Staying Occupied: Bead Organization

Note: This series was created due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the requirement to practice social distancing and stay home as much as possible. I hope that despite all the closures and the crazy grocery store lines, you can still find opportunities to stay calm, enjoy the extra time with your loved ones, organize the areas that need to be addressed, and find something (book, movie, craft) to bring you enthusiasm. Choose to be as balanced as possible and stay healthy.

I am out of the condo a lot. I work three mornings a week and four nights week; I am the mummy chauffeur and take my daughter to/from school and activities. Add in grocery store runs, extra shifts, volunteering, and the rare meet up with a friend, I spend the bulk of my condo time sleeping.

Which means that I have a habit of dropping something into a pile and walking away. I know that I don’t have enough time and often have to choose between showering or eating or packing stuff away. The stuff always loses.

Now I’m sitting here staring at it.

I can’t work. I can’t volunteer. I can’t be mummy chauffeur. I can’t see my friends.

I can do something positive and make my space less cluttered.

It took two afternoons to sort the pile and clear the desk (oops, I didn’t mention it had been taken over by beads too) but now everything is in a spot. I’m not done though.

• I will use some of the last bits and odds of beads to create earrings, bracelets, and necklaces to donate to our local charity shop.
• I will pass the beads I don’t like or can’t imagine using to my friend for her bead collection.
• I will create a few new chakra-themed pieces for my Etsy shop.
• I will finish projects.

When you have a crafting hobby, you need to find what type of organization works for you. I use the following:

• Plastic containers from Really Useful Boxes – I like the 9-box divider that contains 0.2L and 0.3L boxes. I own four of them and they hold most of my beads, charms, and findings. I have a larger box that holds all of my thread and the 0.8L pencil box holds all of my pliers and threaders.
• Before working with semi-precious beads, I used a variety of other bead materials including seed beads. They are stored in these Lee Valley Watchmaker Cases in 33mm and 53mm container sizes.
• The last piece of organization is the Ikea Raskog Cart – this holds projects I’m working on (or plan to work on!).

Please share how you are staying occupied and/or how you organize your hobby. You can respond to this post or reach out through Social Media.