It’s that time of year again, at least here in the US. The school supplies are stocked up in the “seasonal” aisle of the discount stores. And that means it’s time to buy my secret studio organizing weapon, craft room storage boxes, also known as Pencil Boxes! I’ve waited all year for this because these boxes, normally a few dollars each, are displayed in bulk at ridiculous prices. I bought these boxes at WalMart for 67 cents each for the small ones and 97 cents each for the larger ones. One year I grabbed a whole bunch for a mere 25 cents each! (Update 2018: This year WalMart has them for 97 cents. Inflation, I suppose.)
I love using these school supply pencil boxes as craft room storage boxes because they hold a surprising amount (but not too much), they stack securely, and you can see inside of them. I also like that they are pretty much brick-shaped with little wasted space between the boxes.
I use them for storage of small items, of course, like colored pencils, buttons, stamp pads, and my pearl-ex collection. But I also use them for project boxes. I can collect together a bunch of things for a project I’m working on and then close the lid, keeping things contained when I’m working on something else.
These plastic boxes are made from polypropylene (recycle #5) so they’re polymer clay safe, too. I don’t use them that way much, but they are great for polymer clay storage.
They’re also easy to label with a sharpie. When I change my mind about what’s in them, I can erase the sharpie with alcohol and write a new label.
Come to think of it, sharpies are probably on sale with the school supplies, too. In fact, I wonder what else I can find that might be great in the studio…
What school supplies do you use in your artwork or craft room?
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