Can't live without it- part 6

Organization is key to my crafting obsession. While I may not be "organized" in the sense of everything put in order, clean or even having a craft space in one area of my house, I know where everything is. One of the hardest parts about organization is the fact that we have moved 4 times this last year and a half. I will be forever grateful to my best-friend Abby who came by my house the first time I moved and helped me pack up my fabric. Much to Russ's irritation I went and bought some moving boxes for my craft stuff. We had plenty of boxes, but I told him that I wanted all my fabric in matching boxes that were different from everything else so they were easy to separate. Abby folded each and every piece of fabric to fit in the boxes and then we labeled them. I still know where everything is because we labeled each box so specifically.

Over time I have bought clear boxes to put everything in. It just makes it easier to find things. Right now I have craft stuff in my daughter's closet, the coat closet, the kitchen, on our storage racks in the kitchen, in a filing cabinet, piled on the filing cabinet, on top of the deep freezer (that is my ironing board), stashed in a corner behind our deep freezer, on my old ironing board on our patio, in my car (the projects that I take to work) and last but not least in our storage unit. I can honestly say I am impressed everytime I think about what I want and I know just where it all is. When we first moved into this place in Feb I had everything packed into Madalynn's closet. Lol, it lasted in that closet I think two weeks before it got strewn across the house. I am grateful for a husband who seems to be ok with things spreading themselves out. It is insane.

So, last year I was carrying around this box.

It was my tool box and small supply box. It is a Christmas decorations storage box. I love the tray. It fit all of my scissors and little stuff great. However, I started to not be able to handle the fact that the lid would pop off because it didn't lock into place and I only had most of my tools in the top because they would not all fit. So I would just carry around what I needed for just that specific project and nothing else. So I started looking for a new tool box.

I bought the following tool box at home depot. It was on clearance at the time and only cost $6. I thought that that was a great price for a tool box. When I was looking for this box I decided that I needed something with:
1. A tray
2. Locking lid with a place for an actual lock so I could keep my daughter out.
3. Area's that were separate for my notions and my projects and preferably removable.
4. Sturdy but not too big or heavy

I love this tool box.
I have all my bobbins in a removable container on the top that I can either simply open or remove. While it does not have specific slots for bobbins, I just tape the ends of my bobbins so the thread does not unravel and it works great.
I have another removable container for all the other notions that I use for projects and simply never know when I am going to need them.

I have a small opening for my needles, chap stick, and other small square items.I love my tray. I have all my necessities on this tray.And...the space inside the tool box is just perfect..big but not too big that I can't fit it on the front seat of my car for on-the-go crafting or too heavy when it is full that I can't pick it up.

As part of my post I thought I would make a list of the items that I keep in my tool box. I do pull them out to use, but every night when I am finished working I try to take 5 minutes and put everything back where it goes. Here is my tool box at a glance:

Scissors: my two pair of nice ones, a pair of paper ones, rag quilt scissors, rotary cutter and replacement blades
all my bobbins,
all my sewing machine feet,
pencil, pen, fabric marking pen, chap stick pad of paper,
all my needles (hand stitching, machine needles),
my two small acrylic square rulers, hemming ruler,
my 505, my quilting gloves,
two boxes of pins, my magnetic pin holder,
white thread, elastic thread, invisible thread,
my sewing machine oil and other cleaning supplies,
my clover binding makers, magnetic snaps for making purses,
thread wax, seam ripper, measuring tape,
my gypsy (cricut designing tool) and it's power/charging cord,
projects that I am finishing,
lint brush, safety pins,
click and stick scrapbook adhesive, scotch tape,
crochet hook
bandades (for when i cut myself with my scissors :( or poke myself with a needle)
elastic, steam a seam 2
a lighter and fray check for finishing items
paint brushes and sponges
various keys (to things that I am not going to mention :) haha)
and magnets.

The only item that I wish fit in my tool box that doesn't is my acrylic cutter ruler. It would be nice if it fit, but it is ok that it doesn't.

Now, I know that everyone has their own style and way of organizing things. I probably wouldnt' have a tool box if I didn't craft on-the-go. However, most of my craft days during the summer are spent at a friends house, my in-laws cabin or simply moving rooms in my house to be with my daughter and watching her, but crafting at the same time. I would suggest to all that are looking for a tool box...don't buy the ones in the crafting stores. They are just sooooo expensive. While it is true that is the only place you can buy ones that are 12" by 12" and there are some great sales on those, find a hardware store to buy your toolboxes.

I bought these at Harbor Freight for $4.50.I have two of these and use them for my buttons and scrapbooking brads, eyelets and other small items. After buying this tool box I saw the exact same one a year later at Archiver's for almost $20. Sure the ones at Archiver's put out by Creative Options are a cute green and purple, they were exactly the same in size and function. Just do your research on what you think is the best for what you need to store and then go and buy. Check Craigslist, KSL or whatever your local online used market is first. It pays off to be patient and find what you want.

Hope that you enjoyed.