Ribbon Storage

Last week I decided I couldn't live with dropping one more ribbon spool and having to wind it all back up LOL So in case it would help anyone else I'm posting a few photos of what I did with my decorative ribbon, and how I'm storing my specialty trim.

As you can probably tell I didn't take the time to iron any of the ribbon after taking it off cards and spools because I had quite a mess and just wanted to get everything hanging up. I pulled some white plastic hangers out of my closet and looped each ribbon on to them, seperating the ribbons into color families.






I can't even tell you how much easier it is to access the ribbons this way - just takes a split second to see what's there and it's so much simpler to hold individual ribbons up to my project to check color and size. Then I just cut off the length I need, not worrying about relooping to even out the ends unless I REALLY cut a lot off! I pull the hangers in and out of the closet and most of the loops actually stay tight. The problem ones are the really wide stiff ribbons but for some of those I brought one end over the hanger and used a safety pin to tack the two sides together right under the hanger rod. If you're really concerned about the ribbons sliding off eventually you could always put a piece of double-sided tape along the top ridge of the hanger rod.



I have the hangers on an over-the-door hanger to photograph but I store them in a regular clothes closet in my stamping area because they don't take up much room.



I use a plastic Iris cart for things like twill, raffia, and all sheer ribbons. Crochet thread is seperated in small baggies, one for each color, with a hole punch in the corner, and then these are strung on a hinged O ring.



Fancy style knitting fibers, etc. are on their original cards in the Iris card, and I keep all solid grosgrain ribbons on their own hanger because I bought a ridiculous amount at a close-out sale last spring (hi Laurie! ;o)

Hope this helps if you too have out-of-control ribbons in your stamp area!