Establish your Stash: Storage and on a budget too!

Once you have your stash and are attempting to organize it you then need containers to hold your items in the categories you devised. 

You can spend a lot of money on these containers, but I would rather spend my money on my stash and not the containers.  You will have to make some large purchases, but hopefully these will be used for years to come and you get something versatile enough to evolve as your stash and space does.

Small container storage for beads, buttons, and notions: clear is the best type of storage, that way you don’t have to open up the package to see what you have.  Free containers can be assembled from reused food storage you have in your home.  These days baby food is sold in small see through tubs with a snap on lid.  Save all of these, or hit up your friends and children with little ones to save them for  you.  Peanut butter jars are plastic and a nice option.  I have my button collection in different sizes of glass jars such as pasta sauce, pickles, and a vintage Skippy jar. 

Think outside the craft store- there are nice storage options in the craft store, but they are expensive.  Tackle, tool, and fastener storage from the sporting goods store or the home improvement store make great drawers or bead trays.

Plastic bins: You want them in a variety of sizes, shoe box sized and larger for your various stash.  Instead of writing on the bin use a note card and place it in the front of the bin with the contents.  As your stash evolves you can switch out the label without pealing off tape or covering over writing.  These can get pricey so you want to get the most of your money.

Shop your house: What do you have around the house that you can use?  An old dresser, book shelf, or containers?  These can be re-purposed as is or you can do a little repair and sprucing up (a great project opportunity!) to fit your craft space.  Our first apartment table is small but has been reinvented many times as desk, computer table, extra seating for large family gatherings, and craft table.  I probably won’t ever let that go.

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