I’ve never really moved before. I moved out of my parents’ house once, only to move right back in after a few months of school. I also moved into an apartment, but all of my belongings could fit into my brother’s truck. When I moved into the dome almost everything I had except for a bed and a table, could be moved with a cross-town trip in my trusty Saturn.

This time, Tyrone and I really moved. He liked to brag that in the last 18 years, he’s had to move 16 different times. His wisdom in the pack and the drive were priceless.

Never really moving before, I had never really had to pack before either. The definition of packing here entails configuring multiple boxes in an optimal way for space and cushioning, sealing those boxes with tape, and then not seeing the contents again for two weeks minimum. Who knew plates are stronger if you pack them on end?

I only had one piece of intuition about packing that saved us money or time: using raw crafting items for cushioning. Over the years I have amassed quite the collection of yarn, felted wool sweaters, and a library of fabrics. We used these items to cushion ceramics and plates. Jean quilt squares were used in vases and coffee cups. Skeins of even the lowest-quality acrylic yarn cradled clocks with exposed faces. These materials were even used to pack most of my crafting gear, such as my swift or my embroidery/quilting hoops.

So if you are crafter about to move, do not de-stash your yarn and fabrics yet. Once you see the price of bubble wrap, you’ll have the only reason you need to stay a craft pack rat while you pack.

These pieces of felt went on to cushion figurines, lamps, and other breakables.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 8:47 am and is filed under activist craft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.