I’ve been thinking about how to motivate yourself to use craft supplies you have or to declutter when you need to. And it occurred to me that giving yourself a challenge might be a great way to do it.
The 100 Day Project
What got me thinking about this is that the 100 Day Project is coming up. If you don’t know about it, this is an annual event where you pick some kind of art or craft thing to work on daily for 100 days and document it.
I’ve never completed a 100 day project, but I’ve started ones relating to hand lettering, writing poetry, making collages, sewing and crochet.
My idea for this year is finishing: finishing unfinished objects, mending things, doing little things like weaving in ends or sewing on buttons. Whatever needs to be done for projects to be done.
This might not always be crafty, but that’s the goal.
100 Days to Use Craft Supplies You Have
A fun 100 day project that fits in with the Minimalist Crafter ethos might be to spend 100 days working on projects that use craft supplies you already have.
Add in the rule that you can only use things you already have, and you might find yourself getting creative in all new ways.
If you need bias tape for a project, for example, you might have to make your own. Or you could mix colors of paint to get the right hue instead of going to the store to buy another tube.
It adds a layer to the challenge and a level of improvisation that can be a lot of fun.
More Minimalist 100 Day Challenges
Of course there are other ways to work on using and decluttering craft supplies as a 100 day challenge, or a month-long challenge, or however long you’d like to challenge yourself.
You could decide to get rid of one crafty item daily for 100 days.
Or try a new craft you already have the supplies for every week or once a month for as long as it takes to go through all your unused kits or new-to-you crafts.
Maybe a scrap challenge? Try to only use those leftover bits from other projects in your new projects for so many days.
There are lots of different things you can try that will both give your creativity a boost and get you to use craft supplies you already have.
It Doesn’t Have to Be 100 Days
The next 100 Day Project starts on Feb. 22, but you don’t have to commit to 100 days or wait until then to start your own crafty challenge. Any day is a good day to try it out.
And any number of days focused on using things you already have or getting rid of things you don’t want to use is such good progress. My hope is that once you start doing it, even if you don’t do it every day for 100 days, you’ll start to feel that usephoria and want to keep using those things.
Have you ever done a 100 day challenge? If you’re signing on for this one, I’d love to hear what your project is!
Image via dothe100dayproject on Instagram.
