Resolutions 2012: Organized Scrapping Area

One of my Resolutions for 2012 was to organize my scrapbooking area. My scrapbook area (also known as our apartment’s dining room) wasn’t that bad initially. A little untidy, but not horrible. The thing that really got me to organize it was that I couldn’t remember half the stuff I had. This happens to a lot of crafters, I think, but it bothered me that so many of these great supplies I had weren’t getting used (and, when I was honest with myself, weren’t going to be used by me).

Here is the “before” picture:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here is what I changed:

• I retired the Sterilite drawers. They took up too much space on the table. I am trying very hard to keep my stuff off of the dining room table, so I need a space to put working projects, and the table is the only option. So, the drawers went for that reason. The other reason is that I ended up giving away at least half of my paper stash and that many drawers just weren’t necessary. I moved to paper holders from Studio Papers. We’ll see if that works as well as the drawers have for this long.
• For years I’ve had some of my ribbon on a wall-mounted paper towel holder. I don’t use much ribbon, so I gave away a ton of it, so I just added one tall jar to ones I already had and color coordinated my remaining ribbon by jar.
• I’ve stored my non-type stamps on/in a wall-mounted drawer organizer for a while. I didn’t mind it, it did its job, but I didn’t love how it looked. Also, every time Nicholas hit the wall (it shares a wall with N’s room), stamps fell off. I got a small basket that coordinates with ones I already had and am now using that for my stamps.
• I was able to get rid of one of the big baskets on the very top shelf simply by giving away more than a basket-worth of stuff.
• I swapped the little brown baskets for some prettier ones. Hey, I got them when baskets were half off at Hobby Lobby!
• I was able to condense my little embellishments so I only needed one of the containers. Which means that I was able to give away two containers. I don’t use many little embellishments (mostly eyelets and themed brads), and most of them came into my stash when I first started scrapping and couldn’t say no to anything I saw in catalogs or in the store. It was a problem.
• I gave away my Xyron Personal Cutting System I just wasn’t using it, and hadn’t in more than a year (not coincidentally, this is the main reason I’ve never gotten a Cricut. I was afraid it would just gather dust).  The cutter was just taking up shelf space and I found someone who would use it. So it went to a better home.

Here are some “after” pictures:

The whole picture! I still need to finish the two magazine holders on the end of the lower shelf on the left side. I have some bright yellow spray paint I plan to work with for those. I love how much brighter everything looks and I can take photos of finished projects inside now because I get some light from the window!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I feel like I’ll use my ribbon more now that I can see it. And it’s pretty!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The few little embellishments I kept fit nicely in these small jars. These are spice racks that I’ve used for paint forever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got these Paper Studio paper holders at Hobby Lobby. They are pretty sturdy, are easy to pull off the shelf and came with the label holders. I organized into solid cardstock, shaped paper,    patterned paper/solid paper and T’s first book. After T’s first book is done, I’ll put my Project Life paper and accessories in that container.

 

 

When all was said and done, I took about half of my stash away and shared with friends. The great part about it, besides it looking so much neater, is that I’m energized to scrap again. I’ve got T’s first year book all organized and ready to go, including paper picked out for most layouts, and that wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t gone through every single piece of paper and every embellishment. I did have the presence of mind to keep some of my stash for crafting with the kids (or for unexpected school projects).

I’m so excited to be done with one of my New Year’s Resolutions! And I did it before January was done! How are you doing on your resolutions?