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How to Organize Your Colored Pencil Collection

Written by Adrienne

 

This post will teach you everything you need to know about how to organize your colored pencils and other coloring book supplies. If you love to color, you’ve probably accumulated a lot of coloring supplies. It can get tedious to take your colored pencils in and out of the tin or cardboard box they came in every time you need a certain color. What if you had them organized, right there at your fingertips, ready to go whenever you need them?

Now you can, with these colored pencil organizers. From wooden stands to fabric roll up bags to desktop carousels, find the organizer that suits your style, even if you bought the biggest set of Prismacolor pencils!

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This is an extremely comprehensive post about many different kinds of colored pencil organizers. Use the quick links below to jump around the various sections of the post!

Lots of different ways to organize your colored pencils for drawing or coloring. The wooden colored pencil stands are so pretty!

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How to Organize Colored Pencils by Color

A quick search of the internet to find an article to recommend to a reader about how to organize colored pencils by color came up with nothing. If you organize your colored pencils, markers, gel pens, or other supplies using one of the organizers below, it’s natural to want to put them in color order.

Learn how to organize your colored pencils by color order on Cleverpedia. Includes color charts, organization tools and more for Prismacolors, Polychromos, and other brands!

One simple way to do this is simply to lump together pencils by color family. For example, say you have a caddy with seven spaces. In those spaces you can plunk in whole color families — all your reds in one cubby, all your oranges in another, and so on. Then just grab and go whenever you need a color.

What about if you want to put them in a more exact order? Everybody knows the rainbow, but often it’s not quite as simple as just putting your pencils in order a la Roy G Biv. First of all, where do white, black, brown, and grey go? How do you order warmer tones and cooler tones within a color family? Lighter tones and darker tones?

There’s a reason the color wheel is a wheel and not a line: there is no perfect way to put colors in a linear spectrum unless they are all an equal value. However, you can get pretty close to accomplishing this in two ways.

The first way is using manufacturer’s color charts. Many brands of colored pencils have downloadable charts listing all of their color options, often in a conveniently-organized palette. In other cases, members of the art and coloring community have created their own color charts in an attempt to organize their supplies (and stop wasting pigment swatching every time they reach for a pencil).

Please note: I have not met a research challenge like trying to track down the original source of some of these color charts. Where possible, I have linked back to the place I found them, even if the best place I can find is Pinterest. Please know that if you created one of these charts, I mean you no ill will — please email me and let me know! I’m happy to change the credit to you or remove one if you wish. Found another color chart that you want to share with Cleverpedia readers? Please send it to me, I’ll add it to the post!

Prismacolor Premier 150 Colored Pencil Color Chart

Prismacolor Premier 150 Colored Pencil Color Chart | Learn how to organize your colored pencils by color order on Cleverpedia

Source: Prismacolor

Faber-Castell Polychromos 120 Colored Pencil Color Chart

Faber-Castell Polychromos 120 Colored Pencil Color Chart | Learn how to organize your colored pencils by color order on Cleverpedia

Source

Marco Raffine 72 Colored Pencil Color Chart

Marco Raffine 72 Colored Pencil Color Chart | Learn how to organize your colored pencils by color order on Cleverpedia

Source

Derwent Inktense Watercolor Colored Pencil Color Chart

Derwent Inktense Watercolor Colored Pencil Color Chart | Learn how to organize your colored pencils by color order on Cleverpedia

Source: Amazon reviewer

Tombow 96 Dual-Ended Brush Pens Color Chart

Tombow 96 Dual-Ended Brush Pens Color Chart | Learn how to organize your markers by color order on Cleverpedia

Source: Tombow

Copic Markers Hex Color Chart

Copic Markers Hex Color Chart | Learn how to organize your markers by color order on Cleverpedia

Source

The second method is more labor-intensive but more foolproof, especially if you are not fond of the manufacturer’s order. I recommend this method because the color of the pencil barrel is often not a good representation of the actual color of the pencil pigment. But it does take time, so it’s not for the faint of heart!

  1. Color and label a swatch for every single pencil. Download and print Cleverpedia’s universal color chart for simple swatching!
  2. Cut out the swatches. (Be sure to keep the labels attached!)
  3. Arrange the swatches in the order that is most pleasing to your eye. (Tip: Pick a spot on the color wheel to begin, such as red, then continue the whole way around the color wheel.)
  4. Use the labels to arrange your pencils in the same order.
  5. (Optional) Glue down your swatches for reference in a swatch book or notebook so you can refer back to the order in the future.

