Does anyone else just have soooo
 

much stuff including swaps-tons, scrapbooking kits/paper etc, stamp projects started, but never finished and is just overwlemed by trying to go through everything to get rid of items. I almost want to just throw out everything!
It hurts to donate/throw away items I have not used for years.
Just want to know if there is anyone else out there like me

You are not alone. I too feel the same way. I feel guilty giving it away and I feel guilty storing and still looking at it. Seems no matter what, I'm going to feel guilty about it.

My solution? Charge ahead and try to purge anyway. I'll never get my $$ back, so if I see something I have but don't use listed in the ISO forum, I give it away. When my church's garage sale looms ahead, I purge items for them to sell.

I'm also trying to be more responsible about using what I have and not buying so much. While I probably still spend more than I should, it's a lot less than what I used to. Baby steps, baby steps is what I tell myself.

Oh yes....you can count me in too!!

I've been slowly trying to get organized...to really see what I have. Part of the problem is that I don't have good space for my hobbies...so everything is in rubbermaid type containers.

What a mess I've accumulated!! I guess one of these days I'll figure it all out!

I'm ok with getting rid of stuff though...I always find something else to take it's place!! :)

too much stuff, too much mess; need to get more organized and use what I have, buy less.

Yes!!...My friend and I go shopping alot together, but the last couple times when driving by a craft store she would ask if we needed to stop...well we both said no, we can shop at home. Can't believe it has come to this...Shop at home LOL. We can find new things here that we haven't seen for a while. Needless to say, I need to use and not buy. She has just more then I do, but that is OK. My room is still full LOL. Our DH's are agreeing with us!

I have a lot of swap stuff. Try to organize it a little at a time. I have lots of border sets for 12x12 pages, I finally sorted into seasons, it helps a lot. As for the other stuff, maybe you can sell some stuff here. You don't end up with a ton of money but it helps a little.

Otherwise find a girl scout troop, school, or friends who would like some stuff. I have sent supplies to new stampers here. It is great that the stuff will be used.

My biggest thing is not buying stuff because it is on sale. I am trying (and doing okay) to buy only what I need. I cannot buy paper unless I really need it. That doesn't count for cardstock, I stock up when it is no sale.

Take small piles so you don't overwhelm yourself.

My friends and I have also "shopped" in each other's stash. What's old to one is new to another.

I have this problem too and am trying to find my solution.

Great idea Pam. I am having friends over in a few weeks, I might suggest they bring some stuff along.

Last year I was so overwhelmed that I had to purge my craft room. Alot of it was old and lets face we all want new so aside from a few favorite sets or stamps I sold a bunch of it and gave a ton of it to the Goodwill. The Goodwill would either sell it for profit or use it in a rehab center. (so I told myself) I was able to sell some of it with my niece at her local scrapbook store for store credit.

It is very refreshing. I have not regretted or missed anything.

I will probably do some more because I want to get this larger storage cupboard out of my room!

Bonnie

My small craft group has a monthly "girls' day out"; and for January I suggested we have a craft supply swap...and they love the idea.

We put no real restrictions on this...if you leave with just one 'new-to-you' punch and someone else carts home bags of papers and stamps, that's fine. The idea to find your barely or never-used stuff a new and loving home. :-)

I will barely make a dent in my piles of 'craft crap' (as the hubby loves to call it), but at least it's a start...

I have sold a lot of stuff in the past, there was one set I regretted selling and ending up buying it again (flaky friends). So just pass stuff along you will not miss it. And you have more time to be creative because you have less stuff to dig through.

From other threads I've read, this is a VERY common problem for anyone who has been at this hobby for any length of time! It seems that until we identify our "style" or whatever, we just buy EVERYTHING! Eventually we (most of us, anyway) figure out what we really do/don't use or want or need, and by then we're overwhelmed. I agree with Pam - we'll never get our $$ out of it, so consider it the cost of an education. or "rent" to use things you've enjoyed for a time, or however it makes you feel better to view it, and LET GO! I'm actually doing that with EVERYTHING in my house - not just craft stuff. I've already made multiple trips to Goodwill. I don't even get a receipt - I just want the stuff out of my space! Danielle LaPorte said it best: "You're giving sacred space to that which is not sacred to you." Keep what IS sacred (or at least dear) and purge the rest! It'll be a lot easier to organize and USE!

Once a month my weekly group of ladies comes to my house and brings things they want to get rid of- I put a large table and empty smaller boxes out...it is funny because the ladies will make extra trips to bring stuff.
Anything that is left is donated to a new crafter and then Goodwill.
Amazed at how many of my supplies are used and delights me to see projects made with them.
I even have a friend that takes old cards I have made or received and she re-uses and sends to elderly to cheer them.

I am just begining to clear out some of my stuff, it is not as easy as it might sound. It is hard to let go of some things, I find things I Knew I had but couldn't find, I have not missed anything I managed to give or throw away, I am getting better organized with less stuff. But still it is small steps!

