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I save the plastic bags that embellishments and kits (and everything) comes in. They are usually resealable, like sandwich bags.
I have probably 100 of these bags, all different sizes. I don't just save them - I use them.
What I don't know how to do is organize them in a reasonable manner.
How would you store 100 baggies ranging in size from teeny ones that hold beads to large ones that hold 12x12 paper and more. I am looking for SIMPLE RETRIEVAL.
I also save plastic bags and keep all but 12 x 12 in a drawer in an Isis 3 drawer unit, roughly organized by size. The 12 x 12 I keep with my 12 x 12 patterned paper since I usually only have 5-7 of this size.
Mine are NOT organized but I would like to have them flat in a drawer. Smaller sizes could probably be separated within a drawer but if they are not flat it is an unruly mess!
I am blessed to have a lot of space AND a stamp drawer unit I no longer use. (The kind that had thin shelves that held wood-mounted stamps. Like printer trays, or architectural drawing trays.) I put the bags in six of those drawers. Each bag size has its own very clear drawer or drawer section. I am still waiting to see the ideas here but meanwhile this feels right. Thanks for your inputs. Lela
Do you just patiently stack and retrieve them in size order?
Do you ever get impatient and then the sizes get all out of order?
Do you attach like sizes in some way (binder clip or other method)?
Thanks.
L
Quote:
Originally Posted by DianeinSparks
I also save plastic bags and keep all but 12 x 12 in a drawer in an Isis 3 drawer unit, roughly organized by size. The 12 x 12 I keep with my 12 x 12 patterned paper since I usually only have 5-7 of this size.
Do you just patiently stack and retrieve them in size order? - no, I put them in the drawer roughly in order small to large
Do you ever get impatient and then the sizes get all out of order? All the time, but I try to re-organize them when they get too out of order.
Do you attach like sizes in some way (binder clip or other method)? No, I tried keeping the smallest bags in a larger bag, the medium bags in an even larger bag but then I had to open all the bags to get them out and that was too much trouble.
Diane
I stack the smallest bags together, put them as a stack, laying flat, into a larger bag. I do this with each size. If the stack is larger than any of the bags that I have available, I fold the entire stack in half and slide it into whatever bag comes closest to fitting. That way each size is corralled like-with-like and easy to find. I have a catch-all bin with extra page protectors, laminated sheets and the like, so I have the bags there, as well. Since the bags are clear, I can see at a glance which size I want and retrieve it easily. I also separate the zip-lock-type bags from those with a sticky strip to reseal...
I only keep ziplock bags though. Then they are stored in only two sizes of zippered storage bags (quart and gallon), smaller bags in quarts, larger in the gallons. Then stored in a drawer in my sterilite drawers in my closet. I don't have a lot.
I sort mine by size then fold & put them in a bag that same size, wrinkles/creases don't bother me. I then put all of my sorted bags in to a large clear zipper bag that linens came in. It has a small hook on top that I can use to hang it up but mostly I just leave it sitting on a shelf which I'm able to do because the bottom is square. There is even a small pouch on the inside that used to house package info that I now put those really tiny zip bags I've saved into.
The smallest bags are on edge in a SmartStore classic insert - 25x11x7 cm, which is 9.8 x 4.3 x 3 inches. The Container Store sells (sold?) them, 3 in a pack and I use them all over the place - even in the kitchen for olive oil bottles, etc., so I can just wash it instead of the shelf getting oily/dirty. In the link, if you select the one with the 25x11x7.5 dimension the correct photo will pop up.
I put larger bags into a bag larger than they are. Right now they're all in a bin that fits into an Expedit cube along with not-often used supplies like Press 'n' Seal. But they're made to fit into bins tand there are many insert sizes for them.
The two Container Stores near me always put these 3-packs of inserts in a different place - kids' supplies - rather than with the rest of the SmartStore items. They also have a double tray (really more like a box). There are lots of permutations.
I save every clear bag which comes into my possession (and I'm given some, as well), so I have hundreds. I keep them in a clear polythene carrier bag, which I can hang on a handle in my craft room. Three categories (polythene, grip-top [zip-lock] and cellophane), each stored in a large bag, and very small/long as well. Polythene sub-sorted into small, medium and large each in their own bag within the large bag. Grip-top sorted by sizes - which tend to be fairly uniform - each in their own bag within the large bag. Cellophane sorted into square, rectangular and long, each in their own bag within the large bag. Very small in a suitably-sized bag and long in a bag, together in a bigger bag. So there's only four bags in the carrier and a minimum number of bags within that you have to go through to get the size you want. The exception is the small grip-top bags, which I keep in a fruit punnet (useful things, fruit punnets) within grabbing distance of where I work - useful for tiny things which 'arrive' from day to day, to avoid them getting lost before they're put away. 12 x 12 bags are a different matter: they're stacked on the shelf underneath my 12 x 12 hanging folder trolley.
