~Freecycle~

Do you have some things to get rid of before the holiday season? You know, to make room for company? or perhaps you have a whole bunch of toys and you know that your child's grandparents will give them a whole bunch more for Christmas? Perhaps you might sell them in a yard sale, but you really don't want to wait all the way to next summer?

May I suggest Freecyle? I belong to our area's Freecycle group. The way Freecyle works is quite simple. To learn more about it, just click on the link, to see if there is a group in your area. Their rules are quite easy: everything must be free. If you offer something, it has to be free. You can't buy, sell, barter, or trade. It has to be honest-to-goodness free.

We have used Freecycle to our best advantage: by giving. I rarely look through and see what is being offered. It has been an easy way to get rid of things that would otherwise cost us money to take to the dump. Some examples of things we've given away: the sandbox that "came" with our house (thankyouverymuch), wire closet shelving (I can't tell you how many people begged for one section of closet shelving!), an old set of encyclopedias, fabric scraps, miscellaneous craft supplies, curtains, and a few other odds and ends. Chances are, if you want to get rid of it, someone will want it! Our most recent give-away was the couch and loveseat set that I had such a hard time with.

If you have a lot of things to give away, you might consider donating to a thrift store, because it does take a bit of time to sort through the e-mails and decide who to give your item to, and then arrange for them to pick it up.

Anyhow, Freecycle is a great tool to use! It has worked very well for getting clutter out of our house, and giving the items to someone who will (hopefully) put them to good use!

E-bay thrills and frustrations!

Back in April, I posted about a blog article called Adding Beauty to Your Life. What it boiled down to was how stuff doesn't necessarily add beauty to your life--especially if it's all crammed into a tiny sewing room!

Well, I still had a stack of things I wanted to sell on e-bay, but hadn't gotten around to listing. I listed 12 lots, and sold 6 lots. Five of my six buyers paid almost instantly. The other person? It's seven days later, and I still haven't heard "boo" from her. The thrilling part was that I was able to make a little money off of some books that were previously stacked in my sewing room. The frustration is over the person who hasn't paid yet! Not only did she win the bid, but she bid against someone who probably would have paid, and bid the item up way over it's value. I've listed quite a few things on e-bay over the last few years, and this is my first non-paying bidder. I guess it was just bound to happen sooner or later!

Now I just need to find a home for the six items that didn't sell (thrift store? Freecycle?) and get the stack of things out of our home office. Have you noticed that when you have a pile somewhere, that after a while you don't notice it anymore? Unfortunately, that's what has happened with this little stack! I need to finish my decluttering job!

Fabric

I love fabric. I love walking into a fabric store and picking out fabric for a new project. I love the way a fabric store smells. Mmmm “new fabric” smell. (I’m not joking!) I also love fabric scraps. When I’m done with a project, I save all the scraps—big or little. There just might be a use for them one day, you know! Truthfully, I do use scraps for projects. So my reason for saving them isn’t altogether wrong. However, the scraps have piled and piled up, overflowing the two plastic containers that I have them stored in.

Last night, as part of my de-cluttering “mission” for my sewing room, I went through my fabric containers. One container has scraps, the other one has larger pieces of fabric. I forced myself to think realistically about each piece, and actually ended up with some room in each of the containers. That’s a good thing! Now I won’t have piles of fabric in my sewing closet. I filled a laundry basket with all the scraps I need to get rid of.

I’ll be listing the fabric scraps on Freecycle, along with several sets of curtains. I made the curtains, but they either do not fit the windows in our new house, or I am very tired of looking at them! I certainly got my use out of them! The two sets that I am tired of I made for our living room and dining room windows for our first apartment, then they were used in our second and third apartments, and in the last house we lived in. They were even on a window in our new house as a temporary measure. You see—I’ve gotten a lot of use out them, and while they are still nice, I just want a change!

I also found a few things to list on e-bay, which I will be listing in the next few days. I hope these things sell as well as the quilt tops did!

I still have a lot left to go through, but this is progress! I have never thought of myself as a "collector" or "hoarder" or a person with a lot of clutter. But now I'm realizing that this sewing room is one area that I have done a lot of collecting and hoarding!

