Skip to main content

Attacking the craft closet

I'm not sure what possessed me, but I decided I should do something about the "craft closet" in our bedroom. It's a little "bonus" closet (as opposed to our walk-in closet) that, before we bought the house, was apparently used to store square dancing outfits... 

Anyway, it's got shelves and I've always just kind of stuffed my crafty things and other such odds and ends into it. Mostly partially done knitting projects and yarn, and odds and ends of scrapbooking supplies, lots left over from when I sold Creative Memories (so a lot of outdated scrapbooking supplies, as that was 10 years ago!), a little bit of fabric, boxes of photos, etc. 

The yarn was the most intimidating. I have bad knitting ADD. I start a project and then forget about it. Then I start a new one. And a new one. And a new one.... I don't finish a lot of projects.


By far, the biggest job was just seeing what was there (since every project was in some sort of bag, in some sort of half-done or barely-started disarray. Lots had the needles taken out, since I always am short on the size of needles I need when starting a new project... (Seriously, it's bad.) I decided which projects I thought I might actually have some hope of finishing and put them into ziplocks with their patterns. Anything I decided not to finish, I frogged and rewound the yarn and reclaimed the needles. I sorted out good and crappy yarn. I untangled what I could of good yarn and ruthlessly threw the rest away. I put like yarn together in ziplocks, if there were only a few. Then I sorted all the random, crumpled paper patterns and threw away any that I didn't want to keep. I get most of my patterns off of Ravelry anyway, so I can usually find them again. I totally wish I had a kindle, just for knitting patterns. At any rate, I got it all neatly stashed in a big plastic container! Major stress relief!

The next issue was scrapbooking stuff. I am 100% converted to Project Life for daily stuff, and for the current year, I'm doing it digitally, via the app. The clutter-free aspect of needing ZERO supplies to make this happen is UH-mazing. But I still have years past to complete. The pathetic thing is that I've had PL kits and accessories stashed all over the place. So I consolidated it all and put it in the closet in an orderly fashion so I can see everything that's there. 

I still do some traditional scrapbooking here and there, so I don't want to get rid of all my stuff, but I could probably go through my big plastic drawer tower at some point and pare that down. I went through the old CM stuff I still had. Found plenty to give to Goodwill that I don't want and won't be sellable. There are a few things I might be able to get a little out of on eBay, so I saved those and put them neatly back in the closet for now. 

The rest was odds and ends, which I sorted, folded, and packaged in ziplocks as I was able to.

The finished product is so much better!! In fact, I kind of want to knit again!! (New project anyone? 😉)

Comments

you may like...

dear neighbors which shall remain nameless,

i am writing this informational letter on behalf of your children, your bank account, and your auto insurance company, all of which suspect an impending blow to their current, healthy state. it appears that you may not be aware of certain traffic laws which pertain to the proper seating and safety of your children while in your vehicle, so i will take this opportunity to share them with you.   Washington's New Child Restraint Law Effective June 1, 2007, children less than eight years old must be restrained in child restraint systems, unless the child is four feet nine inches or taller. A child who is eight years old or older, or four feet nine inches or taller, must be properly restrained either with the motor vehicle's safety belt or an appropriately fitting child restraint system. Children under thirteen years old must be transported in rear seats where it is practical to do so. The fine for improperly restrained children in motor vehicles is at least $112 per c

to trick or treat or not to trick or treat… that is the question…

so i appear to be having a halloween dilemma. i’ve always ‘celebrated’ halloween. you know, we carve a pumpkin, dress up in costumes, go ring doorbells and get candy. i did it when i was a kid. my kids have done it. but that’s not to say i feel entirely comfortable with it. i haven’t looked into it a lot, but i am aware of the sketchy, pagan history of the holiday, and it does kind of disturb me that that’s what we continue to celebrate. and i do remember at some point, my mom expressing concern over the holiday and kind of wanting to ‘quit’. that said, what most people ‘celebrate’ as halloween is a far cry from where it came from. i don’t think that putting a kid in a bunny costume and ringing the neighbor’s doorbell is all that evil. dressing up is fun. candy is fun. but the bible warns about associating with witchcraft and mediums and various evil stuff like that. ***edited to add*** and as a christian, i believe that following the bible’s guidelines is important. does this not qu

did these people go to school? ever?

sometimes i am just totally flabbergasted by how horribly some people write. i'm not sure if it's just that spelling and grammatical issues come easily for me, or if other people are just really BAD! i find it to be the worst in product reviews online. this morning i was reading some reviews of a chest freezer i'm thinking of getting. one went on and on about the poor quality of the 'unite'. repeatedly using the word 'unite'. seriously, people!!! here's another thing i've noticed. it's always the negative reviews too. what's with that? are people just so pissed off about the bad product they just got screwed on that they feel the need to rant (without pausing for breath or editing) in a negative product review? or is it just that people with bad writing skills are more likely to be compelled to leave a negative review? or are people with bad writing skills more likely to get screwed with the bad product? i don't get it. but

big fat nothing

see all the big welts?  yeah, me neither.  our spectacular appointment with the allergist revealed that layla is allergic to nothing.  so we're back to square one and we know nothing other than that something is causing her bladder issues and we don't know what.  maybe her doctor can put a little pressure on the urologist to see us.  who knows.  and food doesn't seem to be causing her skin issues, nor the rash she gets on her face after eating sometimes.  okay, that's not exactly accurate.  food is causing it, but not an allergy.  she has sensitive skin and when food gets smeared on her face, it irritates her skin. so, as disappointed as i am that we've gotten nowhere here, i am looking on the bright side that she isn't allergic to something major like wheat or dairy that would create a significant lifestyle change in regards to our diet.  so in that respect, it's good news.  i just really want some answers.

my mind is blank…

i’ve been really bad about blogging lately. i really don’t feel like i have anything interesting to say. we haven’t been anywhere lately. no one has been sick or hurt themselves lately. no one has visited us. i’m still working on my mom’s shawl, but it isn’t done yet. really. it’s pathetic. i think we need to take this as a hint and plan to do something exciting sometime soon. we’re kind of winding down and getting ‘mentally prepared’ for the school year. shane’s curriculum for the year is here and all loaded onto the computer, just waiting for him to start figuring it out (me too). i’ve got stuff floating around in my head about what sort of stuff i want to do with layla this year. it’s still preschool, so i have a very laid back attitude about it. fortunately, she thinks that ‘schoolwork’ and anything that seems to have an academic twist to it is SUPER cool, so there will be no struggle with her about that sort of thing, like there always has been with shane. i think the