Recently, someone asked me how I store my Paper Pumpkin subscription. What do I do with all the pieces?
First of all, I really do make an effort to get my kits assembled as quickly as possibly. If it’s cards, I file the completed cards in my card organizer by type. This is has been so handy when I need a last minute card. If it’s a home decor piece, I make it and put it out right away so we can enjoy it for the season. Gift boxes and treat bags/boxes are a little tougher. I don’t really have the room to store assembled boxes or bags. Usually, I will stamp the parts that I can and put the pieces together while keeping the project as flat as possible. Then I store those in my card organizer and try to use as soon as possible.
After my kit is assembled, I’m left with three things: instruction sheet, stamps, and stamp pad. Occasionally I might have some kit pieces or adhesive also left-over. I put the left-over adhesive with all my regular adhesive and the kit pieces are filed away with like items (twine with twine, embellishments with embellishments, etc).
Years ago, I came across these thin binders. I knew they would be good for something so I’ve kept them in my supply cabinet. They were kind of an ugly brown color so I’ve covered them in pattern paper from an older Stampin Up paper pack called “I Am Me”. It turns out these binders are the perfect size for one year’s worth of Paper Pumpkin instruction sheets and stamp sets.
I mod-podge’d the paper onto the binder. I’m partial to the Glitter Mod-Podge – it makes the binders so sparkly. I have my Paper Pumpkin Instructions and stamp sets sorted by year. Here are the 2015 and 2016 binders. The binders all use the same coordinating paper from the “I Am Me” paper packs. The sticker numbers are mod-podge’d as well so they won’t fall off.
I purchased a package of 6×8″ sheet protectors from a local office supply store. The Instruction Sheets mostly fit inside these sheet protectors. They’ve had a couple months where the instruction sheets were slightly larger. I did trim them down to fit inside the sheet protectors.
Sometime in 2016, Stampin Up started labeling the sheets with the month and year of the kit. Until that point, I labeled each kit with the month and year and the color of the stamp pad that was used. Now, I just label the color of the stamp pad that goes with the kit.
After all of the instruction sheets, I have a couple of Project Life sheet protectors that I use to store the stamp sets. Each stamp set goes in its own pocket. I can easily flip through them and find the one I’m looking for.
My organization of the stamp pads is a little looser. This is one of the original Paper Pumpkin boxes that was given out at Leadership in 2013 when Paper Pumpkin was first announced. Now all the kits are shipped in bright orange boxes.
And here it is… all the stamp pads I’ve received in the Paper Pumpkin kits. These are the mini Stampin Spots. They are about 1″ square and they work just as well as the full size stamp pads. It just takes longer to ink up a larger stamp.
You can see the stamp pads are pretty much all just tossed into the box. When my kit comes, I tend to use my full size stamp pads instead of the Spots so most of these aren’t even opened. I haven’t decided what I’m going to do with these. I may end up up using some of these for “Classes to Go”. I might just keep adding them to the box until I’m totally out of room.
If you’d like to see other organization tips, just let me know what you need help with. I have learned that it’s important to have dedicated spaces for things, which means it is easier to find something when you need it and also to put things away when you’re done with it.
Don’t forget Sale-abration is going on right now. For every $50 purchase (pre-tax and shipping), you can pick one free Sale-abration item. What a deal! I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for a good deal which is why I signed up to be a Demonstrator. If you always want to get your craft supplies at a discount, we need to talk.
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