Get Cleverpedia’s Free Universal Color Chart!

Cleverpedia's free universal color chart can be used to put colored pencils, gel pens, markers, and other art supplies in color order!

I’ve put together a free, universal color chart for Cleverpedia subscribers that can be downloaded in the free coloring page library! You can use this chart to organize ANY coloring supplies in color order, whether you are trying to arrange your colored pencils in rainbow order, your markers, your gel pens, or anything else! It’s also helpful for planning an arrangement in unusually-shaped organizers like grids and circular holders.

Wooden Colored Pencil Stands

Wooden Hedgehog Colored Pencil Holder

Check out these beautiful wooden pencil arcs by a seller on Etsy. They come in 4 sizes (24, 36, 48 and 72 colored pencils) and can even be personalized with your name!

Wooden Pencil Stand Wooden 60 Pencil Stand Wooden 84 Pencil Stand Wooden 120 Pencil Stand Wooden 168 Pencil Stand

These wooden pencil stands can hold your entire colored pencil collection perfectly upright, taking up a tiny amount of space on your desk. You can organize your pencils by color family or randomly — either way, it’ll be easy to find the color you need with them all on display.

The wooden organizer is unfinished. It looks beautiful as-is, or you can finish it yourself — I can picture this being a great surface to paint or decoupage!

Spend less time searching and more time coloring with these organizers.

The 60 pencil holder is the perfect size for the Prismacolor 48 color pack, with some blending pencils.

The 84 pencil holder is the perfect size for the Prismacolor 72 color pack.

The 120 pencil holder is the perfect size for the Caran D’Ache 120 color pack (Prismacolor doesn’t have a pack near this size).

The 168 pencil holder is the perfect size for the Prismacolor 150 color pack.

Wooden 50 Pencil Stand -- gorgeous handmade colored pencil stand from Etsy!

The handmade wooden holder above is gorgeous and can be found on Etsy. It only holds 50 colored pencils and the holes are all at the same height, making the center row a little trickier to access, but you can’t deny that this is one beautiful colored pencil holder!

Deluxe Rotating Colored Pencil Holder - holds up to 260 colored pencils!

Above is another beautiful wooden pencil carousel. It is handmade and rotates on a turntable base. Together its 19 cups hold up to 260 pencils!

Rotating Hexagonal Bamboo Colored Pencil Holder

Above is a bamboo colored pencil holder that is hexagonal and rotates on its base. You can hold many colored pencils in its 7 sections.

Tilted Wooden Colored Pencil Holder - holds up to 400 colored pencils!

The simpler tilted wooden colored pencil holder above is also handmade and can hold up to 400 colored pencils!

Wooden Hedgehog Colored Pencil Holder

What this little guy lacks in practicality, he more than makes up for in style. This wooden hedgehog colored pencil holder definitely ranks as one of the cutest ways to display your colored pencils.


Wooden Colored Pencil Drawers

Want a really classy way to organize your colored pencil collection? If you still want to be able to close your pencils into a container, but have an easy way to access them on your desk, this drawer is perfect. Plus you can keep some of your related tools on top (maybe a few coloring books, an eraser and your pencil sharpener), though I would advise against putting too much weight on it or stacking them.

The drawers come with separators and foam padding to keep your pencils protected and in place.

Wooden Pencil Box

The two drawer wooden pencil box will hold about 90 colored pencils and is perfect for the Prismacolor 72 colored pencil pack, with some blending pencils.

Wooden Pencil Box

The three drawer wooden pencil box will hold about 135 colored pencils and is perfect for the Prismacolor 132 colored pencil pack, with some blending pencils.

Wooden Pencil Box

The four drawer wooden pencil box will hold about 180 colored pencils and is big enough to hold even the Prismacolor 150 colored pencil pack, with some blending pencils. Now that’s what I’m talkin’ ’bout!

Wooden Pencil Box with 5 Drawers

Four drawers still not enough for you? How about five? Well, there’s a colored pencil drawer set for you, too. This set of drawers can hold up to 230 colored pencils.

Wooden Pencil Box with 10 Drawers

If you love this form factor for organizing your colored pencil collection, but need even more, this is the set of drawers for you. This 10 drawer set can be used together or split apart into two sets of five. The drawers each have dividers to help keep your supplies in place. This set of drawers can hold around 430 colored pencils.

Copic Marker Storage Cubbies

While not exactly a drawer, this handmade wooden cubby storage unit is worth a mention because it is the perfect size for organizing Copic markers!


