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Post by Scrapper100 on Apr 26, 2024 1:12:18 GMT
For some reason, DH has this habit of filling those big totes...the 30 quart ones...and not putting the lids on. I finally had enough and threw 2 of them in the recycler along with a bunch of lids. I have a bunch more empty ones in the basement and if they don't have lids, they're going bye-bye too. It's very liberating! I've also thrown out a bunch of partially completed projects. I read that on a blog somewhere. Get rid of what you haven't completed as it ends up being a source of stress, which is completely true. Let's see what else I can get rid of this weekend. Yes on releasing unfinished projects. It feels good. Sometimes I find one and like it enough to finish but other times they just need to disappear. I have keep some thinking oh I will finish them someday. Come across them a few more times and then decide why am I keeping them? And out they go. |
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,761 
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Post by mich5481 on Apr 26, 2024 1:29:00 GMT
I toted a 35 pound of dog food upstairs and realized that I've lost more than 2.5 times as much weight over the past year. As a reward, I've put my nice Columbia winter jacket in the donate pile, as the Michael Kors one I used this past winter is slightly smaller than it (and even it is too big). 🤞 when winter hits, I'll need to go out and buy an even smaller jacket to wear. I have a few other clothes to add to the donate pile, and I even have an Office themed coffee mug I plan to get rid of. Small progress is still progress. Congratulations 🎉 on the weight loss that is quite the accomplishment. Thank you! |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Apr 26, 2024 13:23:54 GMT
I bought my last few swimsuits from Costco, two Miraclesuits with tankini tops and skirted bottoms several years ago (haven’t seen them since though) and more recently a cute one piece swim dress that I ordered online through Costco.com that I never saw in the store. Swimsuits are the kind of thing that when I see one I like I just buy it because with my luck if I think about it too long my size will be sold out by the time I go back. Have you checked at Target? I just looked on their app and filtered for pick up in store and they have several more modest tankini style tops and boy short or skirted bottoms plus quite a few full coverage one piece swimsuits too. |
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Post by dewryce on Apr 26, 2024 13:28:17 GMT
Junonia has some great athletic swimsuits as well.
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Post by dewryce on Apr 26, 2024 14:03:34 GMT
Daily declutter task from My Simpler Life Declutter Calendar:
Declutter one laundry room shelf.
We need to hang a step stool that is kept in the laundry, so I will order a bracket to hold it behind the door. (Eta: Done! The only thing left to do in here is buy a new fire extinguisher. Are yours expired?
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Post by Linda on Apr 26, 2024 14:31:55 GMT
Thanks for the swimsuit help. Target is a good idea and next time we're in the city, I'll check there (not this weekend but next) - we're about an hour away. Well done dewryceI need to check on the fire extinguishers |
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Apr 26, 2024 15:38:14 GMT
This week I spent nearly a full day in my sewing room going through another two shelves of fabrics. That involves pulling it all down, refolding it all (so that creases don't set and ruin the fabric), the reorganizing how it is stored. About 6 rather large pieces of decorator fabrics were removed from the sewing room completely. They are the fabrics left from redecorating projects in 2013 and 2017. Since much of that furniture is in DD's apartment now, I will just store those fabrics in the storage unit. The rest will be donated. It isn't much but it does give me a bit more breathing room, both physically and creatively. There is one more shelf to go through that is filled with vintage fabrics, both decorator and craft/garment. I need to get that organized in a manner that allows me to access them easier and then actually start using it! May need to do a Container Store run for that to happen. I haven't been in several months so they probably miss me!  |
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Post by dewryce on Apr 26, 2024 19:48:28 GMT
This week I spent nearly a full day in my sewing room going through another two shelves of fabrics. That involves pulling it all down, refolding it all (so that creases don't set and ruin the fabric), the reorganizing how it is stored. About 6 rather large pieces of decorator fabrics were removed from the sewing room completely. They are the fabrics left from redecorating projects in 2013 and 2017. Since much of that furniture is in DD's apartment now, I will just store those fabrics in the storage unit. The rest will be donated. It isn't much but it does give me a bit more breathing room, both physically and creatively. There is one more shelf to go through that is filled with vintage fabrics, both decorator and craft/garment. I need to get that organized in a manner that allows me to access them easier and then actually start using it! May need to do a Container Store run for that to happen. I haven't been in several months so they probably miss me! The Container Store is on my list.  (I didn’t think I’d ever utter those words). You know I’ve had their Elfa for over 30 years now. It was white in the beginning but quite a while back they added a platinum option. It’s the same metal as the popular garage shelving units. Anyway, just about my favorite thing about them is that even though they add new products, they work seamlessly with their old products. All of the new spaces where we use Elfa we chose the platinum option. They are discontinuing it in favor of a trendy graphite option. And we don’t have the money right now to finish outfitting our master closet like we wanted to. So we basically need to start over with that closet when the time comes and utilize these pieces elsewhere. And right now I’m not sure I’m willing to do that with no assurances that I’ll be able to add to it later. Thankfully, our shelving wall in the garage is at max capacity. Plus, they’re also discontinuing their Elfa Utility line. That’s not a huge deal, we are ordering the few pieces we want for the future. But it does concern me about the future direction of the company with their long term staple products. /end rant thanks for listening I’m glad to get that off of my chest. I never would have considered that aspect of fabric storage! I have 2 bolts of fabric, how long until it becomes an issue? Good job on going through your room! I find only having my favorite of my favorite in my stash (and around my house) is super motivating and hope it is the same for you. |
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Post by ntsf on Apr 26, 2024 23:56:57 GMT
my study/scraproom/library has been given a go through.. still not where I want it but so much better.. now have to haul 6 loads to the basement..there are 10 cardboard boxes to be put in recycling. getting ready for good will run monday..
and I started on my upstairs spare room.. in about 20 mins.. more sorted, not done. I've been dumping stuff there.
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Post by dewryce on Apr 27, 2024 11:46:58 GMT
Daily declutter task from My Simpler Life Declutter Calendar: Give away games you and your family no longer play.We have done this a couple of times this year, but DH has been resistant with some even though we don’t play them because he thinks they’re cool  . But a week or two ago, probably when we were actually picking a game to play, he said he’d be willing to reconsider by doing what I’m doing with my movies to pare them down even more, which is watching them once and then deciding. Sold! And I have to admit, I am getting rid of a lot more movies than I thought I’d be willing to, I really thought the movies I had remaining were some I’d be bummed not to be able to watch if they weren’t streaming. Lifelong favorites some of them. So, he is selecting a handful at a time he thinks I should reconsider and putting them in my craft room to watch, you know to take my emotion out of it. First of all, he has clearly never met me because a few of them I had to stop myself from beating him over the head with for even suggesting them! Fly Away Home!?!? I told him he could pry it from my cold dead hands. (No lie he might have considered it when I told him that  ). With that strong of a reaction I thought I was good to keep them. So immediately back to the entertainment center they went. Secondly…he might know me a little bit. Because when actually faced with ‘watch them NOW’ I found I didn’t want to watch several of them and others I’ve watched and then easily decided to get rid of. Most of them actually. I’m not sure why I didn’t think to do this before with them, it works really well when I take some of his (whatever) out of their home that I think are good candidates for donation and then he goes through them. So, if you’re struggling with a particular category, consider asking someone who knows you well to select some items for you to consider. For them to physically take them out of their location to a neutral one. Your gut reaction might surprise you. I found a new to me YouTuber recently that might be helpful for some of y’all. She really talks through her entire thought process when making decisions and it is super relatable and helpful for me. Erica Lucas. With each video or two I watch, after watching her make (and remake) the hard decisions, I am motivated to really go through one small area or category and it’s much easier to let go of things. Usually the category pops to mind as I’m watching the video, and it’s often not the area she is working on. But her thought processes sort of resonate with me regarding something I’m holding on to for similar reasons, it just sort of pops into my mind on its own. |
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Post by cecilia on Apr 27, 2024 12:18:40 GMT
This weekend is the free dumpsters the city puts around town. We have about 4 loads to take.
Finally got rid of the craft supplies. I took them to a local shelter for women and kids. Shelter has a thrift store. I requested with the lady taking the donation that I would like the supplies to go to the kids to work with. In the end, I guess all that matters is that the stuff is gone. We donated a van load of stuff.
We are taking a van load to a extension/volunteer group some friends are in. they are having a yard sale to raise funds for their projects. (Their projects are nursing scholarships and supporting military vets).
