Day 2... What to do with all that ribbon

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Those of you who know me... know... RIBBON RIBBON RIBBON is my favorite embellishment. And boy do I buy ribbon. Satin ribbon, grosgrain ribbon, velvet ribbon, striped ribbon, polka dot ribbon.. You get the picture. Since I started stamping my dilemma has been.. Where do I put it all ???????

Have you been over to check out Nicole Hardy's blog or Michelle Wooderson blogs and their brandy spank'in new "oh I wish I had their studios ~ studios.." (If not, you just may want to... LOL) when you do you'll see they have some FABULOUS organizing ideas.. When your checking out Nicole's pay close attention to pictures # 13, 15 and 16 (Yepper.. I did the counting for you...:) that's the type of person I am... LOL) .. You'll see she's wrapped her ribbon around old fashioned clothespins, then organizes them in clear candy jars she purchased at Wal-mart for about $5 a piece... AH HA... was that a light bulb moment or what???? Thank you Nicole for the inspiration.. Here's my ribbon storage solution..


Off I went to the 'Yankee Dollar Store". Hmm where to find old fashioned clothes pins. I happened upon the craft section first (it just happens to be next to the gardening section and how can I resist either...) YIPEE here they are. $1 for 20. 5 packages should do me.. I should even have a few left overs.. HHAHAHAHHAHA.. Boy did I under estimate myself. Wednesday evening I wrapped 100 spools of ribbon and wasn't even close to finishing.. Friday, back to the dollar store for 5 more packages. Another 78 spools wrapped and yipee I was done and boy did my hands thank me. (a total of 178 spools of ribbon) HMM now what to do with them. A few stores down from the dollar store is "Tuesday Morning". Jackpot... Large canning jars with the flip lids $3.99 each.. I chose to organize my ribbon by colors (this is just what worked for me..it's easier on the eyes) blues, neutrals, pinks, black/ white/ metallics/ twines and all others. On the 2nd shelf I also have a cropper hopper embellishment holder which holds 90 embellishment boxes. These too have ribbon rolled up and neatly tucked in each little box (again organized by colors). These are clear as well so you can see what ribbon is inside.


Tip #2... Keep what you have a lot of.. together, where you can see it and it's easily accessible.. What do I mean by that? Personally I have a large amount of ribbon, so I've kept it together on 1 shelf and store them based on how you use them. You can sort them by color, type, texture, wide, thin.. what ever works for you because your the one using it. I chose to sort them by color and in clear jars. This way, I simply have to go to my jars and pick a color. I'm able to see what I have, can pick one that matches my project, reach in and I'm done.. No pulling out bins, sorting through trying to see what I have, will it match my project. By having them in clear jars and sorted by color all of the work has been done for me. I also have extra clothes pins so as I acquire more ribbon I can easily wrap it up and put it where it belongs..

Happy organizing :)