I like the book Pam mentions as well, but this type of organizing is an ongoing struggle for me. I'll be glad to see others chime in on this topic.
I have some large plastic toolboxes from the home improvement store (similar to this:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Trademark-...ments/19716832) that I use for things like buttons (divided by color), metal findings (like purse rings), packages of bias tape, etc. Other things I have in these white drawer-type modular units I bought long ago for my scrapbooking supplies. I just try to group like items together and I put a post-it note on each door/drawer with a list of what's in there. It's quite un-scientific!