Friday, February 13, 2009

Manage Your Manuals



If you do a lot of crafting, chances are you've accumulated a lot of user manuals, instructions, warranty information cards and the like. Important stuff that you really ought to keep, but don't need to use very much. You want to keep them together and in good condition, though. Here is the best way I've found for this:



The two things you'll need are a three-ring binder and a package of top-insert sheet protectors. If your manuals are on the larger or heavier side, you might consider reinforcements for the ring holes.



Then, just slip a manual into a protector, put it in the binder, lather, rinse, and repeat! This is especially useful for equipment that comes with more than one booklet. You can keep everything for one item in the same protector.



Then, when your sewing machine needs some troubleshooting, or you need a new attachment for your Dremel Tool, you just flip through and can easily locate everything you need without digging through your desk, bookshelf, or filing cabinet!

This is also useful for loose patterns you've collected. I have two binders. One for my craft equipment, and one for household appliances. There are lots of other ways to organize, but the beauty of this method is in the simplicity. Now, the hardest part will be hunting down all your manuals in the first place. ;)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great idea! I know this works great for printed patterns and projects I download from the internet, but I never thought to do this with my manuals.

marinebio_chic07 said...

I totally need to do this with all of my patterns. I have all the materials to do it...it's just finding the time and motivation to start wading through it all :)

storybeader said...

this is a great idea! Now all I need to do is find room on the bookshelf, to put the binder on! Thanks for the great tip!

Unknown said...

Good Idea you have there thanks for sharing it now I need to find a good bookshelf for valuables which I put in a binder..