Operation Overhaul!

A few months ago, I decided my craft room was bursting at the seams and -- when you can't find anything easily -- something's got to give! And while it's not fun sharing photos like this below, sometimes you have to experience this...... (and no, this was not staged - this was me pulling apart everything to scale back!)

Before you get to this! Welcome to my storage closet. 

I started my saving my pennies and investing in THESE organizational cubes. I love the way they turned out. The fabric cubes were from Target -- love that they were just $6 apiece! I put 6 by 6" paper pads in one and ribbon scraps in the other. The filing drawers hold all my papers. That plastic cart to the left of m cube storage is going -- I took some of the clasp together drawers and filled one cube with them. One hold tags, one holds stickers and border strips, another holds card ideas and tutorial sheets.I have two that are empty just for future use. I loved how these drawers fit perfectly inside the cubes.  

I have been looking to organize my cards for a while now by category so that I don't have to flip through boxes to find just the right card. I did donate a TON to my mom's Card 4 Kids program. I shipped off probably 70 cards so that the kids at Children's Hospital of Michigan have birthday, thank you and congrats cards for when they need them! 

I found these little bins at the dollar spot at Target and with the help of some kraft paper and an oval punch, I labeled them all....

And, they fit perfectly in the cubbies in my desk! 

I also changed up the way I store my clear stamps. I used to use plastic clam shell boxes but I found that they really take up a ton of space and I wanted something that was more low profile. Thanks to a few fellow stampers, I found these sleeves by Avery Elle!

After I trimmed a piece of white card stock to give my package a firm backing, I set the stamps inside and then am storing them in these cut little boxes I found at Target for $7 apiece. I think I'll be able to fit about 100 stamp sets in each one (which is way more space than I need)!

I labeled them and have about four extras for different sets from different companies down the road! 

I admit, I am a sucker for Spellbinders dies and I added these small hooks a few years ago to hang my dies from. I added a few hooks here and then swapped out a cafe rod I had to store my punches for THIS bar from IKEA which is so much sturdier! If you wanted to use this for something other than punches, they have some cool hanging storage that works with this bar as well. They have little cups with hooks that hang off this bar. Check it out HERE -- great for pencils, markers or tools! I am *thinking* about adding one of these over my desk with my Copic markers grouped by color. 

I picked up this beauty a few years ago at Harbor Freight Tools -- it's a 12" Revolving Four Tray Bin for $19. It's perfect for reinkers, glitter glue containers and adhesives.

And... the last part of my overhaul was just reorganizing my plastic bins and making sure they were labeled. I bought a Dymo Letratag Labeler for work about 5 years ago and it came in handy! 

I still have a corner set up for my photography.....

 And, the overall room didn't really change much... still looks much the same!

I hate to say it took me 6 weeks to reorganize and downsize. I think by selling off some beloved stamps and organizers - I was able to get rid of about 30% of my things that needed a little more love! And... in the process, I have some room to move and places to store new and fun things. It's a win-win! :-)

Thanks for stopping by!

~Julie