I have to thank my husband for this one.

His eyes often glaze over when I start rambling about my crystals. But, when I mentioned that I was looking for a storage solution for my growing crystal collection, he’s the one who suggested that I browse the sporting goods section of our local big box store.

(This post contains affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy for more information.)

There, I discovered Plano stowaway boxes. They are meant to hold fishing lures. The design of the stowaway box is similar to bead storage boxes, but they cost a fraction of the price.

The Plano boxes were an ideal storage solution for my growing crystal collection because:

• They come in various sizes. You can buy a small Plano box to hold just a few crystals if you are just starting out, or you can invest in a larger size, depending on your collection.
• The dividers inside the box are adjustable. To be honest, this is what truly sold me on these boxes. At the store, I had no clue how I was going to organize my stones with the boxes once I got them home. So, the flexibility of being able to arrange the dividers in various ways gave me more confidence in my purchase.
• The boxes are stackable. Can you say Godsend?!? Living in a modest-sized house, my storage options are limited if I want to minimize clutter in our home. The fact that I can stack these in a closet — or inside my night table, where they currently reside — is perfection to me.
• Did I mention they are extremely affordable? They are! A great fit for our one-income budget.

(Click here to read my post on organizing crystals using a wooden jewelry box!)

How to Organize Your Crystal Collection

Materials

What you will need:

1. A Plano stowaway box of your choice
2. Felt sheets, your choice of color
3. Construction paper to match the color of your felt sheets (optional)
4. Scissors
5. Pen (optional)

Decide how you will organize your crystals

I chose to organize my crystals according to the chakras. In order to do this, I needed felt sheets and construction paper in the colors of the chakras. I also referred to Judy Hall’s Crystal Bible books and several websites to determine which stones align with which chakras.

Other ideas include grouping your crystals according to color (but not necessarily chakra), or shape or even the Mohs scale of mineral hardness.

Arrange your flexible dividers according to your organization method

Remove the packaging sticker from the Plano box you’ll be using, and arrange the dividers according to your method of organization. Because I chose to organize by chakras, I made rows in each box. Six rows can be arranged in the 11″ x 7″ box, so I needed two boxes to fit all seven chakras. (I use the extra rows in the second box to store additional stones before I categorize them, description cards for the stones if they came with one, and small sage dried leaves.)

Cut and place your felt sheets and construction paper

Since I organized my box into rows, I cut both my felt sheets and construction paper into same-size strips.

I layered the construction paper strip on the bottom of each row and placed the same color felt strip on top of the construction paper in each row.

You could put your crystals into the Plano boxes without felt, but I found that a layer of felt protects the stones more than being in the plastic case alone.

If you are familiar enough with your crystals, you can do without the construction paper. I added a construction paper layer under the felt so I could write down which stones I was putting in each row. Kind of like a hidden cheat sheet. You could also include brief notes about a stone’s healing properties or what a stone looks like (if you are still learning about crystals and need those type of prompts).

If you are just beginning to work with crystals, you might want to label your stones with a small white sticker until you are more familiar with each one. That way you won’t forget which stone is which! When you no longer need a label, you can use my easy method for removing sticker residue from tumbled stones.

Arrange your stones inside the box

This is the fun part, at least it was for me! I loved touching all my stones and sorting them into their spots in the new boxes.

Taking the time to organize my crystal collection in this way really helped me to connect with my stones. Plus now when I am wanting to work with a certain chakra, finding a matching crystal to work with is easy!

Obviously, this organization method only works for smaller and flatter crystals and stones that will fit in these types of boxes. But it’s worked well for me, especially in the beginning stages of being a crystal collector.

I’ve amassed so many stones now that I’ll be looking for the next level of organizing my crystal collection soon!

How big is your crystal collection? How do you store your crystals when not in use? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments, or chat me up on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.