Monthly contributor post from Jenn at The Purposeful Mom:
Kids’ craft supplies can completely take over your house if you’re not careful! In our old house, my children’s craft items were crammed into various cupboards and drawers and of course as a result, we couldn’t find anything when it was needed.
When we moved, I made it a goal to have a central location for the glue, glitter and crayons so they could be found and used. I chose an inexpensive cabinet with a couple of shelves and cupboard doors on the bottom and utilized some ideas (both my own and that I had found online) to keep things organized. I wanted to share these ideas with you in hopes that they will help you find frugal organization solutions for your craft supplies too!
Repurpose Kitchen Items
I love this Repurposed Spice Rack Craft Supply Organizer that Stacie made! If only I had saved my old spice rack from college…..you could probably easily find one at a thrift store, or just ask a friend if they have one sitting around!
Baby Wipes Containers
There are a lot of ways you can use baby wipe containers to store craft supplies, but the best is to use them for markers and crayons because they are the perfect length and height to fit a lot inside! Works especially well for large groups of children. I honestly think the Pampers or Huggies containers work the best.
Hanging Organization for Art Projects
I love this idea for using curtain rods and clips for paintings or drawings. I really would like to incorporate this into our home once I find a nice spot to do so!
Decorate Shoe Boxes for Craft Storage
We recently moved and I set up a bookshelf in a corner of our living room to keep all of our craft supplies. I wanted to be very frugal in my storage solutions, so I simply decorated some kids’ shoe boxes with this chevron contact paper: Self Adhesive Shelf Liner – 2 Pack – Rugby Chevron Graphite – Measure 1.5′ H x 10′ L (style# M-79820)
Magazine Boxes
I bought some inexpensive magazine boxes from Ikea (5 for $1.99) and have been using them to store coloring books, construction paper and our dry-erase books, similar to this photo.
Use Mason Jars for Organizing
I heart mason jars. Hundreds of uses that also give a stylish look to our homes! Becky from Clean Mama uses the combination of a shower caddy and glass jars for organizing pencils, pens and other art supplies–great for a homework or homeschool area!
Try Egg Cartons for Painting Projects
Styrofoam egg cartons work wonderfully for painting projects! We use the cardboard cartons to sort beads for jewelry making for my 7 year old daughter!
Over the Door Shoe Organizer
These over the door shoe organizers can usually be found for about a dollar or two at most stores and are very useful for small space organization. They would work great in a homeschool room or school classroom too!
Use Craft Boxes and Decorate for “Hidden” Storage
As I was organizing my craft bookshelf, I knew some of our items would need to be in the open because of space. So I bought some very inexpensive burlap boxes on clearance at Michaels and decorated them with some chevron burlap I already had as well as jute twine. That was I could just set them on the open shelf and no one will ever know that they house brightly colored pom poms and foam stickers!
Make a DIY Pencil Pouch
I thought this was a cute idea from Martha Stewart Living (ideas for making pencil pouches abound on Pinterest). My son is constantly losing pencils so I could make one and label it with his name!
What are your best ideas for organizing craft supplies?
Be sure to check out our 10 Days of Organizing Your School Supplies, too!
Jenn is a daughter of the King, happily married to her college sweetheart and mom to four wonderfully spunky children. She spends her time taking care of her home and family, coaching a speech team, blogging and dreaming up more ideas than there are hours in the day. She shares her thoughts on staying debt free, raising children of character and living a life of intentional faith one day at a time at The Purposeful Mom.
Jenn is also the author of God’s Word in My Heart: A Scripture Learning Guide with Memory Verses.
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