What to Keep and What Not To
We’ve covered A LOT in this series, and we’ve worked our way up to another category that some of you would probably prefer not to read about… Accessories! Bling, buttons, ribbons, glitter, dots, resin, charms, brads, eyelets, twine, ephemera and more—I’m sure you’ve got the lot. We LOVE our accessories! And the best accessories are the ones we actually use.
My Guilty Pleasure
I need to be completely honest with you… every time Stampin’ Up! releases new ribbon and embellishments, I usually buy them all. I can’t help myself. It’s rare for me not to buy a SU ribbon.
The Good and Bad with Accessories
I hear this all the time… “I can’t use them because they’re my favourite and you can’t get them anymore!” Our only real constants are basic rhinestones—and that’s true for all companies that sell accessories. They know you’ll buy them, so the more they create, the more you’ll buy. And honestly… this is actually a good thing. As long as you’re using them up, they’re awesome! If you have multiple bins to organise them, I can pretty much guarantee you aren’t using them.
Going Through Your Accessory Stash
There’s a good reason I saved accessories for last. You’ve hopefully gone through your patterned paper, pared down your scraps, boxed up tools and punches, and maybe even pulled some ink pads off your shelf too. When you’ve done that, this part will be drastically easier.
Ribbon and Twine
I’ve built a good part of my business with ribbon and twines, so you know how much I love it! So you might be surprised that I’m suggesting you go through your ribbon stash. But—you now know which patterned papers you’re going to use.
You’ve pulled aside papers for gift packaging, envelopes, crinkle, or boxed them up. The tools you’ll keep are sorted—the ones that make sense to have matching ribbon for. Tired colours or those that don’t match anything you have… maybe those “bargain” buys that don’t actually go with anything are gone.
Now it’s time to pare down your ribbon and twine and sort it into sections.
- Keep: Ribbons/twines for card making that specifically go with products you’re excited to use.
- Holiday/Seasonal: Red and green ribbons/twines or other holiday-specific ones. If you’re making gift bags or tags with your holiday paper stash, keep these—but only through the next holiday. Whatever doesn’t get used, let it go.
- Out of Style/Don’t Need: Box these up straight away.
Out-of-Date or Out-of-Trend Accessories
Box these up—flat chat. Think eyelets… they were trendy for years and then bam—as soon as you bought them in every colour (along with cute little storage solutions), they went out of trend. Decorative buttons with all those textures and designs—also out of trend. If you haven’t touched it in the last five years (other than basic rhinestones and pearls), it’s probably out of trend or doesn’t coordinate with anything you use anymore.
Glitter
Trash it all. Every bit of it. Kidding… but also, not really. I’m not a fan of glitter, so this one’s easy for me. But—if you’re a glitteraholic, be responsible. If you’ve got little bits left, make your own custom mixes. I know a stamper with over 200 colours of ultra-fine glitter. Just typing that gives me hives! No one needs that much glitter… ever.
Embossing Powders
This is always an interesting one… and I wasn’t sure whether to include it with tools or accessories. But most crafters store their powders with their glitter, so here we are. Over time, embossing powders go “off.” I barely passed science, so don’t ask me why, but here’s what I know: I replace my white and black powders every two years. The older powders just aren’t as crisp or vibrant. Coloured powders? Completely out of trend—let them go. Stick with white, black, and metallics. Pro tip: When you buy new embossing powder, write the month and year on the container.
Charms
This section makes me laugh—so here’s a recent story. Stampin’ Up! came out with these flat jingle bell charms. Perfect for mailing! I bought a pack, then grabbed a few more on clearance. I had a plan: use them on gift tags the following Christmas. A friend came over and couldn’t believe I’d dumped them all into one container. Why do we keep ALL the packaging? I used to do it too—little containers of doodads everywhere. Well, those jingle bells moved into my holiday gift wrap box. What I don’t use this year… gone! Here’s the problem: when we don’t use these little bits up, we end up with a hodgepodge collection… which leads to frustration and guilt.
Let’s Do Some Maths
Let’s break it down: Say you bought 20 jingle bells for $10—that’s $0.50 each. If you only use 15, the cost jumps to $0.67 each. If you’re happy adding a $0.50 embellishment to a card, chances are you’re fine with $0.67.
The point? Get value from what you use, and don’t sweat the rest. The “but what if I can’t get them again?” argument? Trust me, there will always be new, exciting accessories coming out.
Leftovers Slow You Down
Having only 2-3 leftover embellishments messes with your crafting. You plan to make 5-6 cards but can only make 1-2 because you don’t have enough “bling.” That’s frustrating—and it often leads to crafting burnout.
The Accessories Challenge
Here’s my challenge: Grab a clear box, no bigger than 4″ x 6″ x 2″. Only keep what fits in there—bling, charms, whatever. When you get down to fewer than five of something, use it straight away or thank it for bringing you joy and pop it in the ‘let it go’ box.
I think you know what to do now…
I think you know what to do now…
Until Next time… Happy creating!
Chrissy