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Apr 27, 2024 13:45:02 GMT
dewryce - My method of decluttering DVDs would have sent you over the edge! I just bagged up all 100 or so without a second glance and donated them all. Threw in the DVD player as well! DH fully embraced streaming, as well as purchasing/renting movies online. I have always been a one and done with anything I watch (either tv or movie) so I was never going to watch them again. Not a lot of decluttering happening this weekend. Hired a new gardening service and they are spending two days getting my yard back in shape (it was seriously neglected last year with DH's health issues). They ended up with some extra flowers and asked if I had any extra pots. So four were claimed from behind the garage to be put back to use. That's as close as it is going to get. Finally got rid of the craft supplies. I took them to a local shelter for women and kids. Shelter has a thrift store. I requested with the lady taking the donation that I would like the supplies to go to the kids to work with. In the end, I guess all that matters is that the stuff is gone. We donated a can load of stuff. It is hard to do, but once we decide to let go of stuff we really can't stipulate what they do with the items. I totally understand the feeling though.
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Post by cecilia on Apr 27, 2024 13:48:02 GMT
dewryce - My method of decluttering DVDs would have sent you over the edge! I just bagged up all 100 or so without a second glance and donated them all.  Threw in the DVD player as well!   DH fully embraced streaming, as well as purchasing/renting movies online. I have always been a one and done with anything I watch (either tv or movie) so I was never going to watch them again.  Not a lot of decluttering happening this weekend. Hired a new gardening service and they are spending two days getting my yard back in shape (it was seriously neglected last year with DH's health issues). They ended up with some extra flowers and asked if I had any extra pots. So four were claimed from behind the garage to be put back to use.  That's as close as it is going to get.  Finally got rid of the craft supplies. I took them to a local shelter for women and kids. Shelter has a thrift store. I requested with the lady taking the donation that I would like the supplies to go to the kids to work with. In the end, I guess all that matters is that the stuff is gone. We donated a can load of stuff. It is hard to do, but once we decide to let go of stuff we really can't stipulate what they do with the items. I totally understand the feeling though.  I even told the lady that I knew I was giving it to them and in the end I knew that they were going to do whatever they wanted to with them. I wanted the stuff gone in the end, tbh. We needed the room in my shed too. My Dad is still buying storage units and we need the space. |
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Post by dewryce on Apr 27, 2024 13:51:47 GMT
**GypsyGirl** Yep, woulda sent me right over the edge  We’ll, if you had tried that with some of mine, not your own, I would have held the bag for you! We watch our faves over and over. One movie we started again as soon as it was over! But, this made me realize I can still park way down. For mine anyway, DH watches his a lot more frequently. Oh I’m jealous, I bet it will look so good when they’re done! cecilia That sounds like huge progress, so happy for you!
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,761
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Post by mich5481 on Apr 27, 2024 15:24:17 GMT
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Post by cecilia on Apr 27, 2024 15:58:12 GMT
Took two loads to the dumpsters and 2 bags to the drug take back.
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Post by **GypsyGirl** on Apr 27, 2024 18:50:44 GMT
Good idea. Another tip is to switch the initial photo to B&W. It's a great tool to do for an entire room as well. When see the photo in color you notice individual items and colors. Switch to B&W and the general clutter and piles will jump out at you. There are no pretty shiny objects to distract you. It's a technique I use in quilting all the time as well because it allows you to focus on the pattern layout and values of colors, rather than the actual fabric colors/prints. |
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Post by crazy4scraps on Apr 27, 2024 20:07:34 GMT
I have a whole shelf full of animated movies on DVD/Blu-ray, a lot of Disney but some longtime favorite Rankin/Bass stop motion Christmas shows too. We do watch them from time to time. I won’t ever give up the Christmas ones because most of the streaming services no longer show some of them anymore. I already got rid of the kid ones people gave us that DD didn’t have a lot of interest in like Veggie Tales, Dora, Little Einsteins, etc.
