2013 Annual DeStash-Along

[gaudiknight]

Sewing bee at Bethungra by Australian War Memorial collection, on Flickr

Whether we measure the volume by the bin, basket, cupboard, closet, or room, stashes are an integral part of every crafter's life.  They provide inspiration for our next project and let us to give in to late night crafting urges without running to the store.  Or they just allow us to sleep in our beds at night secure in the knowledge that when the Zombie Apocalypse comes we will have enough yarn, sequins, and glitter glue to see us through.

It isn't a question of "do you have a stash?" but "do you want to make the most of your stash?"

If so, welcome to the 5th Annual DeStash-Along -- a year long celebration and shopping spree through our vast hordes of supplies on hand.  We traditionally have monthly themes and challenges, share pictures and ideas, and generally have a good time together. 

We do hope you'll join us.


Previous DeStash-Along Threads can be found here, for more information and inspiration
2012
2011
2010
2009

[gaudiknight]

Monthly Themes and Challenges

These are meant purely for inspiration.  Don't feel yourself bound by them if they don't fit your crafty mood for the month.

January
Color:  white
Pattern: dots
For: resolutions
Challenge 1:  It is time once again to take stock of your stash.  This means finding it all, seeing what you have, and identifying some goals for DeStashing in the coming year.  
Challenge 2:  Are there any other craftalongs that will help you with your goals this year?  If so, join up and spread the love around.

February
Color:  pink
Pattern: swirls
For: organizing
Challenge 1:  Now that you've located and looked at your stash, you might be ready to get it in some kind of order.  Untangle your yarn, sort your seed beads, and generally make sure you can find things in your stash easily so that you can use them.  If that's too daunting, you could just clear off your crafting surface so you're ready for your next project.  Whatever makes the most sense for you.  And if you're brave enough to post pictures, we would love to see them.
Challenge 2: Finish the oldest UFO (unfinished object) you can still find.

March
Color:  green
Pattern:  flowers
For:  yourself
Challenge 1:  What can I do with this?  What /is/ this?  Why was I saving this?  These are all questions you may have asked yourself over the past two months.  If you've come across stash that you can't quite figure the best use for, post a picture here and ask.  Who knows what another pair of eyes (or two) can come up with!?
Challenge 2: Any brave souls want to join me for a month long craft supply diet?  It's totally optional, and you get to choose how strict you want to be... (*runs for cover*)

April
Color:  Purple  
Pattern:  Paisley
For:  Your car, bicycle, scooter, or donkey cart.  However you get around.
Challenge1:  Now that you've done a bit of cleaning, picked our collective brains for new uses for old items, and generally had a while to ponder your stash, you may come to the conclusion that there are some items in there you are never going to use.  That's okay!  Pass them along to someone else.  (After all, that makes room for new stuff).
Challenge 2: Okay, so we've all probably got a pinterest boards or a bookmark folder full of neat tutorials we've saved for later.  Well, later is now, so how about rolling up your sleeves and giving one or two of them a try.  

May
Color:  Yellow  
Pattern:  Stripes
For:  Teachers
Challenge 1:  Is there a craft your mom, grandmother, great-aunt or the like taught you when you were very little but you haven't tried in ages?  If the supplies are in your stash, give it a try again.  You'll be amazed at what your fingers remember.
Challenge 2:  Concentrate on the material that makes up the largest portion of your stash, be it yarn, seed beads, or whatever.

June
Color:  Orange  
Pattern:  Solids
For:  Yard (or windowsill/balcony/fire-escape for the apartmet dwellers out there)
Challenge 1:  Six month check in!  Has your stash migrated?  Grown?  Shrunk?  Take a look back at your DeStashing resolutions and see how far you've come.  Are your goals still relevant, or do you need to do some tweaking?
Challenge 2: Have any swaps caught your eye recently but you weren't able to join?  Make something for yourself using the same themes.

July
Color:  Red
Pattern:  Checks/Gingham
For:  Friends
Challenge 1:  Is there a special item in your stash you have been saving for just the right project, whatever that might be?  Go ahead and give yourself permission to use it!
Challenge 2:  Take some stress out of the holidays by making a gift now.  Just remember where you put it when the time to actually give it away comes around.

August
Color:  Rainbow  
Pattern:  Stars
For:  Pets
Challenge 1:  Make a scrappy project!  This is also a good time to go through your scraps and realistically evaluate how small something can be and still be useful.
Challenge 2:  On the go projects - Make something you can work on while you're out and about.

