5 Tips for a Successful PhD Box

It is time to dive into my PhD box and choose another “Project Half Done” to finish. 

But first let me tell you a little secret about my half-done box.  Many of the items in my box are there because I planned it that way.  You already know I put UFOs into my box - sometimes these are projects I’ve lost interest in or I found them too challenging at the time or maybe I needed something to complete them and I had not just gotten around to finding that item.But I have another class of PhD that is projects I plan on doing.  Usually these are quick and easy projects that I will use for gifting down the line.  Like the project I am finishing this week. 

I love to buy panels of fabric.  The panel could be for Christmas stockings like last week’s project or aprons, quilt panels or soft fabric books for kids. I love the books because they go together so quickly.   I get them on sale - never paying more than $3 a panel.  Then when I am watching my shows in the evening I will cut them out and put whatever pieces I have on hand that might be needed for the project into a large zip lock bag.  Also in the bag I put a list of whatever else I might need (if anything) to complete the project.  Then into the PhD box it goes until I need a quick gift. 

My best friend, Bea, just had a new grandbaby boy.  Along with the store-bought gift I like to add something homemade.  I knew I had some boy books in my box and I knew a book would be the perfect addition to my gift.    I knew I had already cut the polyester fiberfill that I would need.  Everything was all together and the whole thing was only going to take me 30 or so minutes to sew.

The bag I pulled from the box actually had 2 Thomas the train books in it.  It doesn’t take much longer to sew a second one than it does the first so I decided to complete both of them.  One for gifting now to one to tuck into another gift for another baby boy.  (I also have a box for completed items.)  You never know when you might need a quick gift. 

I love having a PhD box.  If you decide that this might be the way to go, let me share a few little tricks that I have learned over time. 

• Keep all the pieces of your project together in a zip lock bag.  I use the freezer weight zip lock bags because they are more durable. I buy them in all sizes to accommodate my different PhDs.   I have tried using those free grocery bags but they are not see thru and they do not hold up as well.  It’s not that expensive to use zip locks.  When I complete one project I recycle the bag.
• Keep an inventory of what is missing for the project.  This way if you are on a time crunch you can tell right away if you have what you need on hand.  If you have time you can add the items you need to the bag and update the inventory.  You also have a ready-made shopping list if you need to purchase anything. 
• Do not keep tools in the project bag.  I have made the mistake of doing that.  I once put my snap pliers in with a bag of baby bib pieces.  I then put it away in my PhD box.  In the meantime another project came up needing a snap.  I looked high and low for my pliers.  They were nowhere to be found.  I accused my children and grandchildren of using and losing them.  They all denied it.  I could not figure out for the life of me why a burglar would break into my home and only steal my snap pliers.  All that time they were residing inside the project bag in my box.  Now I keep the snaps in the bag but tool where it belongs.
• Keep the directions with the project.  Another good reason for the zip lock is so you can be sure you have the directions sealed inside the bag when you get ready to finish the project.   The only time I break this rule is when I don’t start with directions.  Sometimes I am just winging it.  I might be playing with something of my own design. I have a project design book that I keep notes in when I am working on something.  I just make sure I call the project by the same name and date it.  That way I can go back to my project notes to figure where in the heck I was going with something.   
• Pin pieces that go together together.  I pinned the pages of the book together the pages are pinned back to front and the entire book is pinned in page order.  This just helps make the whole project go together more smoothly without the needing a lot of trimming or guesswork.  There is not a lot of plot in these children picture books and sometimes it is hard to figure out what page goes next.  I usually pin backs and fronts right sides together.  This just makes the project go together so much more smoothly.