I am admittedly on my way to packrat stardom. I save everything because I’m sure anything can be made into something else. I also save everything because it’s so much easier to save it for later than to go through and try to decide what I really can use and what really can be trashed — oh the stress of being wasteful!

This is my "organized" craft chaos section. 2 weeks ago it looked even worse. I keep collecting without using and then it just piles and grows legs of it's own!

Haven’t you seen all the cool things others have made from their unused or reused stuff? There are wine bottle trees and sock puppets — decoupage of old greeting cards and quilts out of t-shirts. The ideas and creations are endless and I really want to make them all! So what do we do when the creativity overflows and the pile of reusable goods piles up but the time doesn’t seem to be available?

Here are some things I’ve come up with for ways to deal with the conflict of saving to make or tossing for sanity:

1. Share the creativity opportunity - Give the supplies to groups that can use them more immediately than you like Girl Scouts, retirement communities or art teachers. The supplies will still be used, just not by you specifically

2. Other artist like free stuff too - There are a number of artisans and artists that like to create out of reused or repurposed goods, see if there are any in your area that would appreciate your recyclables by visiting local art gift shops and co-op groups.

3. Organize it! If you must save the items, store them in an organized manner so they are readily available and easy to find when you do have time to work on a project. The quickest way to miss a project opportunity is to spent more time hunting for your supplies than actually using them

4. Be realistic with your supply saving. How much work (thus, time) will go into preparing the supplies for reuse? Do you have that kind of time?

5. Have a purpose for your creating. Know why and who you are saving the stuff for. If you are saving items to make for someone else it is easier to make the project a priority and accomplish the task.

6. Set limits Give yourself a time limit to use the stuff you’ve saved and if you haven’t used it by the expiration date, be prepared to either give it away or include in your next yard sale.

For me, I am working on limiting my saving until I find the time to use what I have. I’m purging a little and organizing the rest. It’s difficult as I hate to throw useful things out. But, knowing there might be someone else that can use what I have saved really helps.