Plastic Desktop Stands/Carousels

Colored Pencil Carousel

Colored Pencil Carousel

If you want a plastic holder with a slot for every coloring supply, these are the organizers for you. Both can hold both thin supplies like colored pencils and larger coloring supplies like pens and markers.

The colored pencil carousel has 72 holes on three tiers and rotates like a Lazy Susan when spun. The three tiers have 24 openings each of increasingly smaller diameter, making the top level perfect for pencils, the middle level ideal for Sharpie pens or gel pens, and the bottom just the right size for thicker markers or Sharpies. The top has an opening where you can put scissors, and around the outside are sectioned cups for supplies like erasers, your sharpener, and more.

Clear Colored Pencil Organizer

Clear Colored Pencil Organizer

The clear organizer does not rotate, but it has a whopping 120 slots in a very compact space. The four sections in a circle make it easy to organize colors around the color wheel, and it is large enough to be able to hold the entire Caran D’Ache 120 colored pencil set. The holes are half an inch in diameter, and the plastic divider in the center makes it easy to pick up the whole set and move it around.

These plastic holders may not be the prettiest, but they are compact and great for giving you quick and easy access to your entire coloring collection.

3D Printed DNA Helix Pencil Holder

It may not hold the most colored pencils, but you can’t argue that the 3D printed DNA helix pencil holder above is a pretty sweet way to display some colored pencils! It holds 16 pencils between two spiraling bands.


Fabric Roll-Up Colored Pencil Case

Fabric colored pencil wraps are very popular, and all essentially work the same way: thread your entire pencil collection through the loops, roll it up, snap or tie it shut, and you are ready to safely stow your entire colored pencil collection and take it along with you. These roll up cases are great for taking to adult coloring clubs because they are much quicker to pack and transport than the tins Prismacolors come in, and less prone to disaster if you drop them.

Their one major downside (besides some potential tedium threading your entire set of colored pencils through all the loops the first time, which can be difficult, but you can make it easier by threading pointed end first) is that unrolled, these cases can take up a lot of space.

If you are shopping for a roll up pencil bag, the major features to look for are secure loops, and a flap for protecting the pointed ends of the pencils. Some also have a pocket or larger loop for a sharpener or eraser. These cases make it fun to organize your colored pencil collection in rainbow order.

Fabric Roll Up Pencil Case

Fabric Roll Up Pencil Case

Fabric Roll Up Pencil Case

The first roll-up pencil case above holds 48 pencils, one per loop, and is available in pink, beige, or olive green. It is made of a light-weight canvas material, has a leather flap for protecting your pencils, and includes a spot for an eraser.

Fabric Roll Up Pencil Case

Fabric Roll Up Pencil Case

The second canvas pencil wrap above is available in a variety of patterns, from floral, to bohemian, to patterned with images of notebooks, elephants, trees, or UK inspired items. There is also an option that is plain canvas. You can fit up to 72 pencils in this wrap. The pencils fit one per loop, with a spot for an eraser, and the case ties shut. Included are several styles of beads to thread onto the end of the ties if you desire.

Fabric Roll Up Pencil Case

Fabric Roll Up Pencil Case

The third wrap is similar to the one above but holds 48 pencils instead of 72.

Fabric Roll Up Pencil Case

Fabric Roll Up Pencil Case

The final wrap is configured a little differently, fitting 72 pencils, but you fold it in half before folding it up. Leather flaps protect the tips of the pencils and the case is trimmed in leather, with a leather strap closure that snaps shut.

It is worth mentioning that any of the above cases would hold similarly sized gel pens or thin markers!


Zipper Colored Pencil Case

Zip-Up Colored Pencil Case

Zip-Up Colored Pencil Case

This fine leather case holds a whopping 120 pencils and is available in brown or black. Versions are also available to hold sets of 24, 48, 72, or 96. It zips shut on three sides to completely encase your pencils, and the zipper pull snaps to the spine of the case to keep it locked shut while you are on the go, which is a really nice feature.

It is worth noting that the straps of this case are pretty wide — expect to put three colored pencils per loop, as shown in the second photo above. Since there is a middle section to the case, it can stand upright while being used.

Reviewers note the durability of this case, with its soft leather and fine stitching.


Colored Pencil Carry Bag

Pencil Carry Bag

Pencil Carry Bag

If you are constantly carrying your colored pencil collection with you, why not stow it safely away in a shoulder bag perfectly suited to your lifestyle.

