Packing Scrapbooking Supplies for Long-term Storage

[TPCShauna]

Hi ladies,

As many of you know from my other post, I'm moving cross-country from California to Florida in less than a week. I've been putting off packing my scrapbooking supplies because I'm unsure of the best way to do it given my situation.

Basically, we will be staying in a cabin owned by my husband's family in Weeki Wachee until we both get jobs and figure out the best area in Tampa for us to move. The cabin is completely full of stuff so nearly all of our belongings will be stored in a garage near the cabin. I'm concerned about this because I have thousands of dollars worth of scrapbooking supplies that I don't want to get damaged by moisture or bugs, but I'm unsure of the best way to pack to prevent it.

A vast majority of my paper is in plastic Iris cases already. I still have quite a bit of loose 12x12 paper and a TON of embellishments. My pics are in Creative Memories photo sorting boxes and most memorabilia is in CM Filemates. I only have a few completed albums and my unused albums and pages are still in their original packaging.

Any ideas for packing it all and keeping it water-tight? I'd thought about packing into those Glad Force-flex bags, then putting the bags into boxes. Scrapbooking stuff is just SO heavy so I wasn't sure if there was a better way. I figure the stuff in the Iris cases will be fine, but I'm worried about the other stuff.

TIA for your help!

 

[joyah]

Space bags or the giant ziplocs? the force flex aren't as tough as they look. I would also see if you can find the moisture asorbing packs (like you'd find in the medicine bottles) other than that I'm clueless.

good luck and I hope the east coast means better things for you both.

 

[LindaBabe]

Could your moving company palletize your boxes and shrinkwrap them into one giant waterproof package? It might be worth putting that particular set of items into climate controlled storage somewhere.. . Although I'm not sure I'd want my clothes exposed to the bugs in a garage in Florida either.

 

[rlovew]

When I have to put my stuff outside (in a garage type area) in Florida I pack them in plastic totes- I try to buy ones that have locking lids.

Rebecca

 

[wdwmickey]

When I moved and stored my scrapping stuff we were going from Florida to Denver.

I put my albums and other loose pages & paper into water proof bags (I think space bags, maybe giant ziplocs) then packed like items in each box & labeled each box very specifically ie--2 purple 12x12 albums, 1 red 12x12 album etc, because I knew my stuff was going to be in storage for at least a year. So I wanted to know where I could find stuff when I started unpacking.

I marked which side of the box was the top, so things were stacked correctly. I taped the tops onto my photo sorting boxes (just in case) and put them into plastic bags as well. Basically I put everything into plastic bags and sealed them. Since I was storing in a garage I wanted to make sure nothing got wet!

Good luck! I hope the move finds happier times for your family

 

[mommy2mrb]

Shauna, I agree with all the above ideas!! I have moved 39 times in 17 years and always put items that I wanted to keep "safer" in the plastic boxes and tape on the lids, they sometimes pop off! Megan's baby keepsakes have moved from SC to NJ to PA to NC to CA to WA and never had any issues with them getting bugs or wet!

here's a couple more to help you find you boxes if you need to find something

1.#1 each box and then make a general list of what is in each box

2.when loading up the truck, make sure the stuff you are going to need first is packed on LAST

3. pack a "first night" box....tp, soap, paper products, since its the family cabin I assume it has linens and such already

I know it seems like a lot of work, but when you start to uppack it will make things a bit easier !

 

[TPCShauna]

Space bags or the giant ziplocs? the force flex aren't as tough as they look. I would also see if you can find the moisture asorbing packs (like you'd find in the medicine bottles) other than that I'm clueless.

good luck and I hope the east coast means better things for you both.

We've been pretty happy with the force flex bags so far. That's a great idea about the giant ziplocs. We're using space bags for our clothes.

Could your moving company palletize your boxes and shrinkwrap them into one giant waterproof package? It might be worth putting that particular set of items into climate controlled storage somewhere.. . Although I'm not sure I'd want my clothes exposed to the bugs in a garage in Florida either.

No moving company - just clueless little ol' me. I had the same thought about my clothes and we are packing them in space bags just in case.

When I have to put my stuff outside (in a garage type area) in Florida I pack them in plastic totes- I try to buy ones that have locking lids.

Rebecca

DH is super anti buying totes for this since he says that I will be unpacking it and then we'll have to store the totes. I know it's silly, but he has basically said totes only for things that permanently stay in totes - momentos, holiday decor, camping gear, etc.

When I moved and stored my scrapping stuff we were going from Florida to Denver.

I put my albums and other loose pages & paper into water proof bags (I think space bags, maybe giant ziplocs) then packed like items in each box & labeled each box very specifically ie--2 purple 12x12 albums, 1 red 12x12 album etc, because I knew my stuff was going to be in storage for at least a year. So I wanted to know where I could find stuff when I started unpacking.

I marked which side of the box was the top, so things were stacked correctly. I taped the tops onto my photo sorting boxes (just in case) and put them into plastic bags as well. Basically I put everything into plastic bags and sealed them. Since I was storing in a garage I wanted to make sure nothing got wet!

Good luck! I hope the move finds happier times for your family

Great idea to make specific lists. I'm a total listmaker, too so that will completely work for me. Thanks for the reminder to tape my lids.

Shauna, I agree with all the above ideas!! I have moved 39 times in 17 years and always put items that I wanted to keep "safer" in the plastic boxes and tape on the lids, they sometimes pop off! Megan's baby keepsakes have moved from SC to NJ to PA to NC to CA to WA and never had any issues with them getting bugs or wet!

here's a couple more to help you find you boxes if you need to find something

1.#1 each box and then make a general list of what is in each box

2.when loading up the truck, make sure the stuff you are going to need first is packed on LAST

3. pack a "first night" box....tp, soap, paper products, since its the family cabin I assume it has linens and such already

I know it seems like a lot of work, but when you start to uppack it will make things a bit easier !

