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Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Tips, Tricks, and Trims


I wish that I was an inherently neat and organized person.  I enjoy having an orderly home, but it is a challenge to keep it that way.  I feel like my crafting time is stolen time, and I often don't have the time to put things away like they should be.  On Saturday I decided that it was time that I showed my trims and laces the respect (and order) that they deserved.  


 I have an old wipes case that I use to house my bias tapes, ric-rac, piping, and scraps of ribbon and lace. Often times if I just have a piece left, I'll wind it up, secure it with a straight pin, and throw it into the container.

I found an old cardboard box that was floating around our basement, but it into small rectangles (about the same size as my packages of bias tape), and created a nice little home for my trims to rest.

I simply cut one slit on the side of the rectangle.  I slid in the end of the trim, and then began wrapping it along the length of the rectangle.  I was able to fit multiple pieces of remnant trims on some pieces of cardboard.


 My larger laces and trims received larger pieces of cardboard.



 It might not look perfectly organized, and it isn't, but it is an improvement.  It is a great way to store remnant trims and laces, and to keep any trim purchased off of the spool a nice little home.

What craft room organization tips do you have to share?

6 comments:

Unknown said...

Oh my, I know just what you mean! I almost always feel like my crafting time is stolen time, like I should be doing something else instead. But, if I don't craft, I start to feel like I am stagnating. I do the same as you with my trims, but I store them in a shoe box that I covered with fabric. (can't have just a plain boring Nike box could we?) I just started saving ribbon spools for some of my trims, so I can put them on a rod and have them more accessible.

Jess@craftiness is not optional said...

I NEED to do this...my trims are a hot mess. in a bad way.

Unknown said...

I love it! I never know what to do with those last few inches of leftover, but I don't want to get rid of them... Mine are all unceremoniously stuffed in a plastic baggie. I think your system is infinitely better. :)

Emily said...

I feel the same way about my crafting time. My husband is nice about it but I know he doesn't like when my stuff spills all over the kitchen table. . . . Great idea for your trims! Yesterday I put all of my buttons and fold over elastics in a sturdy, divided shoe box from my daugther's shoes. If I get into the downstairs closet today, hopefully I'll find a pencil box that's perfect for my spools of thread. I also have a large plastic container from letter cookies that I'll put some scraps in. I really like storage containers that are clear so I can see what's in them without opening them. I also like reusing containers/boxes b/c it's such a hassle to recycle here (bring it to the recycling place and sort it yourself. Luckily my husband takes care of that for us.)

Christy Franklin said...

Ahh I need to do that too!!

Yesterday I was at a grocery store we have here in Australia called Aldi, and it is not your regular grocery store. It has specials every week of other cool things. They usually have a theme of what they sell, and this weeks theme is organisational items and sports items. Well I found these awesome clear plastic shoe boxes and thought how WONDERFULLY perfect they were for me to put my wools and zips and trims and felts all all of those wonderful smaller things that all get thrown into drawers together! So tomorrow I am putting them all into their own clear boxes so I can see what I have and they are safe from moths and nasty things like that. Yay for organising!!

valerie said...

I have an on going battle with my sewing and crafting supplies too! I recently did a re-do of my sewing studio and blogged about it here:

http://seamsewsmart.com/blog/?p=103

Thanks for the tips for trims! :)