Purging hobby stash....moral support needed!

[joraemi]

The reality is, as much as I love all of my needleworking kits, I will never make them all.  I need the storage space they are currently occupying, so I need to do some purging.

Have you had to purge items you love but know you will never use?  How did you decide what goes and what stays?  What do you do with past hobby "remnants" when you move on to a new activity?? Some of my items are quite valuable, so I don't want to just donate them or give them away.

Thoughts or advice?  Share your experience?

[Outdoor Girl]

I knit and crochet and have done some needlework, in the past.

When I was doing a purge, stuff I knew I would never use, I donated.  But I didn't have anything terribly expensive so it wasn't a big deal for me.  For my large stash of yarn, I started making patchwork afghans to use it all up.  It was a great travelling around project for doctor's offices and such because each individual square was only 7" X 7".  I only needed time and space once I was sewing all the squares together to make the afghan.

And then I started haunting kijiji (like Craigslist) to build my stash back up.     After last weekend, my stash is at least organized and I'm making hats to donate for various causes so I will use it back up.  Eventually.

So that's what I would suggest for selling the kits you'd like to see some money out of.  Take decent photos and post them in the hobbies and crafts portion of something like Craigslist and see if you can sell them.  Maybe make larger lots out of similarly themed kits?  So if you had 2 or 3 Hummel kits, put them together.

[buvezdevin]

Purging of project/stash supplies which one acquired with great hopes and intentions is always hard!

When I realized a need to "let go" of some fabric I had bought on a great deal, but realized a good while later would no longer work with updated decor, I found it easier to send it along by thinking that it would possibly be just what someone else actively needed or wanted, and it was just a space eater for me now.

I donated, as I did not have a big monetary investment in the fabric, but for items which you want or need to purge which do have significant value, I would think eBay, Craigslist, or possibly etsy would be good options.  I've bought, but haven't sold so no direct experience to offer, but sending best wishes!

[Betelnut]

On how to decide, I say to myself:  "Today, I will purge XX number of items."  Usually, 10 will be the number.  So I go through everything and select 10 that are the "least" desirable/wanted.  Then I can say, "well, at least I got rid of something."

Basically, a little bit at a time.

[Kimberami]

Maybe a yard sale or booth rental at a flea market?  You could get some money back. 

[QueenofAllThings]

EBay.  Largest target audience.

[Cami]

I've done it a few times.

Each time, I pull out EVERYTHING and lay it out on my craft room floor. I find it really helps to see and touch every thing. Then I start making piles:

DEFINITELY KEEP
MAYBE KEEP
MAYBE DISCARD
DEFIINTELY DISCARD

I immediately bag/box up the Definitely Discard pile and put it out of sight and put the Definitely Keep back. I then go through the Maybe piles and make my decisions, but have a "rule" that I have to get rid of at least 50% of the Maybe Discard pile.

I donate the discarded items or sell them at garage sales. I have donated a lot to various community centers, churches, and schoools. For example, the high school was thrlled when I gave them bags of fabric -- kids in the sewing class didn't have to buy fabric for their early efforts. I donated a ton of scrapbooking supplies to a local elementary school. Art teacher was thrilled. I also organized and donated tons of fabric, trim and notions to an American Girl dress workshop to make doll clothes to be sold at a charity bazaar.

I generally avoid selling at garage sales -- not really worth my time for the money I make.  And I truly loathe the dickering over a huge pile of fabric I've got marked for $1. Sheesh.

[EMuir]

I just purged a ton of art supplies I knew I wouldn't use.  Some were expensive.  Some weren't even opened.  I hadn't used any of them in five years.  I realized that I had "collected" them and tried some but had found the areas I was interested in, and should get rid of the rest. I decided to donate them to a local arts program because I couldn't bear to see them go cheap on eBay. 

We purge every room in the house once in a while and put it in a "compost area" in the storage room.  If we haven't needed anything from there in a year, we go through it again and separate it into "memorabilia" and "donate" piles, with "memorabilia" being much smaller.

[Bijou]

The reality is, as much as I love all of my needleworking kits, I will never make them all.  I need the storage space they are currently occupying, so I need to do some purging.

Have you had to purge items you love but know you will never use?  How did you decide what goes and what stays?  What do you do with past hobby "remnants" when you move on to a new activity?? Some of my items are quite valuable, so I don't want to just donate them or give them away.

Thoughts or advice?  Share your experience?

How about giving them to a group that does art and craft type of things.  I gave a whole bunch of craft and art books to the local grange for their youth group to use in doing projects for earning money.

