How I Store My Stamps

 I have a bit of an obsession with stamps.  I love using stamps in scrapbooking, making cards, and even home decor.  I especially love Lawn Fawn stamps (lawnfawn.com) and have collected quite a few sets.  I have been storing them in their original packaging, but it wasn't working well for me...especially when my son enjoys using them and he was having a hard time getting them back in the packaging (he kept splitting the sides when trying to fit them back in).  Lawn Fawn sets come with a bunch of amazing stamps and some are tiny...I don't want to lose a single one, so I need to put them in something!

There are many great ideas on the web of how to store your sheets of acrylic stamps.  Some inexpensive options were using plastic bags, but they didn't look sturdy enough...they didn't really solve my problem.   Others recommend using plastic CD sleeves from office supply stores which look great and seem to work well, but when I added up the cost, it was more than I wanted to spend.

So, I raided my craft area/homeschool supply area and came up with an idea and because I had supplies on hand, they didn't cost me a thing!  Perfect!

Here's what I did:

First I got plastic sheet protectors that would go into a 3-ring binder (I looked up cost and they run about $15 for 100 and each will store 2 sets of stamps), a trimmer and a stapler:

I then took a set of stamps and decided I wanted the pockets to be 7 and 1/4 inches tall.

Next I trimmed down the sleeve going across the top (opening side).

I then trimmed off the white part that with the holes that would be used to place in a binder normally.

I forgot to take a pic (oops!), but I then folded the pocket in half and stapled on the folded line twice...one about 2 inches from top and another about 2 inches from the bottom.  You can see the staples in this picture with the stamps inserted.  The staples allow you to put 2 sets in one insert and keeps them from sliding into each other.

With smaller sets I decided to keep the cardboard insert which helps keep the pocket from bending.

I found that the pockets also worked great for my stamp sets that had matching dies (again I kept the cardboard insert to keep pocket from bending).

Here are all my sets in the drawer that I use to store them:

I have been using this system for a month now, and  it's working great.  I can flip through my sets quickly to find what I need. I also like using the cardboard inserts for the dies because they stick up a bit and I can find them easily.   AND my son has been able to use them without any issues...problem solved!

I love when to have my stuff organized and especially like it when I can do it cheap!

Have you solved any organizational problems lately?  I can always use extra help, so please share!