Spring Cleaning with Thrifty 101.......The Craft Closet

Welcome to another addition of Spring Cleaning with Thrifty 101.  I stated last week that this segment is meant to motivate myself and my readers to begin Spring Cleaning now while the weather is still cold.  That way when the weather starts to turn nice you aren't stuck inside cleaning. :)

My challenge this week was my Craft Closet....otherwise known to my husband as "The Crap Closet".  I'm so glad I started this segment, because this is one area that I DREAD cleaning.  And truthfully if it hadn't been for this segment I probably would have avoided this closet for another week.  It's kind of the "catch all" closet.  Everything from friend birthday presents, scrapbook supplies, stamp projects, birthday & craft supplies, birthday goodie bag stash, material, my cake decorating supplies, photo albums, electronic cords, picture frames.....pretty much anything you can think of.  I become so overwhelmed with all the stuff and I'm the only one that knows "where" it goes (or at least the general area) so everything just gets tossed in the closet.

Don't get me wrong, I've cleaned this closet many times.  I usually just organize everything and get it all straightened out.  It works well, but eventually it starts to look like this:

 Yikes.  K, this is kind of embarrassing. Like I said, I DREAD cleaning this closet.

 No words.......yuck!

My "ribbon" center.  I made this out of a wooden dowel and a few hook hangers from Lowe's.

 It's a waterfall of crap!

 Okay, I am officially sickened.  I knew this closet was bad, but seeing the before photos and knowing what it looks like now.....I'm just sick.  How could I let it get so bad?  PLEASE tell me this segment motivates you!  If it doesn't, I might just go crawl under a rock at this point. :(

Now for the After photos:

 Ahhhhhhhh  Relief.  I donated a ton of stuff that I held on to for years and knew I would never use.

 I organized everything into areas.  Party supplies, sewing supplies, cake decorating supplies...

 Here is my ribbon/gift station.

 I kept some shell necklaces from our trip to Hawaii.  I'm going to use them this summer at a Luau at our home.  I decided to store them in 3 Mason jars.  It keeps them out of the way, but I still get to enjoy the shells.

The craft station.  Scrapbook supplies, ink pads, stamps, scissors, punches and kids crafts on the bottom shelf so they are accessible to my five year old.

I was really surprised at how many boxes I had that only had a few things in them, just like in the pantry.  I combined like items in the same container and recycled the extra boxes.  My label maker came in handy again on this project.  I was also amazed at all the stuff I had that I got on a great deal that I never used.  I remember thinking "I could use this for...." when I bought it.  In the end, I didn't use any of it and I could have used the money elsewhere.  

Now for a side by side:
Before                                                                                               After


                                                          




My husband made the comment to me during one of the 3 days this project took me, he said "Wow, what got you so motivated?"  I told him it was my blog readers.  Even if no one reads my Spring Cleaning segments, stating I'm going to do something and knowing I'm going to be held accountable is a HUGE motivation for me.  Maybe I'll start a "Get in Shape with Thrifty 101" segment in the future! :)

Next week I will tackle my food storage room.  So stay tuned for that.

If you decide to join me in Spring Cleaning grab my new button and send me some pics and I'll post them up here!  If you don't want to send pics, stop by and  tell us you are participating in our Spring Cleaning event. :)

Thrifty 101 is once again hosting LINK PARTIES!!!!!!!!!  Today, Tuesday March 1st, Link up any cleaning or organizing project.   Then come back Thursday for our usual DIY Thrifty Thursday event!  YAY! :)