Hartford Craft

Over the weekend, I took taking a break from shopping (I spent waayy too much time at Target). So, I popped into Panera Bread for some Autumn Squash soup, my ultimate favorite, and this place is packed with families. I don’t mind being here alone with my iPad and my fav soup, of course. I spend so much time with my kids, so I’m totally enjoying only having to worry about myself for the next couple minutes.

I have a question for you guys. Would you be willing to sell your home and move into an apartment? What about for a better school district for your kids? We’ve been talking about this for a while without any action and we finally decided that we just need to make the move. We’re currently paying for Catholic school for my oldest, but it becomes even more expensive during middle and high school years. We also have a 1 year old who will be starting full time daycare within the next year and will need an education as well….. so what’s a family to do? When you watch these house hunting shows, the parents want an amazing house that’s better than their current home for an unreasonably low price for the area. And they’re adamant that they “must stay in the same school district!!!” When you have kids, the school district matters. College is expensive and student loans suck, mostly because you get out of college and are making very little money and must pay $400 or more a month to your loan company while barely making ends meet. So we’d rather save up for the kids college than pay for Catholic school, especially with the high school costing more annually than many in state colleges.

But what does this have to do with crafting? The STASH. Those of you with hobbies know that we can get out of control with purchasing things that we think we will use but never do, or items remaining from projects that we just refuse to get rid of. Many of you are still holding onto wedding decorations or party decorations that you’re storing “just in case.” Sorry to break the news to you, but you will probably never need 12 identical centerpieces or tablecloths…LOL. The floating candles, floral arrangements, the DIY wreath stuff from two Christmases ago…. you don’t need any of it. Now imagine you are thinking of moving. Do you want to pack that stuff up and bring it with you? Ignoring it definitely sounds like an option since my stash is stored away very neatly in my basement craft space. BUT, we may be moving into a space with less storage.

The current goal. Move my craft/creative items from three places to one place, not including my Christmas decorations. The easiest way to tackle this was to get rid of the bigger items that I knew I didn’t want to keep first and then drive down to the smaller items. After identifying the items that I wanted to sell, I turned to my faithful friend Facebook Marketplace. I’ve sold many baby items on Marketplace so I feel very good about selling on there. Most of these items sold within 48 hours of being listed and not to mention I met some amazing women who were either working on a personal event, were decorators themselves, or worked in a creative industry. I even got a potential T-shirt order out of the deal. If you’re thinking of selling your items on there just keep in mind that you will probably not be getting a high return on what you initially paid. The easiest way to determine price is to see what similar items are selling for. If that amount is way too low for you, you might want to consider donating the item to a friend or family member who can take good care of it or even a charity, especially since you decided that you no longer need it. If there are no similar items, you can probably search for the item online, find the lowest selling price and go from there based on how new your product looks. Buyers will offer you lower amounts if they think your price is too high and it’s up to you to accept or decline. Just remember that buyers are purchasing used products in order to get a deal and will not be interested in prices discounted by 25% because you love the item and think its amazing. Don’t go in thinking you are going to get rich…But you weren’t making money on the items sitting in boxes either so you are still winning. I still have more to list but I’m selling a few things at a time to make things more manageable as well as to not to have to mentally keep track of a million messages between potential buyers.

So, here’s what I sold. I could very well be a fool or a genius, but I now have less stuff and am feeling good about reaching my goal. Here are some items that I listed in the last couple of weeks. Of course I worked on some craft projects as well. Check out my Instagram for the latest.

Sold on FB Marketplace

• 12 Hemlock (Green) 120 Round Tablecloth
• 7 White 120 Round Tablecloth
• 10 Vases / 6 Pink Tulle/ 6 White Tulle
• Gold Bar Cart
• 2 Short White Columns

Pending

• Turquoise 82 Napkins, 55 Satin Chair Sash, 2 Piece Backdrop 5X10, Rectangular Tablecloth
• 12 Gold Table Runners

Sold to Friend

• Gold Rosette Rectangle Tablecloth
• Blue & White Foam Flower Backdrop with Greenery
• 8 Red Cocktail Tablecloths
• White Round Table

I hope you found this helpful. If so, let me know in the comments. Have a great week ahead, and if you have any inspiration to share, please do so.

Darley