Organizing Crafts

As you all know I love all things crafty. My house on the other hand does not. We are busting at the seams here in the King household. Paint, glue, markers, glue, clay, colored sand, play dough, markers, tissue paper, pom poms, googly eyes, card board, stamps and stamp pads...the list goes on and on. How can I possibly coral all of the girls craft materials plus mine? Baby steps! I am not at all an organized soul. I actually have to consciously battle my disorganization on a daily basis. I told my new friend Abbie over at Organizing-life that I must be missing the organization gene! I can relate more to the title of Sharon's blog, Mama's A Mess. (By the way: Sharon is hardly a mess!)

The first step was organizing the girls basics. I put together a basket of basic art supplies that we use daily. I had to store them in plain site due to a storage shortage. Plus they had to be high enough Em (my little wrecking ball) can't reach. That is why they are stored in the dining area in between the wine and the wine glasses. Not ideal but that is all I have to work with. The basket is nice because it hides the contents and is easy to take down for craft time and put pack up afterwards.

I placed little plastic baskets which I had and a few Solo cups in to separate the items. I can grab the basket of markers quickly. The square marker pencil holder in the center of the picture holds those annoying "I'm not a marker" markers. You know the random Magic Pen and Color Wonder markers. So annoying when you go to jot something down and you pick up one of those! So those definitely needed their own spot.

I also organized a shelf for the girls coloring, activity & work books. Plus I came up with a solution for organizing the paper. I am addicted to Korean Seasoned Seaweed. Why is that important? Well, the brand I like comes packaged in really nice heavy duty cardboard box. I have been saving them (because that is what we crazy craft addicts do) waiting for a project to pop into my head. Well, here you go...paper storage! I haven't had a chance to cover them in pretty paper yet but here you get the idea. I cut about 2 inches off the top only to make accessing the paper easier. The bottom box has construction paper, the middle white paper and the top activity pages for Lu taken out of the books for her to work on whenever she wants. If you have any great tips you can pass along please do! I can use all the help you can offer!

This is a work in progress. Next up will be the paints & painting supplies.

12 comments:

Beth- the mama bee said...

Looks like you are making steps in the right direction. I'd love to know how you are preparing that seaweed...

***Sharon*** said...

Oh...but I am a mess! ;) Your post has really encouraged me....to get organized? Uhh....a little. It's actually encouraged me to finally get to the Asian grocery store and get some more seaweed, miso, furikake, etc! We're a seaweed eating family as well but getting any kind of Asian food around here is "slim pickins!" lol

Mama King said...

This particular type of seaweed is unlike Japanese Nori in that it is seasoned with oil and salt. It is yummy by it self. The girls and I like ripping off pieces and eating them as a snack. It also good with rice inside. I never mastered making sushi rolls (kim bap in Korean)! I just kind of put some rice in, fold it over and eat (sometimes I add avacado or kimchi.) Having grown up in an Irish/French Canadian family I don't know what some traditional preparations for the seaweed would be. If anyone knows please let us know!

***Sharon*** said...

Oh yeah!!! I know! I like both types - the Japanese nori and the Korean nori (actually I don't think I've had any nori that I didn't like!) Definitely a good, healthy snack! Do you like Spam? If so let me know...I have the best recipe for Korean style Spam musubi with kimchi!

Amy said...

I love me some storage bins for sure.

Mama King said...

Sharon, That is so funny you mention Spam. When we were picking out gifts for Em's foster parents we asked some Korean acquaintances what would be a good gift and they said Spam! So I wrapped up Spam, Multi Vitamins, local college T shirts, and a few other items. Well, the Spam produced a lot of laughing when they opened their gift. The translator said they loved it! I still don't know what they thought of us giving them Spam! To get back to your question - I have never prepared it but would be game to try! When you get a chance send me your recipe! I know what you mean about it being difficult to find Asian Markets in some regions of this country. We have one close by - it is so so. I have to travel over 45 minutes to get to a real good one.

Valerie @ Frugal Family Fun Blog said...

That's so funny that they asked for Spam -- of all things! The art supplies are looking good, and those baby steps sure add up! I keep Emily's art stuff in a toy organizer bin. One bin for each art supply. You're right.... If you're not careful, art supplies can quickly take over your entire house! ;-)

Jess said...

Organisation is a constant dilemma and challenge for me too. this week I finally got into 'my room/spare room' to start sorting all our craft materials etc. Still work in progress, but am inspired to continue from reading your blog.
(:

Abbie said...

I LOVE THIS POST!! And I love the comments too! I have been a little MIA in the blogging realm, but popped up in time to see this! You make me laugh!!
First, as an organizer, I love your crafts solution. I also think it is great that you put the crafting supplies you use often in the room where you use them, and found an appropriate decor solution to "hide" it! Wonderful! I am posting it it in my Organizing Link Friday post.
Second kim (seaweed)is yummy! I didn't know it came in a cardboard box though. I eat it as banchan dish and just wrap it around bap (rice). Or I cut it into strips and put it on duk kuk (rice-cake soup) for the New Year. Or Nayng Myun (cold buckwheat noodle soup.) And the Spam just cracked me up!! Koreans love spam (okay as a generalization.) It goes back to the Korean war when there wasn't a lot to eat, and the US troops had canned meat -- spam. It is -way- salty, but we slice it and dip it in egg and fry it up and eat it with kochijang (red pepper paste). Or chop it and put it in kimchee chigae. Anyway, I could talk for hours about this...
Thank you so much for the link! Hope you are all well!
Abbie

***Sharon*** said...

Okay! It took me forever to find the recipe but here it is. Scroll down and you will find "Creamy Korean-style Musubi." If you like Spam, kimchi, rice & seaweed you'll love this!

http://archives.starbulletin.com/2005/05/25/features/story1.html

Abbie - what is kimchi chigae? I'm going to Google it now. Sounds like my kind of dish!

Anonymous said...

Mama King, thanks for posting the link to this post on my blog! I think your ideas for organizing craft supplies are great.

Now that I have read the comments I am hungry. I think I have to get some Asian takeaway tonight. ;-)

***Sharon*** said...

I have a recipe for you that calls for Korean nori! Come by my place to see it! (I already had it for dinner last night and, ahem....breakfast this morning!)

LinkWithin

LinkWithin Related Stories Widget for Blogs