Organizing String. Yes. I Said String.

So bless my grandmother, my mother's mother collected lots of stuff before she passed away last November. I pretty much hit the jackpot on embroidery floss and came home with a huge freezer bag full of different colored floss.

I have been sewing these little ornaments out of felt and am now fully stocked on embroidery floss, but I didn't like keeping it all tangled up in a bag, so I started the mind numbing activity of organizing it last week. (And I'm still going.)

Anyways, I came up with an idea (probably been thought of before, but just in case) and figured I would get it pinned for anyone else that is having trouble figuring out how to organize massive amounts of colored threads.

The steps I have below have given me a huge supply of homemade bobbins, and I can see and pick out the colors that I want much easier now.

So here goes.

So because of my love of pinterest and DIY and art, I had been collecting all of the toilet paper rolls for the toilet paper art, which turned out pretty cool, but I had a bunch left over. So I figured why not make my own bobbins.

So I cut a strip about an inch or less wide.

Then cut a tiny slit at the top - at an angle - to aid in holding down the loose end once I wrapped the floss around the bobbin.

Now it's time to wind. Starting at the bottom part (the part without the slit) I turned on Netflix and started wrapping. 

Wrapping, wrapping, more wrapping. If I have same colors that have been cut apart, then I can keep wrapping or combining the threads (no knots just wrap until tight) so I have all of the same color on the bobbin.

Then tuck the loose end into the slit.

Now - it's taken me days of sitting in the recliner after work, watching TV and wrapping thread but it has turned out pretty nice!

Started with this:

And now I have this (really I have a lot more than this, but you get the picture.)

Now - since we are moving I can toss all of these back in the bag, and once I get my home office/craft room organized, I will be getting one of these:  (Amazon.com for $25)

SOOOO much easier to see the colors that I have and the quantity that I have of each. Score!

Soon to Come

I can't wait to move into our first house. Half an acre next to a farm in a quiet neighborhood about 10 miles from the Tennessee border. These are all of the pictures from the realtor's website. None of the furnishings are ours, and are all moved out now. These are all of the before pictures I have right now. Once we get down to Alabama and get settled, I will take more of the "before" pics to post, so everyone can see the changes we make.