My New Desk Organization Companion--Craft Tote Bliss Part One

Week after week...messy desktop after messy desktop...constantly wondering why can't I keep this place tidy so I'll feel more creative...what's my problem.
Well, now I know thanks to a half-price craft tote sale at Hobby Lobby. I was always drawn to these totes, but in the back of my mind I thought, what would I really do with all those pockets, nooks and crannies and they'd most likely end up being tossed aside, OR cause me to buy craft supplies I don't really need to fill up those pockets!

Oh no, no, no, mademoiselle. Oh contraire. They solved two big craft desk organization problems!

Let me say first, it's one thing to actually have a project spread out...but it's another to constantly have my piles and ongoing mess!

Problem One: I am always working on more than one project, and I don't want to let one get buried, forget what I was doing with it, and it ends up in the UFO bin. So it's in a pile on the desk.
Problem Two: If I really put things away, completely out of my sight, then they tend to stay there. For years possibly. I forget about them and don't use them. That is a craft tragedy in my mind. So I tend to let those things hang around on my desktop somewhere, knowing that at least I'll see them all the time. But then, you know, things get piled up.

What the craft tote does: All the stuff that I like to use all the time is upright, visible, yet organized in the craft tote. It even has a sturdy ring to hang my washi rings on! I love that. And, although it is loaded up and very heavy, it has super sturdy handles, so I can move this thing around the craft room. I can change out what I want in it, and basically it is my messy desktop all organized and extremely handy without taking up all that valuable real estate on the desk. It is now housing little patterned paper pads I want to use soon, the cropadile, favorite pens and markers, my new cordless glue gun (go me), things that tend to go in and out of my purse and lay on my desktop, my planner, stencils, stamps, ink pads, favorite scissors, and my awesome mini stapler.

And this Paper Studio Craft Tote is still not completely full. It has interior pockets within the compartments, so I can stuff receipts in there, mail, a package of ephemera I don't want to open yet but don't want to lose track of, and my extra Midori goodies I'm working on.

I could also stick my current stitching project in here, but I actually rescued a smaller, old craft tote and have deemed it my current stitching project tote--I was on a roll. And now my desk is happy.

Just my big to-do listy book I was writing in, and a cuppa.
And if you've made it all the way down here...here's what NOT to buy at Hobby Lobby.

Isn't it adorable! A little portable office. DON'T buy it. It promised that it came with a hole punch. There's no hole punch in here. Then, I tried to load the stapler and it immediately broke. *sigh* I'm going to take it back. And anyway, I have a cute mini stapler from Office Depot that works fantastic. I don't even know why I bought this--I was sucked in by the cuteness.

Later this week I'll post my Craft Tote Bliss Part Two--what really started all of this. My bible journaling tote! It's the same tote by Paper Studio in a different color, and it is now home to all my wonderful bible journaling goodies that I can carry around the house, move from table to desk, or take in my car. I'll break it all down for you on how I put mine together and why on Thursday.

Eat, Write, Dream, Stitch