I want to show you how to organize your yarn using cardboard tubes. Not only do you not have to nail anything to your walls if you use this method but it’s extremely versatile.
You could use this option in a closet, in a nook in your craft room or inside an entertainment center. You can even move the tubes around as needed.
It keeps your yarn safer from dust, easy to find, and you can paint or decorate the tubes to match any color scheme you want.
Supplies
- 48″ x 12″ cardboard building form tube (each one will make 4 tubes for yarn storage so buy as many tubes as needed to get the number of storage bins you need)
- At least two 3-4″ foam paint brushes (you can buy a set of foam brushes with different sizes and use the smaller ones to add stripes of color on top of your base color or for painting the insides of the cardboard tubes)
- 1 gallon of paint (regular paint you’d use for walls in your house – choose your finish – I prefer a flat finish because my walls are done in flat)
- Plastic drop cloth for covering your work area
- Paint stir sticks
- Wet rag for wiping paint
Instructions
- Cut your 48″ tubes into 1 foot sections (if you buy these at Home Depot, they’ll cut them for you)
- Lay your plastic drop cloth down in your work space
- Wet your rag, wring it out and keep it near your work space
- Open your paint and stir it with one of your stir sticks
- Decide if you’re going to paint the insides of your tubes or leave them unpainted. If you’re going to paint the insides, start there.
- Dip one of the large foam brushes into your paint and start painting.
- If you’re doing the insides, start there and do the insides of each of your tubes.
- Let the paint dry (your paint can may give information on how long to let the paint dry – otherwise, wait 24 hours).
- Give the tubes a second coat of paint and let them dry again
- Once they’re completely dry, stack them in your storage area and fill with yarn
Until I’d seen this video, I hadn’t come across the idea of using these large, cardboard tubes in this way but I knew my current method of storing my yarn stash wasn’t perfect.
I have my yarn stacked on top of each other in the side cabinets of an entertainment center in my craft room. Getting out just the skein I want is like a giant game of Jenga. If I’m not careful, they all come tumbling down.
I didn’t want to nail anything to the wall, though. My craft room has a nook that would be perfect for this idea. If I need more space, I can even put these tubes inside the large opening in the wall unit that’s meant to house a TV (but has craft bins instead).
I could even use these inside one of my closets. It’s really pretty inexpensive way to build up storage for my crochet yarns that I can grow over time. Have more yarn? Just add more tubes!
In addition, I would decorate the outsides of the tubes. I would either stencil the word “YARN” on the outside in black or add some decorate tape to dress them up.
Either way, this is going to keep your yarn manageable, accessible, and mostly dust-free!