Not quite a horder - decluttering

Organization in progress!

Wow! I’m avoiding my closet. The bigger the mess the easier to hide presents. Her bday is 3/17. I’m hoping my bathing suit is in there. How do you lose a suit?

She came away with three other outfits.

A nightgown with pantaloons. Where would I find a nightcap or make one? I’m not a seamstress. Duct tape is my friend

A 70 year old communion dress and she knew her.

A flower girl in the same shade and fabric as my baby blanket.

My ex came over and helped kids clean the garage. I didn’t even look in the bin.

Varga, great tidying!

Heather, years ago, I also repurposed my so-called china cabinet, what I referred to as a hutch. The upper part had three arched glass doors and two long shelves. I never came across any special dishware I liked to display in it, so using a hot glue gun, I pleated a red-berries-on-white fabric on the inside of the glass to look like curtains. Then I stashed old and new checks, photographs, cookbooks, stamps, envelopes and return address lables, birthday, sympathy and thank you cards, ect. I had a computer hutch nearby but it had little storage space, so the disguised hutch worked out well and no one knew what the heck was behind those glass doors!

Spring cleaning and decluttering in the kitchen, bathroom, living room and master bedroom during February will continue till May Day.

A deer watching me clean and declutter in the living room.

The school where my kids went, and where I now substitute is no longer taking boxes of books. However, some of the teachers said they will take bags of books if I bring the bags directly to them.

Art teacher takes the big bottles (like protein powder) directly. (Our town no longer accepts.)

Kindergarten teacher is taking clam shells for an art project. (I love stuffed clams and scallops.)

Local Whole Foods is taking books for a literacy project. 

When I was trying to get rid of lots of books the local National Kidney Foundation chapter was the only charity who collected in my neighborhood who would pick them up. I’m a voracious reader and my sister garage sales in a two college town, so I always have sacks & sacks of books that she picks up for a quarter a piece.

Jazzy, deer is eating the birds sunflower seeds.

My decluttering and organizing leads me to see old spaces with fresh eyes. Just got this new small rug to replace a very old one. Absolutely love it. I think my kitty, Baby Sydney, does too.

Gumdoctor, that's a pretty reading nook! Does the cat let you sit there once in a while? 😊

I wish I could have a cuddly cat, but due to allergies, our cats have to be outdoor kitties. One of them is still very spoiled and loves to be with us when we're outside, but we don't have a lap cat.

Gumdoctor: that’s a lovely chair in a lovely room. Thank you for rescuing the kitties.

My family had cats when I was growing up but I’m now allergic to cats. I can only admire them from afar.

Gumdoctor--I giggled at your belt collector comment, then realized that I have just as many scarves! We all collect odd things, don't we?

“Scarves are better because they don't scold you.“

Great line, Wren!!

I have lots of clothes in my closet that are scolding me.

Wrenn - I love purses. What about a small-ish messenger bag that would hold a sketch pad and paints as well as the other essentials? I used to carry the smallest purse possible, but since I need glasses for distance I am on the hunt for a slightly larger purse so that I can carry my glasses with me when we attend shows or sporting events.

So now that I have messenger bags in mind, I might look for one - something cool looking - thinking canvas because I am always searching for the "healthiest" product.

What in the world to do with all the pictures? My parent's wedding, my Mother growing up, my Dad's first Model T. I have one male child who has no children and isn't interested in the 10/12 albums of his own childhood, let alone all the pictures of my childhood. He might like one or two pictures. One brother is deceased (and I have all his pictures to deal with). The other brother isn't interested & has one son who has no children & doesn't even want one picture. It makes no sense to spend the time/money to convert to digital since no one but me even wants to look the pictures, but it just seems criminal to toss all these loved memories.

Old pictures - I like Native Maine's idea about donating old pics to a historical society. If that doesn't work, I would pare down the number by going through them and choosing a sample of pics I wanted to keep for myself and tossing the rest. I have gone through some of our old photo albums from when I was a kid/teen and the first few years of marriage and saved a sampling. However, we still have tons more from the most recent 20 years. Eventually, we will throw out more pics because I do not think our daughter will want them.

I recently threw out old high school yearbooks. I saved my senior year, tore out a few pages from my junior and sophomore years and tucked them into my senior yearbook. I graduated 30+ years ago and have not looked at them much even in the last few years when trying to place a familiar name/face when perusing facebook. I saved my senior yearbook in case I go to another reunion and need to memorize names/faces to avoid embarrassing situations when I can't remember somebody.