Questions and answers for Christmas crafting

From a craft calendar my girls loved as children

One of my friends on the Christmas craft forum posed a few crafting questions to begin the new year.  I thought I would answer them here to have a place to record my thoughts.  (They're currently on a piece of paper -- not the best idea if I want to find them again!)

So Rose asked us seven questions.  I will paraphrase them to simplify and then add my answers.

1.  Let's decide if we want to finish any projects started for last Christmas and not completed.  Will we : a)finish them right away and put them in our gift closet;
       b) put them away for a bit; or
       c) get rid of them altogether?

I had one project not completed for a November birthday (though I did make plenty for the birthday baby girl to open!) -- fabric alphabet letters.  So I need to finish those.

And I had one Christmas gift not completed -- another felt campfire and accessories.  My plan is to finish that and send it off to the recipients.

And then I have 3 long-standing UFOs (un-finished objects) -- a crocheted throw, a crocheted scrap afghan, and a "Snow Angels" cross-stitch.  I also have two completed stitchery projects that just need to be finished off in some way -- framed, made into wall hangings or pillows, or whatever.

2.  Decide if we want to go through any boxes/containers holding craft supplies; decide if we want to get rid of any of these supplies.

I'd love to sort out/give away craft supplies, but not just yet.  I plan to finish the alphabet letters and the campfire first, as all of the ziplock bags in which I have fabric scraps sorted by color are a huge mess.

3. Write down any ideas people have given you for the coming year, crafted items or other ideas.

I've done some of this but have more to add.

4.  Does your crafting area need a little tidying -- or a lot?

It needs a lot of tidying.  See question #2.

5.  Think about what went right or wrong in making crafts for gifts -- is there anything you would change for this crafting year?  

My biggest problems were starting too late and underestimating how long certain projects would take.

6.  Set a date for when you want to have all Christmas crafting completed.

My hubby set this date for me -- December 1.  One friend asked if it would work to have Mr. T setting my crafting deadlines for me.  Well, I don't really know yet.  But, as I told her, since he is the one who takes up the slack in eldercare, meal prep, housework and cookie baking if I really get stuck, I am going to try it his way!

7.  Start making notes of what you would like to make craftwise this year.

I've jotted down a few ideas in my Christmas notebook.  I think I'm going to try and aim for making more handmade items for birthdays and fewer for Christmas.

So there is my preliminary planning session.  Now to tackle one of those UFOs!