Storage Solutions: Tool Carousel

Crafters have lots of tools, and I am certainly no exception. I've spent many years being frustrated with options for storing those tools. If they were out on my desk, they were often taking up way too much room, but if they were neatly sorted into bins, I would never use them!

Then one day, I was browsing Michaels (like you do), and I found this amazing and adorable lazy Susan/carousel thing!

I immediately brought it home and started playing. I have collected many little buckets and jars over the years, so I just popped some of them onto the carousel and started organizing.

One bucket holds all the adhesive I use on a regular basis; tape runners, glue pens, liquid adhesive, and a small roll of foam tape. Specialized adhesive (like glue dots and my sticker maker) are in bins on my shelf - if I need them, I know where to find them.

Another bucket holds all my crafting tools. Several scissors, a bone folder, hole punch, poke tool, Quik-stix, X-acto knife, tweezers, and a brayer. These are tools I reach for very frequently. Again, the tools that I don't use often or that have a very specific purpose (like eyelet setter or a stapler) are in bins on my shelf.

Turning the carousel a bit, I get to my paint brushes. I put them in a small mason jar so they'd stand up straight. I know I'm not supposed to store wet brushes pointing up like this (the water can seep down and rot the wood from the inside), but I only put them in here when they are dry. I let them dry on their sides on my desk. I just don't want the brush tips to get bent if I put them into the jar pointing down.

I also have a mason jar with pens and markers. I don't have a lot of markers, so I only need the one jar.

The back of the carousel holds some misc items that I use regularly, but have never found a good place for. My branding stamp, some post-it notes, my CM corner rounder, some business cards, and my small lenses for my phone camera.

I love this carousel! I love the color and the little birdy in the middle, even if I don't see him that often because he's hiding behind all my tools.

It holds a ton, but because it's raised off the desk on a small foot, it doesn't take up that much real-estate. Check out how clean my crafting desk is! What you don't see is the pile of work that got put on the floor for this photo. :-)

I got the carousel at Michaels, the buckets at Target, and the mason jars from my local grocery store.

So how do you store your tools? Is it working for you?

Happy Crafting (and organizing)!