This case unzips all the way open, allowing you to lay it flat. Inside the front of the case is a mesh pocket to hide coloring accessories in. Again, the pencils fit at least two to a loop.

This carry bag is an elegant solution to taking a lot of coloring supplies on the go, holding up to 132 pencils and all the accessories you might need.


DIY Solutions

Crafty? Got a talent for woodwork? Here are some DIY solutions to organizing your colored pencil collection!

Create Your Own Wooden Pencil Organizer

DIY Rustic Wooden Colored Pencil Holder: Quick way to turn a block of reclaimed wood into a functional work of art! This would be a really cute DIY gift for a coworker or artistic friend. You could use it for pens, too!

I love this rustic homemade colored pencil holder, created by Andrea at Strawberry Chic. The one pictured doesn’t hold too many pencils, but you could easily adapt this technique to larger blocks of wood or board in order to make a holder very similar to the ones on Amazon. The sky’s the limit!

I could really imagine this being a great gift too, maybe even for a writer or a stylish coworker. This thing would look gorgeous on a desk.

DIY Pencil Wrap

DIY Crayon Wrap. Would work great for organizing colored pencils, too!

These instructions are for a homemade crayon wrap, not a colored pencil wrap, but you can still follow the same set of instructions and come out with a really great looking wrap after some magic on the sewing machine.

Colored Pencil Wall Holder

DIY Colored Pencil Wall Hangers: Beautiful way to showcase your colored pencil collection on your wall! Need a lot of wallspace but this is totally worth it!

Tonya Staab created this picture-perfect solution to organizing the colored pencils in her craft room: pieces of wood with shallow slots drilled to perfectly display her set of Faber-Castell Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils on the wall, freeing up her desk space for other things. You need a lot of wall space to pull something like this off, but the end result is pretty and artistic!

3D Printed Colored Pencil Ring

3D Printed Colored Pencil Ring

Got a 3D printer? Then you too can make this awesome colored pencil holder ring. With spaces for 50 pencils, this organizer is part practical organizer and part art. Just make sure you don’t trip near it, or you could poke an eye out.

DIY Pop-Up Colored Pencil Organizer

DIY Pop-Up Colored Pencil Organizer

I’m not sure how practical this pencil caddy would be, but BuzzFeed sure makes it look easy to make. Watch the video below to learn how:

Paper Tube Colored Pencil Holder

DIY Paper Colored Pencil Holder: This video shows you exactly how to make this holder for Prismacolor colored pencils (or any colored pencils, really). Since it's just made out of paper, you probably have everything needed to make it already, and you can also color in a block in the front to show what color goes there.

Believe it or not, this colored pencil holder is made entirely out of paper and glue, which you probably already have lying around! The video below shows you how to make paper tubes for your pencils to sit in, and then the paper holder that wraps around them, which gives you a place to color to show which pencil sits there. Every color will finally have its place.

Lazy Susan Wooden Pencil Holder

DIY Lazy Susan Wooden Colored Pencil Holder: Create your own colored pencil caddy with a little woodworking magic. You can even put a container in the middle to hold all your other supplies.

Diane at In My Own Style explains how to create this wooden lazy Susan colored pencil caddy. She discovered the original directions for it in an old and well-loved colored pencil techniques book.

She has also attached drawing paper to the “arms” of the caddy to show which colors go in which spot, similar to the previous DIY solution.

DIY Colored Pencil Caddy

DIY Colored Pencil Caddy: This colored pencil organizer is gorgeous. I love the different tiers. It's on a lazy Susan, so it spins, and it's entirely made out of PVC couplers, so it's sturdy, too!

The YouTube video below will show you how to make this beautiful three-level tiered colored pencil carousel. It’s on a lazy Susan, so it spins, and it’s entirely made out of PVC couplers, so it’s sturdy, too!

Don’t want to make this yourself? There is a beautiful handmade wooden version available on Etsy!

Gorgeous wooden colored pencil carousel from an artist on Etsy. Perfect for holding your coloring supplies!

DIY Vertical Colored Pencil Organizer

DIY Vertical Colored Pencil Organizer made out of PVC tubes!

I love this innovative vertical colored pencil organizer built out of PVC tubes stacked and glued together! This project was dreamed up and the how to instructions were shared by WetCanvas user JustToBeMe2 here, and this particular example was built and shared by another member, Grumpster2. The best thing about this method of organization? Not only is it sturdy and cheap (under $20), but you can make it as large or as small as needed!

