Did you know that all you need to make cool ribbon storage is a 5/16" dowel, closet/shower rod hardware (found at any home improvement store), and some thumbtacks?! I wanted something easy; something cheap. This is what I came up with...
Then I got a really cool cabinet (found at a moving sale for $5... though any wooden shelves or cabinet will do)! The doors on this used to be blue as well, but these people left it outside and it got yuckier than any soap and water could fix. Well, painter's tape and some Antique White spray paint fixed it right up!
Once that was finished and dry, I "installed" my hardware, added some spice jars and little jars up top (Christmas Tree Shops), and Voila! Pretty neat ribbon storage!
Loose fibers and ribbons are in the spice jars. The jars above hold whole spools of ribbon that are now wrapped around close-pins and secured with pins. I was going to do that for EVERY spool I had, but gosh, that took lots of time. I gave up and bought the closet/shower rod hardware instead. :p
The cute little shelf in there holds little shards of ribbon that come with scrapbook purchases from select online retailers. I suppose they send you those to entice you to buy ribbon?! Or is it just a free gift? Hmm...
Next is my alpha storage. Really, nothing to get all excited over. I used to have it separated by color and type, but I didn't like that, so now it's all just stuck in here organized by color (black, brown and white up front because I use those the most). This container is actually a Desktop File that I spray painted Antique White. :)
Inside this alpha box, I have a small pencil box (dollar store) that I hold loose alphas, ghost alphas, alpha brads and other alpha things that are not on a sheet. They're all contained by (very high-tech) Ziploc bags: :)
I love the look of sterling silver. You can find it at thrift stores and antique stores and even eBay for pretty cheap. It adds some class, I think. :) This plate was like $2 at an antique store near me. This woman has TONS of it, so she tells you to take a bunch off her hands for pretty cheap, so she can get rid of it. I was happy to oblige! :D It holds adhesives I use on an everyday basis:
I also use sterling silver sugarers and creamers for my everyday pens and scissors. These were found at a thrift store. The small saucer (found with the plate above) holds little embellishments I need to set aside while I'm working (brads, small die cuts, etc). Photo is of my mom and dad's wedding:
I had seen a few times that people kept their pens in wine racks, as to keep them sleeping horizontally. I LOVED this idea, and I searched for over a year for the perfect wine rack. I seriously waded through hundreds (probably millions...) of them before I found this one on eBay. It was a brown wicker before I spray painted it. It's one of my very favorite things in my room. Always makes me smile. :)
These totally awesome paper shelves are kept on my desk as well. I've had quite a few scrap rooms now, and one thing I knew I needed when I had been scrapping a while is a place to put papers while I'm working. The paper storage next to the pens are where I put papers I'm working on at any given moment. (Out of the way until I need them on the page.)
You know... you're working on a page, and you have like a whole handful of coordinating papers to choose from. You choose three... or seven, but you can't use them/trim them/glue them at the same time, so you need *somewhere* to put them that's away from your workspace, but still in arm's reach when you *do* need them. That's why I needed this. Plus, it's a place to put aside a project if your eyes need a break from it and you want (or need) to work on something else.
It's from The Container Store. And though it's more expensive (if you work there, you get 40% off!) than one of the ones from Michaels or Jo-Ann, it has SIX shelves instead of four or five and still takes up the same amount of space. That was worth the extra money to me. :) This is where I keep pages I'm working on right now as well:
You know... you're working on a page, and you have like a whole handful of coordinating papers to choose from. You choose three... or seven, but you can't use them/trim them/glue them at the same time, so you need *somewhere* to put them that's away from your workspace, but still in arm's reach when you *do* need them. That's why I needed this. Plus, it's a place to put aside a project if your eyes need a break from it and you want (or need) to work on something else.
It's from The Container Store. And though it's more expensive (if you work there, you get 40% off!) than one of the ones from Michaels or Jo-Ann, it has SIX shelves instead of four or five and still takes up the same amount of space. That was worth the extra money to me. :) This is where I keep pages I'm working on right now as well:
This next photo is in the cabinet from the previous post, but it goes better with the theme of this post. :) Here on this top shelf, I have my glue gun (in another one of those dollar store pencil boxes), paint brushes (in an altered Lay's Stax container), Mod-Podge (and brushes), Bazzill Chips, Creative Imaginations mini-albums, and business cards (mine and my husband's).
I altered the four matching boxes. They were EIGHTEEN CENTS each at The Christmas Tree Shop. If they would have had more, I probably would have gotten more. :p They used to have a weird floral pattern, but I like them much better this way. :D Just goes to show you, you can take anything and alter it... be it a shoe box, a gift packaging box, garbage... whatever!
On the lower shelf, I have my 6x6 paper pads and hole punches/deco scissors. The containers came from The Christmas Tree Shop.
Are you tired of looking at my scrap space yet?! You're probably more tired of my long-winded explanations...