Freecycle Goodies

I have previously mentioned that I belong to Freecycle. I usually don't pay too close attention to what is being offered, because I'm not interested in running around picking things up, and bringing unnecessary things home. One of today's offers amused me.

Offer: Unscented Deodorant

I prefer the scented stuff. Two of them are the Arm & Hammer brand
while the other is Speed Stick. The Speed Stick is slightly used while
the other two have never been used.

???

WHO wants to use someone else's "slightly used" deodorant?

Edited to add: Apparently someone wanted it! It was taken today! First of all, I cannot imagine that the person picking it up will actually use the "slightly used" deodorant. Secondly, I really cannot imagine driving across town to get 2 sticks of deodorant!

Adding Beauty to Your Life

Lately, I've been doing a lot of reading at several different blogs. Mostly, at Making it Home, but also at Homeliving Helper, and others. Of course, God is the One Who gives us beauty, but it is up to us to enjoy it.

It has dawned on me that not only must I enjoy the beauty God gives me, I must make myself do so. No, I do not mean that I need to force myself to enjoy His goodness. I mean that in each day I need to clear space in my heart, in my mind, in my home and relish the little things that come my way. How can I truly enjoy a cup of tea in the midst of clutter? Sitting in a clean room, sipping a cup of tea: that is beauty. Sitting down to a lovingly-prepared dinner with my husband: that is beauty. No dishes in the sink: that is beauty! Beauty comes in all shapes and forms in our lives. But do you see that before enjoying beauty comes work?

On Friday, after having read many articles and blog entries on homemaking and adding beauty to our lives, I helped my husband take everything out of my sewing room. In so doing, I realized just how many things I have managed to cram into that room--and I further realized that none of it is adding beauty to my life!

Most of my home is uncluttered, and simply decorated. However, it seems as though my senses took leave when it came to my sewing room. Part of it stems from the "something from nothing" mentality I have. All those little scraps? I could MAKE SOMETHING with them! Those old buttons, old decorations, old (fill in the blank)? I could MAKE SOMETHING with them! And so, I've hoarded things, packed things away, and generally taken beauty away from my life because of it.

I started on my mission to declutter. Most of the things that were in the sewing room are inaccessible right now, but I have been able to get rid of quite a few things.

I gave away via Freecycle:
an old raincoat that I bought at a yardsale
a gallon-size ziploc of DMC thread that someone bought for me at a yardsale
a grocery bag full of bubble wrap that we used from our last move
a bag of seam binding/hem tape that was given to me

I listed on e-bay:
two quilt tops

I gave to a friend:
a set of flannel graph backgrounds
a six-week flannel graph Bible lesson on the armor of God

I threw away:
old letters from penpals (these were between 6-10 years old) and
the beat up stationery box they were in

and lastly, I bought:
a hanging organizer for my gift-wrapping supplies

I know you aren't supposed to buy containers before you organize--all the experts say to wait until after you have organized and gone through everything to buy containers. However, I knew that was one problem in my sewing room closet. I was originally going to buy an under-the-bed container for them, but when I went to the store, I found a $20 hanging organizer on clearance for $5! That fits my purpose better anyhow! (And it keeps things from going under my bed! Currently, I do not store anything under my bed.)

I am by no means finished decluttering! I have quite a bit left to go through. But one step at a time, it will get finished!

Yesterday's Project

Yesterday I made a grapevine wreath. I'm happy with the way it turned out, and I'll have fun decorating it later on. The vines still need to dry out first, since most of them are still a little green. I haven't made a grapevine wreath in years, and making it took me on a little stroll down Memory Lane.

My dad farmed 10 acres of grapes when we first moved to California. I remember running through the fields, spending hours playing outside. We kids also helped a lot out in the fields, doing various tasks for my dad. I say we helped "a lot" but actually, it probably wasn't that much. =)

One of the things we learned to do was make grapevine wreaths. I made several, and my grandparents asked me to make a large wreath for their back porch. It hung out on their back porch for quite a few years.

I got the vines from an interesting source. I belong to my city's Freecycle group, and one of the members posted that she had grapevines she needed rid of. I thought it would be fun to make a wreath, so I responded to the offer. Kevin and I went out to her house on Monday night, and got what I thought was a lot of vines. However, by the time I got done with my wreath, I had used them all.

I'll post a picture of the wreath after I get it decorated...which may be a while. =)