One of the biggest drawbacks to making jewelry is figuring out what to do with all of those beads.  Jewelry designers, by nature, tend to be bead hounds, and if left unchecked, most of us will spend our life savings on the cool new beads we find at bead stores.  There has to be a way to keep those beads organized without spending a fortune or installing industrial storage systems.

That’s where fishing tackle boxes come in.  They may not be the first thing you would think of, but once you try one, they will certainly be the last.  For the past several years, I have lugged most of my bead collection around in a big duffel bag tackle box setup with eight different individual bins.  The total cost was somewhere around $60, which is pennies compared to what you would pay if you bought a real “jewelry storage system” that uses – you guessed it – little storage bins just like in fishing tackle boxes.

While there are certainly other ways to store beads, I have found this works the best because I can take my beads with me to shows.  Offering customization options right there on the spot has converted many lookers into buyers for me, so my beads go with me every time.

If you have different types of beading projects, you can buy different boxes to hold each type.  Instead of buying the carrying cases, you can just buy the bins and store them on shelves in your beading room, should you be lucky enough to have one.

Fishing tackle boxes have perfect sized compartments for storing all kinds of beads, and the price is hard to beat, so if you are getting flooded with beads, head to your local sporting goods store or even Walmart and pick yourself up some fishing gear.