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At some point during fall—or even earlier in the year—you probably had what seemed like a brilliant idea at the time. Instead of shopping and spending a ton of money this year to buy gifts for everyone on your list, you would simply make them gifts. After all, you are a talented artisan, and homemade gifts are more special anyway, right? You get to personalize them and everything.

So you picked up a bunch of craft supplies, and maybe in the beginning you did a lot of work. But then you got caught up in Halloween and Thanksgiving. By the time you got back to your craft room, it was a mess. You struggled to pick up the threads of what you were doing (pun intended), and now you are faced with working frantically all hours of the night to get all the gifts done in time—assuming of course you do not just give up and head to the store after all.

How can you prevent a crafting crisis next year? Here are a few tips to get holiday craft clutter under control and ensure that you tackle more realistic projects:

• First of all, spend some time organizing craft supplies and organizing your craft room. A couple of craft storage bins on wheels can make a huge difference when it comes to keeping everything neat, convenient, and easy to find and use.

• Make an actual list of recipients and the gifts you are planning for them in advance. Do not allow yourself to become overcommitted. Actually figure out how long one craft will take you, and then do the multiplication. Do you really have the hours to make all these crafts for all these people? You may just want to make holiday crafts for the most important people on your list, and buy gifts for the rest—or make the more challenging projects only for the most special people, and easier projects for the rest.

• Take a look at past projects to see what you completed and what you did not. If you find a number of unfinished crafts from last year, or the year before … or the year before that … you are trying to take on more than you can handle each year. Scale back on your ambition a bit. That way you can actually finish your gifts this year and stop adding to your craft closet clutter.

It is tempting to want to make the most amazing handcrafted gifts ever for every person on your holiday list—but each of us has a finite amount of time. If you want to challenge yourself to learn something new or push your skills to the next level, by all means, do so—but be realistic about it. Trying to make a master-level craft for 20 people on your list does not make a lot of sense if you are a relative beginner. Choose projects you can complete this year, and you will eliminate a lot of stress and hassle from your holiday season. You may think the easier craft is less exciting, but your recipients will just be thrilled they got a handmade gift!