ribbon organization and storage ideas

I am utterly obsessed with ribbon. I collect big bolts of it, little spools of it, I even save the bows off of gifts and stick them in a Ziploc bag. I've tried lots of different contraptions to store my ribbon bolts, so I thought I'm impart some of my knowledge on the subject to you. Free of charge.

For my big bolts of fancy ribbon, this is the clear winner.


Can you guess what it is? I stole it from my husband's closet. Since I only have a bedroom-size closet to store my crafting supplies, I needed something that would be out of the way. When these are hanging in the closet, I can see all my ribbon choices and access them easily. Did you guess? It's made from a men's trouser hanger. Look for one with narrow horizontal hangers that swing open. Skip those that are padded (they'll be too big for your ribbon spools) or the kind with open ends (your ribbon will slide off too easily). I found this one at Target for about $5, and I think I've seen them at Bed, Bath, & Beyond, too. Love it!

I've also got a couple of smaller plastic box organizers from JoAnn's. They work well, but they're not particularly pretty. But this one is (if I do say so myself). I saw a tutorial for it in an issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine several years ago (sorry, I couldn't find the reference). It's great for small to medium-sized ribbon bolts. Since it's already made, I couldn't really do a tutorial, but it's so easy that I'll just do my best at explaining what I did.

What you'll need:

*Empty photo storage box

*BIG grommets from the notions aisle, enough for four on the short sides and as many ribbon holes as you want on each side --mine are 3/8" and I used 20 total (get the kit if you don't already have the tools to put them in)

*Two wooden dowels, long enough to stick out either end of your box and small enough around to fit through your ribbon bolts--mine are 12" long and 3/8" diameter (these can be found in packages at craft stores and even WalMart)

*Wooden balls with a notch drilled out the same size as your dowel are around (sorry, that is a bad description, but they are also easy to find on the wood crafts aisle at craft stores)

*Four thumb tacks

*Strong glue, like E6000

First, I took a plain, empty photo storage box and stamped these images with acrylic paint. Then I painted the dowels and balls a coordinating color (these are optional steps).

Next, I measured across to see how many grommets I could comfortably fit on either long side of my box. I wanted to have as many openings for ribbon as I could get (I ended up with 8 on each side). Then I cut the holes and put the grommets in using the kit that came with them.

I had two standard sizes of ribbon bolts for my box. I put a small one in the box on one side, and the medium one on the other side. Using a pen, I made a mark on the inside of the box in the middle of each bolt, and did the same thing on the opposite end. This is how I knew where to put my grommets for my dowels that would hold the ribbon. I added two grommets on each side for this purpose.

On one end of each dowel, I glued one of the wooden balls. I inserted my dowels part way and added the ribbon bolts on each side, then pushed them through the other side.

I glued the head of a thumbtack inside the remaining two balls so I could stick them on the other end of the dowels, but still be able to remove them when I wanted to change or add ribbon spools.

I stuck the balls with the thumbtacks on the other side of the dowels and then pulled my ribbon through the grommets. Some of them have two pieces coming out, which works fine for me because they're narrow.

I put my lid on and voila! A perfectly organized ribbon box. My only complaint is that the ribbon sometimes slips inside the box, but other than that it is fabulous.


Lollychops just posted a review of this clever new product called Ribbon Ring. It helps you get all those off-the-bolt pieces of ribbon out of a messy pile or Ziploc bag (like mine) and organized into something so pretty you can hang it on your wall! Check out her post for more information on this cool product.

I also loved this option I found in Creating Keepsakes' gallery. It's made from this frame she already had plus a book-biding ring. How's that for cheap and easy?

Do you have a creative way to organize your ribbon? Post a picture on our Flickr pool to share with our readers!

P.S. Happy Election Day! Did you vote? I did!