DIY Chicken Wire Dividers for Colored Pencils

DIY Chicken Wire Dividers for Colored Pencils

Isn’t this a cool idea?! Attach a piece of chicken wire to the top of a wooden box, and suddenly you have a cheap, homemade divided box to store your pencils in! I love the grid this creates. (Note: I was unable to find a source for this image! If you created it please let me know so I can credit you!)

DIY Single Row Colored Pencil Holder

DIY Single Row Colored Pencil Holder

Wow! I love this simple but elegant colored pencil holder created by Intentional Hospitality. The blogger created her unique colored pencil stand by hot gluing a row of large straws between two boards. The setup is beautiful and functional, allowing her to see the name of each color.

Homemade Colored Pencil Cabinet

DIY Colored Pencil Cabinet: Have you ever seen those massive sets of drawers big Faber-Castell sets come in? This is the DIY version, which can hold as many pencils (or pens, markers, or pastels) as you need!

Are you a true DIY organization master? Prove it, by building this homemade pencil cabinet.

You’ve probably seen those beautiful sets of drawers some really large sets of colored pencils come in. If your colored pencil collection is too large to fit in this three-drawer pencil box, you can follow Ester Roi’s step by step instructions to build your own media organizer box. I love the plexiglass windows at the front of the trays, so you can see all your pencils lined up inside the shallow shelves.

The same artist also shared a smaller shelf system she built using double-sided tape to create a tacky surface on the shelves that her pencils stick to, staying perfectly in their place:

DIY Colored Pencil Organizer System with sticky shelves to keep pencils in place


All of the organizers above will serve to house, organize, and control your colored pencil collection, big or small. Some are perfect for making your colored pencils portable, while others will minimize the footprint of keeping your colored pencils right there on your desk. They make great gifts for the colorists in your life, or are a great coloring tool to get for yourself!

I hope you enjoyed this list! If you have any other great colored pencil organization tips or tools, please share them in the comments! Subscribe below to see more stuff like this, or pin the image below to save this list for later!

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Lots of different ways to organize your colored pencils for drawing or coloring. The wooden ones are so pretty!

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53 Comments

  • These are great organizing tools but I have so many different sets of pencils and markers that I would need one organizer for EAC set. Right now I have a Prismacolor 120 pencil set, Derwent Watercolor 72 pencil set, a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist 60 Brush pen set, a Faber-Castell Pitt Pastel 60 pencil set, a Faber-Castell Polychromous 60 pencil set, a Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer Watercolor 60 pencil set, and a set of 60 Faber-Castell Hard Pastels. I also have sets of gel pens and fineliners along with a set of 15 F-C Pitt Artis Big Brush pens and various other sorts of pens (like black microliners) and markers. Plus accessories. I have given away many of my extra pencils and pens to get my collection down to what I like. (I have paints and mists and stains, etc., of course, but I don’t use these in coloring books.) So how would you suggest I organize all this? I do dip into each set depending on how I want the color to lay down, what texture I want, and of course which shades I want to play with. I’d like to organize these sets by color and have toyed with the idea of using an old Faber-Castell “stadium” that was used in my first big purchase of a medley of F-C products but it won’t hold everything I have. Any ideas?

    • Wow, what a collection. I’m jealous!

      How you organize your supplies is going to depend on how you use them — do you want to be able to grab them and tote them along with you? Or keep them set up and ready to use, right within reach?

      The only thing I can think of that would hold ~500 colored pencils all in one place would be a very large colored pencil cabinet, and I’ve really only seen those sold with large sets of pencils inside for hundreds/thousands of dollars. Perhaps you could find one at an antique store or have one custom built by a carpenter or cabinet company. If you’re really crafty, I found a DIY version that could work for you, which I just added to the end of the post above!

      Otherwise, you’ll have to split them across a few different organizers. If you want to be able to transport them, the leather 120 pencil cases (like this one, which is also above: http://amzn.to/1YVikb3) could hold your entire Prismacolor set and pairs of your Faber-Castells. They also sell a 72-pencil case.

      If you are fine using them just in the studio, three of the 168 pencil wooden holders (above, but here’s the link: http://amzn.to/1jKX87P) should add up to enough slots for all the pencils you mentioned. I am not sure if your pens would fit. Alternatively, if you have a lot of wall space, the DIY wall holder I added to the post could work for you.

