Lowe's...not just for tools!

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Reported by Heidi Kingery


How many times has your hubby dragged you to Lowe's or Home Depot to pick up a few simple things like screws or a new set of pliers? It's happened to me more times than I can count and just like we are with stamping or scrapbooking stores, men can stand in home improvement stores for much longer than it takes them to grab those screws and pliers! Funny thing is, afterwards my home doesn't ever seem 'improved'! That's a whole other story though.

After figuring out pretty quickly that my husband can stand and stare at wire cutters for 30 minutes straight without even realizing that I am still standing next to him, I decided to venture off on my own and see if I could find anything interesting.

Amongst the rows of wall putty, paint (of which I have snagged a few paint swatches also!), lumber, and tools is my favorite place in the whole store: Home Organization. I swear, light from the heavens shines down on it every time I walk past. I am a seriously organized person and in my house just about everything has a tote to go in and a label saying what it is (even though my sisters make fun of me because the totes are clear and don't really need a label).

So, when I found these units of tiny drawers my heart skipped a beat! I could put my brads here, and my eyelets could go there, oh, and I can't forget my sponges. My mind was racing and I was trying to decide if buying one of these would do or if I needed 10! Come on, you know how crafters think! I decided one would work for now and sat it in the cart only to find another sweet storage solution just a few pieces down. My first thought was ribbon rolls! I wanted a nicer way to store my ribbon which was currently housed in, yes, a clear tote. Into the cart that one went to. Around $30 or so later, I now had a efficient way to store a mess of supplies!

(There are 2 ribbon bins pictured here. One on top of another)

Right now, my embellishment drawers carry all of my eyelets and brads (separated by color), rhinestones, bookplates, charms, small tubes of glitter, Fiskars blades, and much more. A few of my drawers don't have labels because I have recently switched things around and haven't re-labeled. The covered bins are the home to my ribbon rolls and even some loose ribbon.


The smaller drawers on top measure about 2" W, 5 3/8" D, and 1 3/8" H. The larger drawers on the bottom measure about 4 1/4" W, 5 3/8" D, and 2 1/2" H, but there is a lip at the top where each drawer goes in that about 1/4" long so the height is really about 2 1/4". There is an option to add in drawer dividers to give you 2 sections per drawer but they are sold separately.


On the unit I store my ribbon in, there are 12 openings with 3 openings in each row. The openings measure 4 1/2" W, 4 7/8" D, and 3 1/4" H. This storage is a little tricky because although the outside opening is only 1 1/4" high, it dips down once you get past the opening so there is more room once you get past the lip of the bin. They have self holding lids which means all you need to do is lift the lid and push it back a little and it stays up on its own. I had been wanting a ribbon tote but I like to be able to get the whole roll out and wrap it around my project instead of measuring how much I need and then pulling it through a slot and measuring that. This works perfectly because you can see all of the ribbon you have, reach it easily, yet it stays out of the way of your work space.

*Closed*

*Open*

Pros:

• They seem to hold every small embellishment that I have!
• Both units have places on the back so they can be hung on the wall.
• Nice price in my opinion
• Sturdy
• You can store things other than scrap and stamp (and tools) stuff in them (I have a small one in my kitchen cupboard that has band-aids, Cortaid, hair pins, fingernail clippers, toothpicks, etc.. all in their own little drawer)
• They can stack on top of each other (the ribbon bins could fall if someone were to bump my table hard enough)
• The bins have 'doors' so your ribbon won't get dusty.
  

Cons:

• Ribbon rolls that measure larger than 3 1/4" you have to push in, either that or turn it to the side when you put it in and then stand it back up once you get it past the lip.
• I wish it came with the dividers for the drawers because you can only buy those online.
• This system might be a pain for those to 'travel scrap' because this isn't a pack and go kind of storage.
• Each of the drawers have a small hole in the bottom that might have to be covered with tape depending on the size of your embellishment. (you can see the size in the picture of the green brads)
  

You can find similar set ups on Lowe's.com, Organize.com, and even in a plain white here at The Container Store. There was a much better selection at the actual Lowe's store and I even found some of the small drawer ones at my local Meijer in the tool section.

Do you have any Lowe's pieces for your storage solutions? Share with us what you do use! We'd love to hear!