Paint Storage Solutions with Deflecto®

 

Y'all it's National Craft Week - are you getting crafty? This past month I have been working really hard on getting my craft studio organized and cleaned out. I have TOO much stuff crammed in there and it is getting hard to work. I have a TON of paint. I needed to find a way to organize my paints, brushes, and supplies so that I could see everything and know what I had. I used a combo of Deflecto® Wall Mounting Bars, Stackable Caddy Containers, and IKEA Picture Ledges. So far I am loving this new system! 

This is what I was working with y'all. Now I am a Plaid Ambassador (they are an awesome company to work with) but I have been collecting paint for far longer than I have worked with them. If you've ever looked at my studio tour you will see that way back in the day I painted murals in the house using Donna Dewberry's One Stroke method. So,, yeah,,, I have a lot of paint!!

About the only empty spot left in my studio was behind the door. I had to figure out a way to utilize that space to store all that paint! Enter the Deflecto Wall Mounting Bars and Caddy Containers. I have long wanted to use the wall system in my studio and this was the perfect opportunity. 

I started by installing IKEA Picture Ledges on the way using drywall anchors. Each one of the shelves holds 42 bottles of craft paint. SCORE! Of course, once I installed them I realized I wanted to have TWO rows of paint and I wanted to have the back row of paint raised up so I could see all the bottles. I had to take a couple of shelves down and re measure! Learn from my mistakes! 

Next up I installed four wall mounting bars - three to the side and one above. I really wanted to maximize my storage here. I measured my longest paint brush and spaced the bars far enough apart so that I would have space for those long brushes no matter where I put them. I used a combination of Small, Medium, and Large Containers, removing the lids of each one. They come on and off the wall mounting bar very easily. You can take them off the bar and straight to your work area. 

Next up was sorting all those supplies! I grouped paint brushes by use and size in the Small Containers. I also threw in some other random supplies that fit perfectly in them. The Medium Container is even large enough to hold my paint pallets keeping them right where I can see and grab them when needed. 

I needed a spot to store all my paint stencils and a Large Container was perfect. 

ALL of these supplies fit easily into the one Large Container! Talk about using your space wisely!! It is so easy to pull the container off the bar, sit it on my desk, and pick the perfect one for my project. 

Look how beautiful that is! All those brushes, sorted into bins so I can grab what I need without digging through a bucket. 

Here is a look at the final project - all my supplies stored neatly and in minimal space. With room left over for my rolly cart too! 

The containers are part of the Stackable Caddy System. This is such a great way to carry your supplies with you when you travel to crops or other events. They can be used for so much more than craft supplies too; baking, kids toys, in the bathroom, in the dorm room, etc. They are one of my favorite pieces of storage!

 

This is a sponsored post.  As a member of the Deflecto Design Team I have been provided product and compensation in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions.

Be sure to take a look at the Deflecto Pinterest page for more great storage solutions. 

My Favorite Scrapbooking Storage Supplies

I get asked all the time what my favorite supplies are. It is so hard to narrow it down to my absolute favorites so I am sharing a few of my favorite storage items first. Since scrapbooking is my main gig as a crafter I am going to focus on those items I use for creating and storing my 12 x 12 pages.

Let's start with albums. Many years ago I switched to the We R Memory Keeper 12 x 12 Albums.  I love these! I had been using another brand but found after a few years that they DID NOT hold up well. They would shift with the weight of the pages inside. So I switched over to the 3 Ring 12 x 12 WRMK albums. I have been using these about 10 years now and I have not had one single problem. I have one color for each subject; Holiday, Vacation, Family, Each of my daughters, etc.

Next up is photo storage. I have 4 of these and I love how easy it is to find the photos I am looking for! In the front of each inner holder I keep an index card where I record the subjects in that holder. On the front of each outer holder I label the box loosely by subject as well. One if for family, one for vacations, one for my Girl Scout photos, etc. It is so easy to grab a box, toss it in my bag, and head out to crop.

Cropper Hopper Vertical holders is where I store all my papers. I have TWENTY FIVE of these to hold my papers. I arrange cardstock by color and patterned paper by manufacturer. I also have specific holders for each holiday and special events (like vacation). These are super easy to transport - just pick the whole thing up and drop it in your tote. You are ready to roll!

Next up are my Deflecto Caddy Organizers. Y'all. You absolutely need these. They are the best thing EVER for hauling all your stuff to a crop. Be prepared to defend them - people are going to want to steal them from you. There is also a wheeled base so you can stack all your caddies up and roll them right on in. You can buy these individually or you can buy the bundle that includes 3 caddy units and the wheeled base!

I have an entire wall of these beauties. They are AMAZING for storing lots of little bits and pieces. And you can SEE everything that is in them. The individual bins come out of the wall unit so you can take it to your work table. Each wall unit is the same length, so you can hang the on the wall in any configuration you want.

That about takes care of storage. I will follow up with a post on my favorite creative supplies.

Buttons, buttons, who loves buttons??

It is no secret that I love buttons. I have a serious button fetish. I collect them everywhere I go.  Storing my button collection has become a small problem. Mason jars have been my go to for some time,, but then I stick them on the shelf and they are hard to access. I have lots of little plastic storage bins and while those make the buttons easy to see- it is hard to get just the one set of buttons you want out of the bin. I generally end up dumping half of them out on my workspace 😑 

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Enter the Deflecto® Craft Tilt Bins. Y'all. These things are the bomb. The best. Amazing. Seriously right up there in my top three storage pieces with my Alex drawer units from IKEA and my Ribbon Ring.  I have a WHOLE WALL of these bins and I store everything in them. 

