Organization For Your Creative Space: Buttons & Ribbon

Welcome back to the second installation of this new monthly feature from the My Favorite Things Design Team! The focus will always be on organization but the area and type of organization will change each month. I'm really looking forward to gradually getting different areas of my studio more organized and efficient AND seeing all the different suggestions from the team!

Buttons and Ribbon are tools of the trade when it comes to adding those finishing details to our projects and packages but they can quickly overwhelm us in volume and sheer number of color, shape, and size options. This month, the team is sharing how we manage our multitude of trimmings!

My MFT Ribbon and Buttons are stored in this wall unit organizer. When I purchased it, it was the Making Memories Embellishment Center, which I believe is no longer being produced. Michaels started producing a very similar unit under their Jetmax brand, but I'm not positive it is still available, either. It is close to my desk, within easy reach.

RIBBON

My MFT Ribbon is stored in short Mason Jars with these great Cosmo Cricket Show Toppers Ribbon Display Lids:

A few color families are stored together: Pink/Red, Orange/Yellow, Green/Blue/Violet, Neutrals. The great thing about these lids is they can be used on whatever size of jar that fits your collection or storage space. As your collection grows, switch to taller jars to accommodate larger quantities of ribbon! I labeled the tops of the jars with the ribbon color names, using my label maker:

You can see in the TOP photo above, I also have some other jars of ribbon-by-the-yard stored in this wall unit, too -- usually by type: pompom trim, lace, wide silk, etc.

BUTTONS

My button storage containers are 4" tall, 2" square plastic, also by Making Memories, to fit in their Embellishment Center. I found they fit MFT's quantity of buttons perfectly!

By laying the bottles on their sides, I can get more of them in the wall storage unit. Plus, standing up they are a little bit of a tight fit! I labeled the tops of the jars with the color name, by just printing the colors onto a sheet of sticker paper and punching them out with a 1.25" circle punch:

I suppose you could store the bottles with the lids/labels facing the front, but I like seeing as much of the pretty colors as possible, all lined up!

Since moving a year ago, my current studio space is smaller than my previous house, so the rest of my buttons and ribbon rolls are housed in an antique hutch which sits just outside my studio door:

On the bottom shelf are more containers of buttons -- some in the same 2" x 4" square plastic containers as above, and some in small jelly Mason jars, all sitting on clear acrylic 3-level spice shelves.

Rolls of ribbon are housed in Store-in-Style Ribbon Spool Stackers by Crop-in-Style. They stack nicely and the lids easily open for quick access:

More ribbon-by-the-yard is stored in here, in larger plastic jars (also by Making Memories/Michaels) -- again, by type: sheer, sheer print, metallic, velvet, etc:

My twine and Hemp Cord sits on top of my Copic marker storage units right in front of me on my desk, within easy reach:

Now that you've seen all the storage and organization, how about a project using some of these buttons and ribbon?!!

I used the new Merry Die-namics to cut silver cardstock, and then die cut the Merry with the Stitched Traditional Tag shape. Next, I applied Copic's X-Press It Double-Sided High Tack Tissue Tape to the back of the silver tag and adhered these MFT Ribbon colors behind each of the letters: Wild Cherry, Banana Split, Razzle Berry, Gumdrop Green, Blu Raspberry:

Next, I adhered the silver tag with ribbons onto a Smooth White Stitched Traditional Tag. On each of the ribbons I applied a coordinating Button, and then tied more twine and jingle bells through the tag's reinforced hole. The tag was popped up on Copic FoamTape.

Inside, I stamped a pretty sentiment I created with the new Merry Messages stamp set ... I love that you can combine words and fonts from this set to create your own perfect custom sentiments!

Finally, I added a little Gumdrop cutout tree from the new Tag Builder Blueprints 2.

Thanks so much for visiting today -- I hope you found some different/good ideas which may help in organizing your space! Be sure to check out the MFT Blog, to find a list of all the designers participating in today's organization hop -- I know you'll find a lot of great ideas!