I’m so so so so so excited that Laura asked me to be a regular contributor on her blog, I’m an Organizing Junkie. She’s fantastic to work with, and her entire website pretty much rocks my socks. So, here’s my first post on her blog as an official contributor! 5 Simple Steps for Taming Your Craft Stash
I get it. I’m a crafter too.
I know what it’s like to see the potential in that tiny scrap of fabric, that beautiful woven ribbon that came unexpectedly wrapped around the last thing you ordered from Etsy, the stacks of printed and textured paper that are 50% off in the craft store.
Chances are your “stash” will keep you busy for a long, long time. Unfortunately, if your stash has developed a life of its own, oozing out of designated baskets and boxes, spilling off of shelves, and piling higher and higher, it’s going to keep you busy managing your materials rather than creating masterpieces.
So how can you cut through the clutter, get to the good stuff, and really start creating again? It’s pretty simple. Here’s how I’ve been doing just that, since we moved into our house in December.
Read the rest at OrgJunkie.com – 5 Simple Steps for Taming Your Craft Stash.
5 Comments
[…] Materials for crafts or hobbies we used to do a lot but have since abandoned. […]
Also, do you have any specific suggestions for handling the ‘ingredients’ that are awesome but unassigned either waiting for inspiration or left froma previous idea? (Fabric and yarn are often this catagory for me)
Yes! Designate a space with boundaries (a certain drawer, a box with a lid, a certain length of space on a bookshelf) for that type of item … one space for fabric, one for yarn, one for miscellaneous odds and ends, one for buttons, and so on. Whatever your main categories of “stash” are. Then keep what you like that fits in that space, and get rid of the least favorites. If you can’t close the box, it’s too much stuff. If it starts to spill off of the shelf or the drawer is hard to close, it’s too much. Limit the amount physically, with boundaries.
This is such a timely post for me. Having been raised frugal and domestic, I find I have two categories of projects: things to save money (like repairing or altering clothes) and things to express sentiment (preserving memories, expressing my creativity). Dealing with feelings of shame, failure, guilt, and dissapointed dreams often makes me keep every last possible thing I can cram into the designated space. Your suggestions for prioritizing seem practical and effective to get me off my ‘all or nothing’ tendency. I would much rather have a few actual accomplishments than a closet full of unrealized dreams, slowly accruing negative connotations. I don’t need to realize every good idea I have, I can be thankful that I have so many to choose from. 🙂
I’m glad that it affected you in the same way that realization smacked me in the face. haha. I love what you said about the closet full of unrealized dreams… it sounds so melodramatic, but it’s kinda true.