Micro Organizing The "Bits"

Okay, so I'm really, really not fanatical about organizing, but I have discovered a few helpful tools to help with the challenge!

I love when my design supplies are neat and tidy, "like-things together", my mother advised me when I was a kid. She was delightfully organized and I was artistically messy!!

My daughter added another interesting twist to the organizational mix when she insisted that her beads were organized in "rainbow color order" when she was about 6.

Wow, that's a lot to live up to! I find myself sandwiched between two great organizers attempting to use tips from each of them.

This is one of the two ways I organize my beads.

Finding the right organizational tool is another tip! I like to find the perfect container for the item. It takes time and doesn't happen in a day.

Organizing, like knitting is a process. Right now, I'm enjoying the process.

I found boxes I really like at the Container Store. I ALWAYS use clear or see through boxes and I like it when they have lids that snap closed (no beading accidents, please!)

I know that I'm visual,

so if I store my stuff in opaque or decorator boxes, it absolutely disappears and I can't find anything. So see-through is for me.

I find that organizing by color also works for me (since I can never remember the "rainbow" color order like my daughter), I usually just organize from lights to darks.

In the case of my buttons, and I have quite a collection, I find that the large antique ones need to be carefully contained, so I chose this box from the Container Store. I can see them all and they are protected from any rubbing or scuffing.

I used to contain my buttons like everybody's grandmother, in cookie tins, but I found that rectangular containers work better when stacking inside cabinets.

I use a lot of embroidery floss (many of my patterns contain floss in the materials list), so the best way for me to keep it wrangled, is by using a clear box that has sections that seem to fit the skeins and a lid the keeps everything in one place.

Magazines are quite a challenge if they aren't contained in magazine holders. These are VERY inexpensive from Ikea and I've got a bunch of them for the Interweave Knits, Vogue Knitting, Rowan, Threads, Filatura and every other magazine I can't seem to part with. They line up easily on book shelves or in cabinets.

I like to see my Knitting needles, so I arrange them in attractive bottom heavy "vases". These are kitchen cookie jars, again from Ikea. They go with the decor in my office and I organize them by size. I'm still looking for the PERFECT circular needle organization, but I've got a pretty good one which I'll share next time.

Well that's all for now. I've got to get back to my... organizing!!