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Back Road BearsI have gone on two shopping sprees this week buying ribbon. One trip to Michael's, one trip to JoAnn's... and now I don't know what to do with it all! :crackup: It's mostly all 7/8 in. wide or smaller and on the spool thingys - not loose yardage.
Right now I have it all in shoe boxes (3 of them) standing upright so I can at least see all the colors but this isn't the permanant solution I want. I want to be able to sit at my work table and see it all and be thinking about what I'm going to use while I make the bear. I want to be able to take ribbon off the spool w/o making a mess of the box and then having loose ends to pin or tape down.
I also have a lot of loose ribbon... yardage, pieces I've saved from gifts, etc. and it's all becoming one big tangled blob.
Does anyone have any ideas or solutions?
Posts: 1,836This would work with even loose ribbon, I think! You could customize for wider ribbons. http://www.hgtv.com/cr-paper-crafts-box … index.html
I've seen these too, kinda the same idea as the box....Why didn't I think of this one???!!.... http://www.revver.com/video/680895/scra … n-pull-ez/
:hug:
~Chrissi
Canna Bear PaintActually, Michaels has a rather spiffy clear plastic ribbon spool holder / dispenser. I bought a few to stick my spools in a while back, and haven't actually gotten around to putting the ribbons IN them yet (hey, one thing at a time...)
Most of my ribbons are cuts though, not on the spool. I keep them tagged and bagged in ziplocs, and throw those all in a big bin just for ribbons. It's not perfect, but at least I know where they are! I can't say that about much of anything else, now that I think of it.
Cheers,
Kelly
Back Road BearsKelly - I missed the ribbon dispensers at Michael's last night! :doh:
Chrissi - great links! I'd thought about cutting holes in my shoe boxes for the ribbons to feed through! Didn't think of the gromet things though. More fun stuff to buy! The Pull EZ bag...... that would be great for the loose pieces! I bought a set of sheets last week that came in one of those zippered plastic bags - it's the perfect size to make my own! My head is spinning with all kinds of ideas now!!!!!
Here I was thinking about getting hubby to put that fancy table saw of his to good use and building me some sort of ribbon rack! He just might be off the hook.... for now! LOL!
Back Road BearsI'm back! Chrissi got me surfing online for ideas and if you ever need OPTIONS for RIBBON STORAGE you must see this:
http://thedomesticdiva.wordpress.com/20 … d-ribbons/
This blog entry has just about every possible idea out there for dealing with ribbon! It's amazing! And here just hours ago I was at a complete loss! Thank you for getting me started, Chrissi!
Swan Valley BearsOK, here's how I store my ribbon. I'll try to explain this so it makes sense. (I'm a bit OCD when it comes to things like this.) I take the ribbon off of the spool. Then I wind it around my hand take it off my hand and flatten it. Then I sort them by colors. Then I put like colors in zip lock bags. Then I make holes in the corner of the plastic bags and hang them on metal rings that come apart with a hinge.
(You know those little spool thingies you can get to wind your embroidery thread around? The rings come with that pack to hold the spools. Or you can buy them separately in the embroidery thread department. I use them to organize my patterns too. Very handy.)
I put three or four zip lock baggies on each ring (also acording to color) and keep the whole mess in a large plastic box marked "Ribbons". They're easy to take out and look at and color coded too. You could hang the rings on a peg board too. That way you could see them all at once.
Back Road BearsPatty - that's a great idea for all those loose pieces.... and cheap and easy!!! 
Thank you for the pictures!!
Patty that is AWESOME!!!!!! And Daphne, I guess you aren't as addicted to ribbon as you thought... did you SEE that closet full of ribbons in that link you posted????? :doh:
Past Time BearsThe spools of ribbon could be put on dowel rods that could be attached to the walls or used like those in your link.
HI Daphne
Have you ever seen the racks that you can hang on a wall that hold spools of sewing thread? They could also hold ribbon on spools
Hugs
Gail
Back Road BearsSue Ann - I've been thinking of you a LOT since accumulating all this ribbon! You are the Ribbon Queen!!! 