      Let me know what you end up doing, I’d love to see some pictures when you have everything all organized!! =)

      • When you said (Dec 2015) the 120-count case would store ALL the Prismacolors or “PAIRS of the FABER-CASTELLS” did you mean you could not fill the case with Faber-Castell Polychromos? I know the Prismacolor wax pencils are skinnier than the Polychromos (or other more expensive) oil pencils. If I use all OIL pencils, does that mean a 120-count case would not work for me if I wanted to fill all the slots?

        • Hi Anna! The 120-count leather case above will fit 120 Polychromos! They will fit 3 to a loop and be quite snug at first but you shouldn’t have any issues fitting them or any standard sized oil pencils in there. Over time the elastic should loosen and hold the pencils comfortably.

          Sorry for the confusion over the “pairs” comment, I totally see why that didn’t make sense — I believe I was referring to her being able to pair two sets of 60 pencils into the 120 case.

          Hope this helps! :)

        • I have the 120 count pencil case. It fits my prismacolors perfectly 3 to a loop but my polychromos feel too crowded. I only put 2 per loop on those.

    • Cleverpedia Thanks, Adrienne, for your suggestions. The truth is that I just have too many pencil sets! But I love them all for different reasons. And I do other crafts so I can’t dedicate a lot of space to pencils. I’ll let you know what I figure out, if anything. Again, thanks for your advice!

      • I prefer different pencils also for different reasons most because I trie to use as much cheap products its just a hobby for cards en relax not for real art for me.

        If I got an metal box I leave them in there and I bought some hard plastig magazine holders in one fits 2 of mij faber castel 60 cases and 2 of 36. but in an other I got the 5 boxes spectrum noir old 24 wax pencils and the blender stump solutions etc fits in a snack container right in front of it. Even the pencils I got in a cardboard box I put in a rol and store in the magazin holders. I used to have a big storage drawer from Iris but no ik have a shelf with 5 holders (but in it 21 different boxes, roles etc and 2 cases lineliners) hope it helps even its been a wile you posted :D

  • Would you suggest some “adult” coloring books for advanced children? They are old enough to move away from kid books and on to something more sophisticated. But the images shouldn’t be so complex to be off-putting. For example, I don’t think they are ready for something as complex as the Johanna Basford books. Thanks!

    • To answer your other question, check out another post of mine, with over 100 of the best adult coloring books by category: https://www.cleverpedia.com/best-coloring-books-for-adults/

      Since there are so many different kinds of coloring books out there, I think going by interest is a good way to decide — what are the children you’re talking about interested in? If they like the pattern/mandala books, there are some nice ones like Mandala Madness (http://amzn.to/1PSHMwq) that don’t have super tiny spaces but still have a lot of detail.

      If they want something more set in reality, I am crazy about Dover Publications’ historical coloring books. They have a coloring book for basically every historical event or time period you could dream of. I love their fantasy books too. I have a bunch of these in the History and Fantasy sections of the post I linked to above.

      Happy searching! =) -Adrienne

    • Cleverpedia Adrienne, I guess when selecting coloring books my own bias comes into play. I’m not a huge fan of mandalas but I know the kids’ mother is. I’ll take a look at the Mandala Madness book. Thanks. In the past, I didn’t like books published by Dover and Creative Haven; the images were printed doubled-sided on fairly poor quality paper so I’ve stayed clear of them. Perhaps they’ve upgraded their print quality. I recall one book on Victorian houses that was well done–it had images of rooms of that era with descriptions of their functions. (Unfortunately the print quality still was poor.) So I like the learning aspect of some of their books. I also like the Outside the Lines series; I see that there is a second book now. Those coloring books usually have larger images and the benefit is that the contributors are renowned artists. I tend to prefer coloring books that have whimsical images. I guess that makes it difficult for me to get into someone else’s mind!

    • Jeanne King Dover’s books are printed on both sides of the page, but Creative Haven’s books are single-sided, just so you know! :) That Victorian mansions book was one of the first Dover coloring books I ever had and I absolutely adored it. Good luck with your search! I’m sure you’ll find something perfect! :)

  • Thank you so much for these great ideas! I showed my boyfriend the wooden one, and he said he was going to try and make it for me! I am excited! I will definately post it on my page after it is done! check it out!

  • Great ideas. I realy like the Lazy Susan pencil holder. I guess I need to make a quick trip to Home Depot for some PCV pipe, it looks easy enough. I’m sure my wonderful hubby will make me the wooden pencil holder since he pretty crafty.

  • I am confused. I read about the need to store gel pens and markers in a horizontal position yet I consistently see examples of theses same items in vertical position. What’s the deal?

