Organized Kiwi Lane Templates

Organizing is one of my favorite things to do, especially in my craft area.  Once I got my first order of Kiwi Lane templates I needed a better way to organize them. I didn't want to keep them on their rings and hang them on a rod or storage spinner in my craft area as show in this older blog post (click HERE).  I didn't want to throw them all in a craft drawer or plastic bin.  I wanted a solution that was space-saving, yet portable.  I want to easily take my Kiwis to crops after all!!!  Then, the idea HIT me.  A binder!  This is my solution for organizing my Kiwi Lane templates.  So far, I have been THRILLED with my organization solution.  I can slip this binder right in my crop bag and go.  No more rings.  No more bulky container.  Just my binder! (oh, and I don't forget to grab their awesome idea book,too. I got mine spiral bound at Staples.)

 I keep my binder on the Elfa shelf just above my work desk.  I have a binder for stickers, a binder for miscellaneous (sketches, product references, etc.) and the biggest binder is for my templates.  Look how LITTLE room it takes up.  Yippee!  (Since I took this picture, I got a 2" white binder so I had more room to "grow".  The one shown on the right is a 1 1/2" ring binder.)

 Here you can see the other side of my binder and tell how flat it all sits.  the 9x12" plastic sleeves stick above the top edge of my binder a bit, but my border templates are still protected.

As I was browsing through Staples, I came across these 9x12 job ticket holders near the page protector aisle.  I about fainted.  I wanted something that was 12" tall, but that would still fit in a ring binder.  SCORE!  I bet if Staples reviewed their camera footage of me shopping that day...well, I bet they would see me giggle and clap my hands.  I was that happy!

 Simply trim the top piece of plastic from each 9x12 sleeve (the top piece with one punched hole sticks up too far and is unnecessary), insert a piece of cardstock trimmed to 9x12 into the sleeve, and punch three holes on each side.  I used my Crop-a-Dile as it will easily punch through the sleeve and cardstock all at once. Now your 9x12 pockets will easily fit into a ring binder.

 For my accessories and tiny accessories sets, I got these great multi-pocket page protectors by Martha Stewart.  I love that each pocket has a top flap to keep my templates in place.  I don't need to play "52 template pick up" if I drop my binder. :)

 In each smaller pocket, I inserted cardstock so that the templates on the next sleeve don't show through.  I also have them organized alphabetically by set name.  I know....it's a sickness.  I didn't adhere anything together within the pockets as I want to be able to move sets around as I buy more.  That way I can have my happy little alphabetically arranged method still in place. *wink*

 On the back side of the pocket, I inserted the packaging sheet from each set.  Each one has the set name, shows what shapes are in that set and also has a great layout idea.  I am SO glad I didn't throw these away.  Even though the templates themselves are labeled, I think this is a great "at a glance" way to reference your sets.

 The medium-sized accessory templates are in the two-pocket page protectors.  Perfect fit!!

 Again, I repeated the "save the packaging sheet" idea for the medium pocket pages.

 The Rings set fit best in a standard 8 1/2 x 11 page protector. 

 And...more packaging sheets again.

 I have one border set per 9x12 pocket.  Look how great they are in these...flat, not getting bent, easy to access, etc.  My mouth is watering!!  I love it!

 And, yep...you guessed it.  I kept the packaging for the border sets, too. 

One last tip is to use a Corner Chomper to punch out the bottom corner of each of the 9x12 pockets.  This allows them to move more easily around the mechanism of the ring binder.  It isn't necessary, but does help.  If you don't have a Corner Chomper, just use your scissors to snip off a bit of the corner.

And, that's it.  My happy solution for organizing my Kiwi Lane templates.  Hope it is helpful and thanks for stopping by! Happy Organizing!