Question about Ribbon Gutters...
 

For those of you that are using rain gutters to store your ribbon... I went to Home Depot tonight with my hubby with the plans on purchasing a plastic gutter and cutting it into smaller 3 foot pieces to mount on my wall and store ribbon. I took a spool of 1/4 inch SU grosgrain ribbon since that is the largest diameter spool I have. It didn't fit into the plastic gutter! I was afraid to get the aluminum gutter because the edges seemed very sharp. Is there a different size of plastic rain gutter out there that you are using? Home Depot only had the one size. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance!

i have the aluminum guter. I had my husband cut it to the length i needed and then just put the end caps on. I have not had a problem with sharp edges. I did get some funny looks though at Home Depot sizing up the guter with spools of ribbon!!

Ooohhh, I'm loving this idea! Anyone have photos?

This is what I want to do with my ribbon, just haven't done it yet! :) Good to know that the aluminum doesn't mess up the ribbon.

pinkhedgehog
 

Here is a photo of "ribbon gutters" by pinkhedgehog. It looks as though she put caps on the ends of each piece.

I don't want to use my rain gutters for my ribbons... they'll get all WET! :-o Besides, after the rain I'd have these long streamers of colorful ribbons to clean off the front of the house. Geez... what a lot a work just to store ribbons! :roll:

I think Lowe's has 2 sizes of rain gutters, if you have one close by you could look there.

Funny. Plus the front of your house would be streaked from all the die running out of the ribbon.

That looks fantastic! I haven't heard of that before. It has got me thinking though, I wonder if pvc piping for reticulation would work if it is cut in half lengthwise. Hmmm might look into this one.

Hmmmm.... thanks for the suggestion of checking out Lowes. I still think the aluminum was really sharp! That makes me nervous... unless they sell some kind of edging to put over the sharp edges. I'm hopeful that Lowes has what I want.

We did look at the PVC pipe, too. My Home Depot only carried up to a 4 inch diameter, which would still be too small for the largest SU spools. Most of my ribbon is on the large SU spools, so I want my ribbon storage method to be wide enough to hold those larger spools.

Thanks for your help! :)

Oh, I forgot to add that after doing a little bit of research, plastic rain gutters don't hold up to snow and ice as well as aluminum... which may be why my Ohio Home Depot only carried one size of plastic. We get a lot of snow and ice up here in Cleveland!

Sounds like a good excuse for a vacation to Florida?!?! ;) A vacation just to get ribbon storage!

Good luck with your search Amyz

Amy, if your worried about the edges being sharp you might consider covering the edges with white duck tape. I looked at it in either Loewe's or Home Depot and it was expensive. I found it cheaper in Michael's. That surprised me.

Carole

I think that the dye colors could really liven up a white house - cheaper than repainting, yes?

My husband installs gutters/eavestroughs for a living. We have eavestrough in sheds, garages, trailers... but none in my craft room. Something is wrong here ;)

What a great idea. Thanks soooooo much for sharing this amazing idea.

And the cobblers children have no shoes.......

Yeah, I learned the hard way that the SU spools may not fit. My DH bought a piece of gutter at HD and brought it home and cut it. Thats when I noticed my spools didn't fit.

We went to Lowes, with ribbon in hand, and found a piece that fit them. They had a few sizes. You just need to go through them all.

How do you mount the gutters on to the wall...are there brackets that will work?

RIBBON DISPLAY/HANGING IDEA....Here's my idea that will send you in another direction...DOWELS! Get a good sturdy size diameter dowel (a couple of dowels)from Joann's hang it off the wall with either two sturdy picture hooks so the ribbon or cord set up at the end for hanging would look like a swing with both sides on seperate hooks or a triangle where they are hooked up at the top together on the same hook....most ribbon have a hole in the center of their cardboard/plastic...Also, (can you tell I have thought this through)...IF your ribbon does NOT have a hole in the center use a paper towel or toilet paper roll card board thingy and cut it to size and wrap the ribbon around that! I like using stuff around the house to make other stuff. The ugly cardboard will be covered with pretty ribbon!

Thanks for the suggestion of dowels. I did not want to go this route though, because I like to take my roll of ribbon to my crafting table. It would be a big pain for me to have to take off a bunch of spools just to get the one I wanted.

I did find a plastic gutter at Lowes that fit my ribbon! The aluminum gutters at Lowes were also not like the ones at Home Depot. The Lowes aluminum gutters had the sharp edges folded down, unlike the HD ones. They also sell a type of cradle bracket that you can use to attach it to the wall... the same type you would use to attach it to your roof. Now, if I can get hubby to cut the gutter and mount it to the wall. That probably won't happen until after the 4th!

My husband did cut 4 inch PVC pipe for me, then screwed it right into the wall studs. Works very well for me. I don't have the larger SU ribbon, so that wasn't an issue. I have two ten foot rows of ribbon storage (full, of course!) and love it.

I have my ribbon stored in a different fashion, because I too do not like having my ribbon on dowels because I like to take them out and work with them. My hubby took a wooden dowl and cut it in half and screwed each half about about 2 inches apart onto a wooden shelf. That way the ribbon can stand up resting within the two dowels. It works fabulous!!!

