Mark your calendars...

... because I actually had a good idea this morning! I can't believe it, either!

For a while, I've been wondering how to store those cute little $1 Hampton Arts clear stamp sets (found at Michael's or, occasionally, JoAnn's). I store my higher-quality CTMH stamp sets in a square gift box, which is not the best idea, but it was free, so it's good enough for now. In the past, I've just thrown the little stamp sets in the bottom of the box, but then I have to try to fish them all out before I can even decide if I want to use one. I know that some companies are marketing their own products for such a use, but I'm sure they're more than I want to spend. So, here's my idea: putting them in trading card sleeves.

I bought a package of these years ago when I first began trying to organize my photos. It occured to me that I had A LOT of wallet-sized photos that were no longer in my wallet, and I was certainly not ready to scrapbook them. While at Wal-Mart (gasp! I know some of you don't like that place), I noticed these clear sleeves to store baseball cards and realized they were just the right size. This morning, I also realized each pocket is also approximately the same size as one $1 stamp set.

I also have a few $2 Autumn Leaves sets that I found last year at Target. I just cut their plastic cards in half, and one half of each set also fits nicely in one pocket. Note that they do fit in each pocket better if you don't keep the paper insert from each package, but they're also easier to see each stamp individually if you do have the paper insert behind the stamp.

I am really a fan of these trading card sleeves. Because I am a nerd and kept all my old school I.D.s and Library cards, I found that they fit perfectly in the pockets as well.

Finally, I had one other, larger set of Hampton Arts stamps. I remembered that I had this old, clear pencil holder that was just taking up space, and found that it was a great size for that set.
Now all of these stamps are much more conveniently stored in a three ring binder. I am sorry that I cannot remember the name of the company that makes these sleeves, or how many you get in a pack, but I know I got them at Wal-Mart, they're inexpensive, and I would guess you could find them at the discount store of your choice!

So there you go, a LOT of text to explain a very simple idea... just like me, isn't it?