I have decided that this is the year - declutter - downsize - that's all the D words I can think of right now - but I'm going to do it. Not my dishes, mind you - though I won't be buying any for quite some time - at least until June - that is my plan. No thrift stores or yard sales!!
While de-cluttering I'll show you some pretties in our house that I don't plan to get rid of - the ones I'm showing today are the new ornaments I received this year as gifts.
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| A tiny white duck with holly and ribbon - from Ben's family |
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| Snowman ornament - made by Lori - from an old christmas card - love those googley eyes! |
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| Santa and his reindeer - putting out the fire they caused coming down the chimney - a gift from Don |
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| A reindeer made from a clothes pin - by Lori - at our family ornament making day this year |
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| Made from a vintage spool of thread - from my SIL, Jason |
Later in the evening
I'm back - we got the tree down - the decorations packed away - the outdoor decorations in the shed and tubs of decorations to our daughter's garage - and some tubs to our shed - things that won't be hurt by being in an unheated shed. It looks really nice in here now - Don has vacuumed and put the furniture back - ahhhh it looks normal again. I will do a little winter decorating over the next few days - I'll share that later.
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| A metal painted Santa - he was new last year - but I knew you wanted to see him |
1. Carpet shampooer to a place that repairs things like that (it was given to us and we can't fix it)
2. Power Washer to its other home
3-6 - worn out or broken ornaments to the trash
7-10 - Christmas tins to one of our daughters
11-12 - got rid of two cardboard storage boxes - replaced them with christmas tins I already had
13-14 - Mr and Mrs Santa - worn out from years of use - little embroidered pictures
15-19 - Shabby bows on the outdoor wreaths - 6 years is a good long life for that
20 - Wobbly and broken teddy bear - it is sad when they are no longer just shabby and cute - but really shabby
21-24 - Four snowflake ornaments with broken arms
25-28 - Four bags of candy to Don's work - bought too much
29 - Don's old robe to Goodwill (yes I had permission to give it away - he wanted a cotton one and got it for christmas - the old one is still good - just not what he prefers)
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| The Washington State Ferry - all decked out - with Santa riding on top - from Ben's family |
There you go - I'm 7 days ahead - and lots more to go. Things will be nice and orderly by the time I'm done - perhaps tomorrow I will attack my closet. Or maybe I'll crochet and have a day off, what do you think?
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| And our coffee table - with all the seaside items decked out with shiny red balls - I love how they glitter in the lights from the tree. |
Are you de-cluttering? Letting go of things?
Happy New Year, JoAnn. I have started decluttering my studio, so that I can start fresh and clean on 1st Jan. I've already thrown quite a few things out, but haven't been counting, maybe I'll start counting today and see if I can keep up with you. x x x
ReplyDeleteI hope that de-clutter bug is catching, I've got a lot of things that need to be sorted and tossed.
ReplyDeleteI have never been a hoarder JoAnne, so I don't feel the need to declutter really. The only thing is that I collect hares - ornaments, pictures, cards etc. and they are getting a bit much - but I could never bear to part with them.
ReplyDeleteOh I am sure your decluttering will be good for you. Could you come and help me I have too many memories and should throw things out but my oh my it is hard sometimes. Love your photos. Hug B
ReplyDeleteI tend to do this on an ongoing basis--when I start to feel crowded up I start clearing out. Even so there's a lot of stuff here. I find that my creativity is fed by having lots of creative things around me--not piled up, but arranged to be pleasing to the eye. No clean, cool vistas for me :) I like color, shapes, interesting objects, odd little stones, pretty cups, and always glittering glass!
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I always seem to be trying to declutter, and keep finding more and more and more that we don't need/use. But I live with Grizz.....nuff said!
ReplyDeleteYes I've done this two times in my life, I love doing it, letting 'things' go, clearing out the clutter, my first major one was at 40 when I gave or sold almost everything, then at 60 downsized and have very little 'stuff' left, minimalism at its finest..I am a Libra so love things and this wasn't as easy as it sounds for me however the end result is so liberating that it is well worth it.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! That is my goal for the new year too. I haven't started yet. Another goal for me is to not procrastinate.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year and decluttering!
First of all, I love the ornaments you shared. Secondly, I am proud of you, and you have inspired me! Way tot go, my friend!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year! May you stick to your guns with this resolution!
xo
Sheila
I loved seeing all your new ornaments - so cute - I love the little spool :) You are going to inspire me, JoAnn - I really like the idea of having a goal of 4 a day! I have lots of drawers to de-clutter and that would be a perfect goal. I wish you a much more de-cluttered New Year, my friend! But I would definitely take the day off first to crochet. Just sayin'....:)
ReplyDeleteGood for you to declutter! That's a wonderful goal to do 4 things per day. I tend to declutter as I go, except for my fabric stash, which can get out of hand and needs sorting through periodically. Stuff can just overwhelm me if I don't take care of it.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, JoAnne.
That's what we need to do, happy new year.
ReplyDeleteBravo!! I'm looking forward to hearing about your progress. Figuring out a number target is probably not as overwhelming as "time to clean out our closet," which I've been attempting in fits and starts. I had a mini-something bug that slowed down my year-end momentum but I'm building up steam for a D&D attack, too.
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, You have really inspired me! I've been telling you about my storage problems and now is the time to address the issue. I am up to the challenge - four items a day for a year! I can do it too, I know I can. I love the way you are tracking your progress, I think that by blogging about decluttering will help you stay on track. Great thinking. I have been so overwhelmed by the magnitude of my "stuff" I can barely function. Thank you so much! I needed a kick in the but to get started and today will be the day I start decluttering too!
ReplyDeleteI do love your sentimental ornaments. Homemade is the best! I love the vintage spool of thread the best of all.