Now what do I do with all the empty tins and boxes?

Forget my last post. I had a brainstorm today and just whipped up the perfect organizer for my colored pencils. The organizer has 18 sections and the colors are (L-R, back to front):

• pale colors; pinks; purples; neutrals (greens and yellows)
• yellows and oranges; reds; blues (dark); blues (light); greys (French, other); neutrals (browns and reds)
• greens (dark); greens (light); blacks, whites, metallics; greys (warm); greys (cool)

 Was this ever easy to make! I used the cover of a standard box of photocopy paper as the container; the measurements are 18"x11.5". Found a large piece of cardboard that had probably come with a shipment of watercolor paper ages ago. Cut two strips 18"x3.5" and five strips 11.5"x3.5". It was a simple matter to snip teeny pieces out of each strip and then put them together, and voilà! Instant organizer. I love it!

It's portable, not heavy at all, and can go everywhere with me. Would you believe that it currently holds 324 colored pencils? Yup: 132 Prismacolors, 120 Faber-Castell Polychromos, and 72 Derwent Coloursoft pencils. I can quickly find the right color group and then it's easy to compare the pencils with each other to figure out which ones I need.

I will probably end up dividing the yellows and oranges into two groups, but that's a project for another day, along with strengthening the sides of the container so that they don't bow out quite as much.

Color me happy!