Hi, my name is Ashley and I have OCD aka obsessive compulsive disorder. NO, I am not a excessive handwasher, but I do tend to like things in order. Change is not something I am really good friends with. CHAOS drives me absolutely nuts!
Hi, there me again, and it’s time to confess that I also have ADD aka attention deficit disorder. (You know, you love talking about things at a rapid pace….squirrel!) I share so many things with you guys, and it’s time that I share a little crafter’s confession. My word is filled with chaos and order all at the same time! Sound a little bit confusing? Let me demonstrate for you! (Warning, the following photo is not for the weak of heart)
This is my craft room. For about the last month, I have avoided entering this room like the PLAGUE. It’s gotten so chaotic that you really can’t enter this room without signing a liability waiver. It’s not filthy, just CLUTTERED. (In my defense, my kids seem to think that opening the door and dumping my stuff in there equals “cleaning up”) Notice the stack of boxes of items yet to be reviewed? How about the chair that has now been turned into optional “storage”? Yup, this room just isn’t going to get better. Just wait until you see my actual craft table!
Notice the nice array of crafting supplies with photography supplies, and the empty bottles and cans? (Hey, those were totally going to be an awesome repurposed craft someday!) This room also has my husband’s art desk in there, but in all fairness most of the time he can’t even get to it, let alone use it. I think I have spotted him dwelling on whether or not to call Hoarders to put an end to this madness. (I never met a jar or bottle I couldn’t figure out SOME use for!)
So, what’s the confessional part? It’s time that I exposed myself (no, not like that get your mind outta the gutter) and told you that I am a complete and UTTER clutterbug! I don’t think there can be two worse conditions on the planet to have than OCD and ADD together. To show you a day in my life, let me share how my crafting “process” goes!
Crunchy OCD: We should really figure out some crafts to do!
Crunchy ADD: You are TOTALLY right! We could do jars, pots, paper crafts, don’t forget about making sure that you check the clearance aisle and buy anything that might maybe sort of kinda turn into a craft this year or next year plus then whatever you don’t use you can always ship to your family as gifts for the holidays.
Crunchy OCD: Don’t you think that we are getting ahead of ourselves. I mean that would be a disasterous mess, and you KNOW how much I hate clutter!
Crunchy ADD: Don’t worry about the clutter we will only do one project at a time, and then clean up after each project and it will totally be ok, because we always want to have something for your family and your readers of course because if they don’t have new projects to see then why would they even come and read and then they would really go somewhere else and that would make me sad……
Crunchy OCD: Ok, maybe we can do just a few projects, ONLY if you promise we clean up and finish when each one at a time.
Crunchy ADD: Of course, we could start one one and then while that one is drying we can start another one, it’s all about time management and then we can wait for that one to dry and then start another one with the kids then the kids can help clean up and move the stuff we hardly use the dining table anyway so who cares if we leave stuff there while it dries it has to have somewhere to dry right?
Crunchy OCD (realizing the battle is lost): Now I see where this is going, you are just going to make the house a mess and make me want to twitch! Then you won’t get ANY of the projects done! What you need is to really need is to embrace some frugal organizers!
Crunchy ADD: FRUGAL ORGANIZERS!!!!! Oooooohh, SPARKLY!
Crunchy OCD: OCD 1 ADD Zero Bwhahahahahah
What starts as a simple craft project ends up in mass chaos and house destruction! ADD and OCD are always having a battle royale, and it’s just a matter of time before they don’t need me in the middle playing referee! (Now THAT is a scary thought)
Now that you know my dirty secret, never fear when you find your house in mass chaos. It’s little things like this that makes us our own person. Admitting your quirks is half the battle. The other half is having a few tricks up your sleeves. My tricks include frugal organizers! While Crunchy ADD is spewing one of its run-on sentences, Crunchy OCD is slick and slips in the word frugal organizer! It’s just enough to district the frugal ADD to getting back on track and keeping the mess at bay (well most of the time!)
Now you know you want to check out my frugal organizers! (They are totally awesome! Move over Martha Stewart!)
Do you have a crafter’s confessional to share? What is your dirty little secret when it comes to your crafting area?
