As promised, here are photos of some of the stuff we finally got rid of this weekend, as we made a big push in the basement clean-up project.
Vintage Daddy took two loads of stuff to the dump, as well as a load we donated to Value Village. We have one more pile that we’re taking to an organization that serves homeless families, and we need to hire someone to haul away an ancient (and enormous) freezer and an equally ancient rowing machine someone gave us ages ago.
There were certain things we had trouble with: some of the baby equipment and clothing, and a big box of china that my husband’s mom (who died too young) handpainted.
We agreed to set some space aside for “stuff we can’t deal with now” and move on. There’s still plenty to do before we can start to clean and paint.
It’s very exciting to talk about plans for the space. We’ll still have storage for kitchen and pantry overflow; sporting equipment, luggage, those kinds of things. For the living space, we’re planning a workout area and a nice, large play/art area for my daughter. I think she’ll enjoy being down there more and more as she gets older.
My only fear is that we’ll somehow lose steam, and months and months will go by without any more progress. I guess it will be up to me to keep the project moving – stay tuned!
This week’s Holidays by Hand host is Rachel at smallnotebook.org. Visit her blog for more fun papercrafting ideas!
I have a lot of scrapbook paper around. In the spirit of frugality, simplicity, and re-purposing, I decided that I would try to use some of it to make holiday gifts this year.
My idea was to make monogrammed notecards. I gave it a go this weekend and I think they’re turning out pretty well.
These “prototype” cards were very simple to make. I decided to use size A2 envelopes (4.375″ x 5.75″) , so the flat size of the cards is either 4″x11″ or 8″x5.5″ (depending on orientation) and the folded size is 4″x5.5″. I used my 1-1/2″ circle die cutter (a glorified hole punch) to punch a circle in the front of the note, and then I stamped the inside back with a single letter in a complementary color. I also experimented with stamping a monogram on card stock, cutting it out with my die cutter, and then adhering it to the front of the card. (That’s the card with the yellow paper with red flowers and a “J” on the front).
It’s a little tricky to get the monogram in just the right place, especially if you’re not an experienced stamper, (and I’m not) but clear acrylic stamps make this a lot easier. Of course you can use any number of die cut shapes and sizes, as well as styles and sizes of letter stamps. I’m also planning to make one set of notes for Vintage Girl’s birthgrandma using a dragonfly stamp and iridescent ink on solid color cards.
For the monogrammed notes, my plan is to make sets of 6-8 notes in different designs, each with a matching envelope, tied together with ribbon. I think they’ll make very nice gifts, and it feels good to use craft supplies I already have to create something new. Plus I’m having a great time getting back to the craft table – too much blogging means very little crafting these days!
Holidays by Hand is a six-week festival featuring handmade holiday gifts. If you’d like to join in, the contact information for each blogger host is here.
Holidays by Hand (a brainstorm of yours truly) is a six-week festival of bloggers sharing ideas for handmade holiday gifts. I’ll be hosting the last week, on December 9th, with recipes for homemade food gifts.
This week, Tsh at simplemom.net starts us off with ideas for holiday gifts you can sew.
I didn’t submit anything this week because sewing always sends me screaming to the nearest chocolate bar – or it did when I was a teenager. Now I suppose it would send me screaming to the nearest wine bottle.
In any case, Tsh is clearly much more competent and talented than I am in this department, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy her post today.
Next week: Rachel at smallnotebook will share papercraft gift projects.
If you’re interested in joining the festival to submit some handmade gift ideas, you can find contact information here.H
After a very unproductive week in my ongoing basement declutter project, we made some headway this weekend.
My husband took our ancient, broken old computer and the giant monitor to the recycler. For only $10 a piece, they’ll dispose of the toxic elements and recyle the rest – what a great deal!
This week I need to finally finish up the holiday room, and organize whatever odds and ends are left to be donated or consigned.
Next weekend is the big push, where we rent a small truck for a dump run and get rid of the trash. Vintage Girl will be with her auntie, so we hope to spend some time together over a nice meal, planning what to do with all the wonderful space we’ve created.
I promised Marelisa I’d post photos of the piles we haul out, so stay tuned!
Holidays by Hand (a brainstorm of yours truly) is a six-week festival of bloggers sharing ideas for handmade holiday gifts. I’ll be hosting the last week, on December 9th, with recipes for homemade food gifts.
This week, Tsh at simplemom.net starts us off with ideas for holiday gifts you can sew.
I didn’t submit anything this week because sewing always sends me screaming to the nearest chocolate bar – or it did when I was a teenager. Now I suppose it would send me screaming to the nearest wine bottle.
In any case, Tsh is clearly much more competent and talented than I am in this department, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy her post today.
