So, where to put them all? I came up with a Cricut storage center that works for me. All of the cartridges are stored inside the cabinet doors, easy to find and replace.
I keep the booklets and the overlays for the cartridges in photo boxes stored on the shelves. I have them arranged alphabetically, and separated by font or shape. The Disney/Sesame Street/Nickelodeon carts have their own place, also.
The cabinet is from Ikea, it's a Leksvik armoire. I can close up the doors when I'm done. My hubby added an extra shelf, and there's also a big drawer on bottom for lightweight items. I keep my Imagine machine on a sliding board that I can pull forward a few inches to accommodate the space needed at the rear of the machine for the mat. My expression machine sits on the top of the cabinet. I can take it down to use it for cutting thicker materials or if I have a big project to do for the kids' school.
The original cartridge boxes are just too big and awkward to use for organizing the carts. Someday, I'll either toss them or use them for some cute projects, but for now, they're in our attic. I plan to make a color copy of all of the images on the back of each box, and keep it in a 3-ring binder.
I'm also very lucky that my family hasn't declared the house a "scrap-free" zone. My craft / scrap area has taken over one end of our living room.
A little side-story here. We bought our home about 7 years ago, on Valentine's Day. It was PERFECT for our family of 3. I had decided to turn the upstairs guest room into a craft room; a place to work on my projects; sewing, embroidery and my newly discovered papercrafting hobby. My son was born the week before Christmas. I was able to use my new craft room for only a few months, and then it became his bedroom. His walls are still a pretty shade of apple green, by the way!!
My husband grudgingly allowed me to turn a part of our detached garage into a craft room. The previous owners of our home had built a separate room inside the garage as a hang-out for their teens. So, we installed cabinets and countertops, and that became my craft room.
My problem was that I felt very isolated out there. I also couldn't easily use the space. I either needed to heat or cool the room before I could spend much time in it, and then the length of time I had to spend was minimal. It seemed that I was constantly interrupted just as I was getting into a project. I would come back in the house to take care of things, then never find an opportunity to go back to my craft room. I couldn't see or hear the kids out there, so I had no idea what they were doing. I'd hear one of them screaming or crying, then I'd have to stop and go find out what they were up to. It drove me nuts, and I dreaded trying to get anything done. My little haven was far from relaxing!!
Our solution was to put a cabinet at one end of our living room to keep supplies and my Cricut in. I have a desk behind the loveseat and a bookshelf also. I keep my papers and photos in an antique china buffet in our "dining" room. The kids still interrupt me, but I'm able to do what I need to do while keeping an eye on them. I can watch them play outside or monitor their computer use, and I feel much more connected.
Hopefully, in a few years, they won't need me around as much. I'll be able to move everything back into my craft room and spend lots of time out there. I'll have to do a major purge to get everything to fit in that room, though!!
I've been eyeing the playhouse lately......
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