Chaos....and Inventory

So....In preparation for the fall craft fair (yes, FALL, as in NOVEMBER), I decided to take inventory to see what I needed to focus my energies on. This is part of what the room looked like when I was in the middle of tallying everything.

Scary, huh?? And that's only 4 boxes of various items that I needed to go through!! I think, once I consolidated everything, I got it from 10 boxes down to 8....not a huge reduction, but it *does* free up a little more space in the storage closet.

Hard to believe, but it took me 1.5 days to go through all of the boxes, count everything, and figure out what I had enough of and what needed replenishing...phew!!

This is one of the piles of fabric that I had to go through...in front of the closet door are 2 more boxes - they have fabrics that I need for some of my projects, projects that are all cut out and just need to be sewn together, and patterns for even more projects....maybe I have too much fabric.....naaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

Oh, also in the picture (the bright, glowing stripe to the left side) are the kiddos' backpacks for the upcoming school year - already loaded with everything that was on their supply lists! Yes, I know, it's only the beginning of July, but hey...one less thing for me to worry about, right??

Yet even more inventory that I had to go through! However...the white box was actually filled with packaging supplies (boxes, bags, tags, etc.), and the little Christmas tree box really DOES have a 2' tall Christmas tree in it!!

The other boxes on the futon are holding all the Christmas ornaments that i would REALLY like to sell this year - various sizes of "cupcake" ornaments as well as "stained glass" looking ornaments with scenes from the nativity on them, and some with script lettering on them. I think the prices were too high for a local craft fair, so I will be adjusting them a bit for this year. Hopefully, having a tree to display them on will help with the sales, though I *did* sell some last year - just not as many as I was hoping to sell.


Finally....this was a box of "baby sock cupcakes." I really don't need to make any more of these, but I *did* need to change the packaging and tidy them up a bit. I also made a few more "washcloth/spoon lollipops" (rolled baby washcloth with a plastic feeding spoon) and repacked the box. Phew.....this was actually not too taxing, so I was able to relax a little bit while I cahnged up the boxes....the clear ones just didn't look good to me anymore, and since Michael's carries boxes designed to hold 4 cupcakes...well, I just swapped everything over (with a little tidying up of the sock "cupcakes" to make the look a little nicer).

Now, the room is mostly back in order. I had really wanted to get some sewing done, but this was MUCH more important. See....now I know how many and which items I need to make between now and November, so I can plan it out, and mix in the kids' clothes as well as my clothes....it DOES all have a purpose...even if some people may think that starting in July for a November craft fair is a little ridiculous....trust me...if you knew me, you'd understand completely!!