Punches, punches- How to store
 

I have recently been working at reorganizing all of my supplies. I have not been papercrafting for several years and I REALLY want to get back into it.

I have several punches- in about three different styles. I have the Martha Stewart punches, the old retired style of Stampin' Up punches, and the flat punches. With so many different styles I am finding it difficult to come up with a good way to store and organize them so I am not running to several spots in the room to find something.


Any great organization tips you would suggest?

Don't know how great this is.....but I have two of the flat punch storage units the nice wooden ones---my SU whale tail punches are in a three drawer wire rolling cart that I originally purchased for other purposes in a semi organized way ( all circle, square, oval punches are in top drawer, seasonal ones in the second drawer(think hearts, bells, so forth) and anything else is in the third drawer. I only have a few MS punches and they are the edger/boarder type and they sit on top of the wooden storage. My SU edger punches that are whale tail also sit on that space.--

I'm doing research on reorganizing my craft space, too. I decided to use the IKEA towel racks since it will work for the MS border punches as well as SU! ones. Plus I want to see them displayed. I couldn't post the pic, but there's one in the link below.

Craft Storage Ideas: Clever Ways to Get Organized

I have mine on curtain rods. I have three of them on one wall. I like being able to see my punches and quick access to them when I want to use them. I just bought my rods at Target for like $3.50 each.

Mine are in a shoe organizer that hangs on the back of the door. My desk is next to the door, so the punches are only a step away when I want to use them.

I got extra pegs and some "craft wood" from Walmart to make extra shelves for one of their media towers (intended for DVDs and CDs) to put most of my punches on:

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.spl...c7e03f9a7e.jpg


I have it on top of a bookcase in the guest room closet (where many of my supplies are, since my "studio" is also the guest room...) The Martha Stewart punches are two deep - mostly the corner punch behind the coordinating border punch for the Punch Around the Page sets. I also have a handful of Fiskars border punches in a drawer.

This morning I took a pic of my curtain rods with punches. I am also including the other spot I have punches stored and that is on the front of my rolling file cart that contains paper. I put the ones I use more on the cart as the cart sits by my work area when I am working.

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.spl...7dabfee1c8.jpg


https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.spl...aef9cea444.jpg

I have all of mine in an Ikea Raskog. But I don't sort by type of punch (whale tale, new EK/SU, or Martha) Instead I sort by basic shapes, unique shapes, and borders and corners. I still have room on the cart for more, but I'm not buying any at all right now. I've sold some, and have more in my sale box.

I have my punches in the bottom three drawers of my IKEA Alex rolling drawer cart. I put the puffy shelf liner stuff in so they don't slide around, since I have them kinda organized the way I want them.

Do any of you who use IKEA rods or other curtain rods store the smaller profile punches that lock closed, like the ones EK Tools sells? Or are they too small? An example: https://www.amazon.com/EK-Tools-Circ...5+circle+punch

Thanks!

Love the idea of using the drawers in the Alex! All of my punches fit into those except the really large ones! Perfect for my needs! Thanks!

Bjeans,
I don't have that style - you can see from my pic above I do have some that were slimmer if you closed them. Those work because they were border punches and therefore have edges that go behind the curtain rod and I don't close them up. From the link you included I don't think that style would work as there is nothing to tuck behind the rod so they would just slide through or if they were too thick to slide through would precariously sit on top of the rod. I do have some punches that I cannot put on the rods because they were too thick of handles or no edges to stick behind the rod. Those few punches are in a drawer. Hope this was clear. Bottom line--to use the rods you must have some part of the punch that is able to go below the rod and part of it to sit on top of the rod otherwise they will bounce off and fall and break or gouge your floor...not that I have any experience in that dept! ha

Thank so much, ha. I had a feeling what you describe would be the case. The small punches do open up but most likely not enough. I don't have all that many and what I'm doing now semi-works, actually - all but a massive one on a Tim Holtz metal spinner "thing" with compartments in my supply closet. It was slightly dented so I got it for about $5.00. I just thought to use it for something else and like the idea of having them out.

P.S. My sympathies for your punches and/or floor. ; )

My husband built this for me about 5 years ago. I got the idea for it from someone on this forum. I wish I could remember who it was to give them credit for the idea. We used some scrap wooden clothes rod and 1x4 to make it. I just measured my punches and ribbon. The rod at the top for ribbon is closer to the wall then the rod for the punches.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.spl...df47946393.jpg

I have a bookcase in my craft room that I use for various supplies but the one shelf is for punches...the flat SU ones that lock and for the very tiny punches. I used those white coated wire portable shelving that you would use in your cupboards for dishes. Bought them at the discount store. They're also used for spice and they work perfectly to layer your punches yet you can still see and pick up one without moving another! I used the dowels for the whale tale punches and put the border punches on the shelf that it's attached to. Bought those at Michaels.

I keep mine in Sterilite latch top boxes. Sterilite Large Clip Box, Set of 6 : 1963 Clip Boxes

Like I said above, I have my punches in a raskog cart. But my other choice for storage would be like this:

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.spl...8f4ae68852.jpg

I had even measured out everything and drawn a plan for my son to make for me that fit all my punches. They would be stored by size on those shelves, and the pictures could be seen on every punch. None of the stamps would be stacked so the access is easy, and the storage space is maximized.

Actually I do use the IKEA towel bars to store my punches like these flat ek success/Stampin! Up! ones. I open the punch and it rests perfectly on the towel bar. For the really little punches, I have a wire basket from IKEA that hangs on the towel rack beneath the racks.

I mounted my IKEA bars on a piece of wood first - to avoid having so many holes in my wall. This way I was also able to drill through the wood into the studs for strong support. Will try to remember to post a picture when I get home.

My version...
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.spl...ba20f4d697.jpg

Here is my punch storage set up using the IKEA towel bars.
https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.spl...ddc4fb642e.jpg

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.spl...10db2500b0.jpg