Craft Studio Organizing: Ribbons

THE PROBLEM:

I have lots and lots of unorganized ribbon.

When I work on projects involving ribbon, I never know how much of any particular ribbon I have at a glance and keeping those cardboard spools and loose ribbon in any sort of system has yet to work for me. And if I make a permanent fixture for my ribbon, it won’t be easy to schlep organized ribbon from studio to dining room (where I pretty much take over the entire room for days on end.)

THE SOLUTION:

The drapery-ring-cup-hook-yardstick organizer!

I added cup hooks to an old yardstick (pre-drill holes for screwing in hooks along inchmarks.) The yardstick had holes on each end so hung that from Command Wire Hooks.

I have a good amount of vintage wooden drapery rings picked up on the cheap here and there.

I unrolled all my ribbon spools, untangled the piles of random pieces elsewhere and slid each through a ring to its halfway point. Some super long sections were folded double then slid through. I then hung each draper ring from the cup holders by their eye screws in rainbow order.Then, when I need to take specific colored ribbon into the dining room (such as a Valentine palette,) I simply remove the rings from their hooks and run them onto another yardstick, tucking that high into my bookcase, using heavy books to hold it in place.I’ve been using this system for a few weeks now and I’m loving it. I can tell instantly what ribbon options I have for any project. It does take up a big 36″ section of my studio,  but it’s worth it.