Decorate Craft Tubs

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How do you store all your art and craft tools – the ones you use the most often? For a long time I’ve made do with old jars with some cute paper mod podged on which held my paint brushes, pencils and Micron pens. That was fine when I had a small worktable, but when the Crafting Fairy delivered my new art studio with the oversized worktable, I was constantly walking from one end of the table to the other to grab one or those jars.

It’s not that I mind walking those extra steps of, like, eighty inches or so . . . it’s just such a waste of valuable creative time. ;)

I found these cardboard tubs at Target in their Dollar Spot. Man, that place is dangerous! I snagged two, resisting the temptation to buy them all. I thought they’d be the perfect size to corral my paintbrushes, pencils and pens that are always everywhere but where I need them to be.

And save me a few extra steps minutes.

But plain cardboard? I think not. Not when it only takes a few minutes to decorate the craft tubs.

I had these pretty aqua and turquoise spray paints on hand and gave the tubs a couple of quick coats. The Krylon is Ocean Breeze and the Rust-oleum is Satin Lagoon, if you’re a turquoise-lover like I am.

I picked these houndstooth sticky letters up at TJ Maxx a while back, without any idea what I’d use them for. TJ Maxx, another Danger Zone. But their tiny little craft section usually has some can’t-miss deals.

Like Houndstooth stick-on letters that are perfect for labeling some craft tubs.

To get them to line them up straight, place the bottoms of the letters on one edge of a ruler, or any straight edge.

Gently press the tops of the letters onto the tub, give the ruler a little twist, and the letters will pop right off, staying in perfect alignment.

Only one problem though . . . with the letters too close together, the houndstooth pattern made it hard to read the word (explaining why they were dirt cheap at TJ Maxx).

So I just popped them off, lined them up on the ruler again, farther apart this time, and pressed them back down. Much better.

Some other goodies I found in my craft stash were these rolls of washi tape.

Have you used washi tape yet? Oh wow, is it fun! It dresses nearly anything up in a snap!

My first attempt was a little too . . . busy, what with the houndstooth already. But you can play around with the letters and washi tape for quite a while without losing too much adhesive and eventually you’ll find a design that works just for you.

I wound up layering two tapes, first a plain turquoise and then the polka dots on top of that. So there’s color and just a little extra pattern, without making your eyes go too buggy.

Then I loaded them up. The turquoise tub says “Draw” on one side and “Create” on the other and holds my pencils, gel pens, and pigma markers.

The aqua tub says “Paint” and “Inspire” and holds some of my paintbrushes. The brushes I use the most often. The rest are in one of the cabinets back there.

Yes, I have quite a collection having painted for nearly 20 years.

I actually have more markers too but I don’t use them as often so they’re tucked away on a shelf.

Of course, if Target still has some of these tubs, the markers might just wind up on my worktable with the rest of the group.

Don’t they look cute on my worktable? My worktable that’s actually a door, set on top of two bookshelves, that measures 30″ wide by 80″ long.

Heaven.

Which is why I need these craft tubs . . . because, really . . . my worktable never really looks like this pic above.

No, this is more like it, with four or five projects going at once.

So if I’m doing some sketching, I grab my tub of pencils and pens and have everything I need. I usually have two to three paint projects in progress so it’s really helpful to grab all of my brushes at once, wherever I’m working in the studio.

I also love the subliminal reminders. I love to draw and paint and I create to inspire others to do the same.

Of course, if you don’t have little tubs like these, you could decorate a shoebox or any other box with a little spray paint, some stick-on letters and washi tape in a matter of minutes. And choose some words that have a special meaning just for you! 

It’s a great project when you need to get those creative juices flowing but you don’t have a ton of time . . . because your supplies are strewn about all over the table. 

Don’t you just love crafts that have dual purposes?

Colleen

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