Feeling like I have stalled...

[justmeandmybrood]

After 3 yrs of constant decluttering, I have finally stalled. I have pared down in every room, and though my DD's doll collection is a huge space-waster, the dolls stay, lol!

Now I enter the more minute details of decluttering, to include dealing with tons of photos to be put in sequential order and put into albums (DH's from his youth), dealing with supplies for scrapbooking, etc. that I have not used in eons, craft supplies...aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

What do you when you have stalled and really need to continue on with the more challenging stuff? I have 3.5-5 more weeks until this baby arrives and need to take advantage of this time. Heeeeeeelllllpppp

[zoebird]

first, i take a planned break. that is to say, what can i do to celebrate what i have accomplished? what can mark that occasion?

once that is done, i find that the motivation returns!

then, i pick the first task on that list. and, i think about how i want to do it. for example, if you haven't scrap-booked in years, do you need those supplies? can you give them to someone else? i did. i gave mine away!

with the photos, i take all of the negatives to a photoshop that will digitize them and put them on a CD or thumb drive (my current fav method). then, i get the CDs and can go through them quite quickly on my computer. I use a company like shutterfly or kodak to make photo books.

essentially, i pull out of each set of photos from a given year the top five photos: easter, birthday, first day of school, halloween, christmas. then, i look for any other special event (prom or graduation or what have you), and perhaps any photo that is just iconic for that year. but, i'm looking to keep it below 10 photos per year if possible. Then, it's easy--you take those and put them in the photo book, have it printed, and voila! So, you could have one book: Rick's Childhood.

so, take a bit of a vacation and then come back excited about the next project.

[justmeandmybrood]

Wow - what a great way to keep photos! With my children on the younger side (5 and 7), I have such a hard time paring down the photos...but for DH's and mine, that could be just perfect!

I have a hard time with the scrapbooking items - my two problems are #1 I have gotten rid of a lot, but now have 2 small albums to complete before purging anything else. Therein lies another issue - I flubbed up on storing some pics so need to now find the specific pics needed for the albums (Family Disney trip album and DD's ballet recitals album)...and then I get overwhelmed and give up

My #2 issue is that I also worry about getting rid of too much since my DD is sure to love using these treasures to create her own pieces of art...am I just being silly, lol? This is my issue with much of our craft clutter - I save for the kids and though it inevitably gets used, it is taking YEARS! So I have a bag of items to donate of extra yarn, popsicle sticks, etc.

Thanks - such great ideas...and the encouragement definitely helps!

[zoebird]

i think you have to figure out where your "enough" is. i would think you want enough supplies for creativity, but not so much that you can't store it, or when stored, can't find and use it. that's the balance, really.

anything that likely won't be used in 6 months, donate. when you need that item for a project, you can go and pick up the amount you need.

make sure everything is accessible and easy to find, and you'll know when you have enough. it's like those toy closets that everyone is doing now. (here anyway, on MDC). if it doesn't fit in that space, out it goes. do the same for organization of crafting supplies.

[clutterwarrior]

How old is your DD? Yes she is likely to enjoy using the craft supplies, but if it is quite a few years before she will use them, it may be better to give them away, and buy them again as you need them a few years down the track.

To be honest I am in the same boat! I have a weakness for art and craft supplies and find it nearly impossible to get rid of them.

I have a HUGE supply of scrapbooking stuff, but I still enjoy scrapbooking, so I am holding on to most of it, thinking I will eventually use a lot of it. I am thinking of putting a pile of the older stuff together though and donating it to the preschool.

[justmeandmybrood]

My DD is 5 now...I know I will hold on to the larger paper punches I rec'd as gifts - but all of the stickers and papers seem to have taken over, lol! We are just entering the full-force crafting phase where she is interested in all the "stuff..." maybe she can make everyone Christmas presents and I can chunk some of the rest

I am going to move to the digital scrapbooking route (that's my story and I'm sticking to it, lol!) so I really should scrap some of these scrapping supplies!

[justmeandmybrood]

Zoebird, sorry - did not see your reply! I like your idea of the 6-month rule. I may spend my Labor Day in the basement, purging some things that others could get more use out of. How I love having a place like this to come and get some great, wise advice

[proudmomof4]

Congratulations on your decluttering achievement!

I'd also go with the celebrate and purge some more suggestion. Art supplies have a way of taking over, maybe they breed?

[justmeandmybrood]

Andrea, lol! I completely agree - these things DO breed! (Especially when my wonderful and very sweet Mom decides to mail care packages filled to the brim with wonderful art supplies, some of which she has had since I was little!)

[goddessjulia]

my mom has been mildly purging recently and brought us some coloring books from my childhood in the 70s-- they smelled like it, too I also tend to keep supplies my kids "might use one day," but this summer I have learned to be ruthless! my mantra is: "I am not a storage facility" if it's a piece of equipment, so to speak, like decorative scissors or a punch, or stamps, I may keep it (but even those I've cut my supplies in half). but paper and stickers, for the most part, I have been recycling because I've gotten overrun with pieces of paper in piles. I am only keeping as much as will fit in ONE drawer of my crafting storage space. for the time being I have exported all my scrapbook supplies to my mom's, so I can go there and spread out to work while she watches the kids (she has enough space, whereas I can't leave stuff out at my house). I also have recently discovered digital photo books and omg I am so switching to that method!! but I still have some old-school photos and mementos to put in books before I totally abandon the scrapbooking thing. it's exciting to pare down-- I actually know what I have and where it is, and it's so much easier to clean up!