September
Color:  Grey  
Pattern:  Argyle
For:  Your Workplace (or School if that's more appropriate)
Challenge 1:  Remember those supplies you bought to teach yourself a new craft that are languishing unused at the bottom of your stash?   Now might be a good time to dust them off, find some instructions, and knuckle down.
Challenge 2: Use up a specific number of items from your stash.  You know what you have better than anyone else, but try for something like 1 yard of cloth, 2 skeins of yarn, 4 buttons, 8 sheets of scrapbook paper, 16 beads, etc. etc. etc.  Whatever suits your stash best, just pick a number and try your hardest.

October
Color:  Black  
Pattern:  Lace
For:  Cold Weather (If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, I of course meant to say Warm Weather gear)
Challenge 1:  If you're anything like me, you love the adrenaline rush at the beginning of the project, but by the time rolls around to clip threads, sew on snaps, and all the other little things that make a project truly finished you've gotten bored and moved on to the next craft.  So pull out those almost finished projects from wherever they're hiding, and take care of the finishing touches.
Challenge 2: Much like our pinterest challenge from earlier in the year this one is about all the lovely craft books you have lined up on your shelf.  If you have a book you love but have never done anything from, pull it down and see if something from your stash will suit.

November
Color:  Brown
Pattern: Plaid
For: Charity
Challenge 1:  Host a crafternoon with friends.  Its a great way to make gifts in bulk ahead of the holiday season.  And fresh eyes looking at your stash may find new ways to use materials that would never occur to you.
Challenge 2: Make more than one of something.  If you've already got the supplies out, it might be nice to make a batch, some to keep, some to give away.

December
Color: Blue  
Pattern: Shiny
For: The House
Challenge 1:  This is such a busy time of year whatever DeStashing you get done this month is just icing on the cake.  But if you have time, it might be a good idea to just take a look around your stash again and see how far you've come.
Challenge 2:  Help me come up with new ideas to make the 2014 DeStashAlong even better!  

[gaudiknight]

Useful Links

Cleaning and Organizing
UnF*%& Your Habitat - Warning: Colorful Language
FlyLady
31 Days to Get Organized (From the Webs Yarn Store Blog)

Swaps of Interest
Givers and Needers Swap (sign ups 1/2/13 to 1/13/13)

[Kookaloo_Starr]

You can count me in for the year ahead. This year I'm hoping to make an accurate record of just how much I spend on craft supplies ( I spent around 20USD last year - whoohooo!). I should only need to actually buy supplies for my nieces wedding present unless I can make something with all the #20 white thread I have hidden away  it was SUCH a bargain at 99p for 10 spools that I bought 30 spools to justify the postage and have used ummm ... less than one in the last 3 years 

[SonjaBoo]

Oh, I need to do this. Badly! I have been sorting through my craft room and have found stashes of things I didn't even know I had.

Kookaloo, I think I can spend $20 on craft supplies in my sleep! Good for you for using what you have!

[meleriffic]

Kookaloo what a great idea to keep track of how much you spend on craft supplies. I may need to do that this year too.

My stash is kind of spread out. Some here at the house and most of it in the storage unit. I used to have it all neat, organized, and labeled, but the boxes kind of got mixed up. Maybe I need to reorganize.

[trinalocakary]

I am in
My art room and supplies is a disaster of epic proportions so goal #1 is to sort it out and make some kind of inventory
I also like the idea of keeping a running total of cost, I probably do $20usd+ in a month and it has to get cut back big time.

[bookstorebabe]

I desperately need to organize! I'm in.

[fishstix43]

I'm in!  I don't have a crazy huge stash, but I also don't have a whole lot of space.  I'm not setting a dollar limit on what I can spend, but am setting a purchase limit: once per month.  That means I have to either plan ahead or wait until I absolutely need something.  It's those little "oh I only need a spool of thread" trips that tend to add up for me.  I'm also planning on getting a new set of drawers to organize sometime this week!

[Kookaloo_Starr]

Organisation is a big one for me, I'm a Virgo I'm supposed to be uptight and organised but that trait passed me by! I want to sort and fold all of my fabric, most of it is stuffed into bags and hidden under the table  My yarn isn't so bad, I have hooks on the wall with bags hanging from them and plastic boxes under the sofa bed. One thing I do want to do is make more bags. I'm going to try and make them in the colour of the yarn I'm storing in them.