Hi pretty polishers! Recently I decided to re-organize my swatch sticks because every time I would reach for them I couldn’t find what I was looking for. Today I’m sharing with you my method of Swatch Stick Organization. It’s quite simple and very decorative too!
What is a swatch stick? Well simply put, it’s a swatch of nail polish on a clear stick. These are super useful when comparing colors, for example when I do my DUPES comparison posts and videos on YouTube. They are also useful to keep inventory of your polish. I don’t have my entire collection swatched but I do have quite a few colors swatched. You can purchase a huge pack of swatch sticks on Amazon or eBay for a few bucks.
Before I changed my swatch sticks organization method, I had them all placed on rings and they looked something like this but not exactly these same rings:
I didn’t like this method because every time I wanted to take a specific swatch stick out and it happened to be in the middle of the ring, then I had to take them all out and it was just a PITA. Plus, they weren’t easy to store this way and took up too much room. So I wanted a change! Here’s what I came up with. You will need two things:
- a clear vase or jar with a lid
- a pack or two of crystal fill
I bought a clear tall jar at HomeGoods. Mine had a top because I didn’t want to get dust on the swatch sticks. The closed jar will also protect your swatch sticks from anything else that might come in contact with them.
I bought two packs of the crystal fill at Jo Ann Fabrics but they sell these packs at any craft store.
I then laid out all of my swatch sticks and grouped them by color.
I added the crystal fill to the jar and then placed the swatch sticks by color group in sections of the jar. The crystal fill beads help hold the swatch sticks upright. They are also very accessible and easy to pick out the color I need.
Here’s the finished product! I placed my pretty jar next to my perfume on my dresser.
What do you think? How do you have your swatch sticks organized? This method might not work for those of you that have a really large collection, or you may want to pick your favorite/most used swatch sticks from your collection and store them in a pretty jar like I did.