I can't find my ribbon!!!!

February is here! January flew by for me as I tried to get over the holidays and stay warm in the cold weather. One thing I've been trying to do is organize my ribbon! Is that what you all have been doing in the cold?

Some people might think I'm crazy, but I re-roll almost all my ribbon! I know that there are several methods for storing your ribbon.  But keeping them in rolls is what works best for me. I am going to show you all how I store and roll my ribbon.  And at the bottom.......I have a GIVEAWAY in store for you all!

When January hits every year, you can see tons of articles and tips on how to organize all your clutter in the house.  Boy, do I have a lot of clutter!  In several cultures, getting rid of clutter and deep cleaning is a must before New Year's Day. For me, it's an all year challenge!  I just seem to get more motivated this time of year!

An organizing consultant in Japan, named Marie Kondo, has become well known around the world for her methods and teachings (http://konmari.com/en/).  Her high ranking book called, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, has changed how some people organize their homes and view the things they own (http://www.amazon.com/The-Life-Changing-Magic-Tidying-Decluttering/dp/1607747308).  Now I haven't read her book but have seen her on TV several times share about her methodology.  I don't necessarily agree with it all, but I do believe she has some great points.

One tip I love, is that when organizing your clothes, you should fold it in a manner where you can see it all.  I believe this applies to ribbon as well!  I have seen several people wrap their ribbon around cardboard (like pictured below).  I tried that in the beginning.  I didn't like what happened to the ribbon over time.  Depending on how the ribbon was printed, I found that the ribbon closest to the center ended up with creases or folds because of the cardboard.  Those creases were hard for me to get out of the ribbon and it often caused the print to flake or come off.  So I personally stopped using this method.  But by all means......it this method works for you.......don't change a thing!  But I do love how you can see all of your ribbon easily.  That is the best thing about this method.

Instead, I started to roll all of my ribbon.  Now for all of my smaller yardage of ribbon, I have them in rolls.  Believe it or not, several of my 25-yard rolls have been re-rolled as well without the cardboard on the side or the plastic spool in the center.  When do I do this?  While I am watching TV, sitting in the car when my husband drives, or when I am in the waiting room at the doctor's office. One of the reasons I had to do this is because of weight and space!  A good portion of my ribbon gets packed in a suitcase and I or several friends hand carry this ribbon to me in Japan.  And let me tell you.......all of that extra packaging weighs a ton!  My family and friends often help me take the ribbon off the spools and take off any surrounding cardboard....and I magically have taken off a few pounds to my suitcase.  More room for ribbon! I also do this because I have limited space to store everything and I am always adding ribbon to my collection!

Here is how I roll my ribbon by hand.  In this example I am using a 25-yard roll of ribbon.

When I use my ribbon, I like to pull the ribbon off the roll from the right, with the print facing up.  For some reason, it makes it easier for me when lining up prints and measuring lengths for making particular bows.

When the ribbon comes on the spool already lined up like this, I take the whole roll of ribbon off the spool.  I just pull, and pull and pull!! (If the ribbon comes spooled the opposite way, I just start re-rolling straight from the spool.)

Now I have a pile of ribbon.

I take this end........

.....and start rolling with the print side facing out.

Keep going until you have re-rolled your whole pile.

I do admit, after I have completed a few rolls, my hand hurts and I need to take a break! I store all of my ribbon in shoe box size plastic containers I got for about $1 each.  I love these boxes because I can easily see almost everything in it just by lifting it up or by glancing at it. They also are not that big in size so that they can easily be moved around.  I am constantly getting new ribbon, and not necessarily using all of my old ribbon, I find I am moving ribbon around quite a bit from one container to another.  In these first pictures, I tried to keep several of my summer prints together.

In these pictures I tried to keep my foil filler prints together.  I know others organize their ribbon based on color.  I haven't decided which way works best for me.  And believe it or not, my 25-yard rolls fit in these boxes nicely once I have them re-rolled.

Here is a picture of one of the book cases in my craft room.  These are mostly smaller rolls.  Ignore the top right section.  That's just a mess!!!

So are you ready for a GIVEAWAY!!!! Scroll down to the comment section and answer this question: What is your favorite color combination for bows or ribbon? リボンの色の組み合わせで一番好きなものは何ですか? One lucky winner will be chosen at random to win what is pictured below (Japanese Sweet potato Kit Kat and 15 yards of US designer ribbon!). This will close February 27, 11:59 PM (EST).

Looking for another GIVEAWAY?  Head on over to Boutique Sprinkles Blog.  There will be another GIVEAWAY going on there for what's pictured below! Starts Sunday! https://www.facebook.com/BoutiqueSprinklesBlog

GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!