8 Inexpensive Ways to Store Craft Supplies

Guest Post by Stacie from Motherhood on a Dime

Ahhh…it truly is my favorite time of year! I love Back-to-School sales — and getting stocked up on paper, glue, scissors, and more inexpensively!!

Once you’ve stocked up, it’s time to organize all that new stuff (and the old stuff, too). It’s tempting to run out and buy some expensive new bins and carts, but you really don’t need to! Here are eight of my favorite ways to organize craft supplies with recycled, repurposed, or inexpensive items!

1)  Food containers

One of my favorite ways to store scissors, markers, or colored pencils is a powdered chocolate milk container. Also, frosting containers are the perfect size for crayons. Just make sure to label them, so you remember what’s inside!

Plastic jars (like peanut butter jars) work well because you can see what you have quite easily. If your craft items are out of reach of your little ones, glass jars are also an option. 

 

 

2)  Wipes containers

Baby wipe containers are great for crayons, stickers, glue, and many other craft items. They stack well, too. Make sure to add a label so you know what’s in them.

 

 

 

3)  Egg Cartons

For small items like wiggly-eyes, pom-poms, and beads, egg cartons are perfect! You can also sort items by color.

I use a repurposed spice rack for small craft items as well.

 

 

 

4)  Cans

I have found cans to be the perfect size for pencils, pens, glue sticks, and scissors. Make sure to put some tape around the top lip to avoid any cuts from the metal.

 

 

 

5)  Shower caddy

You can often find a shower caddy for just a few dollars. I put the craft supplies we use regularly in it, and then it’s portable. I can take it upstairs if we’re working on a project there — or back down to the basement when we’re working there. (Sometimes we even take it outside!)

 

 

6)  Popcorn tins
I store tons of our educational supplies in popcorn tins. They work well for cookie cutters, pattern blocks, and other items that take up a little more space!

 

 

 

7)  Sealable plastic bags and hangers
I have a wardrobe that serves as our main craft closet, and it has a hanging bar in it. One day, I realized I wasn’t utilizing that space, so I stuck some of our puzzles and other supplies in large zip-top baggies. Then, I used hangers with clips to hang the baggies on the rod!

 

 

 

8)  Shoeboxes (cardboard or plastic)
Over time, I’ve accumulated quite a few plastic shoeboxes. While this may be expensive if you buy them all at once, it really is pretty inexpensive if you buy a couple every few weeks or months (just make sure you get the same kind so they stack well)! You can find them at lots of stores for about $1.
Cardboard shoeboxes work well, too. Just made sure to add a label, so you know what is inside the container.

What are your favorite, inexpensive ways to store your craft supplies?

Stacie blogs about her quest to find balance and bargains at Motherhood on a Dime. You can also find her sharing simple activities for little kids over at The Amazing Mess and pinning all of her favorite crafts for kids, homeschooling, and organizational ideas on Pinterest.

18 Comments

  1. good job mommy! I am trying to find where to buy that clear shoe box that cost less than $2 or a dollar?where did you get them? thanks

    1. My local Dollar Tree often has them, especially around September and October when people start packing for Operation Christmas Child

    2. Our home depot has those clear shoe boxes for 99 cents. I bought like 30 of them at one time! :0) They are not extremely sturdy, but my kids can destroy the expensive ones equally as fast! I’m not sure if they sell them online or not.

  2. I love the idea of hanging the plastic bags! Right now we just have all the puzzles in a big tub (in the bags). I think the kids will like them hung up better! Also @ Anna I have found plastic containers and our dollar store….not the best quality so I just make sure the kids don’t play around with them but they serve the purpose of storage!

  3. I love baskets, so I keep the crayons, markers and pencils in a basket for the kids. We also have an upright dresser in our dining room that is solely dedicated to storing craft supplies and the kids’ at home learning materials.

    Mary Ellen
    The Working Home Keeper

  4. I love recycling those plastic containers! So many of them are great for storing classroom items. I use the Clorox Bleach wipes containers to store anything from pencils to pipe cleaners to popsicle sticks. I also use Cesar dog food containers when I am beading to select small amounts of beads for a project. I could see art teachers using these for distributing paint to students. One of my favorites is using CD cake boxes to store large amounts of pencils. You can see how I use them here: http://www.hungergameslessons.com/2011/01/hunger-games-pencils-make-perfect.html
    And here is the link for my Cesar trays while beading: http://www.hungergameslessons.com/2011/05/gift-how-to-for-students-teachers-staff.html

    Thanks for the tips!

  5. I bought a caddy that you’d put forks, spoons, knives, and napkins/plates in for parties (a lot are on clearance right now) and organized my “home office” supplies in it to have in the kitchen. Bills/mail goes in the big section, dry erase markers go in another, scissors/mini stapler/tape goes in another, and pencils/pens/highlighters go in the third.

    Love some of these ideas you posted! My oldest is only 16 months, but I’m sure we’ll be acquiring lots of craft supplies soon!

  6. love these ideas! I do a few of them already but lots of new ones here. esp the hanging bags b/c we may soon be converting our armoire to a closet

  7. After seeing this, I went and bought a few of the plastic clear shoeboxes and a few fabric bins. I’ve been on a roll after a summer of chaos. Thanks again!

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