Somewhere we have a box of games at home that I should find and take to the lake cabin now that DD is old enough to play them.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Apr 27, 2024 21:14:44 GMT
This morning I got the rest of my summer clothes put in my bedroom and most of the winter clothes put in bins to go in the crawl Space. Obviously I still need some warmer clothes year around, though. Took ds shopping for some clothes and didn’t buy anything for myself.  I want to go through food this weekend as well. |
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Post by dewryce on Apr 27, 2024 21:16:24 GMT
That’s a great idea! When I was in the thick of decluttering I took photos of the back of my car for all of my donation trips. It may not seem like a lot when you’re taking one or two boxes to donate, but when you look at the whole gallery the sheer quantity of the donations are obvious. |
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mich5481
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,761
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Post by mich5481 on Apr 27, 2024 21:32:03 GMT
I worked a little in the pantry, and took an entire brown paper bag full of expired food to the dump today. I also cleaned out a bunch from the fridge as well. I'm going to do my best to get my mom to stop buying so much stuff that I simply won't eat and that she's stopped eating (for example, I pitched a ton of bacon and sausage today).
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Post by ntsf on Apr 27, 2024 22:50:50 GMT
worked in my extra room yesterday progress made.. tackled the basement this morning.. added more to garbage pile and goodwill pile. found two boxes my kid needs to go through while she is here from new zealand. added 10 empty boxes to recycle bin..
I make good progress when my dh is out of town
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Post by Linda on Apr 28, 2024 0:38:20 GMT
wow- sounds like awesome progress happening! I got my scrapbook area purged and cleaned and reorganised this week - finishing it up today (and tomorrow) by going through my collection kits and moving the keepers from ziploc bags to plastic envelopes (thanks dewryce for the suggestion!) Also working on some digital decluttering - my itunes library is an unholy mess - with albums split and duplicates and...so I'm going through and reassembling the albums that Apple so kindly split and deleting duplicates and then I'll update my playlists which I haven't done in...many years |
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Post by cecilia on Apr 28, 2024 16:09:48 GMT
My Dad has taken 2 more loads to the free dumpsters. Don't know if he will take more. Have 4 hours left to do so.
Trying to get stuff ready to give to friends for their yard sale. Their second extension/volunteer group focuses on nursing scholarships and military vets. Their yard sale helps fund it. Hope to have them a van load (or two) of stuff to sell.
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Post by iamkristinl16 on Apr 28, 2024 18:56:13 GMT
I’m pretty much done getting my son’s room cleaned out. I went through the sheets and have some to donate. I also cleaned the floors upstairs and will do the rest today as well. General tidying up.
I’m finding myself not really wanting to get rid of much, but at the same time feeling overwhelmed with the process and the stuff. I think a big part of that is that I am doing it all myself. I don’t know about the rest of you but my Dh does not do any type of deep cleaning or decluttering. Even all of the garbage and recycling from yesterday is still sitting here. He will probably eventually take that out but a little initiative to help would be appreciated. Does anyone else get frustrated by this? Or do your significant others and family members also help?
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Post by Linda on Apr 28, 2024 19:27:54 GMT
I’m pretty much done getting my son’s room cleaned out. I went through the sheets and have some to donate. I also cleaned the floors upstairs and will do the rest today as well. General tidying up. I’m finding myself not really wanting to get rid of much, but at the same time feeling overwhelmed with the process and the stuff. I think a big part of that is that I am doing it all myself. I don’t know about the rest of you but my Dh does not do any type of deep cleaning or decluttering. Even all of the garbage and recycling from yesterday is still sitting here. He will probably eventually take that out but a little initiative to help would be appreciated. Does anyone else get frustrated by this? Or do your significant others and family members also help? (((Hugs))) It can be frustrating to be the only cleaning or decluttering. Especially if the others in the household tend to contribute to the mess and clutter. My biggest frustrations are the fact that clean, cleared surfaces never stay clean and cleared and there always seems to be piles of stuff in places where we've agreed there won't be. Also because I don't drive, I'm reliant on DH to take me to drop off recycling and donations and that can often be like pulling teeth to get done. |
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Post by cat2007 on Apr 28, 2024 19:34:01 GMT
Today DH and I finally cleaned out our bedroom closets. What a chore that was! We filled 2 bags of trash and 2 bags to donate. I'm going to take a break, go back and look at things again and see what else I can get rid of.
