[lizzyborden]

Just wondering how many keep a book and/or list filled with ideas for future projects?

I officially started mine in 2013 when I spotted an orange composition book at Walmart. Before that I had notes everywhere--in the car, on the iPod, sticky notes (both paper and digital) and even throughout my sales book as it seems some of the best ideas came while working. I allotted a certain amount of pages for ideas, paper mache related recipes, my card exchange lists, sketches and specific projects in general. I underestimated the amount of pages I thought I needed and have expanded elsewhere in the book. I still jot notes elsewhere but transfer them when I have a chance.

Now after adding several pages of ideas and sketches I did from my daughter's recent hospital stay, I realize that it's almost time to add a second Halloween notebook. While I'm not a big fan of composition books, I do like the fact that the pages stay intact and I picked up two of the orange ones this year during the back-to-school sales.

Here's a photo of my current book. You can see the bookmarks and post-it flags peeking out from the top. Also it seems that every time I have a few stickers left over, they find their way on and inside of the notebook.

 

[Miss Hallows Eve]

What a great idea! I never have thought about this .... now I need to look through my stash and find a notebook (I know I have several) and begin ....

 

[Spooky McWho]

I have an orange binder that I fill with project ideas, shopping lists, layouts and a crude inventory list of suplies and where they are stored. Everything is divided by category. I bought some things to decorate it but unfortunately that is another unfinished project to add to my list.

 

[lizzyborden]

I have an orange binder that I fill with project ideas, shopping lists, layouts and a crude inventory list of suplies and where they are stored. Everything is divided by category. I bought some things to decorate it but unfortunately that is another unfinished project to add to my list.

You have a crude inventory? I'm so jealous! My totes are so scattered that I can't remember where anything is!

 

[Greenwick]

I had a section in a binder where I intended to organiz all my projects. Failed at using it - but maybe I'll make it Halloween only this coming year. I want to do a lot more next year, so I need to be organized.

 

[chachabella]

No paper notebook... just a pinterest page of things I like and possible projects.

https://www.pinterest.com/chachabella/halloween-ideas/

 

[mariem]

I have a Pinterest page of things that interest me.

I also have an orange binder (with tabs because I am annoying that way) for printed pages of things that inspire me to try to make them. I have a separate binder that contains printed pictures of all Halloween items & props I have ever bought or made.

I also have and a binder that has tabs for every costume I have made and all accessories have their own tab eg. Hats, gloves & stockings, wigs, masks etc. I also have a section for future costumes that I would like to make.

I do the same thing for my Christmas stuff and have pics of every ornament or decoration in a 4" binder. Yes, I do know how annoying that is.

Marie

 

[lizzyborden]

Oh if Pinterest ever decides to shut down I hope they give adequate warning. I shudder to think of how many hours of copying, pasting and printing I would have to do!

 

[Bratwitch]

Great idea. I so need to do something like this and be more organised instead of having separate lists everywhere! Post-its count as lists , right?

 

[Jenn&MattFromPA]

We don't have a binder, but we do have an organized collection of papers! The first year DH & I decided to decorate together, while we were dating, we thought it would be fun to keep a count of how many TOTers we got. So we've got one of those little magnet pads with Halloween pumpkins on them & lots of TOT counts for each year. They are stapled together by year, and then clipped all together. We have a total count on the front page now, starting in 2008, and we wrote what day of the week each Halloween has fallen on too. It's actually been a great help to see how many TOTers we might expect, and fun to look back on as it's grown.

I'm kind of the creative brains behind the setup & DH is mechanically inclined, so we also have lots of sketches of both small areas as well as the whole yard layout all stacked together too. Each are labeled with the year so that we know what belongs with what. In addition to the sketches, we have a "Lessons Learned" page for each year - as we are cleaning up & taking down, we write down things we want to remember for next year, such as "werewolf worked well under the tree", or "need more green extension cords" or "bought too much spider webbing", etc.

Then, we put all the paperwork together and put it in the last bin to be put away, so it's always the first bin out every year. We review the Lessons Learned page and review the sketches of the yard set up and then determine what we want to change. And we look at the night of the week Halloween falls on and the past year's turnout, and decide how much candy we should by.

Super helpful to have notes like this, at least for us!

 

[mrincredibletou]

I have folders for each year full of directions ideas and sketches

 

[LairMistress]

I have an orange binder, too!

It's full of blank paper, waiting for me to remember that I have it. (it had previously belonged to my mom, who decided that she had no use for it)

In the meantime, I also have at least four spiral bound notebooks bought during back to school sales, each with several pages of ideas and tips, too. Because I can never just nail down where the ONE book is, or the orange binder, for that matter--which you'd think wouldn't be difficult to lose, but I still do! The binder is really just a paper holder though, it has no pockets.

I used to have an actual inventory, and I used cardboard boxes, and wrote on the outside, what was inside. That was very helpful. I've gotten away from cardboard, and gone to totes, and haven't made an inventory list in years. Mostly because I didn't haunt for a few, and last year, I was just so bummed about not getting stuff done in time, and other stuff going on, I didn't even put the stuff away myself. I piled it in the basement and left it, and my thoughtful neat-freak boyfriend put it away...which is why I'm having such a difficult time finding things this year. Lesson learned.

I do love making lists, so I'll have to be sure to do that this year, and buy those pockets for my orange binder, and keep it in my craft desk, where it makes sense!

I also use Post Its, but the electronic kind. My background screen is covered with them!

 

[djm902]

I used to use a note book to do that, but after awhile I quit. I need start using it again because I am beginning to accumulate projects that are not being done.