Creative Ways To Deal With Craft Supplies

Posted on August 4, 2010 by LJ Earnest
Categories: Clutter,Organization,Simplification

Wednesdays are simplicity days at SimpleProductivity blog.

Photo by evelynishere

I don’t know if it was inspired by my reading of Unclutter Your Life in One Week
, or by the impending deadline of visiting relatives, but last weekend I took it into my head to clean out the craft room, also known as the guest bedroom.

Since we don’t have many overnight guests, this room has a tendency to fill up with clutter. Quickly.

Bits and pieces of anything craft-related get dumped here, along with UFOs (UnFinished Objects). So I went through the room, processing the items as I went. It isn’t so much how I decluttered this space, but how I finished the decluttering that is of interest.

Letting Go

Of course the first step in this process was to go through everything and split it up. There was too much of everything. I sorted through all the craft items and made piles, putting back only those things I intended to work on, or could remember what they were for (don’t laugh – I often buy yarn with a project in mind, and then forget what project I intended it for). Same with my daughter’s craft supplies: anything she didn’t care for, or intend to finish, was removed.

This has been a stumbling block in the past; after all, investing time in something grows my attachment to it, even if I hate the sight of it now. I gave myself (and my daughter) permission to let the stuff go.

Donate

For the items we were not going to use, we pulled aside a bag to take down to our church. The bits and pieces are used for Sunday School activities. Knowing that the materials were going to this location made it easier for my daughter to give things up. She even split up some of her things, giving half to the church and keeping half for future projects.

If this method of donation is not an option for you, consider donating extra supplies to a day care center, school or scouting organization. These organizations always need supplies.

Consolidate

One shocking thing was that I had the same types of materials in various places. Yarn stored everywhere, sewing fabric in three places. By putting the bits I wanted to keep together, I was able to see more of what I had and let even more material go.

I grouped the fabric together by types (fuzzy and non-fuzzy), yarn by material (cotton and other), and put all my embroidery floss in the same container. I also put together the sewing projects in progress and the projects that needed finishing.

Hide In Plain Sight

Before I started the purge, the closet in the room was stuffed. Yet there were things in the room not being used to advantage. Case and point were two wicker boxes that were turned upside down into a mini-display area. By turning these boxes so that the open side faced the wall, I was able to put the scrap yarn in there and hide it from sight.

Creative Storage

Other things in my room need to be stored to preserve them in between uses. My self-healing cutting mats need to be stored flat, yet there is no surface available to do this. So I slipped the mats in between the mattress and box spring on the bed. It’s out of the way, yet being kept flat for future use.

Use as Decorations

Even after stashing most of my yarn in the bins, I had two groups of skeins left: one for a coat I will make this winter, and my collection of cotton for making dishcloths. The coat wool has an interesting texture, so I stuffed it into a clear glass vase for an interesting “decoration”. The cotton was put in a shallow basket with a pair of knitting needles sticking out of it, and placed on top of the wicker boxes.

Complete (or Make Plans To)

In the midst of the clean-out, I found three projects that need to be completed. Instead of putting these back into the space (and into the forgotten throes of my project list), I took the items and put them in my in box. All three will be dealt with this weekend. These projects have been on the list, and none will take that long to finish; but they have been languishing on the Someday list for years.

With two hours of work, my guest room is ready for the coming guests and much more usable for my purposes.

Photo by evelynishere