Amazing Ribbon Storage That I Absolutely Love
Posted by Becca Feeken on Saturday, February 23rd, 2008
Can I tell you that I am a ribbon-aholic? I don’t know what it is, but when I see it, I just have to have more. Even worse when I’m working on a project I don’t always feel like I have just the right ribbon. Yup,…never fear, I’ll just get more. Then, just how to store it? Well, I have tried everything….rain gutters, tossing all in a big jar, ribbon rolls on cafe rods…and I found that my collection was just too unwieldy. After thinking about, I decided that it’s the round rolls that make up all the bulk so I took the plunge and decided to get rid of that bulk.
To begin I purchased one of these three drawer units from Michaels for around $10.00, a package of small black hair rubber bands and purchased a sheet of mat board which I cut down into pieces measuring 2.5" wide by 2" high. I decided on the matboard because I found cardboard bobbins you can purchase at the craft store to be too small and too flimsy. I divided the drawers into four sections by putting in three 13" pieces of matboard and anchoring them with tape. I rolled all my ribbon that were lengths of 5 yards and less onto the bobbins that I had cut. Now, just a warning, the rolling of the ribbon takes a little bit of time. I saved it by rolling when I was watching TV and even carried a small bag of ribbon and bobbins in the car to roll while I was waiting in the car or at the doctor office.
But here’s the thing…..it’s amazing the amount of ribbon one three drawer unit will store! In the picture below, 1 drawer can hold 140 rolls of ribbon; this particular unit is storing more than 400 rolls of ribbon!! I love this storage because I can pull a drawer or the entire unit and set it on the edge of my workspace
Here are the drawers opened up to show how easy it is to pack and stack the ribbons inside the drawer.
Here is what one of the individual bobbins looks like. It is simply a piece of matboard cut to 2.5" x 2" secured with a rubber band.
I have three of these units all together. The top drawers are devoted to my American Crafts Ribbons. Those are not stored on bobbins. The rolls are smaller and since they come packaged in sets of six, I wanted to keep each mini palette together (shown below).
Even storing the American Crafts as full ribbons, I can get a whopping 88 rolls in one drawer!
I think this system will keep me for a while, I have a little bit of room to grow in each drawer and I can stack another unit on top if needed. I also wanted to show a picture of the system that I’m leaving behind. 
Although it was portable, it was still too bulky for me. Each unit was capable of storing around 80 rolls of ribbon but when I got everything loaded I had 5 containers and over 400 rolls and it still felt a little bit too unwieldy. It would work for someone with a smaller ribbon collection.
I hope this helps someone….it took me loads of time to brainstorm what I wanted to do and I’m really pleased with the results.
Filed in Organization |
We must be long-lost sisters because I have a ribbon addiction too! I came up with a different solution… I hang my ribbon. I can get 60-75 ribbons in a ribbon ring and I have one ribbon ring for each color. When I need pink, I just get my pink ribbon ring and bring it to my workspace. When not in use, my ribbon rings hang on a coat rack. You can take a look on my website http://www.ribbonring.com. I have used these for about a year. Scrapbooking friends loved them so much they encouraged me to manufacture them, which I did. If you ever want to try one, email me and I will send you a free sample.
I am in true and utter awe! This is so wonderful! I am just developing my basement to make a craft space and thought I would do the eavestrough gutter thing but I think I like this much better. Really really gorgeous ribbon! Great job.
hey I am so glad u showed this I remember u talking about it at our rubber ladies mtg. and wanted to know more.. now i do. first let me know how u anchored the dividers a little more in detail. are the black rubber bands those bands that girls use to hold their hair in pony tails? did u use the 12X12 or smaller drawers 81/2 /x 11.
Could you tell me what size drawers you used? I have a ribbon problem too and really need to get it organized. This looks like a great solution! Thanks for sharing!!