Next week: Rachel at smallnotebook will share papercraft gift projects.
If you’re interested in joining the festival to submit some handmade gift ideas, you can find contact information here.
Progress Report: No Progress
Posted on: October 30, 2008
I had really hoped to take several loads of stuff to the consignment store or to be donated this week, but it didn’t happen; life got in the way.
Vintage Girl has been home sick for three days, and when she’s sick she gives new meaning to the phrase “high-maintenance”. I’ve had to spend any spare moments working at my “real” job . . . yeah, they actually expect me to work and get my projects done, bummer.
So, I hope to be back at it next week – we have much too much fun stuff planned this weekend to work on decluttering.
Happy Halloween!
I forgot to take photographs of all the stuff we hauled out of the basement last week. For those of you who have a little time to kill, here’s the list – or what I can remember anyway – this is what I call decluttering!!
We started with a giant bag of clothing that Community Services for the Blind picked up.
The rest went to a consignment store where they will donate what they can’t sell to a local organization that supports foster children – perfect and easy.
The big things were two full-size rocking chairs (never used); one child-size rocking chair (never used); and a wooden rocking horse (not used for at least four years).
Then there were the dollhouse (we still have a nice wooden one); Lincoln Logs; pattern blocks, a “chest” full of dress-up clothes; a set of twin bed sheets; alphabet blocks; plain wooden blocks; several teething toys; a Baby Bjorn; and an electric bottle warmer (couldn’t have lived without that when we used it – highly recommended!)
My husband has promised to dispose of the computer, printer and monitor that have been down there for 3+ years, and I’m still chipping away at the clothing.
I had hoped to get a lot done today, but Vintage Girl is home sick with a fever, so I’ll have to tackle it another day. I know, most kids would happily sit in front of the TV, but she’s not most kids – at least in that regard. She has never enjoyed TV, but that’s another post on another blog!
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree!
Posted on: October 22, 2008
This song was going around and around in my head as I collected stuff to take to the consignment store today. Among the treasures: two teething rings, which is how the tune started playing! (Is it in your head now?)
Today Community Services for the Blind picked up an enormous bag of clothes; tonight I washed out two sets of stacking cups, sorted blocks and Lincoln Logs and Tinker Toys, and all of that stuff will be out the door! I’d love to toss a couple dozen Polly Pockets (and their rubbery little clothes), but that would spell disaster!
I’ll post some photos of the piles later this week; perhaps they’ll inspire you to do some purging at your house!
One Bag Nation on Hiatus
Posted on: October 15, 2008
My husband and I have decided to tackle the basement clean-out once and for all. I’ll have a little time off from work at the end of October, and I’ve committed to delivering the things we want to donate to the appropriate places, putting a few things on Craig’s List and gathering up all the junk that needs to go to the dump.
We can’t do any of this with DD around; she can’t part with anything! We’ve arranged for her to spend the weekend with my niece in early November and we’ll rent a truck and haul away the trash then. With any luck, we’ll have all the work done by Saturday afternoon and we’ll be able to enjoy a nice lunch or dinner and a movie together. That’s a huge treat for us, even if we haven’t tackled an enormous project!
All this to say that in order to ensure I have time to get this done, I’m not going to post here for a bit. You all know how much time blogging can take, and I feel like I just need to give it a rest while I focus on the basement for a few days. And it seems perfectly appropriate to take a break from your blog about decluttering and getting organized so you can actually declutter and get organized!
I’ll keep you posted as I make progress!
Today is Blog Action Day 2008, and many thousands of bloggers all around the world will be writing about this year’s topic: poverty. I guess I’ve sort of turned the topic around here at One Bag Nation, as my post title suggests.
An enormous number of bloggers and websites are devoted to decluttering, simplifying and downsizing. It seems that many of us are overwhelmed by our stuff, so much so that it feels suffocating and paralyzing and interferes with daily life. We get to a place where we can’t stand it anymore, and the Great Decluttering begins. We have so much stuff we can throw it away!
Today, on Blog Action Day, I’m reflecting on this excess we call clutter – and reminding myself that clutter is a luxury; clutter comes with affluence; and ironically, for some, clutter tries to meet a need that stuff can never meet.
Those whose unmet needs are much more basic – clean water, adequate food, and shelter – to name a few, can’t even imagine having too much, just as it’s nearly impossible for me to imagine not knowing if I’ll have enough food for my family today.
Stress and anxiety about too much stuff seems obscene in the context of dire poverty and need, yet our stress and anxiety are real, and the consumerism that dominates our culture does nothing to help us gain perspective.
The simplicity movement gives me hope that we are waking up to another way of living, where joy and satisfaction come from what we do and whom we love and not from what we own.
One Bag Nation 