Do you find yourself with visions of herbs drying on the rafters? Jars upon jars in all shapes, sizes and colors? Crystals shining in all the windows?

YEAH, me too!

Unfortunately, I live in a city apartment. I war with the desire to fill my space with greenery and art, with the fact that I live with another human being in a one-bedroom unit. Since I love him an lot, I like to be respectful of the fact that it is his space too. He’s also not as excited about our entire space being filled from top to bottom with plants and jars full of everything and anything.

I’ve spent a lot of time reconnecting with my ritual space over the last year. One of the few perks of COVID, the fact that I spent more time at home, and I joined a Wiccan Theology program. Naturally, a lovely byproduct of this work however is that my ritual items have also exponentially increased. I’m up to my ears in herbs, crystals, and incense. Great for rituals, but tough on space!

Originally, I had my crystals lovingly tucked away into various sachets, with herbs in mason jars, all carefully labeled.

This worked in terms of organization, but was absolutely rubbish when I need to find something. I was constantly shifting jars and candles out of my way to try and find a specific herb or crystal. It meant a lot of time wasted in gathering my ritual items instead of actually practicing. To be frank, it was a hassle and I found myself avoiding the use of items simply because I didn’t want to find it.

Basically, I was miles away from realizing my dream of an apothecary cabinet.

A new vision was definitely needed. I spent hours staring at the space, and moving items around before I decided to just start all over. My obsession with Pinterest came to the rescue once again. Inspiration struck through some of the organizations boards I happen to follow. I refuse to spend hundreds of dollars on specially advertised shelving, and prefer a “DIY” approach to most things in my house.

Instead of jars, I looked for jewelry and thread organizers. The plastic storage containers for beads will run you around $9 at places like Michaels (unless you shop the sales). They are cheaper than a dozen mason jars, and still hold a few ounces of each herb. For example, I have enough room for at least 6oz of dried rosemary or basil, but only about 3 oz of dried roses or chamomile.

Wood organizers will cost you a bit more depending on size and style. But, as a former JoAnn’s employee, I can confirm that the store has sales all the time on jewelry and wooden items! Since I was doing some chakra work when I started this project, I decided to organize my crystals using the wooden box and some colored scrapbook paper.

Information regarding my herbs and crystals is being kept in a wooden recipe box. I included notes on associations, uses and ritual work for each one. My growing collection of candles and incense are in – you got it- another wooden box! All of the boxes lock so that items don’t fall out if they need to be moved around. The other thing I love about them is they are practically screaming to be customized with markers or paint! I am waiting on inspiration to strike before I start painting, but its on the list for the future.

I’m slowly expanding my collection of jars now that I have the space to store them. I’ve taken to scouring secondhand stores for old perfume jars mostly. I find them unique and interesting. When added to rituals, I can add some extra magic by deliberately choosing a jar by shape or color.

All in all, I am thrilled with the current results. I was able to reorganize everything and its much easier to see and move around as needed. AND, it takes up half the space!

Happy organizing readers! Until next time!