Wow! That's a LOT of moves! Good idea on the lists. I'll for sure start doing that now. A couple of others have mentioned the first night box also and we've been doing that.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fortunately, the day we arrive at the cabin is the day we will be unpacking the truck into the cabin/garage so I will be able to pull linens and stuff as needed. Since we are pulling our Jeep behind the moving truck, I'm putting all the things I want to go in the cabin in there so it's easily accessible. Pretty much everything else is going on the truck.

Any ideas on the best way to pack wall hanging photos? We have a ton that are oversized and I'm not sure what to do with them to keep them from getting damaged in the move and then in storage.

 

[mommy2mrb]

well since Jim built golf courses all over the country we moved fairly often...the shortest job was 16 days, longest 18 months until we moved to Modesto, that was almost 5 years.


go to goodwill and buy the cheapest sheets ou can find....get some bubble wrap to protect the glass...put a layer of bubble wrap over glass, wrap in the sheets and then tape it up like a package....when you put them in the truck keep them standing up, not laying down, protect them inbetween a couple boxes so they don't bounce around.

if you have smaller pictures that will fit inside boxes, put bubble wrap or your bath/beach towels inbetween each frame for cushion.

 

[MazdaUK]

see if you can get some silica gel packages (like those little ones that come in new handbags) to tuck into bags to help keep moisture-free

 

[rlovew]

Just so you know Shauna- anything you decide to pack in cardboard boxes will have silverfish in them if they are in a garage more than a month- maybe even in less than that. DH and I know we will have to move enough that we just get a bunch of the same size tote and then stack then up when we unpack- they are ready for me to repack when we move and only take up the space of one tote in the garage for in between storage.

If you use the crates and then want to get rid of them I bet you could easily sell them through Craig's List or a yard sale- they are something people will always buy.

I would put anything you want to really keep or you feel is specail in plastic not cardboard.

Rebecca

 

[Jeniferdwn]

I packed our breakables in the boxes with linens, towels, pot holders, jackets we wouldn't need right away etc. You have to move those things anyway, so use them as much as possible to save money and space. Clothing you can do with out for awhile is good padding as well. Also if you have boots, you can put some things down in the boots. They'll be protected and it'll help save the shape of the boots.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Any ideas on the best way to pack wall hanging photos? We have a ton that are oversized and I'm not sure what to do with them to keep them from getting damaged in the move and then in storage.

I would actually go to a U-haul rental place and get picture boxes. Or you wrap the pictures in bubble wrap and protect the corners with cardboard. (That can be time consuming though)

 

[TPCShauna]

Just so you know Shauna- anything you decide to pack in cardboard boxes will have silverfish in them if they are in a garage more than a month- maybe even in less than that. DH and I know we will have to move enough that we just get a bunch of the same size tote and then stack then up when we unpack- they are ready for me to repack when we move and only take up the space of one tote in the garage for in between storage.

If you use the crates and then want to get rid of them I bet you could easily sell them through Craig's List or a yard sale- they are something people will always buy.

I would put anything you want to really keep or you feel is specail in plastic not cardboard.

Rebecca

That's very good info. We didn't know about those. What would you suggest for the furniture that will be in the garage? Or will the bugs not really worry about that?

 

[rlovew]

I would do my best to wrap any furniture with cloth in it (couches, ect) in plastic- you can use sheeting or a plastic swrap type plastic- the largest size ziplocks might work for cushions. When we had our couches in storage in south Florida we had them moved by a moving company and they wrapped them in industrial strength and size plastic wrap 9we had to cut it off when we got it to our house) and it lasted and didn't pick up any dusky smell from 2 years in stroage.

Wood/plastic furnature should be okay but put either a cloth or blank newsprint paper between any layers 9if you stack anything on a desk put down a towel/sheet/paper first - that is what our movers did and everything kept fine.

Rebecca

 

[TPCShauna]

I would do my best to wrap any furniture with cloth in it (couches, ect) in plastic- you can use sheeting or a plastic swrap type plastic- the largest size ziplocks might work for cushions. When we had our couches in storage in south Florida we had them moved by a moving company and they wrapped them in industrial strength and size plastic wrap 9we had to cut it off when we got it to our house) and it lasted and didn't pick up any dusky smell from 2 years in stroage.

Wood/plastic furnature should be okay but put either a cloth or blank newsprint paper between any layers 9if you stack anything on a desk put down a towel/sheet/paper first - that is what our movers did and everything kept fine.

Rebecca

Good info. We're selling our couch since it's not that great and don't want to haul it all that way. Our other chairs have removable cushions so that should work. I guess I just need to stress about the mattresses. DH says he thinks they sell mattress bags so we'll look into that.

Thanks for this info. I'm obviously unprepared for the climate.

 

[mommy2mrb]

shauna, we got some of the plastic wrap at a storage place once and they had mattress bags too!
check home depot or lowes they have really cheap cardboard boxes and they might have the plastic wrap !

BTW, was had so many of the plastic totes too, but its amazing we used them for and I actually had to buy some more for when we moved up here to WA, tell you DH they are worth the investment and you can always get rid of them down the line if you need too!

 

[wdwmickey]

I second getting plastic totes. I remember when we moved to Florida we started putting everyting in plastic (all food, etc) because of the bugs. Even with the "bug man" coming once a month we still had silver fish and some other bugs.