Organizing your craft ideas

Like pretty much everyone else in this world, I'm obsessed with Pinterest. That's where I store all of my online crafting to-dos, among other things. I love how easy it is to organize and view ideas, and how easy it is to find ideas later.

Problem, though. I have craft ideas and patterns that aren't online. How do I organize them? Like most other people, I had a huge stack of papers and patterns a few feet high - and I couldn't find a single thing in that stack. I sat down for an hour with some basic supplies and created a system that lets me find the projects I want to make, view them for inspiration, and keep everything neat and tidy!

I started with a simple binder - but make sure you get a big one. Mine is 4 inches, and it's already pretty full! 

Next, you'll want some dividers. I recycled ones that had been given to me in a training binder. I just used my label maker to create new labels! You can see from the picture how I divided my categories, but of course, you can do it any way that makes sense to you.

I bought a giant pack of page protectors from Sam's Club for about $12. Filling this entire binder has only used about half of the package, so I'm in good shape to have many, many more ideas. The page protectors make it easy to flip pages and will help you keep the patterns together.

The right side of each page is the image of the finished product. All of the other relevant parts and information are tucked behind it.

I also tucked full patterns in here, which makes it so much easier to find them later!

A lot of the projects in my binder came from quilting magazines. You just can't forget to rip out the pattern pages too!

This is also a great place to store patterns that come in kits. This is one from Connecting Threads. I made this wall hanging already, but that doesn't mean I couldn't make it again with different fabrics! All of the pattern pieces are tucked in this pocket in case I want to make one for someone else.

Last but not least are applique shapes. When I have to find a shape for an applique, I stick it in here in case I ever need it again. No sense in re-inventing the wheel.

So there you have it - a way to organize the craft ideas and patterns you have that you can't keep on Pinterest! Do you like the cover of my book? You can have it too! Just click here to download it.

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