Getting Organized ~ I Finally Have a Craft Area!

As I started to organize all my scrapbooking materials, I realized that the number one thing I need to do before getting started is create a working craft area.  Before now, basically, my materials were piled on a table in our computer room.  Though the table is designated for my crafts, it is normally covered in mail, laundry, toys and whatever else isn't in its normal spot.  So last night I cleaned it off and got organized!

The best thing I found in this house to use was an item I have been cursing since I bought it.  When my daughter Hayley was just a toddler, we decided that the perfect addition to her Disney Princess themed room would be the Disney Princess toy organizer.  It has three shelves and nine showbox sized buckets you place on the shelves.  What a perfect way to organize toys, right?  Not quite.  Whoever invented these, obviously, had no children.  The concept is wonderful, but the reality is these should be called "How Fast After Mommy Organizes the Toys Can I Dump Them Out."  Ok, not a practical name, but really the only thing this was used for was dumping the toys out and me explaining yet again how to put the toys in.  Let's just say, this "organizer" lasted about a week in my daughter's room before I gave up and purchased totes with lids that only I could open!   But everything happens for a reason, and it is now the perfect addition to my craft area.  The nine buckets with no lids make it very easy for me to get to my materials quickly.  Plus, I can see exactly what I have all at once.  There is even space underneath for my paper trimmers that lay flat.  Even better, as you know, I am a Disney fanatic and having the Disney Princesses decorating my craft area is quite nice.

I also wanted to share my tip about the paper trays I have (the white totes with three drawers).  I purchased these months ago, because I made a classic rookie scrapbooking mistake - I have purchased more paper than I probably could use in a lifetime.  I swear that aisle at the craft store just sucks me in.  There are so many great papers out there I can't resist!  These trays have come in quite handy.  I have organized my paper by color, with other drawers dedicated solely to Disney paper, holiday paper, and patterned paper.  But when I was looking for something like this, I went to all the craft stores and they were just too expensive, even with coupons.  So I checked out our local WalMart.  The totes were pretty dusty and beaten up and there was only one.  I was looking for at least three.  I asked the WalMart employee about when they would get more and she gave some of the best advice.  She said to go online and order the totes from there and have them shipped Site to Store so I'd get free shipping.  Plus, she said that they come in their original packing, so there is no dust or dings in them.  I raced home and to my surprise, not only did they have them online, but they were cheaper than they were in the store! 

So now I have no excuse to not get some crafts done around here!  As you may have read in my post Disney Scrapbooks ~ Here I Come!, my first project will be finishing my 2006 Disney Trip scrapbook, which is nearly complete.  I look forward to testing out my newly organized space!

How do you organize your materials?  Feel free to share a link or comment below with your best tips for oragnizing your craft space!