Answers to Questions on Ribbon Storage

Hi all, I received a couple of questions through email and comments on the ribbon storage.  Rather than send the answers by email, I decided to post it here in case anyone else was curious. 

Size of the Drawers: The drawers are designed to hold 12 x 12 paper so the dimensions are just a little bit larger.  The unit of three drawers can be purchased at Walmart for about $10.00.  They also sell drawers to hold 8.5 x 11 paper, so the one is used is the larger of the two.

The Dividers: Ok, the dividers almost hold themselves in place and some people could get away with just putting a piece of mat board (12-13”X2”) in without anchoring it.  Me?  I’m a little bit too anal so what I did was tape the divider down on three sides.  It’s not a perfect science and I didn’t try to get to pretty with it because you really never see it, especially if you use clear packing tape.  So, what I mean by three sides is if you hold the mat board just like it sits when you are going to put it in the drawer, I taped the front edge on the left and right, the bottom edge on the left and right and the back edge on the left and right.  You could probably get away with only taping the bottom edge.  Does that make sense?   I divided the drawers into four equal sections, so I needed three dividers.

Matboard: I purchased full black matboard sheets from Hobby Lobby, they are 32″ x 40″.  I have a heavy duty 25″ Carl Cutter that cuts matboard like butter, but believe it or not, my older Fiskars Rotary Cutter for 12X12 paper worked fine as well.  It’s a pretty big board, so if you want it cut down to a more manageable size, I think HL will do it for $.50 a cut.   Depending on how efficient you are when you cut, you ought to be able to get about 220 – 240 bobbins out of one sheet of matboard.

The Rubber Bands: The rubber bands I picked up at Walmart in the hair section.  They are really small, about the size of a ring on your finger.  The ones I found were black but I understand that they exist in other colors and clear although I’ve never been lucky enough to come upon other cool colors.

I hope this helps, but feel free to send me any other questions you have!

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  • Dagmar MerrittFebruary 15, 2009 - 5:38 pm

    I too sometimes feel like I never have the right match of ribbon for my project. So, I just tended to buy more and more. Many times now, what I do is, I select a ribbon that I really want to use and I design my project around it instead of vice-versa.
    Just a hint, that I thought might help.
    DagmarReplyCancel

  • Tomi JoApril 21, 2010 - 1:25 pm

    Dear Becca, Well I will start winding ribbons soon—-got my foam board at Hobby Lobby, it’s 20×30 and cost 1.99—then I found all sorts of colors of rubber bands at The Dollar Tree—-500 for 1.00—can’t beat that with a stick.
    Thanks for all you wonderful cards and great tips.
    A Daily Reader, Tomi Jo, Moore, Ok.(just between so. OKC and NormanReplyCancel

  • Kathy OJune 26, 2010 - 11:26 am

    Thanks, Becca. I simply love this method of ribbon organization! No more searching, no ribbons ends hanging down, no more dust….it’s all there at a my fingertips…ready to see, choose, and use!ReplyCancel

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