Fun Studio Organization from Artistic Endeavors 101

January always makes me want to clean up and organize.

I am fortunate enough to have several creative spaces, but organization always seems to be a challenge.

Here are a couple of my favorite ways to organize.

I make my own polymer clay beads.

I love to organize them so I can clearly see what I have.

These are organized in a house shaped shadow box.

The little compartments are perfect for sorting what I have made.

I use this tie/belt rack that I got at the thrift store to hold chains and necklaces.

I used to use these printer's trays in my booth to hold necklaces, but people tangled things in them.

I decided to use them myself in the studio to organize my favorite bits and baubles.

I love that I can see what I have and easily choose components.

This fun industrial drawer unit came from Lucketts last spring.

It was my big splurge of the day.

I adore it.

Last summer I made this spinning studio organization.

All my favorite materials are readily available.

Tin cans got a new look with a coat of spray paint and some burlap.

Sugar shakers hold spools of baker's twine.

They do not get tangled and are easy to use.

All my favorite markers and pencils are finally all in one place.

This year I want to start an art journal.

This will keep all those materials at my fingertips.

The colors inspire me and make me smile.

I bought this little shelf from a closed store in town.

It only takes up a few inches of table space, yet it organizes many of my most used supplies.

My big paper punches rest on a tension rod I added.

My RIT dyes are close to the sink here and ready as soon as inspiration strikes.

Another tension rod holds spools of ribbon.

I love ribbon.

You can see how much I love ribbon.

This was my husbands brilliant idea.

We used long clear rods to hold 5 rows of ribbon.

My husband added wood strips to this storage shelf and screwed in cup hooks to hold the rods.

I also keep twine and cotton string and lace here.

This galvanized tiered rack was on clearance from Sam's last year.

I imagine it will end up holding many things, many places in my studio and home.

I try to use what I have.

What is your favorite studio storage piece?

Thanks for stopping by....

Linking up with these blogs.

Awesome Studio Storage From the Recycling Bin...

Redoing the studio gets a girl dreaming.

At least it gets this girl dreaming.

Every artist wants that Pinterest worthy, picture perfect, naturally lit dream studio.

See my Pinterest Board here:

Dream Studio Ideas

Reality is a whole different story.

Remember....

My actual studio style is....

PILES.

and

STACKS.

And 

More Piles.

But a girl can dream, right?  

Sometimes she can even do a little something about it.

Not too long ago, while shopping at Sam's Club, I found this awesome 3 tired galvanized stand back on the clearance shelves.

I was in love.

Only one left.

$24.90

Not as cheap as I would like, but reasonable.

Suddenly I remembered I might have a gift card from Christmas.

I put the stand in my cart so no one else could scoop it up while I went digging.

In my wallet.

For a card...???

Maybe?

Yes!

A $25 gift card.

My mother-in-law would be so pleased to have gotten me such a fantastic gift that I am going to like so much!

So I brought it home. 

 My husband just sort of shook his head.

It will be perfect for my studio.

Or parties.

Or on the kitchen island.

Then it sat sadly on the floor in my garage while I dreamed of a clean studio for weeks.

Now that I am organizing, it has a new home.

On my little rolling cart.

On top of the pretty new blue cutting mat my daughter bought me for mother's day.

Right now it is filled with coffee filter flowers and burlap flowers and scraps....

But I wanted more tiered stands....

So I spied a silver lazy Susan cake stand that I got at the thrift store this winter.

Among the piles on the garage floor.

I headed to the recycling bin.

And back to the garage for a couple silver plates and platters.

I began stacking and re-stacking until it worked.

Here are the before materials:

Excuse the dew on everything.  

I washed them with a hose and then left them outside overnight.

Took the photos in the morning before the dew burned off.

Next came a couple light coats of white spray paint.

Now things look like this....

I wanted everything to have a white base coat.

The cans look OK.

But I LOVE the trays...

They look just so pretty.

I almost changed my mind about using them...

I decided I will enjoy them more if they are being used every day...

Next I assembled my decorating materials:

a burlap bag, lace, images from the Graphics Fairy I printed on muslin with my printer, my glue gun, old hymn pages, some buttons and twine, a cupcake wrapper for wings, a wee bit of glitter and a couple twisted fabric flowers.

Decorating was fun once I got the burlap the right size for each can.

I just wrapped the burlap around each can and glued it in place with the glue gun.  

Then I added and glued other goodies until I liked the look.

To assemble the whole thing, I did not want to make it permanent.

So....

I got out some magnets and pried them apart.

I put several on each can to secure it to the stand.

I planned to use earth magnets for the center ones to keep them in place securely.

That did not work out as planned so I did use the glue gun to secure the center cans.

Then I wrapped twine around the glue to hide it.

Then I added my goodies. 

Bakers twine in old sugar shakers.

Markers and pens.

Pencils and scissors.

TA-DA!

Carrying this outside, assembled, was a circus balancing act.

But I did it!

I want to show you bits in detail....

I love the baker's twine shelf....

The burlap flower was added because the sugar shakers were too wide to put all of them on one shelf.

I had to make the center can slightly off-center to 

accommodate the sugar shakers...

which did not leave very much room on the other side...

So I added the little spools and it needed something above....

A burlap rose.

The bottom shelf is my favorite....

Those cans were as much fun to make as they are to look at.

And for once, I have some of my better supplies at my fingertips instead of being hidden away in drawers and cupboards.

Now I might actually use them...

Who could resist such temptation?

Each can has its own personality...

I want to let you enjoy each up close....

 I love the mica glitter and the little resin clock face I made...

The simplicity of the burlap really only needs a couple buttons to completely dress it up.

This burlap bag was so thick and soft.

My daughter is a barista and she brings me the coffee sacks when they are empty.... 

I love images from the The Graphics Fairy.  

There is so much you can do with them...

This one only needed a bit of lace.

This one is actually printed on card stock and carefully trimmed.

I got the crocheted snowflake at a craft show.

A sweet lady made them and sold them for 25 cents each.

I wanted to make her day so I bought every one on the table.

Came back a few minutes later to see she loaded the table again...

She must have had a trunk full of them under the table...

Sigh!

I defied gravity and Fate a second time by carrying the organizer inside again.

We made it!

Here she is on the now clean work table.

That's my transformed candlestick next to her.

She looked a bit undressed, so I added a necklace I made.

Such a pretty stand. 

 Who would have known its humble beginnings...?

From the recycling bin.

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My Repurposed Life