    • Hi Betsy! From what I have read, the best direction to store gel pens is actually NOT horizontally — rather, they should be stored vertically, capped, with the tips pointed down. This is because the ink is much more viscous than typical ink and needs to be stored this way to ensure a consistent flow/no air bubbles. I hope that helps!

  • Hi Betsy! From what I have read, the best direction to store gel pens is actually NOT horizontally — rather, they should be stored vertically, capped, with the tips pointed down. This is because the ink is much more viscous than typical ink and needs to be stored this way to ensure a consistent flow/no air bubbles. I hope that helps!

  • Well, you talk about Organizing your colored pencils….but what I am trying to do, unsuccessfully, I might add…lol….is I want to coordinate them BY color….and I have been searching the net for weeks….can you HELP?? lol

  • I have Crayola 100 unique colors, which I found names on web, but they are not in color order. Also have like a 36 or 48 Cra Z Art set that I can’t find any info on…

    • Good question! You’re right that I haven’t included it in this post and a quick search isn’t finding anything either. I’ll work on an update to this post — if you subscribe to my newsletter you’ll get an email when I’m done with an update. :)

      Are you hoping to organize the two sets independently or together?

  • Oh my, that would be FANTASTIC! Umm..either or would be fine. I have a Large what you call a binder with zippers that hold like 120 pencils. So I can do them together or seperately. I did join your site, but don’t know if I clicked the right thing to make sure I get all your updates….not too savvy on things like that. And I just wanted to say a huge warm THANK YOU for ANY and all help you can provide in doing this. I have OCD and I can”t stand them to be all jumbled. I have tried to put them in some semblance of order but even at that, it’s not quite right…

    • Hey there I’ve made an collection of faber castel and caran dache and put them together in a binder on the order of my eye and colour on paper. I also had 2 ‘bibles’ here I swatch all my colours on little circles and If they have id I write it down. 1 in A5 size for at home and an A6 for on the go in black and white :D would you like to have pics?

      • Sounds like a great setup, Dorien! I’d love to see some photos, and maybe I can use one in the update I’m working on for this post! :) Can you email them to me at cleverpedia AT gmail DOT com? Thanks!!

      • I think that might help a lot…if the colors are similar to the Crayola and CraZArt pencils. Thanks very much for offering. I’m at poohpixeler AT yahoo DOT com

    • Hey JC! I wanted to let you know that I just updated the post with a new section about how to put your colored pencils and other coloring supplies in color order! Good news… I explain a foolproof method to put your supplies in perfect color order, with a little bit of work. Bad news… I wasn’t able to actually find a color chart for Crayola or Cra Z Art already in order. Still, I hope that the new section and the printable coloring chart I added are helpful. Good luck — please let me know how it goes!

  • I bought several roll up style cases & various other style cases with slots to hold my gel pens & thin markers (my preference) & over the years i’ve Accumulated so many great sets & colors in metallic styles & pastels & glitters & neons & various shades.I have many great books & journals I want to use regularly & Inwaited until I could buy enough cases to have everything well organized & in order to use easily & store easily & take with me if I want as well.My problem has been that I’ve put off the task of Finally putting them into the cases & holders because I tend to spend about an hour just sampling the color stuff I want to use before starting a project & then I lose myself Mood sometimes. I want to create an easy system with color samples that I colored in using my supplies. The colors always look different on paper as do the sizes & thinness or thickness. Most do not have numbers otherwise I’d have created sheets of paper & wrote each number next to each color-I actually tried doing this a few times & keeping just about 52 colors in order but it didn’t work. My idea to try next is to see I feel I can find some sort of stick ons that I can color little samples or swatches & be able to place them above each slot in My organizers.Does anyone know if something like this is even sold on Amazon online or a craft store. I do have labels & a new label maker & assorted white sheet stuff of paper that I can cut & take on this task myself all day but I am wondering if the label still or stickers will stay in place in the holders. I have that Black & Brown leather foldable portable carrying case & a few others like it that you posted above third. I also have some cute portable small lunch bag sized cases I bought from Amazon for about $15 each with zippered sections that open like a book. I am surprised I have yet to find anyone online who has done this or who has to is issue as it applies to colored pencils too-I have several sets of pencils too including Prismacolors & Crayolas & some fancy art store brands but I don’t find they color a small well & it’s not as easy as enjoyable to me. I accumulated hundreds of dollars in markers gel pens books & more-probably over thousands of dollars with books costing over $10each & several sets of LensCrafters & markets costing from $5.99-$24.99a set & I am lucky that I have so many sets & a 6 drawer piece of furniture I overflowing with books to use but in the past year I haven’t been enjoying this hobby due to not being organized as I want & planned to be after I invested & bought all of the organizers & supplies over the years. One last question-has anyone seen the 5 packs of Pentel Metallic gel pens that cost usually $12.99-$15.99 per 5 pack in recent years????? I love them & Rite Aid used to carry them until about 2-3 years ago & I’d love to buy more in bulk at a better price. I even bought refills for slim gel pens online & the erasable gel pens a Year again& have yet to even open them-Same with mini sets from TArget & new quick dry gel marker pen style & various sharpie paint markers & Fabric markers. Does anyone have have experience with crayola fabric markers & the Sharpie paint markers I want to use them to color or color the bottom sides of sneakers & design jeans & cover up,stains on shirts but worry if they will bleed when subjected to rain & laundry yet I Still invested in various items items like too & so may be great craft sets I have yet to use for just ewe or jewelry making & a so,service iron kit that I don’t know How to use but I’d appreciate any help. It’s Fall again & we have tons of great fall FAIRS on Long Island & for so many tears i’ve BEen planning to use all the craft products i invested I never for fun & a form of meditation while creating great gifts that’s I can give away& sell at Fall fairs for much needed income-I probably have well over $1000 just in jewelry making supplies & since I’m home every day I really want to use use my time doing something to them that can also bring income to my home. Sorry for typos but I keep having errors with this keypad. Thanks for this page & in advance for any help.

