Not that ‘C’ word you filthy animal! No. We mean ‘Christmas’. When you are a crafter, it’s never too soon to think about Christmas. In fact, the months running up to the big day itself are filled with other projects, and the last thing you need is to run out of crafting essentials.
For me, January is a time for Christmas crafting. It’s more peaceful, with no demands on my time for baking, card writing, gift wrapping and putting the tree and decorations up. In fact, Christmas crafting in January fills that festive hole left behind after you’ve put the tree and decorations away. Instead of having the post-holiday blues, I’m still in a little happy bubble of Christmas. Surrounded by glitter and festive fabric, you can’t be anything but cheerful.
The post-Christmas sales are also an ideal opportunity to stock up on crafting stash. Your local fabric stores will be thinking about putting their festive leftovers away in the stockroom, and will be only too pleased to save the space and offload the stock onto you.
By starting early (and it doesn’t have to be January), you are also taking the pressure off yourself. Crafting should be fun and your projects should bring you moments of joy and happiness. Crafting becomes a chore if you don’t give yourself enough time to put in the love and care your project needs. Plus, you also give yourself the space to create any last-minute goodies. I have created many a Secret Santa pressie or gift for a neighbour using leftover festive items in the craft stash.
OK. So, January might be a bit keen, but if you want to be prepared, especially if you sell your creations, then you really need to have everything made by the end of September. Any later and time will not be on your side. Many shops stock Christmas crafting goodies from September, and the good stuff can be gone by the end of October. My advice is to have a dedicated crafting box for Christmas and add to it throughout the year. You will already have a feel for the kind of products you need, so buy them when the price and availability is on your side.
Another useful tip is to create a pom-pom stash. This is something that can be done quickly in front of the TV, although many of mine are made in the garden in summer, powered by gin! Just the simple job of creating a stash of pom-pom-loveliness can put you streets ahead and save time on a project. It’s a good way of using up leftover yarn and they make great finishing touches to all sorts of projects. Remember to make some extra red ones, just in case you need a Rudolph nose.
Preparation is important in crafting. When stocks go low and prices go high, you come out in a festive sweat as you scour the shops for red and green thread and fabric. Save yourself from the pain. Plan ahead … just stay away from the Michael Bublé Christmas tunes. They can definitely wait until 1 December!
SJB
So Just Be 