After reading our Stretchy Bracelet Tutorial, a reader named Jamie asked,
I was wondering if you had any suggestions on how to keep beads organized without purchasing a plastic bin organizer at the craft store. My oldest has thousands of beads, but they always get mixed up or spilled. I appreciate your help!
To answer Jamie’s question, here are some ideas.
beads in mint, shampoo, & lip gloss containers & an eye shadow case
First, look around your house, thrift store, & even the grocery store for small containers that could be repurposed for bead storage. I prefer clear containers so I can see my beads. Plastic is great for traveling or for kids, while glass is fine for shelves or other safe places. If you’re happy to keep beads in non-clear containers, tape a sample bead or label to the outside of the container. Double check that any lids stay on well.
Some plastic & more travel-friendly ideas include: tic tac or other mint containers, spice containers (here’s a whole spice rack at Curbly), Purell bottles, travel-sized shampoo bottles, travel bar soap container, mini zip lock bags, clear lip gloss containers, ink pen barrels for seed beads (ones where the pen top screws on & off. This isn’t my idea, but can’t remember where I originally saw it), an old eyeshadow case, & clear contacts cases.
Some glass & more displayable options include: glass jars, clear candle holders, pegboard, magnetic containers (on something metal or painted with magnetic paint), and here’s a two-tiered display idea from Perpetualplum.
this leather case was originally for cosmetics
Look for larger containers to store smaller containers, if necessary. Examples include: tool boxes, file cabinets, suit cases, book bags, tupperware, cosmetic bags, recycled boxes, or a baby wipes container.
Start Collecting. Ask for items on freecycle, along with asking friends & family to save items for you.
Happy organizing! Do you have any other creative ways to store your beads without buying store-bought plastic containers?
Also, here’s a great article from Beading Daily on things to consider before organizing your beads. Think about how you sort your beads (size, color, type), consider whether your bead storage inspires you to create & how accessible is the storage, and decide how much money you’d like to spend.
i tried using one of those plastic organizer years ago, but i always ended up spilling ALL the beads, when i was just trying to get them out of one compartment!
now i use ziplocks for my beads, because they take up way less space than hard containers, and i can easily get the beads out. plus, they’re awesome for traveling with. (i’m a little obsessed with ziplocks as a storage solution though – my ribbons and trim are all in ziplocks, and so are all my zippers!)
i have several plastic bin things that sit on a shelf in my closet, and they hold all the ziplock bags, just to keep them contained.
Thank you for the great variety of ideas! I will be looking a little more closely at the options I have around the house. While organizing my daughter’s beads I am keeping in mind that she is the one who will be getting the beads out, so small mouthed containers would require pouring the beads out. Ziplocs may be what I use until I get all of them sorted.
The tic tac containers look like they would be just perfect. Open the lid and tap out just a few onto a plate or into a cookie sheet while you’re crafting.
I use glass spice containers to store my beads. It’s not very kids friendly, but I like symmetry to my storage. Another example of my love of storage symmetry, I keep all of my buttons separated by color in mason jars on a shelf.