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What to do with too many supplies??
Has anyone ever had "too many" supplies, and had to down-size? Please tell me how you did it!! How do you know what to get rid of? How do you make yourself get rid of stuff when you don't want to but need the space??
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Once you clean out and figure out what you no longer need/want, then donate to a school, nursing home or hospital.
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Myself and two girlfriends sorted out our excess supplies and took some to the Make a Wish office near us - the interns use the supplies to put together little scrapbooks of the kids 'wish' experience which is a very cool use for it all :-)
We had so much that we split the supplies and also took some to a women's shelter - both organisations were extremely grateful. We found out that hospitals in the area are also looking for supplies...the Ronald McDonald house too... There are lots of new homes for your extras when you are downsizing :-) Sarah |
Oops...what I meant to say was that it makes you feel really really good that people will use what would have sat on a shelf in your home...
In sorting out, I just looked at all my papers and figured that if I havent used them for 2 years then they should go - and I looked at all my stamps and figured that the ones I bought when I first started stamping was not my style at all any more, so they went too. I did this about 6 months ago and havent missed a thing I gave away :-) Sarah |
Too many supplies?!:confused:
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i didn't know that was possible! LOL but- yes... i donate anything i don't want or need to our church. |
I'm going through the thinning-out process right now. It isn't easy. I can't believe the literally tons of things I have. I've always said my hobby was collecting stamping and craft supplies - I never had time to actually DO anything with them!
Now that I am home for several months due to a heart illness, I find I am not able to create much because of all the overflowing stuff. I can't find things or even move around in my dangerously crowded craft room. I've taken on a major reorganization project which is going very slowly due to my physical llimitations, but I have managed to pack up 4 Stampin-Up large size boxes this week with items that I know I will never use. My niece is a public elementary school teacher in inner-city Compton so all the pens, markers and art supplies go to her. The scrapbooking things are going to a local center that provides shelter and schooling for homeless teens and the stamping, fabric and craft items are going to the local Starlight Foundation who uses them to make things for their annual craft fund-raising fairs. The items they sell are made by their disabled clients. I was born two days after Christmas and since before I was born, my big sister has always bought me an angel for Christmas. For the past 20 years or so, she has gotten the angel at the Starlight's holiday craft fair, so this year I am hoping maybe she will unknowingly buy one that is made with materials I donated. Wouldn't that be super cool?? |
I donate my unused (out-of-style) papers to my son's school. little kids always need paper to cut up and glue!
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What's that old saying...'If it hasn't been used in the past year, there's no need to have it around taking up space.' |
You can store them at my house ;) I'm always willing to take in unwanted/un-needed supplies!
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ebay?
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My VBF, aka my Sis and I pass a box or bag back and forth and all the goodies, papers, inks, stamps and extras, go to my Nieces Pre-School. You can not imagine the joy you get when all the kids go OOOOHHHHHH and AAAAHHHHH. Budgets are tight, kids need all we can give.
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I give consumables to my Children. They are quite artistic and are more about the quantity than quality most of the time. Sometimes I make kits and give them as hostess gifts to certain customers who appreciate it.
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To answer the question you posed on "how do you do it"...anything I think I can part with I put in a plastic rubbermaid tote and put it on a shelf. If 3-6 months go by and I have not longed for anything inside, I know it is time to go!!
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Take everything you have too much of and put it on your craft table. Use it all -mass produced Christmas cards, cards to donate to hospitals or senior centers, whatever.
Anything left at the end of the day that won't be used tomorrow -give away to charity or RAKS If you haven't used it in one year...... put it on the table |
Send it to the elementary school...
The newer teachers especially love the stuff!
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Thank you everyone for the wonderful suggestions....they are ALL great ideas!
Shannon E --- yes, I know it sounds strange....but YES, I have too many. I have been *collecting* for over 7 years, and have acquired quite an array of things! My biggest down-fall was when I first started stamping and scrapbooking, I thought I needed to have everything and wanted almost everything I saw because I was so *excited* about my NEW hobbies! I was like a kid in a candy store! Hopefully all the newbies will read this and learn from my *mistake*. :rolleyes: Skippet - I know exactly where you are coming from in not being able to move around, find anything, don't know what I have, can't really be creative because I've no room left to work...blah, blah, blah. I'm right there with ya! By the way....sorry about your heart illness....hope you will be up and running soon - I'll pray for good health to come your way! Bless you! :) My3LittleMonkeys - what a great idea about putting the stuff in rubbermaid containers and then if not used in 3-6 months, donations it becomes! This sounds like the best idea for me since I'm have such a problem *letting go* of my stuff (even though some of it I look at and wonder what was I thinking when I bought it...ha ha!). Thanks again. ;) TO EVERYONE: Thanks for your wonderful suggestions/ideas. I think I was so overwhelmed that I couldn't even think straight....the donation idea is something I might have thought of if I hadn't been so upset when posting my message! I actually used to donate my magazines, etc., to my kid's teachers when they were in school....but they are 19 and 27 now, so I guess I just wasn't thinking! Thanks everyone! I'm off to buy some rubbermaid containers....wish me good luck that I don't look at the stuff in them for several months so I can down-size!! :p |
Leeci,
thecardlady just lost EVERYTHING - her home, her stamp company, her precious poodles) in a fire. She mentioned she may take up stamping as therapy for a while (she is just out of hospital). I think if you are considering donations, she would be the perfect person. here is her post Thanks so much to those of you sending these messages. I hate to request a RAK for myself, but it would be so appreciated and since Carole asked about the address... My daughter's address Kristin Davis/Ken & Tamra Davis 8432 Big Creek Ct. Matthews, NC 28105 You are all angels in my book! Your words of encouragement mean so much to my whole family... we were all crowding around reading them just now. Kristin didn't even mind being called clingy... ha! Cause we all are and happy to have each other to cling to. And Belle, too! we are going to try to get the hard drives out of our old computers, since I am having trouble bringing up theCardLadies site admin to shut it down. Ken needs this computer to cancel the other stuff he just thought of... so the ladies that sent me a private message, I do want to talk to you and will when I get a computer of my own again (tomorrow I hope!). They fuss that I write 'novels' and I do, but it helps me a bunch to get these thoughts and feelings out. Tamra Suzy |
As I've been stamping lately, if I find something I haven't used in a long time I put it in a box. Then I can donate that box to someone who needs it.
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great winter project
Sarah, what a great way to make a contribution to a worthy cause,
I plan on doing this after christmas, have accumulated a number of items already. Here's a site to donate to a worthy cause for these special kids: http://www.wish.org/help/donate/non_...fts/wish_items Quote:
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Leeci~
Glad I could give a worthwhile suggestion!! Good luck going through your stuff!! And happy donating!! Siobhan :) |
Leeci, if you'd like to support a card drive, a number of ladies are looking for supplies (like cardstock/card bases, envelopes, adhesives etc.) as well as card fronts and finished cards. Here's a list of card drives with addresses in the Need a Lift forum:
Card Drives If you have extra full card you'd like to use for RAKs, here's a list of RAK request threads with addresses in the Need a Lift forum: RAK requests Hope you find good homes for all your extra goodies! |
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