Organizing craft supplies, I have learned, is a hobby all by itself.  You can quite easily spend so much time organizing to craft that you never actually craft at all!  Crafters are an odd breed.  Even the most minimalistic of us quite often has an overloaded craft room that causes us to guiltily shut the door when guests arrive.

Most true crafters are, in essence, hoarders.  We just confine our hoard to one single space, which is never large enough or organized enough!  I absolutely consider myself to be in this group, so when I was asked I was hesitant to take on the topic.  (Especially now – we had to move one of my giant lockers to get to a wall connection for internet, and my room looks far worse than it did when I was moving in!) There are millions of ideas of how to organize supplies (Pinterest is a treasure trove) but here are a few things I’ve learned that I haven’t seen elsewhere:

Tip 1: Give Yourself Permission

You don’t have to have a Pinterest-Perfect room.  What you need to have is a functional space that works for you.  I recall reading an article once showing photos of a stunning craft room, and the crafter herself said she still struggled finding things.  Figure out what works for you, and stick with that.  PRO TIP: Never buy items to fit an organizer – buy the organizer to fit what you have.  It’s so easy to get caught up with how pretty something would look all filled up and forget that you don’t actually need those items (or likely the organizer itself) at all.

Tip 2: Don’t Pre-Buy

Crafters, as a rule, have great ambitions.  It’s so tempting to run out any buy all the supplies for a project the minute it catches your fancy.  But the one thing you can’t buy is time.  It’s so important to wait until you are actually ready to make the project before buying for it.  This saves money and space!  PRO TIP: As with everything in life, craft supplies have an expiration date.  Inks and paints dry out, things fall out of fashion and your tastes change.  Buy only what you need, when you need it.  And if you’ve already had it a while and haven’t use it, it can probably find a new home.

Tip 3: Avoid the Trap

The crafter’s trap is the feeling that your craft room needs to double as a craft store.  It’s sadly rare that someone will knock on your door and offer you a huge check if you can come up with one random craft item in your hoard.  Sadder still is you may not be able to find that item in the unlikely event someone would pay for it.  Unless you live in the wilds, your craft room doesn’t need to be a store! PRO TIP:  The easiest way to organize is to have less.  If you don’t REALLY need it, get rid of it!  EVEN if what you don’t need is half of a set.  Crafters are famous for keeping whole sets when they really only like/will use one item.  It’s OK to break things up!  (I’ve even broken up all my Stampin’ Up stamp sets, and donated the stamps I won’t use.  I haven’t gotten arrested yet.)

Bonus Tip: A note on scraps.  Crafters are famous for keeping scraps.  Every little leftover might have a use!  But the reality is you probably won’t use them.  You’ll just collect them, and then they too will need to be organized.  It’s really best to just throw them away.  It’s OK – I won’t tell on you. 😉