Beading Storage Ideas
There are so many ways to store your bead stash…choose the ones that work best with your space and style. One of the best overall tips is to store beads by color and/or style…when you know you need a red bead, you can go to one place to find all of your red beads.
Compartment Boxes are boxes that have several divisions. There are a wide variety available from “cell boxes” ( 1 to 10 compartments) to others with as many as 40 compartments, as well as “strips” which generally come in small, medium or large, and have 6 or 7 compartments each and can easily be stacked. For larger beads, a good reversible compartment box can be ideal, however these are not intended for smaller (or seed) beads. Some even have grooves with tabs that you can insert to make as many or as few compartments as you want. Be wary with the removable tabs however; they may slip out of place, allowing beads in adjacent compartments to mix together. Simple compartment boxes are available at most craft and hobby stores, such as Michaels or Hobby Lobby, for as little at $1-2 per box, or use fishing tackle boxes from sporting goods stores or departments.
Custom Systems are available for beaders but they can be very costly. You buy each piece individually, starting with a basic cube. The options are adding doors, shelves, trays and more. Custom systems are usually wooden, in plain finish, stained or painted. The problem with getting the trays is that they have no lids, so if you accidentally drop a tray while bringing it to your work area you’re going to be picking up beads for a while! The only really good thing about these is that one is generally small, so they are good when you’re limited on space, or for displaying different types of beads in a shop they can be stacked up to 3 high.
Plastic zippered bags work great to store their beads in, as well to store finished products in. They are available in various sizes and some come with “white block” so you can write prices, piece descriptions, or the like directly on the bag and it won’t rub off over time. Use sandwich bags or buy multipacks of inexpensive smaller bags at craft and hobby stores, or any online bead supplier.
Stack jars are great for seed beaders. They come in “small” (usually 6 jars per stack), “medium” (usually 5) or “large” (typically 4) and you just screw one onto the bottom of the next. They hold well, but if dropped on a hard surface (tile, wood flooring, etc.) the lids, and sometimes the jars themselves, tend to crack. One clever way to store stack jars is to attach the top of the first jar to the bottom of a shelf above your work space, and then unscrew the jar you need. By storing in a “hanging” position, you will maximize your space!
Tri-Tubes are plastic tubes, triangular in shape, and approximately 4 inches long and are another great storage option for seed beads, or any bead 4mm or smaller. The tubes are a thin plastic, but even when dropped on wood or tile, they don’t often break. These are the best tube-type containers I’ve found because when you work, they won’t roll away from you. The downside is that they are currently only available in one size (approximately equal to a 30 gram tube of seed beads).
Tubes are much like Tri-Tubes, but are cylindrical in shape. They come in wooden or plastic versions, are slightly more durable than the Tri-tubes, and come in several different sizes. The downside to them is that because they are round, they tend to roll away from you while you’re working.
Non-beading specific storage (or “trash”) items work great for bead and tool storage too. Have friends and family save items for you, and keep an eye out at garage sales!
Baby Food Jars work great for small to medium (10mm) beads, or components such as charms, clasps, or cones. Once the label is removed, you can clearly see what’s in each without having to label them too much (it’s always a good idea to label at least size, type and color on whatever you use for storage). Take a tip from guys who store screws, nuts and nails in old baby food jars or other jars with removable metal lids, and attach the lid to the bottom or a shelf above your workspace. When you need beads in a jar, simply unscrew and remove from the lid.
Travel-size baby wipe boxes or plastic pencil cases work well for storing your works-in-progress because they close tightly and even seed beads won’t escape. Great for the beader on the go! Pre-cut your beading wire or thread, grab the proper tools, throw in a small package of extra beads (or leave larger beads loose) and you can take them anywhere and work on your project(s) any time you get a free moment.
Full-size baby wipe boxes are great for storing small bags of beads in or for storing larger beads (in or out of bags). You can also put in bead mixes in them to separate later, store your stringing materials, or even for tool storage.
Tic Tac Boxes are great for small beads. Pour some beads from the spout into a dish when you’re working, then just pop off the top and pour back in any unused beads when you’re done.
First Aid kits sold empty, tackle boxes and horizontal tool boxes work great. Bigger versions usually have at least one large area you can store your tools in, and several small spaces for beads. Look for versions with added compartments and boxes built in!
Vertical tool boxes are plastic containers that hold between 8 to 50 drawers. Sold for storing nuts, bolts, and nails, these are wonderful for beaders as well.
Office supply rolling carts come with 2 to 6 drawers and in various widths and heights. Some have a flat top (roll out the cart, do your beading on the top, roll it away when done) while others have various grooves on their tops (for storing less-used items such as pens, pencils, rolls of tape, etc.). They range from $10 to $60, but are still much cheaper than custom systems. I have 3 double wide rolling carts and I love them. Two of mine have 3 drawers each and will hold as many as 18 of the 17-compartment boxes sold at bead or scrap booking stores or up to 60 (or more) of the large stack jars. The third cart has 6 drawers; 2 large ones and 4 smaller ones, which have room for 16 of the 17-compartment boxes.
Finally, you can store all of your boxes, trays and jars on open bookcases, shelves or even in an old amoire. Storing beads need not be expensive, no matter how large your stash is! Save those precious beading dollars for BEADS!
– K. Jenkins