  • Hi, Adrienne,
    I have a large collection of colored pencils, consisting of the following sets: Prismacolor Premier 150, Faber Castell Polychromos 120, Kohinoor Polycolor 72, and an assortment of open stock Caran D’ache Pablo, Lyra Rembrandt and a few others. Right now, the brands are all separated from each other and organized by color within each brand. I’m trying to decide whether to keep it this way, or whether to combine ALL the brands and then organize everything by color. In other words, I’d have all dark blues from all the brands in one container, all the blues from all the brands in another container, greens in another, yellows in another, etc. (I might also separate darks blues & light blues, dark greens & light greens, etc. to make colors easier to find.)
    I color at home and don’t need my pencils to be portable. Having my pencils separated by brand has its advantages. But I wonder what you think of combining everything and then organizing by color. i wonder if this would make things simpler.
    I hope my question is clear! Thanks very much.

    Elliot

  • so many of these projects or ideas are impractical, as I keep like 5-10 pencils in one hand while I am coloring, shading or for example coloring a page that has a multitude of leaves and I need multiple greens, then I need, say reds and pinks for flowers and to pick them out and have to put them away would be way to time consuming.

  • I know I am seriously late coming across this article, but I wanted to add something that I have come across that has worked wonderfully, I used to have that bamboo “lazy susan” type organizer. It didn’t come anywhere close to the storage I needed and it had two other minuses – when you reach in to grab a color in the middle, there is a good chance of stabbing yourself with another sharp pencil. The worst minus is the dust factor. It’s impossible to keep clean and I’m allergic to dust, so I kept looking. I stumbled upon the makeup category on Amazon and found these fantastic acrylic boxes – 4″ x 4″ by I think 10″ tall. It has a hinged cover that is hinged at the back and the opening is angled down so when you open it up, you have easy access. I’ve found one box can hold 150 pencils on average (depending on the size) and if you have some smaller sets, just cut out a piece of light cardboard the width of the box, fold it on the bottom like so it looks like an “L”, tuck it in next to the set already in the box and continue to add more. It makes an attractive display as well with the assortment of pencils showcased in the clear boxes. I also bought a spare so that when I’m getting ready to draw, I go through and pull the pencils I need from the different cases and put them together in one box along with a blender, a brush for OSM and an eraser.

    • Wow what an awesome solution, Laureen! The dust factor is a very real and annoying issue. You don’t happen to have a link to the makeup organizer you used, do you?

  • i started out with colored pencils – have some by crayloa but had a collection of markers too which i have in a case but found arteza brush pens the best to color with and recently bought a 18 drawer cabinet – small can sit on a desk so now i have them sorted by color – they also have a smaller cabinet – the one i got was about $60 but makes sorting pens or pencils by color so much easier

  • I just recently purchased the JarLink 100 set fineliner pens for my journal but they aren’t labeled with the colors or any numbers so how do you start to do color charts/swatches and be able to keep track?

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