Antique Printers Drawers in the Craft Room

I've been fortunate enough to purchase two of these gorgeous printers drawers for my craft room. They are made of wood, quite shallow with lots of different sized compartments designed to hold the printers type. 

I've been told that references to 'upper case' for capitals and 'lower case' stem from the location of the drawers in which the letters could be found. I'm not sure if it is accurate but it makes sense and I like to think that it is correct.

You often see these drawers in craft rooms. They are frequently mounted on the walls and used to display little ornaments or cross stitch 'smalls' but I had other ideas.  

Regular readers will know that I've been using craftmates purple folders to store my smaller beads. I love this storage system for smaller items and limited collections. But my stash soon outgrew this storage solution.

I wanted something that would work for my whole stash and for beads of all shapes and sizes. Ideally something that would let me see at a glance what I have available for use and what would work together without having to open lots of different kinds of storage. 

I decided to use my two precious antique drawers for beads and to store them next to each other on the top of my apothecary style drawer unit to give me instant visibility of my stash. Now I don't waste any time searching my stash to see what would work together. I can see at a glance and spend the time creating! 

As I began to play around with my stash of beads I considered simply storing the loose beads in each compartment. I got the visibility that I wanted but it was really difficult to get the beads out. It just didn't work in practice. 

I needed something to store them in. Something that would not impede visibility and something that made it easy to pick up and tip out beads.

Of course I could leave them in the little resealable plastic bags that I already use but I really didn't like 'the look.'  Too messy! I wanted something that would fit into each compartment of the drawer. Something that would allow me to see how different shapes and colours worked together as well as something that I could just lift out and tip out the beads when I was ready.

Flushed with the success of my first cartonnage project, I decided to try again. This time my task was to make a series of different sized boxes to fit snuggly inside each existing compartment of each drawer. 

I am using exactly the same technique and the same white cardstock. I thought about using perspex or different coloured card but in the end I stuck with the white cardstock that I had already purchased. 

Progress is slow but I think it is worth the effort. I like 'the look' and so far it has given me everything that I was aiming for. 

This bead storage system has cost me very little and I love it!

I've even decided to add a finishing touch - a simple piece of perspex to form a transparent lid for each drawer to keep the dust out. 

I do love working in an organised space. 

DMC Thread Box Solution for those of us who use Bobbins!

I've had my gorgeous wooden DMC thread box for a while now. As an item I love it and would never part with it but in practice I find it a real pain to use. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the box it is made of wood and features five drawers and a lift-up lid that reveals compartments of different sizes. Each drawer comes with vertical dividers that can be slotted into place. Each compartment is then the right size to hold skeins. All good - except that I don't keep my thread in skeins. 

I wind my thread onto cardboard bobbins and the width of each compartment is too narrow to hold two rows of bobbins but too large to hold just one. I started to put duplicates at the side but the bobbins had a tendency to move around. This is a real pain as I store them in numerical order. It also wasted huge amounts of precious space. What to do?

I thought about reverting to my original plastic boxes or the wooden boxes that I started to use in 2014 (see early posts) but it seemed such a shame not to use the DMC box for DMC threads. 

I decided to try my hand at simple cartonnage. 

After a few false starts I designed and made a simple tray from white cardboard. I made it a few millimetres shorter than the width of the drawer and just a few millimetres wider than each bobbin. Just enough to make it easy to get the bobbins in and out but tight enough to stop the bobbins from moving around. 

I found that I could now fit 9 trays in each drawer and 20+ bobbins in each tray. Suddenly, I had enough room to store my duplicate threads and some tools in the box too... 

I'll share my step-by-step guide to making this inexpensive storage solution next time.

Craft Room Storage 

Now anyone who is familiar with my Pinterest boards will know that I absolutely adore old library catalogue storage units, antique printer drawers and apothecary drawer units. 

I've now been fortunate enough to find something similar for my craft room. 

I recently purchased an antique pine drawer unit on a well known auction site. The drawer unit is quite narrow (only 30cm deep) and stands a little less than a metre tall. It has five rows of 4 drawers and originally featured little pine knobs on each drawer but I've now replaced them with old fashioned bronze cup handles with space for labels. 

I wanted the right look for the labels and so I had some fun searching for a free typewriter font. After a few false starts I found the one I liked and made some labels...

Would you like a sneak peek inside?!

Free Craft Storage

Recently, I rescued this empty can of nuts from the recycling box. I thought that it was a nice size for craft storage. It even had a transparent plastic lid.

Now I'm not the sort of person that could just use it 'as is.' I wanted to remove the print but how? I tried a variety of products and methods without much success.

I thought about covering it with paper or fabric but I liked the plain silver as it fits with some of my existing craft storage boxes. 

I became obsessed with how to remove the print from the can. After a bit more trial and error I found that the print comes off when it is rubbed with an old fashioned wire scouring pad. It takes about ten minutes to completely remove the print from the can. The longest and most difficult bit is the lip below the lid. Underneath the tin is silver and gorgeous!

I already have three new storage containers for the craft room. The great thing is that the lids have an overlap which means that the cans can be securely stacked on top of one another. 

There's another flavour which comes with a red top. This picks up the Poppy theme in the craft room!

Now I  just have to eat more nuts and design some labels!

Storage Solution for lace and ribbons

Some time ago I was given a wooden DMC thread box with a cut out lid and a limited edition pattern that I knew I'd never sew. The threads are long gone but I still have the box. 

I've chosen a striking pattern for the lid which I am currently stitching in DMC 115. I was hoping to have it finished yesterday but I've used a whole bobbin of thread and I have about a hundred stitches left to do, arrgh!  Now I have to get some more thread before I can finish.

My plan is to store my collection of lace and ribbons on old fashioned 'dolly' pegs in the box. I've just purchased a pack of pegs for less than two pounds and last night I wound all of my lace onto the pegs.

Thread Organisation and Storage Completed!

It took me far longer than I had anticipated but I have finally finished organising my collection of threads. I am very pleased with the result. 

Every skein has been wound onto a labelled bobbin. The bobbins are stored in the wooden box by colour and DMC number. The numbers are clearly visible and selection is now quick and painless. The two boxes hold my full collection including antique effects, fluorescent effects, glow in the dark,  jewel effects and precious metal effects. 

Next task - Embroidery Frames

I have a number of embroidery frames to store. Over the years,  I've been experimenting to find something that is comfortable to use because I often suffer from back pain after a sewing session. I also like to have at least two projects on the go at any time - a large project and a smaller one.

I have a floor standing frame (currently holding my Afghan project). Not much I can do with that one! 

I also have a selection of lap frames. The most recent addition to my collection is a Siesta Lapman frame. It comes in a bag which sits on your lap and acts as a base for the frame and storage. I find it is the most comfortable to use. No more back ache. I use it for mid-size projects like my most recent collection, the lavender pillow. When I am done sewing for the evening I simply fold the frame inside the bag and zip it closed. It just looks like a laptop bag beside my favourite chair. 

The other lap frames have a wooden base to sit on and interchangeable frames, size, shape etc. The base means that they take up a lot of space to store.

There is also a circular frame on a clamp which is designed to attach to a table or the arm of a chair. I've never found this one comfortable to use. This one should definitely be retired!

Finally, I have a number of handheld ring frames. I don't find these very comfortable to use and so they are used very rarely.  I could reduce my collection by retiring some of these but before I do so, I am going to pad one to see if that makes it more enjoyable for me to use when I am stitching smaller projects. 

I've never used a padded frame so time will tell....I guess I've just identified another project for 2014!