Cricut Cartridges, Books and Overlays Organized!

As promised, here is my new organization for my cricut cartridges, boxes and overlays! They are divided into two IKEA boxes - A-L and M-Z. The boxes were too deep for the folders, so I bought 1" foam at Joann's, and cut a piece to fit the bottom of the box. It raised the bottom just enough so they files are not lost in the box. I like to keep my cartridges separate from the books and overlays, and I keep them in the plastic boxes I bought in the craft section at Walmart. Since I use Cricut Design Studio quite a bit, I usually don't need the book and over lay. The original Cricut boxes looked nice all lined up on my shelf, but for some reason they visually bothered me. Maybe it was because whenever anyone saw them lined up on the shelf, they usually commented on how many cartridges I own. Now that being said, I am grateful for all my cartridges, but it was usually just an awkward moment! I laugh because considering some of the people on the Cricut Message Board have WAY many more carts then I do, I find it funny!

I made a folder for each cartridge using a .cut file from Cindy McVey on her blog: http://crazy4crafting.blogspot.com/. I think this file was originally created to use in the Snapware method of storing carts. I'm not crazy about the clear boxes and couldn't stand the colors of the lids of the ones I did find in the store, so I didn't want to use Snapware. I will say, make sure if you are going to cut the files to use to store the books and overlays, you make SURE they fit in your box. This IKEA box is the only one that I could find that was wide enough, and since Cindy's file is so great, I didn't want to mess with it! Anyways, it took me quite awhile to cut and assemble files for all the books and overlays. I used double sided tape, white cardstock, and then being a little obsessive, I had to make labels for each. I decided to cut all the files, left and right only, and I figure when I add cartridges, I will make folders with the tab in the center. I cut all the files left and just flipped them over as I was assembling them to make them on the right. I am just so happy this project is done.

In case anyone is wondering, I am packing the original boxes away along with the original packing from the Cuttlebug folders. I know some people get rid of them, but since I have a box and the place in the closet, I may as well hang onto them!

Last but not least, I made a paperclip for my calendar today! Not a huge project, but it made me happy!