Welcome to the first post of my craft organization series! I’m so glad you’ve decided to join me! This series is going to help you create a beautifully organized, Pinterest-worthy craft stash that you’ll be proud to show anyone and everyone! Today’s post focuses on the first and most important part of organizing your craft stash: how to declutter your craft supplies!

How to Declutter Your Craft Supplies

 

If you’d like to skip forward to the next posts in the series, you can find them right here:

Part 2: How to Choose the Perfect Organizer for Your Craft Supplies
Part 3: How to Organize Your Craft Supplies and Make Your Craft Stash a Show-Stopper

Today’s post will help you sort through everything in your stash, prioritize what to keep and what to get rid of, and find a new home for the items you’ve deemed unworthy of being in your craft stash. That’s right… unworthy!

Because when it comes down to it, no matter how much space you have to store your craft supplies, at some point, it will run out. Therefore, every craft supply you own should hold some sort of meaning, value, or use to you. If it doesn’t, it’s just taking up valuable real estate!

Decluttering your craft stash is going to be one of the hardest parts of getting your craft stash under control. Let’s face it, it’s hard to get rid of things we’ve been holding onto for so long. And as crafters, you never know when that extra piece of paper or scrap of fabric can come in handy, right? But all those little scraps add up, and eventually they become more of a burden than a help. That’s why it’s so important to sort through everything and get your decluttering on!

Why bother decluttering your craft supplies?

  • Well, for starters, it will be easier to find things when you need them. You’ll be able to find what you need when you need it instead of sifting and sorting through random junk you’ll never use.
  • You’ll actually have space for the materials you need and use.
  • When you’re done, you should have some extra space. That means that the next time you buy something, you’ll actually have a place to put it!
  • You’ll be able to easily see what supplies you already have and put supplies away where they belong without a lot of hassle.

Sound too good to be true? Not if you put a little time and effort into it! Follow the steps below to start organizing your craft supplies and get your craft stash under control! Is the size of your craft clutter overwhelming, or are you short on time? No worries, just break the steps up into manageable chunks and get it done in bits and pieces!

How to Declutter Your Craft Supplies

1. First things first, put on some music, and make it upbeat! What you’re about to do will set you up for crafting success all year long, so put a little spring in your step and celebrate with some music!

2. Now that you’ve got the music going, it’s time to get out your craft supplies and gather them all together in one place. If you’ve got craft supplies spread throughout various rooms of your house, bring them all together so you can easily see everything you have!

Get out those boxes and bins from the back of the closet, under the bed, and where ever else you have them stashed. Every nook and cranny you’ve got craft stuff stashed in should be included! It can be quite an eye opening experience to see how much craft stuff you actually have once it’s all out in the open!

Why is it always so hard to keep craft supplies organized? This is so helpful for learning how to declutter your craft supplies and keep them that way! | decorbytheseashore.com


3.
Sort though your supplies and group like items together. Fabric and sewing supplies in one area, paints and brushes in another, scrapbook supplies in another, etc. Keep going until all of your craft supplies have been categorized in one way or another.

And yes, it’s completely fine for one of your categories to be a “miscellaneous/I-don’t-know-what-to-categorize-this-as” category. Just so long as that’s not your only category! šŸ˜‰

4. Now comes the difficult part… choosing what stays and what goes. This is the hardest but most important part of the whole process, so stick with me here! As I said before, every craft supply you own should hold some sort of meaning, value, or use to you. So go through your stash with an eagle eye and ask yourself these questions:

*Will I actually use this item for crafting in the near future?
*Does this item hold significant value to me, or have I just been holding onto it for no reason?
*Is this item in usable condition?
*Is this a craft that I am still interested in and enjoy doing?
*Do I have the right amount of this item, or are there duplicates and more than I’ll ever use?

If you answered yes to the questions above, then keep the item. If not, then put it in a discard pile and move on to the next item. Don’t second guess your decision, just keep going!

Go through every single item in your craft stash and evaluate its worth. Decide whether that item is something you will legitimately use for crafting or if you’ve just been keeping it around hoping to find a use for it and still haven’t.

Why is it always so hard to keep craft supplies organized? This is so helpful for learning how to declutter your craft supplies and keep them that way! | decorbytheseashore.com

Actually check to make sure that the supplies you’re keeping are usable. Open your paint bottles and make sure the paint’s not dried up. Anything that’s worn out or broken beyond repair needs to go. All the craft supplies you keep should be in good, working condition. They should be worthy of being included in your craft stash!

5. Make a plan of attack for the rest of your items. If there are items you don’t have a use for but you’re really having a hard time getting rid of them, find a use for them! If you’ve got a ton of scraps taking up space, check out Pinterest for some scrap project ideas, and actually plan a time to make them! If you don’t want to bother with scrap crafts, then toss the scraps and move on. It’s not like you won’t be creating more scraps eventually anyways.