As new bags come in, they're put in a smaller carrier bag, hanging by where I work, and every so often I sort them into the big carrier bag.
If cellophane bags have an un-removable label, I tuck them in my to-do box, ready to put in the elements for a card or other project. A4 paper and cardstock will need a large polythene or cellophane bag if it's not to be filed away or is destined as a to-do. 6 x 6 cardstock needs its own bag, once you've started cutting into it and there are scraps left which you don't want to lose. Just three uses for bags, so well worth keeping them, especially if you are crafting on a budget. And if you're selling or giving your cards, so much nicer in individual bags, whilst not spending extra money and recycling, too.
Two things:
I buy bags at times to store other craft stuff like beads. So there are those and they are in a shoe box by size in the bag they came in.
The other is like you, I save the good bags from product-those misc ones I just have in a gallon size ziplock loose. I am in and out of it constantly and it is very easy for me. I like that bc they can be a size I dont normally use so would not buy a 100 of.
The 12x12 are the exception. Those are rolled up with a gentle rubber band and left with my DP bc the only time I use it is either for *super* special paper/shedding glitter that I dont want to let go of.... or to send some to a friend.
I�ve recently started storing my extra bags vertically and it�s SO much easier. I use one of those inside-the-cupboard-door baskets that hang just like the standard over-door contraptions, but narrower. My cupboard door is hip height, so the basket is easy to access and flip through the bags to see what I need. Small bags are collected by size inside larger bags so they don�t get lost.
I keep almost all of my "original packaging" in the SU wood mount cases. You can cram a lot in them and since it's all flat, it doesn't matter how much you squish it. I think I have 2 that are full of the baggies, the plastic sheet the stamps come on and the occasional tissue or this-n-that that I feel like saving. I have 1 that just has the plastic boxes that PTI sets came in - all flattened out, but I don't save those anymore.
__________________ "For the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack" ~Rudyard Kipling my gallery
I�ve recently started storing my extra bags vertically and it�s SO much easier. I use one of those inside-the-cupboard-door baskets that hang just like the standard over-door contraptions, but narrower. My cupboard door is hip height, so the basket is easy to access and flip through the bags to see what I need. Small bags are collected by size inside larger bags so they don�t get lost.
I'm going to ask a dim bulb question. I save a few plastic bags that come my way, because I rarely use them. I don't do any beading, and the only beads I have are micro beads for shaker cards and they stay (for the most part, unless I'm having one of THOSE days and I spill them) where they are supposed to -original packaging or the well of a shaker card. So, inless I am storing bits and pieces for a future card project, which I'm pretty particular about, and there is reason this cannot just go straight into a stufftainer, I just don't use a lot of these.
So...where do you all use 100 of these?
__________________ The future is uncertain, because love changes everything!
I'm going to ask a dim bulb question. I save a few plastic bags that come my way, because I rarely use them. I don't do any beading, and the only beads I have are micro beads for shaker cards and they stay (for the most part, unless I'm having one of THOSE days and I spill them) where they are supposed to -original packaging or the well of a shaker card. So, inless I am storing bits and pieces for a future card project, which I'm pretty particular about, and there is reason this cannot just go straight into a stufftainer, I just don't use a lot of these.
So...where do you all use 100 of these?
Not a dim bulb question at all...
Most of the time when I re-use one of my bags it's for a non-crafty reason, but they are such handy sizes that I grab one for other things I need to take to work or on a trip or to send something somewhere. It's still early and I'm still on my first cup of coffee, so no specific uses are coming to mind, but there's that...
Wait - thought of one: I do put scraps of dp in them, one pattern per bag (stripes in one, floral in another, etc.), which is a crafty thing, so I semi, sort of told a fib...
I use them - especially little draw string bags from Studio Calico from a while back - when going to a class at an LSS or once a year at a Stamp & SB Expo class. Liquid glues always go in a ziplock. Now and then I need to keep small items temporarily in something. When donating items, like items are put in plastic bags - markers, a stamp/die set, a bunch of embellishments, other supplies that logically go together, sometimes with a note indicating what they are. Non-crafting "like" items also go in plastic bags.
I've watched the women at the thrift shop we donate to sorting through lots of small things and figure it's easier for me to do some pre-sorting for them, than it is for them to deal with it.
I'm going to ask a dim bulb question. I save a few plastic bags that come my way, because I rarely use them. I don't do any beading, and the only beads I have are micro beads for shaker cards and they stay (for the most part, unless I'm having one of THOSE days and I spill them) where they are supposed to -original packaging or the well of a shaker card. So, inless I am storing bits and pieces for a future card project, which I'm pretty particular about, and there is reason this cannot just go straight into a stufftainer, I just don't use a lot of these.
So...where do you all use 100 of these?
