52 Places In 52 Weeks: Organizing Your Craft Supplies
Pinterest. DIY. Handmade.
Do you dream about being a Martha Stewart? A Pinterest queen? A daily DIY-er?
I used to have high aspirations when it came to crafts. I would have these grand ideas, buy all of the tools and items needed to complete the project, but not always follow through with it. My problem? I enjoyed the idea more than actually doing the project. Crafts became more of a collectors item than a hands-on task. I realized as I was trying to simplify our life over the past few years, that I had to start to move on. I had to move past the idea of being the next suzy-homemaker. Yes, I still enjoy home-making, but I am not aspiring to be someone I am not. I now have all of my craft supplies in 3 bins (includes fabric, yarn, scrapbooking items) and I feel MUCH less pressure to be this Martha Stewart.
Decluttering and organizing crafts takes a whole lot more work than just donating the unused. It’s deciding whether or not you will ever use it – and THAT is the hardest question to answer. So this week, I want you to spend some time going through all of your craft supplies!
1. Think about all of the hobbies and projects you have going on right now. (This may include: jewelry making, knitting, crocheting, DIY projects, any crafts, etc.)
2. Here are some questions to think about:
- Do you still enjoy those particular projects?
- Why have you abandoned them? Not enough time? Do you anticipate yourself finishing them someday?
- Do you have all of the supplies you need to finish the project?
- Why have you started another project when you already had one you needed to finish first?
- Can you FIND all of the projects you started?
- Would someone else get more use, appreciate, or enjoy finishing the project instead?
- What are the projects/hobbies that you want to keep pursuing? How often do we keep supplies for those things that we will do SOMEDAY (and that day has yet to come?).
3. This is the time consuming part: Go through each project you have going on
- If you haven’t used it, get rid of it. The thought of “well, I will use it someday, I’m sure!” still lingers. How hard and costly will it be to buy new IF you end up needing it someday?
- How often do we buy craft supplies in hopes that we will actually use it someday? Again, and that day has never come. Even though it may be unopened, get rid of it. Someone else will appreciate it much more. When that unopened packaged isn’t staring you in the face anymore, your guilt for NOT using it, will be gone too.
- Are you keeping anything because you feel you have to use it? Are you keeping fabric or scrapbooking paper because you have it and feel you should use it? Why? If you have to talk yourself into using it, get rid of it. Crafting and DIYing is something you should enjoy doing – not something you need to talk yourself into.
- Scraps. Scraps of paper. Scraps of fabric. Scraps of ribbon. Scraps of you name it. Half-used bottles? Will you ever use them? Probably not.
- Age. How old is the item you questioning whether to get rid of? Like I alluded to above, stick to the rule of thumb: if you haven’t used it in a year, get rid of it. Simply said and make it simply done.
4. Whatever projects you have left, put them all into one container/bin/box. Why? So that when you have some time to do a project, you know which ones you need to do first and finish, instead of starting a new one.
5. FINISH the project. Don’t just do it to just finish it. If you are not going to enjoy the time it will take to finish it, you need to just get rid of it.
6. Prevent the “abandon project syndrome” by being intentional about what you buy. If you have projects sitting at home, those need to be done first or they will never get done.
And for all of those patterns you have lying around the house?
1. Find an unused binder in your house.
2. Find ALL of the patterns and ideas you have printed or have loosely sitting around the house. This is also a time to maybe PRINT all of the patterns or ideas you have saved on your computer or have on your Pinterest boards.
3. Use a hole punch (3-hold punch works best) to punch holes into paper.
4. Organize patterns/ideas by category (ex. crochet, knit, crafts, sewing, papercrafting, etc. or by type: hats, gloves, blankets, etc.).
5. If you have a lot of patterns, consider using dividers to divide them into categories.
6. Start a project you have been waiting and wanting to do!
Don’t let your craft supplies overwhelm you. Hobbies are meant to be enjoyed; not dreaded to start. PURGE, PURGE, PURGE so that you can set new goals, see what you have, and accomplish those DIY projects you’ve been wanting to.
