Saturday, March 3, 2012

How do you.....?

As people who do hand work, be it sewing, knitting, crocheting, beading, scrapbooking, etc., etc., we all collect Stash!!  Yes that's right,

STASH!!!!

Let's define stash:

Used as a verb:  To hide or store away for later use.
Used as a noun:  A collection  sometimes hidden; a reserve. or  A secret place where something is hidden or stored or something, such as money or an illegal drug, that has been hidden or stored.

So how does our stash qualify under the above definitions? 

We definitely store it away for further use (whether it ever gets used or not).

Sometimes we hide it away so it doesn't appear to exist and we definitely spend money on it and at times it seems as if it is almost as addictive as an illegal drug....lol!

It's tools of our trade, it's supplies we need and some that we don't need, but basically I think it's simply that we want it, need it, and just gotta have it.  We KNOW we will never live long enough to use our stash!  So, we stash it in drawers, we stash it in boxes, we stash it on shelves, we even stash it in stacks on a table and at times we just move it from one place to another to get it out of our way so we can actually do something with some of it.  We go to our stash to get something specific that we need for use in a current project and before you know it, we've rooted around and spent 45 minutes just looking at stash!   We could get  buried in stash, so: 

How do you organize your stash?

Do you surf the net looking for the right suggestion or idea on how to organize your stash?  Do you hit up the craft/sewing shops for organizational items?  Do you go to the office supply stores looking for inspiration?  Do you go to the hardware store looking for help with stash?  Do you save empty jars because you just KNOW you'll find something to put in them?

Do you have an actual studio or just a corner of the living room or a large walkin closet that nobody uses? Are you supremely organized, not organized at all or fall somewhere in between?  Do you work at organization?  Do you control your stash or does it control you?  Does the stash just keep piling up until you scream, pull your hair, knock your head against the wall, curse a blue streak and stomp around the room because you can't find what you need.  Then after you go out and buy whatever item you're looking for only to take it to your stash and put it away in the same spot you put the first one in but hadn't looked there because "it just couldn't be there cause you put it somewhere else?"  Does any of this sound familiar?  Are you laughing with me yet?  I hope so!

To me, all these things add up to STASH and headache number 435!

So lets find out how we all organize stash.


I cross stitch, A LOT!

This is how I organize my floss stash.   Hey! This is very good you might say, but, yes, there's always a BUT!!  What you don't see are the baggies full of floss that haven't made it to bobbins.  The plastic boxes full of floss that I've pulled out of the main floss box that i'm currently using for any one of five cross stitch pieces that are in progress.  Nor do you see the envelopes (numbered and filed in another box) filled with floss that are elsewhere.  Not to mention the stash of metallic and  silk threads, Mill Hill beads, etc.

So how do we tame this beast?  I don't know.  I'll come up with an idea and try to use it but at some point I decide it's not working.  Then there I stand amidst all the mess I've created, wondering when I'm going to have the energy and inspiration to do something else with the mess and still trying to figure out how to organize it. 


I also sew/quilt, so I've got a fabric stash. How small a piece of fabric is too small to keep?   There is also a thread stash; pattern stash two sewing machines of mine and one for the gdaughter and tools, more tools!

Then there's the knitting and crocheting so there's a yarn stash, pattern stash, knitting needles: straight, nine inch, fourteen inch, double pointed and circular; crochet hooks and more books.

I also make the occasional piece of jewelry which means a stash for beads, wire, threads, patterns, books and tools.

Then there's the stained glass stash consisting of glass, solder, wire, bevels, jewels, etc.,  and MORE TOOLS!

Mustn't forget the book cases and boxes full of books and magazines. 

I've been trying to organize my stash  for over a year and haven't got there yet, but I keep working at it.

My husband says that one can't touch anything without knocking something else over.  Of course he's one of those revoltingly organized people who hasn't changed the location of the socks in his dresser drawer in 40 years of marriage.

So hear my cry for HELP!!!

Tell me how you organize your stash!!!  Give me some ideas I haven't already tried!  Maybe something will just click and my stash will become a wonderous thing.

2 comments:

  1. For the most part, my stash is organized. Not all in one room, though. Depending on what I'm organizing, I may look on the web for ideas. This is how I store my floss: http://meari.blogspot.com/2010/10/qotw-floss-floss-floss.html. For fabric, I cover boxes with contact paper like this: http://meari.blogspot.com/2006/08/sbq-fabric-organization.html I have about 4 this size and one taller one, but I need to make up another box. The rest of my stash is stored here: http://meari.blogspot.com/2009/08/introducing.html (most of it, anyway!) Magazines are stored in plastic and cardboard magazine organizers on a bookshelf. Charts are stored in plastic bins. Smaller kits in baskets. Good luck with organizing!

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  2. Since TVs have gone to flat screen, there are a LOT of tv armoirs available. You could repurpose one of those for storage. Like this: http://www.potentiallybeautiful.com/2012/01/repurpose-tv-armoire.html

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