Jennifer @ MySweetSanity says
OMG! I am so glad I am not alone in this! When I want to work on a recipe my kitchen has to be SUPER clean (O.C.D.) and each time I tell myself I am going to clean up as I go along. Everything begins perfectly and then the K.A.D.D. (Kiddie Attention Deficit Disorder) kicks in. I have 6 kids. Two are Autistic with ADHD and my husband has ADHD as well. They inevitably cause mass chaos and the kitchen goes to hell in a hand basket. Kids demand food & drinks, bring me toys & papers all to be left on the counter while i am trying to work. I eventually give up and decide to clean it in the morning. Only to have the insanity cycle begin again so every night and early morning the kitchen looks like a toy box, the cabinets and the garbage spewed all over. The O.C.D. sighs and tries once again to right the world. 🙂
Ashley Sears says
Jennifer my OCD/ADD friend! Yes, that is EXACTLY what it’s like when I cook as well! I always start with good intentions, then my son (whom has severe ADHD) sees that I am distracted and asks me a million questions. Then the house is a mess, and I don’t get everything done that I was hoping to do. I try to get the OCD a turn so the world is right again, but alas sometimes I just have to succumb to the clutter!
Missy Anderson says
I struggle with organization a lot. I also struggle with focus. I’m sometimes surprised I’ve been so good with keeping my blog up to date. Lol
Ashley Sears says
Yes, as a blogger being organized can be SO challenging, but I find that some of my best posts are the ones that I write off the cuff like this one! I just write off the cuff about what’s going on in my life, and I am sure there is at least one person that can relate 😉
Crystle Monahan says
I wonder what type of ADD you might have? I too have it, (I believe if I recall correctly I have mainly limbic ADD, and there are at least 6 types of ADD, not including the variations of ADHD, which is totally different) but I lack OCD so I am only inspired to clean biannually… if even. So, you think your craft space is awful? They don’t call my room the black hole for nothing! It takes me weeks to clean at best, because I literally have to stare at my room for 20 minutes or so before deciding whether I will put away that pencil first, start my laundry, where does that thing go, and why is there a small Spongebob hat in my room?? Yeah it’s like that. So in my cleaning moods (which I’m actually going through now) I feel your pain. Otherwise, if I step on it and it breaks, I just hope I can make do without it or fix it… but usually I can’t even see what broke because it’s under something else!
*sigh* Why can’t I maintain an organizing system? I’m working on a new one for my general life which I call the “Master Binder,” so let us hope it works! Also, I’m still cleaning my room, I need it done before next semester or I won’t be able to finish, so I’m trying 🙂
Ashley Sears says
Crystal, Honestly I have NO idea what kind of ADD I have. I was diagnosed as a child, but my parents never shared my diagnosis with me. I just found it in my med file when I got all my files after I moved out. Now that I am getting older it is getting worse. I didn’t even KNOW there were six kinds. Definitely time that I look it up! If you want a binder system, I did have a great post about organization that I wrote. When my OCD out powers the ADD, I do have some good organization skills from time to time 😉
Charita says
My personal opinion is that if you are a crafty kind of person, you have to have some kind of mental illness. I also have OCD, but I swear when it comes to my craft room, I just CAN’T get it together! I clean it, and a few days later it’s a cluttered mess! AND I have at least 5 different projects going on. OR if I start cleaning the craft room, my brain says; “Ohhhhhhh I really want to PLAY!! Let’s make something!!!”
Part of my problem is, I don’t have a particular craft that I do. I do SEVERAL different crafts. I make candles, I make jewelry, I make cards, and recently took up scrapbooking. I also crochet, embroider, crosstitch, do general crafting, etc. Not to mention all the craft supplies I have for the kids crafts. Soooo I have so many craft supplies that I could probably furnish a small craft store.
The other part of my problem is that when I take up a craft, I HAVE to have EVERYTHING pertaining to that particular craft or I’m not happy. This of course causes more clutter.
I get all the supplies for a particular craft I want to do, then having up to 10 kids at a time,(I’m a single foster mom) I don’t always have time to do what I wanted to do. So I have tons of supplies, but they all have a purpose lol. It’s CRAZY!
I am also one of those people that go to clean a room, spot something that belongs in another room, see something in that room that needs cleaned, find something that belongs somewhere else, and start cleaning that room, so at the end of the day it looks like I’ve done nothing all day long!
I have definitely been accused of being a hoarder from my non-crafter family members. I’m not a hoarder, I just have a very busy mind that still thinks it has time to do everything it wants to do lol.
So I personally think we are all a little crazy, BUT that’s ok because we make some AWESOME things!! lol
Ashley Sears says
Charita, Are you sure you didn’t just crawl in my head! That’s what happens over here! I dabble in a LOT of different crafts knitting, crochet, jewelry, candles, paper crafting, scrapbooking, upcycled crafts. That’s why it ends up looking like a tornado hit my house when I start “crafting”. Maybe you are right, there is some certain level of “madness” that goes into being the creative genius that you are!