An underachiever's guide to organizing craft supplies

Whenever I see photos of a home with toys and craft supplies tucked away in tidy little hiding places, spots that are more often than not darling to begin with (jars with ribbon accents, magazine holders covered in matching scrapbook paper), I am in awe. Also I'm jealous and a little embarrassed at my inability to produce such cute things, but mostly I'm in awe.

We don't actually have a whole bunch of crafty stuff, which I believe stems from my lifelong fear of scrapbooking. I had a talk with Santa though, and I'm pretty sure he's going to be putting a little bucket of crafty goodies under the tree this year. I hope he also puts a bottle of wine under there for me, so that I can cope with all the googly eyes and foam shapes I'll be sweeping up for the next 5 years.

I store our craft supplies in our entryway's coat closet:

Here's the same photo with craftastic labels:

That tub-o-crafts you see there? I just put it together today with a $2.50 metal tub I found at Target in the dollar spot (I lurve Target) and some canning jars I already had. Not a cute ribbon accent for miles around, friends. (It's in a closet, after all!)

We also have our own slightly-crappier version of the homework box that Chris made on her (faaaaabulous!) blog, Just a Girl.

Each boy has their own personalized box, and they love them! I keep it pretty simple; the box has crayons, pencils, and a pair of scissors -- just the basics. My kiddos are young enough that I withhold full glue stick privileges... some level of parental supervision is still required. I learned that little gem of a lesson after walking into the room to find one of my dining chairs glittering in the sunlight.

So there you have it, the rundown on my very basic, not-so-cute system to help prevent pipe cleaners and paper scraps from taking over my house.

At this point you may be asking, "Anna! What's your favorite part of the craft storage closet?"

I'm so glad you asked. It's my favorite part, and I'm sure it will become your favorite too...

Oh yes! Check out that awesome 1960's orange paint and wallpaper combo. They just don't make craft closets like they used to, friends.

Don't be jealous.