Clever Ways to Store Your Hair Elastics (So You Never Lose One Again)

Quick: Name one thing you buy all the time but never have when you need it. You’re thinking about hair elastics, aren’t you?

If you have long hair, hair elastics can be the bane of your existence. They’re so helpful, and yet, so hard to keep track of. It feels like no matter what you do, your hair ties are always disappearing. One day, you’re buying a new pack of hair elastics, the next, you realize all you’ve got left is one measly elastic tied around your wrist, just waiting to be lost.

The good news is, you don’t have to suffer in hair tie-less silence anymore. These clever storage ideas can help you hold on to your elastics—that is, until you ultimately break them all, because it can never be too easy.

Rather than tossing your hair elastics into a drawer (or the bottom of every bag you own) try a sleeker approach and store them in a jar. You can use just about any jar you like, and you can even add a custom etching, like Ashley at Lil Blue Boo did above. Bonus: This tutorial also includes instructions for creating your own fun hair ties with colorful fold over elastic.

As Bre at Average But Inspired reminds us, you can use binder rings for just about anything—including keeping all your hair ties in one place. All you have to do is clip your hair elastics onto the binder ring, which you should be able to purchase at your local dollar store. No DIY required, and you can put your elastics just about anywhere without worrying about them separating (and disappearing).

This stylish hair band organizer from Driven By Decor is actually made out of small gift mailer tubes from The Container Store and some fabric, and it looks a lot more complicated than it actually is. You can pop your hair bands back in the drawer on one of these tubes to keep them in one place, or display them anywhere you please.

Anyone who uses tiny elastic hair bands knows they’re even harder to keep track of than standard hair ties. A great way to keep them organized—and separated by size or color—is to use a plastic pill container, like Samantha at Simply Organized has done here.

And since hair elastics aren’t the only accessory to go missing constantly…

Although not technically a tie or elastic, bobby pins seem to always be everywhere and nowhere at the same time—when you don’t need them, you’re constantly finding them in drawers and on the floor, but when you do, they’ve disappeared. Keep track of them with this handy hack from Craft Corners, and attach a magnetic strip to the back of your bathroom mirror to stick them to when you’re not using them.