400 ribbons….Oh my goodness……that is truly amazing. I believe you do have a thing for ribbon!!! It looks great and I am sure it is so easy to work with this system you have. Thanks so much for sharing.
I’m so jealous and so bowing down to you and so copying you! :)
Hubby is in Europe for the week. I’m going to Michael’s TONIGHT and sitting me arse in front of the Lifetime Movie Network and spooling away.
I love your drawer ID’s too - so cute and original.
You rock!
Can you give more details about size of mat board purchased and how many you needed for the 3-drawer unit?
WOW, this is truly amazing! I am going to attempt this immediately! One question, when you mentioned that you anchored down the 3 divider pieces, how did you anchor them down in the drawer? Thanks so much for sharing your idea!!!
Unbelievable, love the idea and the pictures make me want to get organized….thanks for the info…
Here was my solution from a year ago-a rep from Making Memories used my idea in their corporate flyer too.
http://papertango.blogspot.com/search?q=cropper+hopper
I’m curious- do the ribbons kink from being wound round the matte board or having the ponytail holder wrapped around them? I hate kinks in my ribbon so I am still on spools but in 3 weeks I’m moving 10 minutes away from the Offray outlet store… I don’t want to think about how much ribbon I’ll buy!
Heather
http://stampdetails.blogspot.com/
You’ll be so proud of me….I made up my mind and sat down tonight and did exactly what you showed. I rewound all my 33 rolls of ribbon. Haha. It looks so much neater! thanks for sharing Becca. Any more way cool organizational tips I can copy?
nancy b
Great idea! I think I might try that but keep the rain gutter. I have limited space and very tiny fraction of the ribbon you have but that may work for me! My gutter sits at the back edge of my table (a recycled solid wood door with folding legs) up against the wall. the spools drive me nuts because the ribbon loosens on it and flops all over. it doesn’t stay neat. But the flat cards you have just may do the trick! thanks for the inspiration!
Wow…… what a great idea….. and for very little cost!
You and I can go to Ribbon-hab together! Hi, my name is Jackie and I am a ribbonholic. Hi, Jackie :-) I love your storage ideas, very creative.
You inspired me to post on my blog about my ribbon storage. I had a similar dilemma, but I used the cardboard spools and plastic tackle boxes from the fishing section in Walmart. Follow the link for photos! http://rellimytsim.blogspot.com/2008/03/ribbon-organization.html
So simple and elegant - another summer project for me!
I love the ribbon storage idea and was wondering where you got the mat board? I am going to look for some but would like to know what kind of place to go to. I have an enourmous amount of ribbon and like this idea to store it all.
Monique
I am wondering how you made the ribbon box that was your ‘old’ storage solution. I do not have nearly the ribbon you have and this solution I think would work perfectly for me.
wow the ribbon thing is awesome
thanks for posting
wow for me also always struggling to stay
organized. this is genius—–especially
since i already use this same size organizer
….i hate having a mishmash of different
size drawers.
Hi Becca,
I love your ribbon storage idea. I’m thinking about adopting your method, but I do have a question. Do you find that the ribbon gets creased after it’s been wrapped around the card for some time? I’m not sure I would like having to iron it before I use it.
Thanks for your help.
Mary Ann
Wow, what a great, relatively inexpensive storage solution! Very innovative — thanks for sharing!
I really love your idea. I need to organize my stamps better. Would yo u be willing to sell me one of the ribbon holders you don’t need anymore? If so email me.
[…] it onto matboard thimbles so that I could decrease the huge storage space that rolls command. (Check out this post to see what I mean. ) Well as I re-rolled the ribbon, I had many empty spools left over and the thought of throwing them […]
I love your idea.
It is amazing how many addicted ribbbon people are out there. I too can not get out of a store that has ribbon without buying several (sometimes more!) spools. Oh my!!! Thanks for the GREAT suggestion. I am sure many of us will surely try it.
A great idea but can I ask if the ribbon creases when wrapped around the mat board?
Kathleen