Gift Wrap Storage {from an over the door shoe organizer}

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The last pieces to my seasonal items storage closet is the gift wrap storage solution I made for the back of the door. You can take a plain over-the-door shoe organizer and make a wrapping paper organizer in just a few minutes. Ready to make your own?

I picked up a plain shoe organizer at Wal-mart for this one. These are available at many retail outlets. I have even seen them at the Dollar Tree.

First, I have many gift bags. I needed something to hold those. So I made a pouch for the bottom to slip the gift bags into. I gathered up my gift bags and determined a length based on the largest one (be sure to add 4 inches or so for seam allowance at the top). The width is determined by your shoe organizer plus approximately 3 inches. See how it is wider then the organizer…

Now you want one side (aka the back) to be the same width as the organizer and you want the other side (aka the front) to be 3 inches wider. So you have to make an uneven cut on the sides of your fabric.

This will give you fabric to gather in the front once we add some elastic.

About 1 1/2 inches should be on either side like the picture below…

Ready to sew? Pin the sides together flush…

Sew up both sides. Then turn the top under twice to get a nice and finished edge and sew…

Ready to tackle some elastic? This is some I had on hand. I don’t think it would need to be this wide. Cut to about 3 inches shorter than the width of your organizer…

Sew to the back of your front piece. Stretch the elastic as you go so it fits the entire width of the front.

See..a perfect fit! Now we are ready to attach it!

I have a Crop-A-Dile that inserts grommets and that is what I used on this project. You could just try the holes without grommets or stop by your craft store and pick up a grommet tool.

For the pouch, I installed grommets in the pouch and in the organizer.

Then I just tied it on with ribbon. This pouch would also hold small gift boxes well.

Next step is a way to corral that wrapping paper. I wanted a way to keep it upright and hold it tight so it will not unroll. I used skinny elastic plus my trust grommets again.

Just tie the back of your elastic into a knot on both sides so it won’t slip through. So very simple but it works great! Counting up from the bottom, my bottom row of shoe holes is hid by the gift bag pouch. The second row is where the bottom end of your wrapping paper goes. Then between the third and fourth row is where your grommets and elastic go to hold your paper tight.

Want to hold ribbon too? I just put my ribbon on a dowel and put the dowel into one of the wrapping paper slots. You just need to tighten up the elastic piece on that slot.

So now I had two rows left at the top. My tissue paper and folded wrapping paper needed larger slots than the shoes would allow. So I made them larger. Just take your seam ripper and remove the stitches down the center. The plastic goes all the way underneath and you are left with a larger slot.

See the perfect size!

The very top row I left alone. It holds scissors, tape, and small gift bags…

Now you can turn a shoe organizer into a wrapping paper organizer. The entire project probably took me 30 minutes to an hour start to finish. I can finally say my wrapping paper is organized and easily accessible!

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Comments

Sass - aka - Kathy says
February 10, 2012 at 1:53 pm
This is a great idea. I have one of those big rubbermaid type things for my Christmas wrap, but I’d like some way to corral all the other times/seasons I need gift wrap and ribbons, and this is perfect! I love it!
southernscraps says
February 11, 2012 at 2:37 pm
Very clever! Thanks for sharing.
gail says
February 12, 2012 at 5:20 pm
grommets and fabric oh my! Very creative angie! Much better than the way I store my gift wrap! :)thanks so much for sharing @ catch as catch cangail
Sheri says
February 17, 2012 at 3:00 pm
I use my shoe organizer as a closet organizer – hang it on the inside, and use it for the small linen/bathroom closet items!
Sheri says
February 17, 2012 at 3:02 pm
I use a shoe organizer in my linen/hall closet to organize my small items, but I may get a second one for wrapping paper! Love this idea!
Gaby says
March 11, 2012 at 3:02 am
What a clever idea. So well done!Thanks for sharing.
Sophie says
September 1, 2015 at 10:11 pm
30 minutes? Wow… I want to be you when I grow up. Which I hope to do soon. Before my 45th birthday coming up next week would be nice. But seriously, congrats. I admire thee.
Anonymous says
June 19, 2019 at 11:16 am
This is an amazing idea! How do you keep the wrapping paper from falling? The top looks as though there isn’t anything to hold it and keep it from falling.
- Angie Holden says
  June 20, 2019 at 1:50 pm
  I have the pieces of elastic on them. I have used this for years now with no issues.
Bonnie says
August 25, 2019 at 4:20 am
This is so smart Angie, I like how you showed how you did everything. Thanks for sharing.
Bonnie E. Niles, Michigan.
Traci ... aka..the Cake Chik says
February 27, 2020 at 5:04 am
I have a similar set up for my small baking business. Instead of holding wrapping paper, the lower pockets hold rolls of colored foil for covering cake boards, parchment paper, rolling pins, fondant rollers and such. Some of the other pockets have been modified to hold various other tricks of the trade..dowel rods, wires, cake boards, etc. The top row of pockets I made into smaller sections to hold icing tips, couplers, coloring tubes…even pencil sized slots for fondant tools. The entire thing hangs on the wall using 2, slightly larger than needed, hooks which are then used to hang a dowel rod that holds some of the more popular ribbon that I use. I slowly change out tools as the seasons/trends change but my little “one-stop-shop” continues to help keep my business in order.
Thank you for giving me even MORE inspiration!!

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