Tasha, I like that idea too! I talked about doing that with my hubby, but he's so busy with work that I knew I'd never see my ribbon storage anytime soon! ;) At least now, all he has to do is cut up the gutter and I can pretty much do the rest myself. I'm sure your ribbon storage is very pretty and professional looking! Lucky you! :)

Hi! Here was a cute idea I came across when I was looking for some compact ribbon storage :
http://scrapbookobsession.wordpress....-storage-idea/

I store my ribbon in a product called a Dripper Flipper. I got it at Home Depot in the gutter section. It's great because it telescopes to accomadate fewer or more rolls. Also, no cutting. :)

Here is a close up, a longer view, and the product label.

I like this method because I can take my rolls easily to where I am crafting.

I have my ribbon stored in "the gutter system", but instead of attached to the wall, it's hung on pegboard. I cut the gutter into 4' pieces (the length of my pegboard), drilled 3 holes in each piece (one near each end and one in the middle), then hung the gutter from hooks made for pegboards. This way I can reconfigure my set-up anytime I like! I put the two rows of gutter near the top of the pegboard, so I still have the lower space for scissors, heat gun, etc. Works well for me!

Loved the idea, this is what i did at my house........but the dowels sag in the middle without a support, and they're not easy to remove (since you have to take off the others first) if you need to take them to a show or another room. however, it looks GREAT! :) i put my prettiest ribbons on the dowels near the ends and thats about it.

I am just laughing my head off over here in Wisconsin. What will you think of next. I can not believe how resourceful all you gals are. This is fabulous. Rain Gutters!! Amazing idea. How cute is that. Hey Mrs Gutter over there this is a must for you!!!! I am a complete ribbon freak. I have 3 filled cases of ribbon. I store them in those little suit case type blue things from Jo Ann. The tiny boxes hold the ribbon beatifully. I have to wind and wind and wind though. Even after filling 3 of them I still have rolls and rolls left. Everyone that comes over gets to go home with bag of ribbons of their choice. It looks so pretty on the wall that I want to display them too. I have a huge bedroom converted into a scraproom and that will look wonderful. Thank you ever so much for sharing your ideas and pictures. You gals Rule!!! Gotta Bounce!
SEE YA
jill

I LOVE the Dripper Flipper idea! The ribbon storage in the strainer would drive me crazy and my cat would think he'd gone to heaven...which he would if he ever toughed my ribbon...grrr...snarl...lol! Anyway, I soooo hate SU ribbon holders. The only reason I have them is because someone ordered the wrong size and it would've cost too much to send them back. I ended up ordering the size she wanted and then we 'shared' the two sets. YUCK!!! I like the dowel idea BUT I wouldn't have patience to take off the spools to get to the one I want SO I will investigate the Dripper Flipper! Thanks girls. You always make me laugh!!!

Rain Gutter Ribbon
 

I have three sections of rain gutters in my "stampin' lair" that hold my ribbon. I only have enough ribbon to fill one of them, but what can you do? :p BUY MORE! Anyway, I have the aluminum gutters and just used the end caps that you can buy at the store. Mine are from Menard's. I chose the aluminum because they were already painted chocolate chip to match my room. I don't have any problems with them being sharp. The edge that is exposed is very smooth. I just screwed them right to the wall in several places and saved the expense of the brackets. Here's a picture of them http:////www.splitcoaststampers.com/...&ppuser=109476
Hope this helps!

Goodness yes you need more ribbon. Come to my house and get about 20 rolls or so. That is my extra stuff! I get nuts on a sale!!
I like your brown gutters very very much. I must do this. It's just so darn cute.:) I have to wait till after the 4th celebration. I am working really hard at our Franklin Fest. Our youth group sells brats and hot dogs and all sorts of stuff to earn money for their mission trips. Bravo for them!!!
It's a good thing! But...as soon as my chores are finished I am out to Menards myself. This is so cool.
jill

I store my ribbons with the ribbon ring system. It works for me because it doesn't use much of my limited wall space. My only wish is that I had ordered more tabs because I seem to keep buying more ribbon, and more rings so I could divide up my colors, styles, etc. a little more.

There are more details with my pic.

http:////www.splitcoaststampers.com/...67998?cat=3376

We did the same thing. If you don't mind looking at my 1/2 finished, messy room, here is a link to a picture. The walls have FINALLY had a base coat of paint since this picture was taken so they are now all one color.

http:////www.splitcoaststampers.com/...0&ppuser=69842

I keep punches in it and ribbon.

Oh, what a nice little classroom you have. Very nice. I see you have punches in your gutter. I like that even better.
Thanks for posting
jill

Hmmm...storing punches in the gutter too...hmmm...I'm going to have to get me to the nearest hardware store. I'm getting lots of ideas on what to store in these things especially as it's lighter weight and cheaper than board shelves. Speaking of lighter weight - how do the punches work out? Do you need some supports for the extra weight? or just space things out?

I have used a vinyl gutter for a couple years now....love it. I strung mine backwards thru my support brackets of my shelf. Check out my gallery (have pictures there of my room) to see how I did it. I have since had to hang a Making Memories embellishment unit to house more ribbon though.....love buying more. LOL

Linda
How do I get to your gallery?
I want to see your room
jill

We have supports at each end and three in between for a total of 5 brackets. I think my piece of gutter is 5 feet long.

I only keep my larger punches in it because you wouldn't be able to easily see the smaller ones if they were in there. I purchased some of the Ikea rails to put up once my room is done so they can all (large and small) be displayed in one place. After the rails are up, only ribbon will be in the gutters.

Jill, Click on her name next to her post and then visit .... gallery.