[stitchygreyanonymouse]

Are you a member of or have friends who are members of some sort of crafting or needlework group/guild? One thing my quilting guild does is allow members to hold 'garage sales' at meetings (then the guild gets a small (5%?) cut of the proceeds). That way, you’re selling to people with interest, and who (from my experience) are less likely to bicker about the price like they would if you had a normal garage sale. My guild has people selling all kinds of craft stuff, not just quilting, and even half finished projects on occasion. If you have a friend in a similar guild, maybe they’d be willing to add your stuff to theirs for a cut. I don’t know if it’s a common thing or not, but it is something to consider .

As for how to decide what to get rid of… I’m struggling with that and need to figure it out as well, but I like Cami’s idea.

One thing I have learned from decluttering other parts of my life—regardless of the amount I paid for it (ok, maybe really, really expensive electronics stuff excepted), ultimately it is costing me to keep it both financially (it is taking up space in my house, might require that I buy more organization to store it) and emotionally. Think about whether it really is worth it to you to not sell it (that is donate or give away) and have the freedom of just not having it around. It took me a long time to realize that with books, particularly text books, but I’m so much happier not having them around even if I did end up giving them away for free (I also felt a lot better once I found an organization to dontate them to that could use them or get profit from them that goes along with my beliefs instead of the other donation place which I try not to give to, as I don’t agree with their beliefs).

[Lynn2000]

Good luck on the purging! It's hard to admit to yourself that you won't use the things you bought. But I think ultimately it will make you feel better, because you won't have these things around making you feel guilty for not having used them yet.

I definitely agree with sorting things into piles by how much you like them. I often look at a full box of stuff and think, "Oh, how can I part with any of it?" But then once I take each thing out, I realize I like some of them more--maybe much more--than others. Then at the end I see the pile of least-liked stuff, and I realize I wouldn't be very bothered at all to get rid of those.

I also find that as I go through the same stash periodically, I get rid of more and more of it. If I started with 25 things, on the first purge I might get rid of just 5. A couple years later I get rid of another 6. A year later, it's just 4. But now I'm down to 10 items when originally it was 25. Maybe I can store those 10 in a way that takes up less space than the 25 did (like a smaller box). Or I have more ammunition to tell myself, "Well, you haven't missed the 15 you threw away over the years. Do you really need to keep all 10?" I never tell myself I have to get rid of anything, or a certain amount, or whatever... Just one of the many ways I try to trick myself.

Also, I agree with the idea that you might find satisfaction in giving/selling the items to people who you know will appreciate them, rather than just dumping them someplace. It might take a little more time or effort to locate those people/groups, but it might help your state of mind a lot.

[nuit93]

As an avid cross-stitcher, I feel your pain!

[TootsNYC]

I sometimes try to think of the object as if it has emotions and a purpose in life.

And it's not ACHIEVING its purpose in life if it's sitting in my closet, undone. So by giving it away to someone who *will* use it, I accomplish many good things for many people
--for the needlework kit, I help it achieve its life goal by giving it to someone who will appreciate it

--for another needleworker, I help them by getting something in their hands that they will enjoy

--for myself, I gain space on a shelf
   --I gain space in my mind (I'm not thinking of that kit each time I go past it)
   --I gain space in my emotions (I don't feel guilty that I haven't done it)
   --I gain space in my schedule (I don't try to set aside time to do it)
   --I gain space in my hobby, because I'm free to start something I actually LIKE more than those kits)

--for myself, I gain "credit with the universe" by giving my "gleanings" to people who could actually use them, instead of trying to wrest every ounce of value out of what is, essentially, my "plenty."

(I was struck by God's instructions to the Israelites in Leviticus 19:10.)
http://bible.cc/leviticus/19-10.htm

You are not to gather your vineyard or pick up the fallen grapes of your vineyard. Leave something for the poor and the resident alien who lives among you. I am the LORD your God."

[Soprych]

I too had some very high value materials.  It was preventing me from addressing the SABLE (Stash accumulated beyond life expectancy) until I found out that the nearby VA hospital has a needlework class as part of the PTSD therapy program.  Finding a cause I believed in let me see past the value and clearly see the worth.

[VorFemme]

Yahoo has a group - Craft Items For Sale - that would be perfect for the kits.  Sewing supplies are a different list - Sew It's For Sale.  Free to join, no fees, post a photo in the correct category for that month/year, and post description & price once your membership has been approved.  Shipping & handling can be adjusted based on where you are and where they are so that they pay for it. 

Good luck.....