Scrapbook.com's founder Jill Davis has extensive experience with properly organizing her craft space. Join her in this article as she shares her undoubtedly useful organizational knowledge and key insights from Stacy Boatman, a true organizational guru! Explore and shop the entire Scrapbook.com store for all of your craft storage and organization needs!
Materials Needed for Organizing Stickers and Rub-Ons
- Containers or Envelopes (you will decide which you will need)
- Label Maker
The Challenge of Getting Your Stickers and Rub-Ons Organized
You may find that properly organizing your sticker and rub-on stash into an organizational system that works for you may be difficult. However, it will pay off! Imagine yourself knowing exactly where to find the perfect sticker/rub-on for your craft project and being able to retrieve it within minutes.
Beginning the Organizational Process
This is a GREAT time to purge. It’s possible that you have some Sandylion sticker sheets from 1984 in your stash, isn’t it? Give them to the kids to play with. Be real with your purging decisions... Are you really going to use fuzzy princess-themed stickers on ANY of the layouts you do for your boys? Give them to a friend who has girls. Remember, the fewer stickers/rub-ons you have, the less you’ll feel guilty about not using them. Less to put away means less to dig through later on.
There are only a few ways to organize your sticker and rub-on stash:
- By theme
- By manufacturer
- By design element (i.e. accents, journaling, borders, etc)
Organize everything by how your creative mind works when you scrap. Ask yourself how you would naturally start to look for something in your craft space once you've decided you need/want it. If you need a border on a page, will you want to look in a place that supports the theme of your layout, or will you want to look in a bin of your favorite manufacturer’s products? Once you figure that out, you can move on to WHAT to store your stickers in. Elizabeth, a professional organizer with Organizing for Everyday, suggests sorting stickers into themes first in her informative article on organizing stickers.
Storage Options for Stickers and Rub-Ons
- Paper files
- Hooks on pegboard
- Reusable Storage Envelopes
- 3-Ring albums with page protectors
- Hanging file folders (in a cart or cabinet)
- Cart with drawers
- Expandable file
- Storage Bins
- Totally Tiffany/ScrapRack System
Whichever method you go with, make sure it accommodates your current stash AND your future supply. Ensure that it makes sense with how you scrapbook, protects your stickers and rub-ons, and is easy to flip through to see what you have.
Stacy’s solution has never needed to be updated or changed. She uses paper sticker binders and sorts her stickers and rub-ons into themes; boy, baby, nature, celebrations, etc. If there is no true theme, then she files it under “Generic”. She stores her binders in a cabinet with the spines labeled. The interiors have labeled dividers that she uses when she has more than one theme per binder.
Further Insight on Organizing Stickers and Rub-Ons
I used to have a large sticker collection, sorted by theme and stored in labeled, acid-free envelopes. The envelopes fit into small, plastic bins which I stored on shelves. As manufacturers began including stickers and rub-ons in their paper collections, I found I rarely went to my sticker bins to find something to use. The bins took up prime real estate in my room, so one day I made the decision to go through all of the envelopes and only keep what I KNEW I would use in the future. I opened the window in my studio, turned on some music, and started sorting. After analyzing the contents of about 10 envelopes and only finding one or two stickers I would use, I stopped sorting. I removed the envelopes from the plastic bins, dumped the loose contents of every envelope into a box (doing a quick check for any “best” sticker) and donated them. The “best” stickers and rub-ons went into zip-style bags in the applicable themed-containers of my patterned papers.
When I purchase stickers with a paper collection, I now store them with the collection in its themed bin. If there are leftovers when I scrap, and the pieces are “best” quality, I cut them apart from the others and put them in either themed embellishment containers or a vintage strawberry carrier. Left-over “best” stickers that are vintage-style go into baskets in my strawberry carrier. Generic journaling cards and tags go here as well.
I’m a digger when it comes to rub-ons and their storage. They are not my first choice in scrapping because I’m rub-on challenged. I usually mess them up, sticking them everywhere except where I need them to go. If I do purchase them, they are usually generic in theme, which makes it easy to put them away. I toss them into a canvas bin labeled “Rub-Ons.”
Final Thoughts
Stickers and rub-ons should make our creating more enjoyable and our layouts more interesting. When we can find what we need quickly and easily, we have more time to do the things we enjoy--which isn’t looking for things we think we have but aren’t sure.
Your sticker and rub-on collection should no longer be allowed to be a “stash” (items stashed anywhere and everywhere, or in a heap on the floor). This de-stash project is going to feel SO GOOD when it’s finished!
If you liked this article, then you may also like...
How to Organize Embellishments
Decluttering and Organizing Your Craft Space
How to Organize Alphas and Numbers
This article was written thanks to Get Organized, our free organizational class! Learn the ins and outs of organizing your craft space to achieve the ultimate organized studio. Try tips and tricks from organizational experts. Sign up for Get Organized today!