I donate cards to a local nusing home for them to either sell in their gift shop or pass out free to the residents, so I put the cards in the bags. I also put little embellishments and other miscellaneous items in the bags for our projects to give to the women that stamp with me each month (no one loses anything small with this method). If I make a set of 3x3 cards to gift, I will put them in the bags. I use them for shaker cards (they hold the shaker elements). I used this tutorial:
pieces of ribbon. (i have no idea right now WHY i have stray pieces of ribbon that are long enough to keep but not long enough to stand on their own).
kit remnants. i used to subscribe to Christy Tomlinson kits and I didn't want to keep the boxes. now i subscribe to SU! Paper Pumpkin.
my own "kits" i.e. a semblance of pre-cut items that i want to have working together.
die-cuts. SIGH. (i often precut, pre die-cut, pre stamp and color, etc etc etc. i have a whole 'another thread on how to store those items. AND i am changing my behavior and not pre-"doing" as much. MAYBE i will need less bags, HAH!)
thank you for the question. you are making me consider life, the universe, and everything. in a good way.
1.I use them for small items when I make my own kits. 2. Stamps, dies, gems, and other craft items to be given to my Card Making group or to donate to local Thrift Shops. 3. To put the markers that I need when I'm going to my Card Making group instead of taking the whole marker storage system 4. To put my hearing aids in when they need to go in for repair - way too often lately!
I stack the smallest bags together, put them as a stack, laying flat, into a larger bag. I do this with each size. If the stack is larger than any of the bags that I have available, I fold the entire stack in half and slide it into whatever bag comes closest to fitting. That way each size is corralled like-with-like and easy to find. I have a catch-all bin with extra page protectors, laminated sheets and the like, so I have the bags there, as well. Since the bags are clear, I can see at a glance which size I want and retrieve it easily. I also separate the zip-lock-type bags from those with a sticky strip to reseal...
This is similar to what I do. I divide them into square and rectangular. I stack them by incremental sizes and slide them into a larger bag. Then the next group of sizes goes into a larger sizes and so on. They go into a photo box on a shelf. The larger ones are folded in half and stacked together underneath the smaller ones. I keep the plastic bags separate from the cellophane ones and from colored ones. I don't keep the plastic bags in sizes I use in the kitchen, as I can just go there to get what I need. I save mostly the small ones that come in handy for storing small items, for transporting or dividing up stuff to share and larger ones that are without writing.
I have been using bags for decades...for ALL kinds of things...
crafty-
beads, findings, embellishments, loose felt pads for alcohol inks, foam pads, small stamp/die sets, my travel bag...small stuff for sale or donation...I am sure I am missing things...they are everywhere...
non-crafty-hardware-(esp that special hex wrench for that one piece of furniture w a paper telling me which one), makeup stuff, jewelry-travel and donation; etc etc
They dont last forever. So I do go through them.
btw only craft/art people would understand the Q How to storage plastic bags. LOL
I only have a few sizes, but I keep each size in a stack held with a binder clip.
I've also stored them by size in one of the bags; I mean all the 4x6 bags are stored in a 4x6 bag, etc. I like the binder clips better since they can lie flat instead of bunching up inside the bags.
I just keep a few of these in the small sizes that are 4 x 6ish or smaller. They are stacked loosely in a shallow basket - easy to grab and go. If the basket starts to overflow, I simply purge half of them. I mostly use them for bagging up leftover die-cuts or other small embellishments, (even including cut-apart PL cards) that come in kit club kits.
I save the plastic bags that embellishments and kits (and everything) comes in. They are usually resealable, like sandwich bags.
I have probably 100 of these bags, all different sizes. I don't just save them - I use them.
What I don't know how to do is organize them in a reasonable manner.
How would you store 100 baggies ranging in size from teeny ones that hold beads to large ones that hold 12x12 paper and more. I am looking for SIMPLE RETRIEVAL.
Thanks for any insights.
Lela
I store like sized bags in a bigger bag, or the same sized bag, with them bent in the middle. On the outer bag I write the size of the bag.
I purchased 8x8" bags to convert my CTMH stamp set hard plastic envelopes to zipper bags. THEN I found a way to remove the plastic snap on the back of the hard plastic envelopes, and now I can store more CTMH envelopes in the drawers. Now I have an overabundance of 8x8" bags, but I can use them for food prep since they are 4 mil thick.
For like items that are stored into zipper bags, such as my embellishments, I put contents in a 3x4" zipper bag, used my WRMK Big Bite to punch a hole just below the zipper part and thread the like items in their own baggies onto a large book ring. All of my embellishments (minus alphabets) are stored this way in 2 medium sized CTMH storage containers. You can see that system here:
So a way to store like sized bags could be to punch a hole in them with a Big Bite or Crop-a-dile (advice would be to punch down, then lift up on the bag while punching down, to complete the hole.) and contain smaller sizes on book rings.
Do you have wire shelving in your closet? If so, punch holes in the bags and use notebook rings to hang the bags off of the shelves.
I use the rings/shelving to hang a lot of things. It depends on the closet what I hang. I've hung my scrapping stuff, swiffer dusting wands, and belts all using the rings.
Storing plastic bags
Go vertical!
