideas. Right now I have a wire spinner that holds 160 bottles, but it has to sit on a table top and that’s prime real estate! I’m thinking I should get rid of half my paints and do one of the ideas you posted that hangs on the wall. Thanks for this helpful series!
So glad to hear you loved the series, Jenny! Moving your craft room is a great excuse to do a little decluttering and maybe even revamp your craft storage system! I certainly hear you on those paints. There are just so many of them! You’re right though, that table top is prime real estate, so I would definitely see if you could hang them somewhere to free up some space!
Love your collection of beautiful pictures… I so need to “re-” organize my craft stuff… again 🙂
Thanks, Anika! It can be a bit of a process to organize your craft stash, but it’s so worth it! It’s so much easier to craft when you have everything organized and in the right spot!
Celeste you have given me what I thought I’d never have. I don’t even know if there is a name for it. Craft suply organization envy!! There , did I say it correctly? All those paint bottles are making me drool! And how about those beauiful fabrics and they way they have been arranged? Mine are all stuffed inside a box, and the only way I can find anything is to pull everything out. This post is Craft Perfection! I’ll be dreaming about it tonight!!
Thanks, Mary! Though my craft stash doesn’t look nearly as good as the bloggers whose links I featured, I am working on it for sure! I hope you got some great ideas and inspiration for your own craft stash! It is definitely do-able!
Oh I so need to get on this and organise my stuff a bit better. So many great ideas here, no excuses now!
Definitely, Julie! It’s not that hard once you get started! Good luck!
I am on perpetual share about craft organization, and there are some terrific ones here. I love especially the jar storage board as I keep all food jars at home!
The jar storage is such a great idea, and you can reuse old jars, so it’s really easy on the wallet! Good luck getting your craft stash organized!
These are definitely some great tips!
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Thanks so much, Jess!
Ahhh….the craft room! It seems no matter how hard I try, things never stay organized. I do love the ideas for the paint and the vinyl paper that you shared. I’m sure if I ever actually get a dedicated space instead of a dedicated “corner” that I may be able to stay a little more organized.
It can be so hard to keep craft supplies under control, though you really don’t need a whole craft room to keep those supplies organized! A good decluttering works wonders for smaller craft spaces. And with a small corner, you can use some small shelves, a craft cart, or bins to help keep your supplies under control! Good luck!
I feel like I can only DREAM to be this organized! Either way, I’m pinning, stumbling and tweeting this! <3
Haha, it is definitely doable! Just a little bit of time to organize and get creative with your craft space!
My problem. Way too many crafts and not enough time. Over 40 years of collecting paints for art class, paint for ceramics, paint for furniture projects, 2- 30 gallon totes of yarn for knit and crochet then there are smaller yarns for snowflakes and doilies . 3 sewing machines. Fabric everywhere that does have a purpose. Then there is canning supplies to be organized because I do garden. I’ve given away all my cake decorating equipment, scrapbook stash and embroidery.. What the best way to determine your favorites and get rid of the rest? My children have started calling me a hoarder. It’s stuff I really enjoy but can’t keep due to a sever lack of space. HELP
Patricia, it sounds like your craft stash could use a good decluttering! I suggest keeping only the supplies for crafts that you actually do. And just the supplies you really need to do those crafts. For example, do you actually need 3 sewing machines, or can you choose just one and use it for all of your projects? If you have supplies that you’ve been holding onto for over a year without using them, I would suggest giving them a thorough look through to see if they’re really worth keeping. If you no longer have time or interest for certain crafts, those supplies aren’t doing you any good just sitting around collecting dust! This link has more information and might help you get started paring down your craft stash! Good luck with the decluttering!
https://decorbytheseashore.com/how-to-declutter-your-craft-supplies/
Thanks for the posts! I just found you today and I’m hooked! I’m getting ready to move all of my craft stuff to one spot and am considering the cube shelving. I was hoping that you would show us how you organized your items inside those deep cloth baskets. I like the idea of those, but I’m afraid without a system, I’ll just end of filling them to the brim with stuff and won’t be able to find anything…still. Have you taken pics of that? Would you share them? Or perhaps you have and I missed it. TIA for your help!
Thank you for this Pin! I love the paint bottles in cubes with bottoms facing outward! So simple, but I never thought of that! I’m in the process of de-cluttering/reorganizing my bedroom/craft room from start to finish. Thanks for all your help. It can be very overwhelming!!!
Hi Celeste, I just stumbled on your post today. Thanks for all the great ideas, tips, and cheerleading! I really have my work cut out for me, my craft room is the whole basement! Yikes, lol. My husband tells everyone that Michaels orders there stuff from me, I have sooo much inventory. But I’m so ready to be organized, and have some free space. Thanks again Celeste, I’m saving this, and going to follow you.