Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Ribbon & Organization



It's a good problem to have. Ribbon. So much ribbon. A while back I ran into a problem of not having enough storage or a way to display the finery that is offered at May Arts. The Ribbonistas at May Arts decided to join together in a hop to showcase the ways we store our ribbon.


I discovered the wonders of cranberry crates-the texture, the colors. I thought how cool these woudl be for a shelving unit. Wisconsin is known for cranberry marshes (and cheese production) so it wasn't too difficult to drive down the road, stop by a marsh, and ask to purchase a couple of crates. At about $15 for three of them, I was well on my way to new shelving. With the help of a handyman, we disassembled one crate to use as shelves in the other two, and hung them side by side on my wall.






Then began the fun task to fill them up! I sort my ribbon by product line. I have silks, beads, bakers twine, burlap string, grosgrain, lace, linen...the list goes on an on! I just stack the spools on top of each other. Sometimes it gets a bit messy, but that is when I call it creativity at work!




I also have another crate with no additional shelves. It is a bit more weathered. On this crate I keep a jar of ribbon scraps and some old glass bottles sometimes used for props.

Today is the second day of the hop and I'm the last stop, please be sure to check out the links of the Ribbonistas below from yesterday (and I included the ones for tomorrow too)! As always, there are more details on the May Arts Blog too!

Monday
Candy Rosenberg
Charlene Driggs
DeeDee Catron
Emily Lanham
Erika Taylor

Wednesday
Erin Thiem
Gini Williams Cagle
Jen Shears
Jenifer Cowles
Karen Baker (me!)

Friday
Lalo IK
Leah Farrar-White
Sandy Allnock
Virginia Fynes




46 comments:

  1. Love the crates! All kinds of gorgeous ribbon!

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  2. Wisconsin & cranberries...I would have never made that connection. Love the crates and oh my, do you have ribbon! WOW!

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  3. What a great idea - these crates look fabulous alone and make a stunning display when filled with your ribbon collection!!!

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  4. what a really great idea..thank you for sharing!

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  5. The crates made beautiful shelves and the ribbon makes them even more so!

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  6. Love it!!! Makes it easy to get to!!!
    Hugs,
    Cheryl

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  7. Love your crate shelves! Great idea!

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  8. What a great idea! I love the vintage look, and the color really showcases that beautiful ribbon!

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  9. Great idea. Love all of the colors. May Arts does have wonderful ribbons.

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  10. love the rustic look of the crates!

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  11. What a great idea using crates to make shelving. Which gives me the idea to use pallets.. but that will require some disassembly and reconfiguring but not a lot. Thanks for sharing your post!

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  12. Just love this idea, Karen! Adds such character to a room!

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  13. Cranberry crates? I wish we had them in So Cal. I love this idea like you wouldn't believe.

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  14. What an amazing idea Karen! I wonder if we have something like these crates in Utah... I love the extra jars too. I have lots of those that I use for props for painting and they would be so lovely filled with ribbons :) Thanks for the inspiration!

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  15. I really like this! I have something like in mind for my craft room. My grandparents just moved into a retirement community and I ended up with a bunch of old crates. I'm plotting about how to use them as shelving after I get them cleaned up and painted(I think).

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  16. The boxes are just perfect for ribbon and twine. You are so smart, missy.

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  17. Love those boxes! And they look like so much fun all stocked with ribbon!

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  18. Awesome....What a great find. I love old crates. Their look is fantastic. Great way to have shelf's. I hope I can find something like this. That would be pretty cool.

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  19. oh my gosh, how I would love to have some of these crates in my craft room! my room is filled with vintage finds that I have re-purposed and these would fit perfectly! now to convince hubster that we need to make a bit of a road trip! tee hee! ;)

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  20. Love the rich look of your crates Karen! They're perfect for all that colorful ribbon!

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  21. Oh Karen.. I have a huge soft spot for CRATES in my heart.. This looks amazing! I might be trading in my bird cage..

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  22. They look so pretty all filled up...
    xoxo

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  23. Wow love this! I'm a long way from any cranberry bogs unfortunately. These look really sturdy.

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  24. Oh these crates are gorgeous!! Wishing I lived near you!! Thanks for sharing :)

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  25. Great repurposing of fairly inexpensive crates! Love the vintage feel.

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  26. Oh, my! Wish I could find some cranberry crates. That worked wonderfully. I love that idea.

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  27. Now that is right up my alley! Such a fabby idea and looks totally awesome too!!!

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  28. I love those crates, thanks for sharing!

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  29. wow... i am so in like with your ribbon and the display... if only i had the space...
    morentin1326((at))aol((dot))com
    adventureofthecreativemind.blogspot.com

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  30. I wonder if the cranberry bogs on the southern Oregon coast use those crates. Road Trip!

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  31. Way to upcycle, Karen! Those crates make awesome shelves---love the rustic look of them!!!

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  32. Amazing collection of ribbons and great ideas.

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  33. Six months ago, ribbon was just ribbon...who knew!

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  34. Love the crate idea and they are a great finish! t.igo

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  35. wow! Having the cranberry crates since they are used where you live is special I think... and it looks great!!

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  36. I love those cranberry crates, I love the idea for smaller scrapes in a glass jar so you can see them. Mine are coming out of the tin they are in!

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  37. I love how you show case your ribbons and recycle the crates. Great idea!

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  38. oh my gosh, all that gorgeous ribbon! beautiful stuff...i tend to hoard mine lol i went back through old blog posts and it's been awhile since i've used ribbon :S great storage idea. my inner country girl approves :)

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  39. Great recycling job! I love the look of 'old' wood, too.

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  40. Those crates are so cool and filling them with your ribbon is like creating it's own work of art!

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