Happy New Year from The Organized Miniaturist
Today I want to share a way that I deal with what I think of as a micro chaos. It's a pocket of my miniature life that is not organized. Or at least it seems that way.
When I finish a project, I frequently have bits and pieces that my frugal upbringing won't allow me to throw away. The items I believe will come in handy if I want to kit bash (modify) or add to a kit I am working on or when I am DIYing a project.
If I was super organized the bits and pieces would immediately go in the proper place or one would be made for them. Instead I have a box I put them in for sorting later.
I find it is a lot easier to sort (more pleasing activity to me) when there is more of something rather a bunch of one of's. One of's need to be put away right away, where a group of groups is more efficient putting away.
On the left is this box of bits and pieces. In the upper left is a bag where I have sorted together but alas is still in this box. Lower left shows what some of those bags consist of.
Those bags are a mix of leftover by kit or sorted together.
Why are they sorted but not yet added to their proper storage location with other like items? When it comes to organizing it takes a while and likely I had used up my organizing energy to just get them in bags together. Putting them in proper storage location is for another day.
When I say start small, I really mean it. Eating an elephant takes one bite at a time. Organizing minis (or anything for that matter) takes time and small chunks of time are perfectly fine.
Interesting to me was that today I found some scrap wires I had been looking for. They were in this box and I had looked before but not in this larger bag. I found them when I took the pictures above. LOL
I have done this with kits. I was purchasing several together and put them in a box together instead of in their proper place. Later I sorted them out to their proper location. Even I have put away in a place where I can't recall where. That one kit I can't find. It will turn up I know.
What is my solution to these pockets of micro chaos? Contain them as shown above in photo boxes or a shoebox. Then when I get the organizing bug, I sort them into either their proper place or at least into groups so they can be sorted into proper place at a later time.
What do I do if I can't find what I am looking for? I compromise and look for alternative, move to a different aspect of a project, move to a totally different project, or purchase another. The latter happens rarely as I know that when I do it, whatever will turn up. I don't give up on making minis as there is always another project at my house. That's both positive and negative as I have plenty of projects but so many yet to do.
Making minis should be fun. It's a time to play. If having a bit of chaos here and there helps me to make more minis, I am all for it. But by containing them, they are organized in a way that I could still potentially find what I am looking for. Maybe not every time, but more often than not.
