Organizing craft supplies is a great way to put an end to the clutter that is causing you to have a not so organized life. Crafts can be a great hobby for you and your entire family, as long as these supplies and half finished projects don’t take over your home. While it can be tempting to leave things out so they are easy to find, eventually they become an eyesore. Not to mention, you usually end up not being able to locate those things you left out so you could find them because other things are piled on top. It ends up being a such a clutter problem that it starts to create more stress for you.
You can implement Paper Tiger Filing System Software for document management and get organized in every area of your life — not just for organizing your paper files!
Whether you have one artsy hobby or many, you are going to have supplies to deal with. This not only becomes messy, it can be a hazard. You want to be able to store certain supplies to avoid harm. For instance, you won’t want to keep your cutting tools or sewing needles out where your children or pets could end up finding them. Things such as paints or dyes should be kept out of reach to avoid small children getting a hold of them.
Usually, the best type of filing system for crafts in your organized life is storage boxes or containers. Something that is easy to move but durable, as well as able to prevent leakage, should one of those bottles of dye spill inside the storage container. Also, for materials you would like to make sure youngsters do not get a hold of without your supervision, use boxes that have a locking system in place.
Once you have sorted your craft supplies, you can box them in your selected container, then index and keep track of them by using filing system software. By numbering the boxes and using this program you can refer to it to locate your supplies. For instance, if you need to know exactly where your Sienna Red paint is, simply look it up by typing in the keywords, then you will know the storage box number to retrieve.
Let’s say for example you have craft materials for the following craft types,
-Pipe cleaner crafts
-Paper crafts
-Children’s Paints
-Clay crafts
-Cardboard crafts
-Holiday and Seasonal crafts
-Woodworking crafts
For each of these craft supplies, you have a container or two depending on the amount of each. In the filing system software, you could have a Location named ‘Crafts’. Within that Craft Location, you would type in an Item Name for your first craft type, such as ‘Pipe Cleaner’. Then in the Keywords section, type in all the different colors of pipe cleaners you have in stock and maybe even what you’ve crafted with the pipe cleaners. In addition, you might include in this keyword section (and in the box), the instructions for the crafts in which you’ve used pipe cleaners. So this might be your box #1 which would match your database Item #1. 
Your Item #2 would match your box #2, which might include Item Name ‘Paper Crafts’, and in the Keywords section, the different colors of paper you have, types of paper (card stock, construction), and instructions for different projects, etc.
Your Item #3 would match your box #3, which might include Item Name ‘Children’s Paints’, and in the Keywords section, water color sets, paint brushes, aprons, water color drawings, etc.
The great thing about organizing your craft supplies is that others can share in the filing system. If you have family members who also crochet, you can teach them how to use the same filing system software. This enables them to keep things neat and tidy, as well as find things when you are not around. Or if you work as part of an arts department, everyone will know how – and where – to find things they may need as well.
The trick is to stay organized once you have a system in place. Make sure everyone puts items back in their proper place, removes an item from the inventory list if it is used up or remembers to add an item to the filing system when it gets added to the supply inventory. This way, you can all enjoy your artistic hobbies without living with chaos. Get everyone involved. Making crafts, as well as organizing craft supplies, can be fun for the whole family.
Getting your craft supplies organized and indexed into Paper Tiger Filing System Software means you can love and enjoy your collection without it being a clutter problem and know exactly what you have and where each item is located with a quick search in the filing system database. Paper Tiger: not just for filing and finding your paper files!
Tags: craft supplies, Declutter, get organized, Paper Tiger "finding" filing system
Great post demonstrating that Paper Tiger isn’t *just* for paper!