everykindofcraft | October 2025 Crafting Check In

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yourlibrarian posting in

everykindofcraft

If you've joined us since September, welcome!

This post is to prompt anyone who has been doing crafting lately to share about their projects. Plus there's a general question for everyone to chime in on.

This month's question involves buildup and storage of supplies. What do you save to use in future crafting projects? Does a lot of stuff accumulate? Do you have any organizational tips?

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From:

ysabetwordsmith

>> This post is to prompt anyone who has been doing crafting lately to share about their projects. <<

Much of my summer and fall activity has been visiting craft shows and street fairs to see what other folks have made! :D

We've also hit a lot of different farmer's markets, so I've been experimenting with food. A friend who does freeze-dried things just started offering lemon powder, so I put that in blueberry muffins with excellent results. A nearby orchard has tiny, very sweet butternut squashes, which I've used in a bean stew and a pureed soup. We also got apple cider from them, and I made apple cider caramel.

Today's project will be a garden one -- I want to clear a space to put down the two wormstones I found this spring, as stepping stones around the barrel garden. I need to do that before I plant the new tulip bulbs in that area.

I'm still working on terraria too. I got the lantern one cleaned out, but I couldn't find a diversity of air plants to put in it, so I had to order those. They should arrive in early November.

I've gotten out to the food forest and community garden for seed gathering, and posted pictures of that. I hope to get one more round there in November; the asters are in full bloom and haven't set seed yet.

>>What do you save to use in future crafting projects? <<

Beads, yarn, string, scrapbooking paper, crystals, flowerpots, all kinds of stuff. When I want to do a new project, I can usually find most of the materials in my stash.

>>Does a lot of stuff accumulate?<<

Yes.

>> Do you have any organizational tips? <<

Sort by type. My beading tools and supplies are in a tacklebox. My seeds are in several seed-saving or craft containers. The flowerpots mostly live outside, but I bring in the fancy ceramics for winter. The scrapbooking stuff has a shelf. I've decided that I want to make a carryall with spare garden tools and baggies for going to the food forest.

Watch at thrift stores and flea markets for storage containers. You can find them really cheap -- sewing baskets, tackle boxes, thread racks, random tubs, etc. Tupperware has a lot of good stuff that is designed for modular storage so it fits together neatly, ideal for shelves or closets. Mostly I like storage that has a handle so I can lug it around.

From:

yourlibrarian

Oh good tip for the storage boxes! I find it a must for beading because it's all about finding and being able to compare given beads.

I too use food storage containers as part of organizing, though I use them for holding findings (sorted by golds and silvers), and sorting seed bead tubes by color rather than for individual beads.

However, there are a number of beads that are either too plentiful for my storage boxes and/or come in bags rather than tubes which means they aren't re-sealable. I've found empty pill bottles very handy for those as they tend to come in various sizes from relatively small to rather tall.

From:

ysabetwordsmith

Spice jars! They're all resealable, and usually clear.

My grandfather kept a lot of his workshop hardware in glass jars, with the lids nailed to the underside of a wooden shelf. To get the bolts or whatever, just unscrew the jar from its lid.