He's right. I do!
We found these great boxes at Nile to house our crystals (and some other things). Each large box holds 72 of the little plastic boxes.
I'd like to tell you that this is our entire crystal stock, but it's not - not even close, but this is MOST of our 4mm bicones. Cool box, eh? It has a lid that flips over and closes with snaps for security.
I use my trusty label maker to label the bottom of each of the little boxes with the name of the color. When I'm out of a color, I turn the box upside down, so that I know at a glance what colors I'm out of when I order crystals again.
I'm glad Michael took this picture! Looks like I'm running low on a few things. It must be time to call Rahul with another crystal order.
When it comes to ordering supplies by mail (the things we don't get at bead shows), I'm like a kid - waiting for the package to come - and then when it finally arrives, I love spreading all of the new, pretty things all over the dining room table. Now... getting all of the goodies from the dining room table to some kind of storage - that's where I fall down. I think we need a shop! Or I need to hang pegs on my dining room walls. Hmmmmmm A new kind of artwork. Could work!
Does anyone have any great storage ideas???
I love crystals too! I think they add to everything. I do not have the best of storage other than the clear containers. However, I want to compliment you on your pieces..they are gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteI actually have a jewelry room in my house. Now do I use it? A bit. My husband put up shelves on the wall and made sure they were 20" apart. For gemstones on a thread or wire, we put "cup hooks" that screw into the bottom of each shelf and I hang the gemstones by color so I can "see" what I have! For storage, I use a lot of CLEAR storage containers that are round and screw into each other (Hobby Lobby)and I label each container with size of crystal and color. I too love my Swarovski. I can tell by looking at the clear plastic containers when I am getting low on somethings as well. Those go on the shelves towards the front so as to not block the hanging beads. Also, Peter Pan peanut butter plastic jars are greats for large quanties of any type of bead or crystal that is not strng. I am diabetic and this is a staple in my diet. (sugar free of course) so I save the container, clean it well and use it to store gemstones, or other types of crystals than Swarovski. Also, use glass jars that are of an odd shape that I might have gotten jam in at the fancy shops. I have another set of metal shelves I put these jars on where I can see what I have and mark with my handy little label maker, size, type, and where I got them.
ReplyDeleteAs I alluded to the fact that not everything is in my "jewelry room" I have things on the dining room table, and in my little corner of our family room. I use again clear storage containers I found at Target that snap together. Some have compartments and some don't. Put my tools in these and separate my metals into individual containers labeling "sterling silver", brass, pewter, gold filled, etc. Then separate beads from wires etc. These are handy little carriers and the snap together and LOCK! love them. So, I am all over my house, but soon will return to the jewelry room, as my lab puppies are too nosey now and need to be protected from MY STUFF! That's my two cents. Hope it helped someone. One other thing I have seen and used is shower liner hooks. In some gem stores the put the strung beads on these hooks and attach them to a metal hook on the all. Once again, for me it is all about visualization. I have to be able to see what I have, or I will order some more and have too much. (we will not go there with that discussion as I have it all the time with my wonderful, loving husband who tries so hard to keep his cool!) He should have known me when I did about 3 other artsy things at once. He is very OCD. Man would have had a stroke! But I know where everything is. Even if it looks like a mess to someone else! Thanks for letting me share.
Sharon
Sharon.... WOW! You gave me some GREAT ideas! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteLike you... I'm all about visualization. And your comment about ordering more if you can't see what you have? That one really hit home and made me laugh out loud! So funny! So TRUE!
I keep most of my gemstones in clear, plastic containers, but there are too many to see "all together" which is really what I'd like to do.
Lots of food for thought!