Often I buy way more than I need. Going to a craft store or to a thrift store I'm much like a kid in a candy store. Eyes wide open and I want it all!
Sometimes I buy things because it just catches my eye and appeals to me. Other times I imagine using it for some recycling project that never comes into being. Or I just don't have the time or space to complete.
I'm also in the unique position of having a business that is based in the idea of reselling. So I often find my trips to Thrift Stores to be two fold: 1. Find a diamond in the rough that needs some polish, or 2. find great inventory for my store. Either way I end up with a ton of stuff that accumulates quickly, gets piled in a corner and often forgotten.
This past month I had to do a purge of my own. I'd accumulated old fabrics, used craft supplies and tools that I know I will never use, and probably won't be able to sell. The more I cleaned and organized the more I found. It's amazing what you hide from yourself.
I put it all in a box and took it to the nearest thrift store. I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel some kind of way about just giving all away. I can say that its for a good cause; reclaiming space in my home. Which really is all the reason you need to downsize your stash.
It almost sounds like something you say in hushed tones in the back room of a craft store. The very idea of downsizing seems counterproductive to a crafters creative growth. But there is something to be said about a blank canvas and an empty page.
When I got back home and saw all the empty space I'd created it took all of that heaviness away. I felt free to create again. Not only that but clearing the clutter gave me a better visual landscape to assess the in-flight projects I have to finish. My only regret is that I walked away with nothing. Unlike a Destash where at least I would get a few dollars for my un-needed items.
I reminded myself Why I have 923 Fabrics & Crafts. I wanted to give crafters a safe place to send their leftover supplies to. I wanted to help make the Destash process a bit easier, and a little sweeter with a little cash.
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