Messy Mittwoch: Crafty storage

More packing has been going on, as usual.  One of the areas I've been tackling has been the study, since my craft materials have experienced an explosion (for some reason, most scrappers seem to experience this... scrap stuff seems to take on a life of their own and multiply like mushrooms after a rain!).  Guess its time for another scrappy giveaway soon!

Anyway, a problem I've had is trying to store my tools in an appropriate place.  Everything used to go into plastic boxes into a cabinet in the study, but that meant I had to walk over from the table and dig them out every time I wanted to craft. Half the time I didn't use things, since I either forgot I had them (out of sight, out of mind), or was too lazy to dig it out.  Packing up after each project was a pain, since the table was scattered with tools and bits and bobs and I had to gather everything and put them back in boxes in drawers (hubby was always complaining as well, since he'll have no space to work when I was in the midst of a project!).

I've found that having things at hand, in view, would be most ideal...  As punches rank as one of the most frequently used tools on my list (since I use them for Junior J's and my own craft), I dug those punches out of their box (they were bursting out of the box anyway!), and planned on getting one of those little metal racks meant for storing stuff in the kitchen.  I chanced across a rather pretty white one, in one of those shops that sells all the random stuff like buckets and batteries, and was quite delighted when I managed to squeeze in all my punches neatly into two shelves (after some shuffling here and there of course):

The top shelf houses the smaller punches, like the Daiso ones that I frequently use with Junior J,
while the bottom level holds the border punches and the larger punches.

Now cleaning up is much easier, since I can just put back the punches immediately after using them, instead of leaving them scattered all over the table!  Its also a bonus that I can easily get to any punch I want, without having to rummage inside a box...

For more ideas on storing your stuff, take a peek at my pinboard on smart storage, and if you're searching for craft storage solutions, check out the Crafty Storage blog... those pictures of organized craft studios can really send you into a packing frenzy!  

How do you store your craft materials?

PS: Speaking of crafting, have you taken part in the Cup Critter giveaway yet?  You just need to hop over to the Facebook page and leave a comment! ;)