Those crafts that you started and never finished? Use my craft planning calendar and set aside a date to actually complete them.

This free crafting calendar printable is so helpful for making time to craft and keeping craft projects organized! | decorbytheseashore.com

6. Find new homes for the rest of the supplies that are unworthy of your craft space!

Sell them. If you have craft supplies that are still new or in good condition and worth a little money, sell them! This can be a nice way to make a little pocket money to put towards your next craft! You can try selling your stuff locally at a yard sale or online on sites like CraigslistFacebookEbay, or Etsy.

Donate them. If you have some usable supplies that you can’t or don’t want to sell, consider donating them. If your supplies are appropriate for kid crafts, a teacher, school, or daycare might appreciate them. Ask friends and neighbors if they’re interested in your craft supplies. You can also look online for a local crafting guild or nonprofit that could use your supplies.

Recycle or toss them. Those tiny little scraps of paper probably won’t be of use to anyone, but they can be recycled. If you can’t recycle it, into the trash it goes!

Keep Your Craft Stash Free From Clutter

Now that you’ve done the hard work of decluttering your craft supplies, make sure it stays that way! Regularly go through your craft stash and declutter it. Put a date on the calendar, maybe once or twice a year, to go through your craft supplies and get rid of the stuff you won’t use. And make sure to actually go through with it!

Keep your craft supplies decluttered by not putting unusable things back into your stash. If you know that something is worn out or broken, don’t put it back into your craft stash. You’ll just be undoing all your hard work!

When you go to the store, only buy the craft supplies that you need and will use. If there’s something you just can’t resist buying and you absolutely must have, then go ahead and buy it, but make a plan to use it so that it’s not going to just sit around collecting dust. If you buy supplies for a project and then end up not using them, return them if you can.

My Craft Stash Decluttering Progress

I’m not about to let you go through this process by yourself, of course, so I’ll let you in on my decluttering progress. I’m getting rid of two bins (one with counted cross stitch materials and another with beading/jewelry making supplies) because I no longer do those crafts. I’ve had them for YEARS and haven’t touched them, mainly because I’ve lost interest, so it’s time for them to go.

Why is it always so hard to keep craft supplies organized? This is so helpful for learning how to declutter your craft supplies and keep them that way! | decorbytheseashore.com

I have a ton of fabric scraps that I probably won’t be using anytime soon, so away they go (but that basket is totally staying!). I have some dried up paint and glue that I tossed, as well as some old scrapbook materials.

Speaking of which, I found a red eye pen from the days before digital pictures and Photoshop! (Anyone else remember those?) I have a bag of scraps of ribbon, but let’s be honest, when am I really going to use that two inches of ribbon I’ve saved for years?

Why is it always so hard to keep craft supplies organized? This is so helpful for learning how to declutter your craft supplies and keep them that way! | decorbytheseashore.com

I have a ton of fabric that I’ve had for years and never touched. There’s a lot of it, and it’s really colorful, so instead of getting rid of it, I’ve decided to use it up by creating pillowcases for children in the hospital for Cases for Smiles.

Why is it always so hard to keep craft supplies organized? This is so helpful for learning how to declutter your craft supplies and keep them that way! | decorbytheseashore.com

I used to buy craft supplies without a project or idea in mind. You know, because it was cute or on sale or just something I decided I needed on a whim. (Hence my ribbon collection… I rarely even use ribbon!) But the only thing that did was add clutter to my craft stash (and diminish my bank account)!

Why is it always so hard to keep craft supplies organized? This is so helpful for learning how to declutter your craft supplies and keep them that way! | decorbytheseashore.com

So I have stopped buying materials I don’t have a plan for. I find that whenever I have a project in mind, I usually end up going to the store to get what I need anyways, and rarely do I find what I’m looking for in my own stockpile, so there’s really no need to have such a large craft stash. All I really need are some tools and a few materials here and there that I actually know I’ll use on a regular basis.

Well I showed you mine, so it’s only fair that you show me your craft stash decluttering pictures on my Facebook page. Don’t be shy, show off your progress! Don’t make me do this alone! Get your family and friends in on the fun too. The more the merrier!

The second part of the series gets into the really good stuff! I show you how to choose the right organization system for your craft supplies, even if you don’t have your own craft room or a lot of space! 

And the third part of the series shows you how to organize and arrange your craft supplies in your craft space so that you can always find what you’re looking for and get that beautiful look you always see in magazines and on Pinterest! Check them out!

Part 2: How to Choose the Perfect Organizer for Your Craft Supplies
Part 3: How to Organize Your Craft Supplies and Make Your Craft Stash a Show-Stopper

I hope you love this series as much as I do! Sign up for my newsletter below so that you can be notified of future posts, tutorials, free printables, and other helpful DIY tips!

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