Monday, September 19, 2011

Sharing: Scrap Organization

I spent part of the weekend straightening up the studio from my last "play date" and finished this reorganization project.  When the Paper Squirrel was visiting, she showed me her new way of organizing scraps.  It's probably not new to some of you, but it works so well for me that I thought I'd share.
Being the thrifty crafter I am, I saved every scrap of paper.  That worked well until I started designing SVGs (and cutting each and every file).  Suddenly I had a TON of scraps.  Here's how I had my scraps organized
They were in ziplock bags, sorted by color.  At first I saved it all, even weird shapes and sizes and pieces with punches.  Lately I'd been cutting each scrap piece down to a square or rectangle.  It fit better in the bag and was neater.  But as I said, the stash started growing and it was hard to see what I had and keep it all in the bag.  So, I "stole" the Paper Squirrel's method  (actually, I stole her ziplock bag method too...hehehe):
I bought an inexpensive file crate from Wal-Mart and used hanging file folders to hold my scraps.  The white tabs hold solid colors, the red tabs hold patterns, the purple special papers (such as birthday, Christmas, etc.) and the back yellow tab is for velum.  I's now so easy to take out a folder to see what I have and I just slip in the scraps as I go.  Having it portable is great too.  I set it by the Cricut as I'm cutting and on the floor when I'm making cards or layouts.

6 comments:

Max said...

This is a super idea, I hope my Wal-mart here has those file boxes. The only thing that would make this better is if it had wheels. Oh wait, I have a planter stand that has wheels on it maybe it will fit under the box??? Thanks for this idea.

Angela said...

OMG! I did the same thing yesterday with ziploc bags! Now I can actually find the colors that I am looking for! I also made Christmas Card backdrops for cards with the scraps from last year! Isn't this just wonderful!
Hugs,
Angela
http://angelascrafty.blogspot.com

Pam said...

Great Minds!! I keep my scaps organized by color in sheet protectors standing up in a large basket.Patterned paper scraps go in a drawer in a large rolling cart, since once a year those scraps go to third grade to make something for Mother's Day, that stash is not too unmanagable.

Karen said...

Oooh, I really like that idea. My scrap classes generate lots of bits, sometimes near full sheets. The women also demand where the pieces are when they just want a bit for punching or such: It would help me and them. I shall try and hunt down a similar system!
Thanks for sharing :)

Joanne said...

Thank you for passing this along! I don't have the same amount of scraps but they are starting to get out of hand now! My pocket (sort of plastic file folder isn't working any more)
Joanne

Danka Doo said...

Great idea!!