Cleaning out my Crafts

I always bought more than I could make. Years ago I would use all the stuff up, but as I got older, it just started to collect. I knitted squares for a blanket years ago for my daughter. I need to save up some money to get some yarn so I can make some for the grandkids. Sounds like you had a busy busy day, good for you. Have a nice evening. Hugs

Yep... me. I went through my craft stash this last week, too, and got rid of a lot of it. I knit, so I kept most of the yarn, although I'll never get it knitted up. I got rid of some knitting pattern books and I have a huge stack of pattern magazines for plastic canvas needlepoint. I'm still talking myself into getting rid of them, although I haven't touched them for several years. I already got rid of some cross stitch kits and a large embroidery project that I know I'll never do.

I did that a few years ago....got rid of things I know I would never finish...I donated alot and that made the whole situation better.....I didn't feel so bad about pitching it! I downsized to just three crafts I wanted to continue doing....so far I have only strayed once! LOL

Sounds like you got the makings for a great yard sale!! yeah, I know what you mean. I have moved twice recently and the craft stuff was what was given up first. I just don't do what I used to do. Right now I am into quilting and making dresses for my grand daughters and scrapbooking had it's 10years and now it is no longer "it" for me! There was a time when if it was done with a needle, I did it...but I had to change that tune as I soon found out it was NOT something that people understood, so...suffice to say.. I sewed, embroidered, needle pointed, creweled, and crocheted! Handmade crafts were my favorite tho...most of everything in my house at one time was handmade by me! Back in the day.... as they say!

Oh boy, that is a chapter from my life too. I like to crochet, sew, and bead. To top it off hubby and I live in a small apartment and the tiny 2nd bedroom is where our parrot sleeps, I have my tall bookcase, and totes of my yarn and sewing machine. Everything got extremely out of hand and I had to do some major cleaning. I was able to sell alot of it on Ebay, the rest got thrown out. Since then I only buy what I need for the project I'm going to do and I can't buy anything else until it's finished. I love crocheting for my family and friends and I used to do winter items for charity until postage got so high. What I do now is with the yarn left over from my projects I make hats and mittens to donate. The day after thanksgiving I bag all the hats and mittens up and take them to a local Midas Muffler shop. Every year they have a donation bin inside for winter items. I really enjoy making my yearly drop off, I know I'm still getting help people, I don't have to pay postage, and it helps families that are in my area. I also get to try many free patterns, learn new stitches, and I can get more than one set from a skein of yarn and for $2.33 a skein of red heart super saver at Walmart I don't think thats to bad. What's left over from that I make small squares and save them for an afghan.

I am young as of now, but i will try not to buy extra crafts which i will not be able to finish. Actually people are shopoholic and thus they cant control on their shopping habits so its but natural to have a pile up of crafts lying up in your vicinity. Anyways , Thats a good step of yours. Good luck.

I've bought craft supplies for crafts that I will never do. I see something and think I would like to do it, but when it comes down to it, I have other things I like to do better.

Oh dear, I feel even more guilty than normal now. I have so much crafting gear...especially in the painting and drawing category. I have hundreds of "How to " books, some quite expensive. I have all sorts of paints, brushes and paper and I can barely draw a straight line. I have knitting and crocheting yarn and books and dress fabrics and curtain fabrics by the metre. I have 2 sewing machines. I have just started jewellery making. I've collected a few beads over the years and now I'm ordering tools and all sorts of beads and findings and spending hours reading and learning. I've also recently bought the gear to do dough craft. Just before that I bought moulds, cement and paint to make stepping stones for the garden. I still haven't made one as my first couple of attempts failed. I think there is a good chance I'm crazy.

I'm there, but I'm not organized enough yet to know what I'm never going to do... I'm working on it tho!

That's the whole nature of crafting... needing an extra lifetime or two to get it all done. Instead of the trash, why not donate to a thrift store or community centre?

Oh yes. I have way more than I can finish. Unfortunately, getting rid of it will be as big a problem for me as keeping it is. Neither I nor my husband are able to get around much anymore. I may have to get my grandson to help me organize my crafts, and dispose of those I no longer can do. I have a knitting machine and accessories, and I know I will never be able to use it, but it was such a large investment of money and time, it is really hard to let it go. My back just won't let me use it anymore and getting all the pieces and parts together to get rid of it, is going to be a major project. Donating yarn, and some things, is not a problem to places like Salvation Army Thrift Store or Goodwill, but somethings are just not suitable for donation. May need to wait and do a big spring yard sale. Right now are weather is prohibitive since a large majority of my stuff is in a big shed and snow is still on the ground. Hopefully, I'll keep reading posts like yours and find the motivation to do it soon, rather than much later! Thanks for the discussion.

