The Dust (before it settles) – Susi’s Craft Room

We moved, but at this point that is ancient history. As most of you know, moving is the devil’s errand. Once you move it could be 1 year or maybe 30 years before you “get to all those boxes”. The boxes in the craft room have been secretly multiplying at night. I will clear two away and four more will take their place. It is a frightening thing.

While we are here, in the long days of summer, we have found ourselves having a rebirth. We are hitting things that have been hanging on the “to do” list for SO long. It is ugly, dirty, exhausting work and there is nothing to show for it. When you finally step up to do something so emotionally challenging, there should be a big prize. Some sort of “medal of maturity” should be bestowed upon me. (us) “Oh responsible parent! Oh savvy crafter! End the pack-ratting! Recycle those piles of ephemera! Go! Go!” There should be a trumpet call from the roof.

There are Military families who move every year! My friends are in the foreign service, they stay in a country for 2 years and then move to Washington for 6-9 months in between (to learn an entirely new language). Then it is off to a new country again. I talked to her and asked her to tell me how this works. She has a “craft drawer.” “A whole drawer!” I thought to myself. My snickering was in admiration not in mocking. What would I keep if I had one craft drawer? Even the biggest drawer in the whole world. What would I keep? She said she has 3 pairs of different scissors. She does order from Amazon (months in advance) for special things like birthdays and single projects. It is a wonderful mental exercise for me. One DRAWER.

You know, at the end of it all, the sweet satisfaction will be when my Mother comes over to stay and we lead her up to the guest room. She will stand in the doorway and sigh. She will turn and give me a big grin and tell me “good job sweetie”. That will be my prize, because she has seen the “before” IN PERSON.

In the mean time, I will leave you with some awesome images of the “during.”

We are ripping out the carpet. The tack strips come up and the little staples get pulled out with pliers. It is not fun or glamorous or creative. It is hot, hands and knees kind of work. But little by little, it will eventually get us to where we are going.

How do you handle the accumulation? What about the kids’ art? How much yarn is on hand? How much fabric? What would be in your one “craft drawer”?