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Post by ntsf on Apr 28, 2024 20:13:49 GMT
I make so much progress when dh is out of town. I do need him to look at some stuff, so i try to present him with small group of items to decide on.. I do need him to go to the basement and make big decisions but it is tough to get him to actually do it.. lots of avoidance. he does support me.. he would just throw out everything.. I take more care than that..
I like to do it in small chunks too.. 1 hour here, an hour there. taking apart his mom's house will be a nightmare I will want far more than he does.
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Post by alsomsknit on Apr 28, 2024 20:37:15 GMT
Daily declutter task from My Simpler Life Declutter Calendar: Declutter one laundry room shelf. We need to hang a step stool that is kept in the laundry, so I will order a bracket to hold it behind the door. (Eta: Done! The only thing left to do in here is buy a new fire extinguisher. Are yours expired?That’s a great tip! I bet the fire extinguisher has been under the sink for 15 years. Tossed a box of Ice Pops dated 2011 this morning. I’m not sure what I was looking for when I spotted the box. I need to put a kitchen island on my search for list. DH has been asked to find wheel and install them. One of the old wheels broke through the balled foot. He cut the rest of the balls off. No wheel replacement. Our kitchen is small, but this island worked perfectly until the wheels were taken off. It made one of the cabinets basically inaccessible, except for the salad/pasta bowls. My KA stand mixer was being held hostage in that cabinet. My serving bowls are in that cabinet. Anyway, the stand mixer is now on my counter top. Almost through the shoebox of receipts that needed to be shredded. The rest have been put in baggies by month. The plan is to shred April 2023 in the next week and put April 2024 in the bag. This 3 years of receipt sorting is too much. Bought a bookshelf from Amazon this afternoon. If it is even half as nice as the last one Jay and I picked out, I will be thrilled. Basically, the plan is to move some books out of the crates in the storage area to make room to store the Christmas trees. Speaking of Christmas trees, the living room still has the tree up. The old dryer was moved to the mud room. DH insists we keep it. It was supposed to be taken to the detached garage. It’s been almost a month and it still hasn’t been moved out of the house. It is sitting where I need the tree to be moved to. Do you see the steps? It’s utterly ridiculous! |
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Post by natscraps on Apr 28, 2024 21:34:53 GMT
The consignment sale is over and nothing came back in the house. The crib didn’t sell but the sale organizer told me it’s going to a mom who is moving out of a local domestic violence shelter and into her own place. Bittersweet to see it go.
Still just maintaining the status quo around here but I’m okay with that. Good habits are being established. I’ve refrained from creating a new mount laundry, there is no mail spread out on the counters and the master bedroom is still the uncluttered clean oasis I created a month ago. I’ve even gotten kept up with putting things away in my classroom and work office. I consider that huge wins.
This week I have to finally tackle a chore I’ve been dreading which is which is switching out mine and DS’s clothes to summer stuff. Not looking forward to it. Especially when I find out how much of the stuff doesn’t fit us and I have to go buy new clothes. Yuck. I did bag up his smaller winter uniform shirts today as I folded laundry and will drop those in the donation bin at the school tomorrow.
Update- I just went through the food cabinets to make the grocery list for tomorrow and ended up cleaning out the spice/baking/dry goods cabinets and rearranging them.
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(I didn’t think I’d ever utter those words). You know I’ve had their Elfa for over 30 years now. It was white in the beginning but quite a while back they added a platinum option. It’s the same metal as the popular garage shelving units. Anyway, just about my favorite thing about them is that even though they add new products, they work seamlessly with their old products. All of the new spaces where we use Elfa we chose the platinum option. They are discontinuing it in favor of a trendy graphite option. And we don’t have the money right now to finish outfitting our master closet like we wanted to. So we basically need to start over with that closet when the time comes and utilize these pieces elsewhere. And right now I’m not sure I’m willing to do that with no assurances that I’ll be able to add to it later. Thankfully, our shelving wall in the garage is at max capacity. Plus, they’re also discontinuing their Elfa Utility line. That’s not a huge deal, we are ordering the few pieces we want for the future. But it does concern me about the future direction of the company with their long term staple products. /end rant thanks for listening I’m glad to get that off of my chest.
. But a week or two ago, probably when we were actually picking a game to play, he said he’d be willing to reconsider by doing what I’m doing with my movies to pare them down even more, which is watching them once and then deciding. Sold! 
