If you are anything like me your craft room is full of stuff that you have accumulated over the years. From fabric to yarn, paper to glue, it's here and it seems like it's here to stay. Creatives create, that's what we do; And in the process we collect over the months and years the remnants of projects past, or the gatherings of supplies for projects to come.
The stacks become piles, the piles become boxes, and the boxes become bins. Stacked as far and wide as we can fit without getting in trouble with our family. Every closet, and corner (I see that bin under the bed too).
How does it get so bad? Well I thought of the top five ways we accumulate so much, and in my follow up post I will share what we can do to get rid of at least some of it, and make a little money in the process. Let's start with how we got our stash...
1. The over buy: As a crafter we often over buy, even hoard our supplies to the point of overflow. I know I do. I see a pretty piece of fabric and I can't resist. No project in mind but just need to have it in my stash. No space for it but I will make space, I think. I've even repurchased something I forgot I had!
2. The "Let's try something new": The other thing that gets me is when I want to try something new. I see something on Pinterest and I want to give it a shot.
To do it right I invest in the tools and materials. Spending a pretty penny just so I can try this one thing. And what happens? Either I do well and it was worth the investment or not so well and I loose interest. More often than not it's the latter and I have a box of supplies I won't ever touch again.
3. The spring cleaning: At any given moment we may decide it's time to clean up our act. We open the bins and drawers pull out stuff we have not seen in a good while. The duplicates the out dated, the outgrown. We reorganize our craft space and we end up with a box, all be it small (cause we can't part with stuff) of unwanted craft supplies. But the box never leaves our craft space. It sits in the corner.
4. The donation or inheritance: I can't tell how many times someone has gifted me a box with the tag line " I knew you were crafty so I figured I'd give this to you". My heart skips a beat excited to see what's in the box. Its like Christmas, wondering
what kind of goodies are inside. You explore the box finding one or two items you want and rest is stuff you can't use and so the the box sits in the back of your car or in the corner of your craft space. Or perhaps you are cleaning out a relatives stash that you have inherited, you have claimed what you wanted to keep and the rest you are ready to part with but you don't want to throw it away.
5. The upgrade: Everyone wants the next best thing. The newer faster model, the tool that can do more. We can't always trade in our tools and machines like cars, even if they still have life in them. We can keep the old model, tuck it away for a while until we need the closet space, or just get rid of it...sad but true.
So what is the state of your craft room. Have you diagnosed why you have so much stuff?What's in your craft room? Is it time to downsize, resize? Are you ready to DeStash then ReStash?