It is safe to say I have a ribbon fetish. I pick it up anytime it is on sale. I dig for it in the dollar bins, and I save every scrap of my delicious ribbon for ties around birthday presents to embellishments on scrapbook pages. Ribbon is a crafter’s commodity.
Storing your precious ribbon stash can be challenging to say the least. I have ribbon on rolls and ribbon scraps that are loose in bins. I am always adding to my stash and having to dispose of empty rolls.
I will be sharing smart ribbon storage for any space, using everyday items that you may already own.
In my studio, I have a bookcase that is the home for my cookie jars. Each one, as you can see, is filled to the brim with ribbon. I sort my ribbon scraps by color to make it easy to find what I am looking for. I am happy with the ribbon loose in a jar, and I don’t mind a quick dig for a particular color. This may drive some crafters crazy, so if you need tidy ribbon storage, sort your ribbon in jars by color and wrap each ribbon around a clothespin. This will neaten the look of your jars and not eat up your budget. Clothespins are inexpensive, and jars are available at thrift stores in all sizes and shapes. I have tons of ribbon, so I went with large cookie jars from a discount store. I did combine colors in the jars like orange and yellow, ivory and white, and black and gray. They store nicely on a bookcase or in a closet. What I like best is they look like candy! I see them and use up all my scraps. When my embellishments are out of sight, I forget to use them.
I am fortunate to have a space dedicated to my crafts. The children outgrew their toy room, so I inherited the space. For ten years I used the kitchen table. I needed storage that I could carry with me to crops and I could store in a cabinet at home. I used recycled paper towel rolls and spun my ribbon scraps around them. I used a pin to keep them from unraveling and would store the ribbon rolls in large zip-lock baggies to make them easy to take to crops. I then took over a closet at home and used my husband’s pant hangers. They worked perfect for storing ribbon rolls. When I moved into my new studio, I found a bar table that had side pockets for holding glasses. I didn’t want to put holes in my new table, so I used spring tension rods for curtains and placed my ribbon rolls on the rods. They cost about $2.00 each and could be used in any space with 2 walls, like a bookshelf. The width of the rod is as small as I could get it, so it would go through the holes in ribbon rolls. I made sure to get tension rods with the rubber stoppers on the ends, instead of the ones with the fancy tips. Like I said, I didn’t want holes. The only drawback to this method of storage is that when a roll is empty, I have to take off several rolls to get the cardboard roll off the rod.
Other methods of ribbon storage are using a hand-towel holder to store ribbon rolls. It will work well on a desk top, and it looks pretty as well. I have seen shoeboxes with holes along the sides for pulling a piece of the ribbon through it. The shoe boxes could be covered with pretty patterned paper to match your work space. I have also seen shoe holders for the back of doors or closets with ribbon stored in the pockets. Wherever your creative space is, think about function, accessibility, and using something you already own for storage. Think outside the box, and the ideas are endless.
Please share your ribbon storing tips and help a fellow crafter get organized!
~ Kara Ward (Studio Pink)