While we lived in Hockessin in Delaware, U.S.A for 3 years we we very fortunate to find some very useful good pieces of furniture which we still have after 22 years and are still in great condition even after being relocated to Belgium for 6 years in between.
One of those items is my Craft Armoire.
But organising is always a problem with crafts.
So
How Do You Organise Crafts?
How Do You Organise a Craft Armoire?
Now when we bought it originally it was a Computer Armoire and that is how we used it during our 3 years in America.
Of course it suited well as a computer armoire for then because of the large computers and keyboards of the 1990s, the fold out desktop was great and the ability to close the doors and hide everything was a great asset but later when computers did not take up as much space I was able to take it and use it for my crafts.
Again the doors were great for hiding the mess within but eventually it really was time to organise it successfully
because even though I tried over the years it never really got much better than this
Yes I had a lot of containers and bags and tubs to keep things in but they were shoved in tightly together most of the time and so it was not very inviting to actually use the crafts.
Still there was the fact that I could just shut the doors and try to forget about the mess and that is what I would do until the next time I needed something.
So last September I decided it was going to get the proper overhaul it needed and it did which you can see here in
Too Many Places!
Over the past year it has remained the same - so it must have been a pretty good job and today I thought I would explain more about how it is organised.
CONTENTS:
A. Top Left Shelf
Embellishments - some wooden, some card, some plastic in containers with compartments and handles for easy lifting out and in and taking to the kitchen table when I need a large surface to work on as in
Easy Kids Heart Banner
Small items like this have to be kept separated for ease of use - no point in having to hunt through a box of mixed up items every time.
Punches - these are in two boxes, one for the smaller individual picture punches and one for the larger corner and edging punches.
B. Second Left Shelf
Wooden Stamps - various pictures, words and sizes kept in compartment boxes and can clearly be seen through the clear lids. The smaller purple boxes are double sided so hold two lots of stamps.
Clear stamps - various designs and the holders to put them on for stamping.
Stamp ink - various colours, clear for embossing, and cleaners
C. Third Left Shelf
Plastic Lidded Containers - variety of craft materials for making projects for Christmas and other times of the year.
Two black & White Lidded Cardboard Boxes - I keep larger rolls of ribbon in one and coloured string in the other. Although these were made especially for the purpose of storing ribbon I think I would like to get something better in the future.
D. Fourth Left Shelf
Embossing Trays & Stencils
This shelf is not as deep as others so it is a good choice for these larger or longer flat stencils which would get pulled and twisted if they were mixed in with other heavier objects.
I have the large Fiskars Embossing tray that will hold up to 12x12 sheets and also the smaller Fiskars card embosser.
E. Fifth Left Shelf
Paper Cutter
This shelf pulls out so is ideal for the paper cutter to have a place of it's own.
F. Second Bottom Left Shelf
Larger containers fit better on this shelf
Blue cantilever style container - double sided sticky tape, velcro dots, glue dots, craft scissors etc.
Blue tool box style container - lollipop sticks large & small, glue sticks for glue gun etc.
G. Bottom Left Shelf
Deep Scrapbooks
Boxes of Papers & card
Because it is at the bottom I thought it more natural to put some heavier things there and things I would not want to lift out so often.
H. Large Castors
I know this is not storage and not crafts but this is a great thing that my husband decided was needed very shortly after we got the Armoire all those years ago.
We do laugh and say that Fred would like everything to be on castors but definitely in this case it made such a difference for all the times we have moved the armoire as we moved house and also makes it so much easier for cleaning around, behind and underneath it.
J. Armoire Doors
These doors are great in that they have those special hinges so that the doors will open right back beside the actual sides of the armoire.
(you can see what I mean better on the left side)
K. Top Right Shelf
Magnetic Memo Pads - these are also items that I have made and materials for making more
Magnets - these are laminated card magnets that I have made and also materials for making more
Bags - a box containing a variety of cellophane bags
L. Second Right Shelf
Cards & Envelopes - these are ones for use with the kids in church
Greeting Cards - some cards that I had made previously
Black Roll-up Cases for Calligraphy Pens and Markers
M. Third Right Shelf
Blue Expander Files - sticker, paper embellishments, cards & envelopes
(I hope you like the labels. I love to label things even if
others laugh at me!)
Various Boxes of Special Themed Embellishments - ones that I have got for special scrapbooks I intend to make
N. Cubby Holes
I keep some rulers, hole punches, long stapler, staples and odds and ends in these.
This is the one area of the armoire which is under utilised and I should rethink it better.
P. Fold Down Table Top
This is so handy as an extra workspace when sorting out things for our Sunday School and of course it is right beside where the paper cutter is kept!
Q. Bottom Right Shelf
Scrapbook Albums - these are ones I have bought over the last 5 years and intend to work on when I get some more time!!!!
(guess if you had frequented my blog before you will know how much
I Love Arks)
Clear Plastic Box - a box for storing 12x12 scrapbook papers flat.
R. Filing Drawer
This is the one part of the armoire which is not used for my crafts.
It still contains files for various things from over the years but may be changed later.
I of course would much rather be doing something like this even though it takes time, thought and effort; than doing any kind of housework.
Now just need to get the rest of the things in the study organised like the bookcases, desk, printer unit etc.
