Introduction

Let’s talk about Scrapbooking Organization Ideas today! You wake up inspired to create something wonderful! A scrapbook page of your family’s trip to the mountains, a page filled with vintage family photos from when your parents and grandparents were young, or maybe even a page dedicated to you and your favorite hobbies. Whatever it is, you are excited and ready to hit the ground running. Then you sit down at your crafting area and begin looking for supplies. 

The Importance of Craft Room Organization

Where is that particular piece of patterned paper that you know would be just right for your project? Where are your ruler, your scissors, your punch tool, and all the other supplies you will need? This is why having an organized craft room/area is so important. 

I can’t tell you how many days I’ve wasted doing a search and rescue mission through my unorganized supplies, only to wind up achieving half of what I set out to do. It simply wasn’t productive, and it certainly wasn’t making me as happy as I could have been. I wanted to create and not just collect scrapbooking supplies. But what was the next step?

Declutter and Sort

I know this is very hard for most of us. We have so many beautiful papers, embellishments, alphabet stickers, etc., and letting go can sometimes feel like cutting off a limb.

Maria Gracia from GetOrganizedNow.com has a great article in her April 13th newsletter called “Embracing Getting Rid of Clutter Instead of Dreading It.” I highly recommend subscribing to her newsletter if you need help with organizing ANY area of your life.

Margaret Miller has a wonderful video with tips and tricks on how to make those hard decisions and declutter your excess craft supplies as well as what to do with the excess supplies:

She says you’ll know it’s time to change when you realize:

Your time is not limitless, and you want to be productive

It’s hard to find what you’re looking for

When you have more space, your supplies won’t take over

Knowing what you have saves time and money

Keeping organized is easier when you have less

If you’re looking for specific help with scrapbooking kits, Created by Gwen has a great video with some awesome ideas of how to store those kits or collections that you may have: 

A couple of her suggestions are:

Keep individual kits in clear plastic bins, either flat or upright

Put kit embellishments, chipboard, and stickers in plastic bags inside those bins

If you’re up for a true challenge, you want to consider Totally-Tiffany.com. She has amazing organizational items on her site, but it could be overwhelming. I suggest going to the section on her site called the Get Organized Challenge

It’s an actual class providing organizing ideas, goals, and a real solution to the chaos. I am a visual learner, and being able to take her classes online was such a blessing. It has saved me a great deal of time and money, and my space works so much better for me now. Just a bit of a warning – her class is “extreme” in that you will spend several weeks decluttering and organizing your supplies according to a specific technique. It’s not for everyone but if you need step-by-step guidance, this may just be the perfect answer for you.

After you’ve decluttered, the next step is:

Organize! Scrapbooking Organization Ideas

Chelsea Rachel from lovepapercrafts.com has a fabulous page on her website with wonderful tips for organizing your scrapbook supplies and paper storage. 

Don’t do it all in one day

Get all your supplies in one place

Sort your products and supplies by type

Know the difference between containers and organizers

Sort by category

Find a suitable storage option

Create catalogs for bulky items

Keep things you often use nearby

Don’t be a hoarder

It’s okay to feel overwhelmed

Go to the link above for more detailed organization solutions.

Not everyone has a dedicated space for crafting, not even a small space. Here is an awesome video by Justine Hovey titled “5 Craftroom Space Saving Hacks” with wonderful ideas on how to make a small or multifunctional space work for your scrapbooking hobby: 

If you’re on a limited budget, there is another great video by Mary Polanco called “20 Must See Hacks, Storage, and Crafts from The Dollar Tree” that will give you great ideas for storage and talks about some Dollar Store craft items and how to use them:

Clean Up and Maintain

This is the real key! Norrine Burke has some wonderful tips for how to maintain your space once you’ve decluttered and organized and, more importantly, why you will NEVER be done organizing your craft supplies (that’s not a bad thing!)

Shift your thinking

Allow your craft room to evolve and change with your interests

Have a home for everything and know where it goes

Use what you have and upcycle when you can

A cohesive space helps you to stay organized and looks less cluttered

Use the single-layer, single-touch process

Put the crafts you are most passionate about within reach

Schedule your maintenance time

Don’t be afraid to continue purging

In my own personal experience, I’ve learned that if I leave things out, I am unlikely to come back later and put them away. This is particularly true of my craft supplies. I have a little routine I follow at the end of each crafting day:

Put inks in the cabinet to my right

Put related ephemera back into their corresponding folders, boxes, tins, etc.

Put scissors, rulers, and the like in the pull-out drawer on my desk

Put pens, tweezers, markers, etc., in their plastic bin and slide them onto the correct shelf

Take any cross stitch patterns off their hoop or QSnap and put them in their designated file folders

Move my chair from the craft desk to my computer desk

Doing these things not only keeps my craft area looking nice, but they also help me to change from a creative mode to a business or social mode (whatever is appropriate). 

In Conclusion to Scrapbooking Organization Ideas

If you spend most of your time hunting for your craft supplies, you won’t be able to turn out any beautiful, creative designs. 

Having an organized space will help you so much in this regard. You don’t have to do it all at once. Just a half-hour once a week or so will get you started, and after a couple of months, you’ll be amazed at the difference it makes. 

Happy Crafting, Everyone!

Tawney Odin

Other articles by Tawney Odin

Simplistic Organization Advice For Your Small Kitchen

The Reasons Why Junk Journaling Is Sensational

Sims 4 Harvestfest Gnomes: How To Fulfill Them

Introducing The Best Sims 4 Halloween With Photos

When the Holidays Stop Being the Holidays by Tawney Odin

Boldly Exclaiming Your Sim Addiction by Tawney Odin

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Comment *

Name *

Email *

Website

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Δ

The post Scrapbooking Organization Ideas: Excellent Tips Coming at You first appeared on Butterflies and Tulips Blog.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *