We're all guilty of it. Buying something for a project we saw and just have to do. Seeing an item and thinking, "I can totally make that for cheaper," and then you go prove it to yourself by purchasing all the necessary items. The paper you bought because of the photos you wanted to take. For the "I'm gonna decorate for (fill in the appropriate holiday or event)." Because it was too good a deal not to buy it (I may have some stamps I bought when Archivers was going out of business that fit this scenario.)
Look around your supplies and ask yourself, "Do I have a clear project in mind? Do I know immediately what I’m going to use the item for?"
In the case of the Maya Road tins (mentioned HERE ), I had plans to slide notecards or tiny treats in them for teacher or holiday gifts. That never happened. Like ever. The tins and I have said "sayonara." That whole Archivers buying trip. . .I picked up a pad of paper (and I don't like paper pads) with Classic Winnie the Pooh on it. My plan then, and still is, to use it for my, now, 5 y.o.'s baby book. I decorated his room in Classic Pooh and I did my best with his siblings' books to use paper that reflected their nurseries. So, while it still sits, I have a plan.
This goes for the big(ger) stuff too. . .did you buy a border punch because you were making a mini book and wanted a static design, but the book hasn't quite yet come to be? Did you pick up a Binder because you were making calendars, and we're mid-2014 and there are no calendars and the Binder is propping up your books?
Big or small, it can be hard to let go of a plan and the products you bought to achieve that plan. In the case of papers and such, do they still speak to you? Maybe not for the project you had in mind, but are they good for your everyday crafting? In the case of bigger ticket items, it's tricky because they aren't consumables, so they aren't necessarily an "every project" type of thing. We won't mention the whole "money spent" guilt.
In the case of the punch, it can be used on any number of other projects. Set it out with your everyday scrapbooking/cardmaking and make a point to use it on your next card or layout. For things like the Binder, you're going to need to weigh the reality of using it and you're going to need to be honest with yourself. Are you ever, really, going to use it? If you don't know how it works, make time, and soon, to learn it and then make a concerted effort to actually use it. If you can't even bring yourself to learn how to use it, it might be time to find a friend to sell/give it to, list it to CraigsList or eBay, or find a swap or local scrapbook store's garage sale.
We seem to heap a lot of guilt on ourselves for purchases made with good intentions, yet the plans never quite make it to fruition. Let go of the guilt. Crap happens. And, if you can't re-purpose the products, it's totally okay let go of the reminders.
Find three items that were project-bound that never quite made it to completion and let them go.
Go. Purge.
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