So I missed out on getting any of your old kits? Oh well...I guess I should have got in here a lot more over the last year and not just playing catchup. I just know that I can't work on things that are on 25 count material and right now that is all that I have available. I might go somewhere and see if I can find a larger size material and try to start this project I am working on again so that I can see it finished since I have so much yarn. Have a great weekend!!!

I have VERY limited space for any of my things, craft stuff included. So I have always tended to not hold on to much if I know I'm not going to use it. I recently donated all of my yarn to a lady who knits charity afghans. I have told myself though that I'm not buying ANYTHING else crafty until I finish a few projects around here and get them listed and hopefully sold on etsy.

I usually only buy a few things at a time, and usually they are gifts for some occasion. In that way, I usually finish them. The only thing that I haven't gotten around to, is a mouse pad for me. Since there is no deadline on it, I put it last.

I am sure it was a liberating feeling when you finish. I have been cleaning out my home and getting rid of stuff as well. I gave quite a bit to charity, and I am in the process of adding stuff on Ebay. I have lots of fabric that I know I will never use again. I also have some leftover yarn that I know I will never use again, and I plan to give them to a charity organization as well.

everyone tends to over buy and the thing is, i have kept everything because 'you never know'. this past Christmas, i made over my daughters's baby books for them and used up a lot of craft stuff. i will go through my stuff and maybe sell some. does craft stuff sell on ebay?

everyone tends to over buy and the thing is, i have kept everything because 'you never know'. this past Christmas, i made over my daughters's baby books for them and used up a lot of craft stuff. i will go through my stuff and maybe sell some. does craft stuff sell on ebay?

I've been doing the same thing! There is very little that goes into the trash though. I donate a LOT of stuff to a woman who is teaching crafts at one of our local schools. The items she doesn't use go to the thrift shops and, then the items that can be recycled like the plastic, paper, and glass items go to the recycling center. My magazines are going to be scanned and kept on a CD for reference on the computer. It will eliminate a ton of magazines taking up space in the house. I am going to also do it with my knitting instruction manuals. These items will either be sold on Ebay or they will be donated to thrift shops. I bought a bunch of the space bags and my teddy bear fur has been put in those. The new improved ones are super! I also got an eleven drawer tool cabinet that I keep the teddy bear making supplies in, and I am going to get one for my jewelry making supplies. I too have decided to pare the amount of crafts down to three or four that I really love doing. I make teddy bears and also sell them so that is a big keeper. Then I also took up making jewelry so I won't stop that craft either (I also sell my jewelry creations), since I sew the teddy bears I keep the various fabrics so that I can also sew for myself (one definite item being added to the line up of tools is a serger/overlock machine. Then finally is the knitting. It saves a bunch of money when I knit my own sweaters and light weight tops. I realized a long time ago that I needed to figure the space in my home like a warehouse. I figured the cost per square inch to store items in my home. I discovered that it was far less expensive (and space wasting) to not store tons of stuff in my home but to buy it when I needed it. Another great motivator is watching the "hoarding" programs and seeing what a person's house looks like if they don't keep a handle on the amount of stuff that a person keeps in their house. I NEVER make it through a full show without getting up and sorting out more "stuff" and getting it in the car to be gotten rid of. Thank you for your post. It is nice to see that someone else is doing the same thing, purging all the unnecessary items and keeping a handle on the stuff you are keeping. The one thing I would suggest is that you check around with your local schools if you have more craft stuff to part with, and see if they can use it. With the nation wide budget cuts crafts are virtually eliminated from the curriculum. As it has been proven, children who are exposed to crafting and are encouraged to keep crafting are much less apt to get into serious trouble and they grow up to be very productive adults and are upstanding citizens.

Every once in a while I discover that I won´t be doing this or that anymore. I give out some things to other people, starting for my daughters if they are interested. After them, there are several people I love who come next and after that I just give them away to anyone that needs them.