The individual bins come out of the holder so you can carry it to your work area, then they just pop right back into place. This is more handy than you think and once you get used to this feature you will wonder how you ever lived without it. There are times when I have several of the individual bins on my work table so that I have access to multiple embellishments. But there is NO mess because each item is contained in it's own little bin! Perfect!!

The bins tilt forward and then hold in place so you can grab an item or two. They will stay in this position until you push them closed. 

 I decorated the front of my bins with some Translucent Glitter Vinyl from StyleTechCraft™. When I applied the glitter I wanted to make sure that they were all evenly spaced across all five bins. So I pulled out a roll of washi tape and applied a strip across the bottom of each bin to line my vinyl up.

 

Each Craft Tilt Bin interlocks with the units above and below it for stability. The Craft Tilt Bins come in a variety of sizes from teeny tiny bins to really large bins - but the length of each set is standard so they will all stack neatly. 

To see more great products from Deflecto be sure to check out their webpage. 

Happy Spring Flower Bucket

It is officially spring! That means flowers are soon to be blooming in the garden. To keep the spring feeling going all year round I made a bucket of spring flowers to keep on my desk using a Deflecto Stackable Cube Organizer. 

This post may contain affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase I will receive a small commission at non extra cost to you. 

I used some pattern paper that I had on hand I inked the edges of all the papers using VersaMagic ink. I added some layers on the front piece and used my sewing machine to adhere everything together. I love using my sewing machine on my paper projects! These super cute letters are Joy Iron on Embroidered Letters - they are made for use on fabric but I use them on all sorts of projects including paper.

Add some floral foam inside the cube. This piece has been up cycled from a floral arrangement the hubs brought me a few months ago. I am not a hoarder- I swear I am not. 

 To make the flowers I used hot glue to adhere craft sticks to the backs of fabric flowers. I used single layered flowers and put several together to make these. Any flowers you have on hand would work. 

Adhere the papers to all sides of the cube. Cover the floral foam with paper crinkles (the Dollar Tree is a cheap place to pick these up!) and insert your flowers into the foam. Add a ribbon to the cube and you are done! I am also going to decorate some pencils and add to the cube - I think those would be so cute!

The Open Stackable Cube Organizer is a fabulous addition to your craft room and can be used for so many things! If you have more than one they clip together on the sides so they are secure on your shelf. Check them out here.
 

Super Mom Treat Holder

 This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase I will receive a small commission, however the price you pay is not affected. 

Mother's Day is right around the corner and we all know a Super Mom who deserves a treat. This fun Treat Holder made using the Deflecto® 2 Drawer Stackable Cube Organizer is just the thing to brighten that Super Mom's day. Fill it with some fun treats and you have a ready made gift.

I started by grabbing one of the hundreds of 6 x 6 paper pads I have in my studio. Don't judge, you know you have a bunch too. They are the perfect size for decorating this line of fun storage cubes. Just a slight trim and the paper fits perfectly!

I used an Eileen Hull die from Sizziz for the label on top of the cube, layering two of them with foam tape in between for some added dimension. I inked the edges of all the papers before adhereing to the cube.

I used a variety of flowers to trim the label on top. These are all from I Love Roses - they have great products if you have never used them before! I adhered everything down using a low temp hot glue gun - super quick and easy.

For the front of the drawers themselves I added more patterned paper from the same 6x6 pad and more paper roses to finish the project off. I filled it with some tasty chocolates and it is ready to go!

The Best Marker Storage Ever!

Hi everyone! Today I want to show off the new Interlocking Marker Organizer from Deflecto. This is seriously the BEST marker storage ever. I have a LOT of markers. Really. I am always looking for a great way to organize and store them. These are amazing!

You can fit 6 of the marker units in one Stackable Caddy Organizer. They are interchangeable with the clear bins so you can customize your storage. The Stackable Caddy sets use the "lift and lock" feature so you can just grab the whole stack and go. They are perfect for going to crops or retreats.

I have the full set of Tombow markers and storage for these has always been an issue. Because the inserts are a soft, flexible, material, I am able to fit TWO of these slim markers into each slot!

Since the inserts are flexible you can also fit big FAT markers in them! We all have that one set of giant markers that won't fit in anything, right? Well, guess what? They went right in there!

The inserts also work beautifully on your desktop. The dovetail design allows you to interlock the units together in pretty much any configuration. You can stack them up in towers, even make bridges with them. Whatever takes your fancy.

Did I mention interchangeable? Here I used 3 marker units and two clear containers. Fair warning - if you take your Stackable Caddys to a crop, be prepared to defend them! Everyone will want them.

New Years Organization and Storage

It's a brand new year and if you are like me that means you have been bit by the organization and storage bug! The new year means a fresh start for me and I like everything to be clean and organized. The amazing products from Deflecto® are perfect to get your craft room in order.

I used the 4 Drawer Stackable Cube Organizer to hold some bits and pieces that I use frequently but are odd shaped. The drawers remove and go right to my work surface for easy access.  I used a punch to add labels to the front of each drawer.

I used another Stackable Cube Organizer to hold a collection of envelopes and tags. I love to make journals and I collect odd pieces to include in them. These little bits are hard to keep neat looking but the Open Cube keeps them contained and looking pretty on my desktop!

I also have a set of the Interlocking Stacking Tower Organizers here - I have separated them and am using them to hold my brushes, pens, and other supplies.