i love ribbon! if there's one thing that multiplies as fast as stamps in my studio, it's ribbon. i buy rolls of it, i buy it by the yard, i save it from gifts--it's crazy how much i have. a collection like mine needs to be contained! some of my containers include a glass cookie jar (with a decorated lid, of course!) that sits near my desk for bobbin ribbon and other small favorites, a wicker wall shelf hanging in my craft closet that is the perfect size for ribbon rolls and a basket for ribbons on cards, duplicates and overflow.
but one of my favorite ribbon storage solutions is my scrap ribbon storage for smaller pieces, ribbon i've cut but decided not to use, some by-the-yard choices that i can't find a spool for, etc. which brings me to another addiction: pom tea. who knew that these two addictions would be a perfect match? there are lots of really cool jars out there that you can buy which i was considering, but when these glasses with lids started multiplying in my kitchen, a lightbulb went off. they were a good size, had a wide mouth and were clear glass--perfect! when i started playing around with them, i also realized that i could pop out the logo part of the lid and replace it with my own chipboard and card stock--even better! it's hard to see in the picture, but i swiped ink pads in matching colors on white card stock, simple and quick, letting the ribbon take front stage. it's a storage solution that's both functional and decorative. and the chopsticks? they're perfect for digging to the bottom of the jar or mixing them around to see what's there!
you might be thinking that ribbon stored this way would get quite wrinkled and yes, some of it does. but no matter how i stored scraps, i had that problem. ribbons on cards often have creases which bugs me too. i used to iron those that were particularly bad, but that meant a lot of extra work. recently i discovered an even better solution--at least i'd never seen this idea before, but maybe i'm just behind the times. anyway, i saw an ad for a ribbon iron that looked like a smaller version of a flat iron for hair. i happened to have an extra flat iron, so i thought i'd just try it out. i'm happy to report that it worked perfectly and now that has a place near my desk too and i'm a better organized and much happier ribbon addict!
if you love ribbon too, be sure to stop by craft critique this week for more ribbon tips and reviews...
:) lexi
