The next part of my Christmas notebook is an idea I got from someone on the craft forum at Organized Christmas last year. I tweaked it a bit, I think, to make it work better for me; I'm not sure I completely understood what they were saying. But the way I've done this works well for me.
Basically, I took a look at the different things I wanted to craft for Christmas gifts and decorations. I then divided these up into categories based on what type of craft technique they involved. Of course these categories will vary depending on what sort of crafts you like to do.
The categories I came up with were : Sewing; Crochet; Embroidery/Cross-Stitch; Paper/Printables; and Miscellaneous.
For each category, I used one of those manila divider pages that has a pocket in it. I placed an index tab on each one with the name of the craft technique in it. Then, in the pocket of each divider, I placed the printed instructions for each craft item in that category. For example, I want to make my husband a new checkbook cover for a stocking stuffer (don't worry; he never reads my blogs), so I have the instructions for this project safely stowed in the divider for the Sewing category. (Obviously, this won't work if your instructions are part of a book or magazine, but read on.)
Also in each category, in addition to the divider, I have a number of sheets of lined paper where I've outlined just what projects I want to do in that category; how many of each; materials required, and what date I'd like to be finished by. On this lined paper I would also add the information as to where to find the instructions if they are part of a book or magazine and not conducive to placing in the divider page.
For example, in the sewing category (I'll use last year's list as an example), I have:
10 -12 foldable fabric baskets
Materials - Christmas fabric, plastic canvas, thread, ribbon
Finish by: June 25
5 fleece pillow quilts
Materials needed for each - 2 1/2 yds. fleece, pearl cotton to match
Finish by: October 25
In both cases the instructions were such that they'd fit into the divider pocket. But if they weren't, I'd add a line that says something like this:
Gooseberry Patch Christmas Book 1, page 25
or
Crafting Traditions magazine, Dec. 1995, page 20
or whatever your book or magazine is.
For me, this has been a great way to organize my Christmas crafting. Hope it's helpful to someone else!
I am SO impressed by how organized you are! LOL Maybe the difference is that I just think about what I'd like to do, while you actually DO what you'd like to do. Hmm . . . maybe I could learn from that.
ReplyDeleteMy organizational skills are still such a work in progress, Susan! But thank you for the sweet, encouraging words! I must hasten to add that I've been praying for several years that I would grow in the area of time management, so it's very exciting to me to see how the Lord is answering those prayers.
ReplyDeleteI think one thing I've definitely learned from FlyLady is that things just don't take as long as you believe they will. Once I had listed my crafts and bought those dividers, it really only took a few minutes to get it all sorted out. And oh yes, I've learned so much about not being a perfectionist -- otherwise I would have waited until I could do this task "perfectly"!
I'm a huge fan of FlyLady, as you might know already. My dh can't believe that I'm a perfectionist, but I know so well that I am. If I can't do it perfectly, I don't want to do it at all! LOL And I am the queen of thinking things will take forever when they only take a few minutes in reality.
ReplyDeleteHi again, Susan!
ReplyDeleteWell, I am *not* a perfectionist, but my mother is and so I grew up wanting to do things "perfectly" (even though she never actually did, that was the way she thought, and it rubbed off on me). Now, after having discovered FlyLady, I realize it was my mother's perfectionism that kept her from doing things -- she was waiting until she "had time" to do them "perfectly". And of course that day never came. So when I find myself thinking that way, I try and talk myself out of it and just dive in to whatever it is.
It truly is amazing what one can accomplish in 15 minutes!