Sue , I am doing the same thing too with my entire house and other crafts. Last Autumn I culled my kitchen stuff. I had enough glass covered left over dishes to save all the left overs from a church picnic. I gave some to my granddaughter and the remaining ones went to the Good Will. Then how many casseroles can one person use? Oh and those kitchen gadgets that were supposed to make everything easy, but I never used, they went out too. The marble Mortar & Pestle that I forgot what I planned to grind with it LOL

This week I am culling the Christmas decorations. I have so many I never put out. And I am also sending the Ukrainian Egg decorating supplies and Quilling stuff to the Good Will. My son in law said he would sell my Quilling fringers and books on e-Bay for me
2012 Motto: Use it up-Give it away or Throw it out

I think we spend the first half of our lives acquiring all this stuff and the second half getting rid of it LOL

I think you're right! One other thing that has really made me pay attention to what I'm keeping and what goes to Goodwill (or the trash) is the experience I've had this past year of going through my in-laws' house (he died, she moved in with us) and having to deal with 70+ years of accumulation. She was a shopaholic, he was a Mr. Fix-It, and they were both hoarders, to a degree. SO MUCH STUFF!!! I mean, 150 gift boxes stuffed in a cubby in the attic? Really? Pantsuits from the 1970's? Yeah - her 91 year-old body will look fantastic in red polyester bellbottoms! I don't want my kids to have to do what I did, so I'm helping them out by getting rid of unwanted or unnecessary stuff NOW!

Add me to the list of "use it or lose it", literally!

I have 2 boxes of stuff that I am sending to my scs friends. I told them to pass it along or use it. Their choice. We do a lot with Scouts and a teen center in town so a lot of my stuff can be used there.

Yeah - I took two boxes of stuff to the local Boys and Girls Clubs of America and they were thrilled! Anyone know where I can unload three garbage bags full of fabric scraps?

Fabric scraps
 

Check with your local churches to see if they make quilts for charity. They usually welcome fabric donations. My church makes quilts for Lutheran World Relief, and they make wonderfully scrappy quilts with donated fabrics. These quilts are sent all over the world, wherever there is a need. Also, if there is a local quilt guild, they may do charity quilt projects too.

Thanks! I'll check around..

Several years ago I gave fabric, felt and yarn to my local senior center. They were thrilled to have it!

My problem isn't having too much stuff. It's having too much "bargain" stuff that doesn't match anything, were purchased as a poor substitute for something I really wanted or bought without any real thought at all.

My new quest is to save up for tools and supplies that I really want, not just some cheap "bargain" that is on clearance, on sale or can be had with a coupon.

I do have plenty of craft stuff, but not a lot of one thing. I tried stamping for about a year in 1996. I stopped but kept my stamps. Glad I did because I'm using them now! I didn't get rid of my sewing machine after I gave up making shirts for my little guys and trying my hand at machine-pieced quilts (at least 15 years ago). Again, glad I didn't because I used it last year to sew curtains for my craft room. It's been 15 or more years since I used my cake decorating supplies, but I suppose I'll find a use for them one day, too.

I have a tiny little house with very little storage space. I don't mind saving stuff, so long as it's stuff worth saving.

Oh can I relate to this! :rolleyes: When I started I hit the Michael's ribbon sales and bought colors that I loved. I failed to understand I needed to be able to match the ribbon to cardstock :( My cardstock is only SU or Gina K. A few months ago I went through all of my ribbon and if it didn't match my card stock it went to the Good Will. Why use valuable space to store stuff I will never use.

I also have a large selection of cake decorating tips and equipment that has not been touched in years. :oops:

Having been a stamper for about 15 years, I have accumulated way too much stuff too. I am also a really good shopper! My solution is I belong to a yahoo group called snaggingstampers, and we have boards where we list items and then other members can snag them. It works great for me, it inspires me to go through my stuff and either give it away or offer it to someone who I know will enjoy it! And in return, I get to snag items for free and have fun with them!

Ya, could do what I did and that was someone on here was asking about something she needed but needed it to be really cheap because she was just getting started. I packed up some stuff that i no longer used and sent it to her quilt free. Just knowing she needed the things to get started was so worth it and I'm sure there are more on here that are trying to get a start in an expensive hobby. Thanks for listening.

I just recently went thru my stuff and did a purge with the things i haven't used in a long time. Well it feels good to do that, it is still hard to let go of things i really intended on using, but just never did.

I have donated items to the school too, and they were very happy to receive too.

I feel your pain. I had to do this with my mother's home, and after all was said and done, I vowed to never be like that. As a result, I do continual purge of my whole house. I have a cabinet in my basement that I call the "Bazaar bin" - it is where all the items go to be stored until my church has its annual bazaar and New to You sale in November. Since I do a purge at least every other month, most things are stored there for quite a while - that way, if I need to retrieve it I usually have time, otherwise out it goes, but I've had a long time to think about it.

That said, I am now facing the daunting task of clearing out my godfather's belongings (he's been moved to a retirement home). He has some dementia, and unfortunately, it appears he may have started on the hoarding path (I mean really, does one single gentleman really need 775 rolls of toilet paper??? Or 27 bottles of dish soap??). In conjunction, my husband and I are going to also go through his parents home and clear out a bunch of stuff from there - there is no need for his mother to hang on to the old broken curtain rods from a home she owed 4 houses ago! Once both places are cleared out, we will be having one giant garage sale - anything that doesn't get sold will be held for the bazaar, and anything after that gets donated to charity.

Elizabeth (flash & rusty) - I really like the idea of a "bazaar bin". I could put things in there until there's a garage sale to join in on (I can't have one at my house because we live on a busy street and there's nowhere to park) or someone in the area needs stuff for a fundraiser or whatever. Maybe I'll start one, too! Thanks for the tip!

Oh goodness this is so me. I never want to pay for the expensive stuff so I always see what I can find cheaper. I am learning, over the past year or so, (and this doesn't just relate to crafts) that i need to just spend money on the good stuff. It lasts longer, and it makes me much happier than the stuff I "settled for."

There are many places that would love free craft items. Check out your local elementary schools, church groups, nursing homes and scout groups. Most operate on a very limited budget and are very grateful for any donations.

Have a great day.

Our Boy Scout troop runs a yard sale in the spring, check with a group like that to see if they have one. It is a good money maker for the troop and people like being able to pass things on.