Defunkifying my Scrap papers..Again

I am going through my craft room once and for all!!!
But this time, I am going to complete it!!

I mentioned in my "Messy Room Tour pt 2" that I am following a couple of challenge prompts.
The first few are to do with papers.
So I went with the easiest of my papers, and that is paper scraps.
We all have them..I know we do, but to store them so we use them is another issue.

Here is how I have been storing my paper scraps for the last 3 years and it is still working for me!
Here is an older post I did on how I store my "Paper Scraps"
But I thought I would tweak it a bit.

Each colour of paper gets its own hanging file folder.
I tried to match the paper scrap colours to the same colour folder.
Blues go in the blue folder, reds go in the red folder and so on.
I put both pattern paper and card stock scraps together in these folders.

If I didn't have a coloured folder for a certain colour of paper (such as my black & white papers or my Christmas themed scraps, I just used a regular brown hanging folder.
I also added a coloured tab I made to the tops of the folders.

Since this was an easy challenge for me, I figured I would redo my tabs as they were looking a little ragged.
I used the Stampin' Up tag punch. I was thrilled to see that the tabs actually fit into the tabbed slots inside the folders.
Now how pretty does this look :)

This time I added the tabs on either side of the file folders.
This way no matter which way they are put back, they can't be put back wrong :)
I store them in this hanging file holder.
They slide easily in here and are so easy to take out and put back.

Lastly I put the whole thing in a tote bag.
There are a couple of reasons why I do this.
1. The metal hooks on the folders would snag my sweaters.
2. Keeping them in the bag makes them easier to move or tote around.

In order to keep my paper scraps from getting out of hand there are a few things that I do.
I share them with all of my friends
If anyone needs a small piece of paper or card stock, I ask them to go in my scrap bin and take what they need.
I go through my scraps once a year.
At the beginning of the year, I try to go through my scraps. I will make card sets to give away as gifts or to hospitals. I punch out shapes out of the smaller pieces and give them away to those that scrap for causes.

Not only is it important to organize your scraps, but it is also important to keep on top of them and use them up.
I also did a video on Defunkifying my Paper Scraps.
If you would rather watch it on my YouTube, just click on the link "Tracy's Treasures24"



Here are my tips to defunkifying/organizing an area:
1. Remove - Take all of your scraps and put them in one area.
2. Sort- Sort all like items together…in this case, all the same colours of papers.
3. Purge- This is my hardest part. Get rid of the papers you will no longer use and donate or recycle them.
4. Organize- Figure out a way that works for you.
File folders work for me, but I have put them in pull out drawers by colours before.
I also keep an envelope in the backs of my paper pads for the scraps for that set of papers.
Everyone is different find out your way…and this may change as you work.

If you are following me along on my mission to get my room in order, I would love to hear what you are working on :)

I hope you all have a very Creative Day :)

Tracy :)