tinkgumby Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 As a homeschooler, you want your kids to have lots of access to creative materials, right? I sure do, but I probably go overboard. I have plenty of arts and crafts supplies of my own, and my sister just gave me two giant boxes more! What do you to to organize all kinds and sizes of paper, drawing and coloring and painting supplies, as well as things like felt and googly eyes and pom-poms and fabric and buttons and craft kits and wood scraps and so on? I own a cabinet just for homeschooling books, but I'm starting to wonder if I need a second one just for all this stuff! I'd love to hear your thoughts/solutions! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Mungo Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I shove all arts and crafts supplies in a cabinet and purge when it my husband starts complaining about them creeping out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trivium Academy Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 Over the door shoe organizers, there is a "craft" one that has bigger pockets too that I've seen somewhere but I don't know where. I also have this wonderful drawer system that allows items that are not for everyday to be stored up and away from little hands who play with what they see as well as allowing the items to be easily accessible to responsible users. http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2008/04/learning-room-revamp.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fruitful vine Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I shove all arts and crafts supplies in a cabinet and purge when it my husband starts complaining about them creeping out. :iagree: I've tried to organize. It never works! I just have lots stuff separated in zip-lock bags thrown in a box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frontier Mom Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I built a craft book case a few years ago when I saw it in Family Fun. Basically, I got an old bookcase without a back. I put cup hooks on each end for cover-ups (I use old men's shirts). I got dishpans for the bottom shelf and rubbermaid with lids for other items. I labelled them and stacked them on the shelves. This has worked great for years. We have one place for paint, chalk, markers, etc. and it was easy to put away. Here's a link and scroll down. It is an old bookcase I painted white and it even held our fish tank. Craft Holder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandra314 Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I use two storage organizers on wheels that I can roll out when I need to. I use clear plastic containers that I get at the Dollar tree to store brushes, fingerpaints, glue, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kay in Cal Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I have one dedicated bookcase in our school area.. it's a floor to ceiling Ikea IVAR bookcase. Crafts that take adult supervision with my boys (lots of collage things--eg macaroni, sequins, foam pieces, shells, etc; finger paints; big bottles of tempera paints; playdough and lots of supplies) are higher up, in large labeled bins by category. That stuff they need to ask me to hand down so they can play. Starting mid way down the shelf are smaller drawers with little items--scissors, markers, rulers, tape, glue, stickers, colored pencils, chalk, crayons, etc. All are in those small three-drawer rubbermaid type things with the drawers labelled. Then there are two shelves with paper--coloring and activity books, writing paper, construction paper, etc. The bottom shelf is "found" craft items like tubes, boxes, etc. Everything they can reach they can pull down as they like. My 4 year old is my art boy; he's in an out of the craft materials all day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 I want to do this one for us: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=11670 Of course, that's on my neverending 'to do' list, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Closeacademy Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 We use those platic draw things for the supplies that I want the dc to have access to all the time. I put the drawers under tables and such so that they are out of the way and can be easily covered with a tablecloth if we have company. For stuff that I want to only bring out for special projects, I group things by type into baggies and have them in a large plastic box. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elegantlion Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 "organizing" and "creating" are two words that just don't work together in my house. :lol: Just kidding, but it's hard to put use both sides of my brain at once. Hence the creative supplies are organized by the 10-year-old. He sorts markers, colored pencils, and crayons into their own plastic boxes. He has different art notebooks for each type of art, one just for Star Wars pictures, one for nature study. Then he just throws them all up on a shelf in no particular order. It looks like they might topple over at any moment. The organizational gene he gets from his dad, the throw it up on the shelf is from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer in NH Posted May 21, 2008 Share Posted May 21, 2008 As a homeschooler, you want your kids to have lots of access to creative materials, right? I sure do, but I probably go overboard. I have plenty of arts and crafts supplies of my own, and my sister just gave me two giant boxes more! What do you to to organize all kinds and sizes of paper, drawing and coloring and painting supplies, as well as things like felt and googly eyes and pom-poms and fabric and buttons and craft kits and wood scraps and so on? I own a cabinet just for homeschooling books, but I'm starting to wonder if I need a second one just for all this stuff! I'd love to hear your thoughts/solutions! :D I am supposed to organize that stuff????:confused: oh dear, oh dear...it is everywhere! Seriously, my system seems to be a litle thing I like to call organized chaos! I have a craft cabinet in the basement and I have stackable basket things in the library full of paints, scissors, glue, felt, googly eyes, cardboard, old toilet paper rolls, cotton balls. Then the closet in the office has a bunch of contruction paper and I keep cardstock in the file cabinet...okay, i need a system to figure out my system...I am no help here at all. We have way too many craft and art supplies to keep in one, convienent, place! sorry I can't really help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tinkgumby Posted May 21, 2008 Author Share Posted May 21, 2008 Thanks for all the responses! I especially loved that link to the Family Fun Craft Center (though I think mine would have to be at least twice as big) . . . I'm leaning towards getting some nice deep shelves and doing the bin/bucket solution (I'm not organized enough for baggies, sadly . . . if it's too much effort to put away, it doesn't get put away!). I also like Kay's system where the things in reach are fair game, and out of reach they have to ask for. To the drawing board! :seeya: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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