Washi Tape Storage

I've become quite the washi tape collector, as I'm sure several of you have, too! 

I've been wracking my brain to come up with a good way to store it all so that it can still easily be used, 

and I finally came up with a brilliant idea! 

You know those wooden boxes you can get at Hobby Lobby? 

They turn out to be the perfect size to store rolls of washi tape! 

Mine is the 9"x6"x3" box. 

So you could just stick the tape in the box and be done... 

or you could take it a step further like I did! 

Want to see? 

We're going to use dowel rods to hold the tape (1/2" in diameter), so mark off where you want them to go. 

I suggest not trimming the dowels down to size yet. We'll get to that in a couple of steps.

I marked 1 & 1/2 inches from the outside of the box in on the front and back of the box on each side and marked off the width of my dowels.

You're going to need a router of some sort. 

Mine comes in the form of a handy Dremel attachement.

Slowly start routing out the marked area on the box. 

You want to gouge out about halfway through the wood. 

This will make a little "shelf" for the dowel to rest on. Make sure you go far enough down the inside of the box so that the top of the dowel will be not be effected closing the box.

Speaking of the dowels, now is the time to trim them down to size! 

Mark where you need to make your cut then carefully saw off the part you need. 

I can't tell you a definite lengths because it will depend on how much you gouged out of the sides of the box.

Make 2 and sand the edges.

Your dowels should fit nicely in your new grooves.

Almost done now! 

What? You thought that was the end? 

Oh no, one more thing to do! 

Incidentally you can fit your washi tape inside of an empty AL foil box. ;)

I suppose you could cover it with scrapbook paper and use this for storage, too.

I'm more interested in the metal teeth on the box!

Trim off the metal teeth along with about 1/2" of the cardboard and measure how long it needs to be to fit the front of your box.

Using old scissors, trim the teeth down to size. 

Apply some adhesive (I used Beacon's 3-in-1) to the cardboard and place it against the inside front side of the box. Let the metal teeth stick up above the wood. I should actually have made mine a little higher.

Clamp it on with "craft" clamps (a.k.a. clothespins!).

Add your washi tape to the dowel rods and you're all set! 

You can also move the front dowel to the back slot and the back to the front since the dowels simply lift out of the slots if you need to.

When you close up the box and carry it around the dowels will stay perfectly in place.

Now I just need to decorate my box!

What do you think?

Is this something you think you could use?Do you have any other ideas for washi tape storage?I would love to hear them!

I link to these fun parties!