Tool Time Tuesday...Ribbon Organization

Hi everyone. A few weeks ago I shared a post for organizing quilt rulers using a belt scarf ring. Well, I found another idea for the same ring...ribbon organizing.

Come on in and see another idea using a pant hanger...

Tool Time Tuesday...Ribbon Iron

Hi everyone! Sometimes the "tools" for Tool Time come from the craziest places. Today's tool is one of my hair gadgets. I saw this in a magazine a long time ago and wanted to share the idea with you.

My daughters have the super duper expensive hair straighteners, because they flatten their hair on a regular basis. I bought a cheap one a few years ago when I straightened my hair every now and then.  I just let it flip up naturally now...less work for me!!

So, this is where my unused hair straightener is now...on my glue gun table. Click HERE if you missed that post...lots of tips and tricks.

This straightener is great as a mini iron!!

Thrifty Thursday...Ribbon Storage

Summer time means fresh fruit and veggies...strawberries, blueberries and grape tomatoes. If you buy those things, you have these plastic containers...

I know you can't save them all, but why not save a few to organize and store your spools of ribbon!!

How To Make a Bow...2 EasyTutorials

Hi everyone!! I've had a few requests to show how I made the bow on the front of the Brie Box for this week's Tool Time Tuesday. If you missed upcycled Brie cheese box, you can click here.

Here's the bow from the box...quick and easy!!

Here is the second bow I will be demonstrating...

Ribbon Organizing...With a Deck of Cards

Since I missed Thrifty Thursday due to the power outage this week, I thought I would share Thrifty Thursday on Saturday...better late than never!!

Ribbon. We all have it and we all love it. We buy it by the spool or we buy it by the yard. The big thing is how to organize it. I've had lots of ways over the years, but this idea is for the ribbon you have that's not on a spool.

The thrifty part is you use an old deck of cards!!

Ribbon Organizing Again...Tension Rods

Hi All...working in my sewing room again and moved my ribbon organizing system, so I thought I would share some pictures.

Here is the old way...I loved it and worked great, but I needed the shelf!!

It's just tension rods inside a bookshelf!!

I added a yard stick and scissors for easy measuring and cutting.

Tension rods...love them for so many things!!

Here's the new way to organize spools ribbon...

Between the legs of my cutting table. Definitely an unused space.

Even works great on the curvy areas.

Lots of space on both ends of the table too!!

Look for crazy unused space in your work area. You might be surprised where you can squeeze things in!!

Have a great day,
~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Ribbon Organizer

Hi Everyone! Wow do Tuesdays come up fast or is it just me? Today's TTT is from the curtain rod section of the hardware store. I'll be using a tension rod for a ribbon organizer. Do you remember this post below? I used galvanized spikes to organize my ribbon. You know me I love anything galvanized, but thought I would change it up a bit to show you another option.


Here is a tension rod. If you are not familiar with them, they narrow metal curtain rods that are spring loaded. You can untwist them to any size to fit your window.


They have small rubber cups on the ends to not only protect the surface they are up against, but to prevent the rod from slipping. To fit to your area, all you do is untwist it a little larger than your window and then push in to fit. The spring loaded tension keeps it in place.


Here is where I am storing my ribbon now! This idea would also work great on a shelf with something already on it...like the shelf to the right of the ribbon. See all those jars of buttons? I was going to store the ribbon in that unused space above them, but I had 2 rods. Just remove the rubber tip and slide on your spools of ribbon.


I added a yard stick that I cut to fit the shelf. Easy to cut the right size ribbon for any project.


I used my favorite 3M Command stickers to keep the ruler in place. The white tab sticking out onto the shelf bugged me, so I colored it in with a black marker. I know ridiculous, but it's the little things that make me happy! You can just barely see the 3M tab sticking out in the above picture at the 18 inch mark.


Always looking for your scissors? Well, not any more...I tied them (with a ribbon of course) to the tension rod, so they are always there to cut the ribbon.


This is just a close up of the rubber cups up against the side of the shelf to show how it stays up with the tension of the inner spring.


I use this for all my satin ribbons that I use for craft projects, but this would be great to hold all your ribbons for gift wrapping too. Perfect temporary organization for a gift wrap station for the holidays. If you have a shelf, cupboard or bookcase near your kitchen or dining room table, just clear it out for your gift wrapping marathon and keep all your ribbons up and out of the way while you're wrapping the packages. Then the ribbon is right there when you need it...easy to unroll just the right amount of ribbon. There are so many other uses for tension rods that I've done in the past.

Do you remember the window design wall and the doorway children's theater? Just click the high lighted links for a peek back at those previous posts.

Happy organizing and have a great Tuesday!
~Karen~

Tool Time Tuesday...Quick Ribbon Organizer

Happy Tool Time Tuesday. You know I love anything galvanized...anything! So, when I was in (where else) Home Depot with hubby and saw these spikes, I had to get them. My poor husband doesn't even ask anymore why there are a handful of 12 inch spikes in our carriage. Love him to pieces!
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Well, my thoughts were:

• cute
• galvanized
• Tuesdays
• and 65 cents...that's the best one

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This is what I did with them and I love it! The head of the spike is large enough to stand on it's own, plus the support of the cardboard ribbon case. Oh, I know what you're thinking...that pointy tip. It's not sharp, because the spike is so thick, but you could file it down if you wanted to.
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It's so easy to see what you have for ribbon, what you need to use up and what you need to buy. I use ribbon a lot for gifts, packages, boxes, sewing etc. I kept them in a nice neat box, which was fine, but when I use something quite a bit, it's better to keep it handy and where I can see it.
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I actually went out and bought a few extras and separated the colors more. I also have a little pair of scissors that I leave there, so I can always have something there to snip the ribbon.
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Have a wonderful Tuesday and don't forget to see yesterday's post about joining The Snowball Night!
~Karen~

I've linked this post to We're Organized Wednesday at Organize and Decorate Everything. Grab her button on my side bar and join the fun.
Also linked to Somewhat Simple: Strut Your Stuff
and...CSI's Hardware Store Challenge