For the longest time my stash was in various places around the house. My cross stitch stash was in my bedroom on a bookcase. My soap making stash was in a couple of bins in the porch (that is used for storage). My cake decorating stash was in a bin in the kitchen. My sewing stash was in the cabinet in our office (the same room where my sewing machine is located). Recently I had the overwhelming urge to give it all a home in one location in one room in my family's home. So, I set out on a mission to find a few of those heavy-duty plastic caddies that have drawers and that you can put on wheels. I searched every store I could think of in town for the best deal. I also sat down to figure out how many drawers I would need so I wouldn't buy too many. In the middle of this mission, I had a lightbulb moment that ended up saving me some $$$$. We already had one of those caddies. It had been sitting for some time with things my children have outgrown such as coloring books, stencils, color crayons, etc. My daughter and I went to work weeding through everything and giving the unit a good cleaning. We ended up donating a lot of fun things to our neighbors who have 5 children all under the age of 7.
One unit down, how many more to go? I was going to buy two 6-drawer units, but it made more sense to buy two 3-drawer and two 4-drawer units because it was less expensive and they would work just as well. After I got them home, I gathered all of my stash and began neatly putting everything in its new home. That's better. Now I have a nice, organized craft storage center tucked away in a corner of our livingroom. It's the only room where there really is room for something like this (until kids leave home), but it is out of the way so it doesn't impact our living space and also doesn't feel out of place where it's at. I apologize about the quality of the pictures. I just figured out that I can take pictures with the webcam that's built into my laptop. Guess I need to practice some more. The color editing doesn't really help much.
Every drawer is full so I don't have plans to add to my stash other than base for making soap. I have plenty of aida, floss, and patterns to do many cross stitch projects. I have pretty yarns, canvas, and patterns to do many fun plastic canvas projects. I have everything I need to make some fun cakes and cupcakes. I have a lot of paper and embellishments to do some cute pages for my children's scrapbooks. And, I have all of the scents and molds I need to make some beautiful soaps. I just need to add to my supply of soap base so that I can keep making them.
Every year I get a nice $50 cash Christmas gift from my employer which he gives to each of the office personnel. At first it was hard not to put that $50 towards bills, but I know my employer doesn't give it to me for that. He gives it to me to treat myself to something nice. After working for him for a few years now it has become easier to accept that I can get whatever I want with that much appreciated gift. The first year I received this gift, I used it to obtain all of the DMC thread colors that I didn't have yet and was able to complete the whole set. One year I stocked up on stickers and embellishments for scrapbooking. Another year I purchased items to add to my cake decoratng stash. This year I think my items are going to be soap base and yarn to give me what I need to make large quantities of soap and have all of the yarn colors I need to do a few plastic canvas projects.
I love to make things and give them as gifts, but I am also considering having craft sales in my yard just like people do yard sales. There is plenty of time between New Year's Day and early summer to make enough items to hold a few sales throughout the summer months. I have a daughter who loves to help mom, so it would be a fun learning experience for her too.
Needless to say, I am one happy owner of some wonderful stash!!
God bless.
There is a house just down the road from me that has signs posted up all during the warm weather and during the bigger holidays. They have displays set up in their garage and when they are "open" they just leave that door open. They sell birdhouses and decorative yard ornaments that they display along the driveway. Good Luck and great stash!
ReplyDeleteWe don't have a garage but we do have an enclosed porch. Because it is not insulated or heated, however, we can only use it from spring through fall. Even that is enough time to run a little business. I could use winter to make merchandise and then do my selling in the warmer months.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on getting it all organized in one spot. I have my stitching stash all over the house. I really need to get it organized, too.
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