Crafty Clean Up Tip #1

I'm all for getting my work area organized and finding new ways to make the most of my supplies. Now this idea isn't an original idea, but when I saw this I had to come up with a way to make it my own.

So, does your sponges look like this? 5 colors on each sponge?

Mine did up to today!

I hate opening up my drawer with all the dozen or so sponge pieces in it and trying to find a few sponges with a clean spot on them so I can still recycle them. I keep thinking I can still hold on to them because this one looks red, and that one could be blue - but no more! Another crafty lady took a Round Tab Punch (contraband item - another company's punch) and punched out tabs for her sponges (zoom down to last photos to understand that last sentence). So I searched "their" site to see prices of punches and shipping costs, all the while trying to justify spending money on another punch - then it hit me - MAKE IT MYSELF!

So I opened up one of my software programs for my Cricut and hand drew the shape above. (actual screen shot above) As you can see that little piece on the far left will be added to the rest to create the correct shape as shown below:

Looks just like "their" punch - but I didn't have to wait or pay for it!!!
Now, when I imported it into the program for cutting - it looked like this:

I assumed it wasn't going to cut right because of where the "green" is - that's suppose to be the end shape - the green is what it should look like when it's done cutting, (after trying to adjust the image a dozen times via software) I thought I'd try it anyways .

AND IT WORKED!!!
And when you fold it in half - a perfect Round Tab!

(Why yes, those are my real finger nails!)

Then staple it to the sponge, write the color of the ink on the tab and I'll never have to search for a clean spot on a sponge again!!

Now, we have 60 different colors for CTMH, I don't usually sponge every color, mainly browns & black, so I'll add as I need to. I don't plan on making 60 of them right away. I'll order a cardstock swatch sample pack (our company has 3x3 swatches on a metal ring we can purchase for around $2) and cut each tab out of the coordinating cardstock so that it's easy to see in the drawer.
Hope you liked this idea - I figured I just saved myself $15+ and 10 days of waiting!

Do you want to know the best part about this?? I can stretch the image on the screen and I can make these any size!! I don't have to buy one in all the different sizes!! I think that's priceless!!!