Gail - I have a couple of those that I use for my thread. But the pegs are so close together that the ribbon spools won't fit. Perhaps they make ones with the pegs far apart? I'll have to look! Thanks!
Past Time BearsSue Ann - I've been thinking of you a LOT since accumulating all this ribbon! You are the Ribbon Queen!!! :rose:
Ah, yes indeedy, I am. And what you saw in the photos of my work room is just the tip of the iceberg. I have ribbon hiding everywhere . . . and that's the real truth.
If you wanted to keep it on the spools, you could try putting a piece of dowel through the centre of their box, threading the spools onto that and then threading the ribbons either through the lid, or through slits on the side, so you can pull it out when you need to without creating a mess 
Mutz's Tootsz Bears & BudsIf you like the idea of the plasic bags & rings you could also store those on a a hatrack, That is how I store all my patterns. I use shower curtain rings to put them on & hang them in plain site. Easier to see than in boxes.
Swan Valley BearsI just found that the cardboard spools took up so much room. I was able to fit so much more ribbon in my plastic box when I took them off the spools. Being in the plastic bags keeps them tidy too. When I was keeping them on the spools, there were ribbon "tails" everywhere getting tangled up.
West Palm Beach, FLDahne,
In the link to the Domestic Diva that Chrissie gave, I think the picture with all the clear bins stacked in a closet are from Snapware. I use some of their products for ribbon. The large square ones usually come in two (or three?) and they snap together in a stack under one lid with a handle at the top. I have all my tulle ribbon spools in those. They also have a smaller set for gift wrapping that has one container with a removable dowel and slits in the front for the ribbon to come through. It is alled Two Layer Ribbon Dispenser. I have found both of these sets at Target around the sewing machines and storage containers. At Christmas they have them for ornament storage. I have even seen them in COSTCO. Check out the Snapware.com website. Hope this helps.
Jill
Jellybelly BearsMy sister and I have been trying to work this one out too lol. I love that blog, think the drawer and rack are the best ideas for us...I worry about dust of course with an open system.
For the yardage pieces, I have a folder with the clear plastic slips in it.....i cut up pieces of card with serrated scissors to stop the ribbon slipping, and wrap several ribbons around each card so you can see them all, and pop them into the plastic slip....it works, and its fun looking through my folder of ribbon...keeps it neat too I was using tape to hold the ends in place, but those small pegs I saw in the blog would work better...I have them too 
Back Road BearsIsn't that blog amazing? She's done an entry on studio set up, fabric organizing, pattern organizing...... makes me want to completely redo my studio!!! If only I didn't have a show in less than two weeks!!! I think I have a good winter project ahead of me though (Summer for you, Sarah).
The folder idea is a great one! I'm with you on the dust concern. At the same time I like to be able to SEEEEEEEEE my ribbon... all of it....just gaze at it... I keep my closet door open so I can just gaze at my mohair stash sometimes! It's inspiring... though not very productive I suppose! :doh:
Patty - it's those ribbon tails that drive me crazy. I found some tiny pins in my stash of 'stuff I'll never use' and have put them to good use after all! In that blog link I posted she mentioned some people using the round clothespins and wrapping the ribbon around those then tossing them in a glass jar. I'm just not sure I have the patience to unwind and rewind ribbon. 
Jellybelly Bearsmakes me want to completely redo my studio!!! If only I didn't have a show in less than two weeks!!! I think I have a good winter project ahead of me though (Summer for you, Sarah).
I keep my closet door open so I can just gaze at my mohair stash sometimes! It's inspiring... though not very productive I suppose! :doh:
tehe, well you're going to be jealous, I have a brand new room for my studio and am in the process of working things out still, so, yes, this will really help me at this planning stage, fun 
hehe, looking at your stash of stuff....yes...guilty too....lol
