I try not to be a craft hoarder, really I do. My neighbor jokes that she has boxes and cardboard tubes and the like squirreled away all over her house. {So I can just ask her if I’m lacking something, right?!} For me it’s a fine line between not wanting to waste money (I might use this someday) and wanting to keep the craft supplies from taking over. Sometimes I just have to be brutal with myself (Self, you’ve been saving this for five years without using it–time to let it go!).

Since we made over the china cabinet for the craft room er, dining room, where I do most of my crafting, my fabric stash was moved from the foyer CraigsList sideboard into it. So this opened up one side cupboard and one drawer (the other side houses the kids’ coloring & painting supplies & the other drawer housed table linens).

First, we did a little do-si-do to move the linens from the drawer to the empty side door. So I then had two massive, deep drawers with which to work. It’s a little humorous to sort through my “craft” arsenal.

Here’s everything that’s in the craft drawer right now. I’ve got such a random collection. Staple gun, clothespins, floral tape, duct tape, red pom-poms, googly eyes, cable ties, chain, gel medium, spray glue, etc…

Ah, and they all tuck nicely into this big drawer. It feels so good to have all most of my craft supplies near where I craft the most!

The other drawer is dedicated to paint. Hmm… I might have a slight addiction to paint… But this drawer now houses all my little pots of colorful happy, brushes, sandpaper, and a few canvases quite nicely indeed, say I.

Oh, and I needed a couple more boxes to corral paints and brushes within the drawer… So yes I did saw a mega wipes box in half using a bread knife. Cuts like buttah. {Look: I sawed a baby in half. How very David Copperfield of me.} Good times.

*insert satisfied exhale here*

So here are my quick tips on organizing your crafty mayhem:

1. Sort and thin (be appropriately brutal).

2. Put like items together.

3. Keep craft supplies where you craft.

Wheeeee! If you’re creative like I am, you might agree that while we might not mind the clutter as much as our non-crafty counterparts, the clutter can sometimes stifle our creative juice?

So (I’m curious), do you work better in the clutter or the clean?

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You might also enjoy reading about a DIY nursery tour, tips & tricks for painting furniture, scoring on CraigsList, or organizing the desk (when the office becomes the baby’s room)…