A New Year... A New Opportunity To Get Organized!

How to create your own Spool And Ribbon Organizer!

HOW TO-
I dont know about everyone else but I have a ton of "art material" just laying around my studio. Toby, my cat loves to make off with a spool of thread or ribbon as a stand in for a mousey- not cool! So I decided to get organized this year! The first thing was to put my thread up so I could see them all, they wouldnt unravel in a box, and most important, the cat wouldnt "hunt" them down anymore! They sell shelves relitivly similar to the one above but the advantage to making your own it you can add anything you want to suite your needs. For example, I have a lot of small cubby space but if I didnt I may add some cubbys to the side of my unit.

In my case I used scrap MDF board that I pulled out of the trash bin at my job. You could use any thing from cardboard to foam board to oak! BE CREATIVE!



<--- This is a techinal drawing of the shelf I created with mesurements(I draw this kind of stuff at my day job) You dont have to use these dimentions- make the shelf work for YOUR needs! *The dowel rods I used were 3/4" where the ones in the drawing look more like 1/2".

After the pieces were cut (compliments to Darrell Taylor- wood shop manager for cutting my pieces! I wouldnt brave the saw) I glued them together with Elmers wood glue. If you want somthing fancier- nail or screw them together.

I then cut 2 3/4" dowel rods into 2" pieces and supper glued them 2" appart. **If you want somthing thats is super sturdy try drilling holes and gluing the pegs into the holes. Lastly, I fasened 2 D-rings to the back of my shelf so I could hang it up and out of my way.

You may paint your or stian it- I havent gotten that far yet!

Here are some other links that have premade organizers for some ideas.....
(Fun ribbon storing ideas!)
http://www.madcropper.com/ribbon-storage-101-by-candice-palmer/

(peg boards and ribbons)
http://hedgehog-ink.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-ribbon-storage-solutions.html

(Ribbons and a shoe box)
http://www.realsimple.com/realsimple/package/0,21861,1558003-1018240,00.html#

(metal coat hangers)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/eclipse_etc/480571951

(creative storage ideas)
http://thedomesticdiva.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/sewing-room-organization-challenge-part-iv-laces-trims-and-ribbons/

(ribbon shelves)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24692130@N07/3148810252/in/photostream/

(typical thread rack- with a "twist")
http://www.romwoodworking.com/shopping/thread_organizers/

***Please feel free to add and good ideas and links to this post!!
Happy organizing!
:D

January/ February Giveaway!

Happy new year to you all!

Im feeling quite lucky this evening- my day job just laid off twenty people today- yikes! Thankfully I was not on that list!

So things are looking good for this new year- and I hope they continue to roll in twards the positive. I have thought of a direction for this blog- go me! I plan on posting craft tips and tricks that I find helpful. My first project that I am currently working on is a shelf for bobbins and ribbons. It is my own design, simple to build and Im very pleased with it! So stay tuned for the excitement!!!

Now for the Giveaway!!!

I will be giving away a set of my coasters!

The Mad Hatter Coasters!

Its January and we all make resoloutions, and if we dont, we should! So to enter this giveaway you need to Post your top new years resolution AND favoriate item from my ETSY shop in the comments section below.

A winner will then be draw randomly on SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22nd. Please dont forget to include a way for me to reach you! Good luck! and I will contact the winner

after Februrary 22nd.

-Christine