Scraps Scraps Oh How I love my Scraps!

When you are a scrapbooker, cardmarker or into any kind of papercrafting I think it is very hard to throw away even the smallest of scraps. You never know when you might need just a piece of something and if you are like me, you hate to cut a big sheet of 12x12 just because you need a small square! So I'm saver of scraps! In the beginning, I had a terrible time deciding how to keep and organize my scraps so that I would actually find what I needed and use them! Finally, I think I found something that works well for me.

First lets cover the printed paper scraps, or, B & T (Background and Texture) as we Close to My Heart die-hards call them. I rarely buy any other printed papers anymore because I have always found what I needed from CTMH. When you buy the My Reflection Level 2 kits you get 12 sheets of B & T and 10 sheets of cardstock. I can create alot of things with a Level 2 kit but I STILL have nice size pieces of scraps left in addition to that 'itty bitty might be good for a fake button' piece. At first I was leaving everything that came in the kit within that same zip lock bag.  Even if I was down to just a few pieces.  But over time I accumulated so many 12x12 zip lock bags that contained bits and pieces of paper and cardstock I was running out of room to store!  When a new Idea Book comes out I know it is time to go through my kits.  

I will sit down and go through each kit separating the cardstock from the B & T paper. Then I sort by color groups. into the 12x12 bags.  I probably have about 12 color groups  If I have one or two full sheets of cardstock or B&T, these go to my full stacks that I keep on my shelves.

I keep the 12x12 bags in a Sterilite container that is 6" tall.  The reason I don't put them in a deeper container is because I like the way I can flip through the bags and see the papers without pulling them out to see those 'itty bitty pieces that might be good for a fake button'.

And Stickease?   I usually have a few pieces of stickease left.  What better to use them than on quick cards made from scraps of course!   So I cut down the stickease sheet leaving only the unused portion and store them in 2 zip lock bags. The bags are stored it in the front of my B &T scrap container.

Now onto my cardstock scrap storage!  I do love this solution for my cardstock scraps.   I found this really cute expanding file at Walmart a few years ago.  I think it was in the fall when all the Back to School supplies were of abundance.  This expanding file has a handle on the top and a clasp on the front.  Just close it up and go!  So easy to take to a crop!

I like this container because it has semi-clear plastic dividers which are durable. There are 19 pockets which gives me many color groupings!  I can store pieces of cardstock as large as 9x12.

I keep both my B&T scraps and my cardstock file tucked away under my scrap station for easy access from my worktable.

By the way..... recently when I was going through my latest paperpacks to sort, I FORCED myself to throw away anything smaller than a 2x2 square, including lots of 1x6 strips!   So Bye Bye 'itty bitty pieces that might be good for a fake button'!

Stay tuned for more ideas on organizing my scraproom!  

***UPDATE*****
I just reorganized all my ribbon!  
See my post HERE to see what I used!

During the week of Jan 17-23 the H2H Challenge is all about sharing your Organizational tips.  If you want to see more Organizing ideas check out the H2H Challenge Blog!

I'd love to hear how you tackle your scraps!  Leave a comment and give your best tip!