Day Twenty: Holey pants and Bathroom books

Eeek! I can't believe I've already fallen behind in recording my progress! Since I last wrote, I have gotten rid of:

#98-112. magazines
#113. Christmas tin
#114. Whisk (we have a metal one we like better)

#115. ice bucket
#116-117. glasses
#118. old coffee tin

#119. Strawberry Shortcake toy case
#120. Tina Fey's book
#121. "Cake Doctor" cupcake cookbook
#122. Calvin & Hobbes book
#123. another Calvin & Hobbes book
#124. Soup cookbook

#125. yoga pants. One of my favorite pairs got a giant rip in them. I almost thought about sewing them but the bottoms were pretty tattered, too. So I tearfully said farewell and threw them away.

#126. vintage fur-trimmed boots (not pictured, gave to my Mom & forgot to photograph)
#127. metal microscope case
#128. green ceramic shell vase (an Etsy shop reject)
#129. mustard Melmac platter
#130. Bathroom trivia book
#131. Bathroom puzzle book (there's just something weird about bathroom books. They remind me of a certain Seinfeld episode.)

 

 

More to come tomorrow, I couldn't fit it all in one post!

 



 

Catching up: Day 4-7

Day Four: (no picture)

#74. book
#75. book
#76. book
(are you sensing a theme here?)
#77. book
#78. book
#79. necklace-from the 1928 line from Kohl's

Day Five:

#80. metal jeweled barrette
#81. wooden pencil cup
#82. ceramic Santa
#83. metal mail organizer/letter holder
#84. brass plant stand on casters
#85. dog reindeer costume (both dogs too big for it now)

 

#86. retro glass (faded and chipped-threw away)

#87. perpetual calendar/pen holder (rusted/pen holder broke-threw away)

Day Six:

#88. "Something's Cookin' in the Mountains" cookbook

#89. tiny ceramic duck
#90. World's Best Mom mug (small interior chip or I would have gifted to my mom)
#91. sewing machine-shaped brooch
#92. Mexican souvenir bowl

Day Seven:

#93. vintage basket weave clock (did not sell in my Etsy shop or in my ill-fated antique booth)

#94. weird 3-sided pendant that looks like a stoplight, with red, green & yellow stones

#95. miniature cocktail shaker. I do not need miniature when it comes to cocktails.

#96. drinking glass, mod retro pattern. This is cute but not vintage and I have too many odd glasses that are not part of a matching set...

#97. purple pottery ashtray, has a small chip or I'd sell it

 

 

I can't believe I'm almost up to 100 items already!

 

Day Three: It's Irie.

Day Three..

#69. Bob Marley head wall hanging (souvenir from our 2007 Jamaican honeymoon. Ya mon.)
#70. another small touch lamp
#71. ugly handpainted mug from a ladies pottery night (I am no artist, that is glaringly obvious)
#72. metal warmer stand to vintage casserole dish. Never found one that fit.
#73. wall clock with paperclips in place of the numbers.

If I get rid of all my junk, everything will be irie, mon.

 

Day Two: Presents for friends!

I had dinner with two friends/former co-workers tonight. Keeping my challenge in mind, I brought them some things I had picked up for them a while ago but never got around to giving them. My one friend collects old cookbooks so I had picked up a 1928 cookbook for her about two months ago and just never found the time to bring it to her. She also collects vintage mirrored vanity trays. I have to admit when I found this one, I decided to keep it even though my original intent was to hand it over. Before heading off to the restaurant, I convinced myself to give her the tray as well, even though I really liked it. When I saw how she reacted, I was glad I gave it to her. She thanked me several times and I could tell she loved it.

For my other friend, I had purchased five small Japanese paperbacks at the thrift store probably about 7 months ago. He's very interested in the culture and has learned the language, even living in Japan for a while, so I thought he might like the books. It was kind of one of those random purchases that afterwards I regretted, since my friend isn't in town very often and I didn't even know the books were about. I deduced from the pictures that one was about growing Bonsai trees, but I have no idea what the rest were about. Turns out he can't read very much Japanese, but he thanked me and said he would definitely enjoy looking through the books and that they were still "cool". :)

So there you go. Seven more items out of my house for a total of 68. Only 1,946 to go!

Day One: Success!

It's Day One of my challenge and thanks to the fact that I am a big, fat cheater and already got started, I am already up to #61. Yay!
So far I have said good-bye to:
1. ceramic elephant planter
2. 1960's metal cake carrier
3-19. various pieces of junk jewelry
20. small touch lamp
21. globe bookends

22-27. books
28. red bead necklace
29. white plastic necklace
30. red apple necklace
31. clip-on earrings, blue flowers
32. wooden Jamaica souvenir box
33. antique metal compact
34. panda bear ear buds
35. cherry applique
36. faux bois jewelry box

37. plastic rose pattern tray
38. metal mail basket
39. Smurf drinking glass
40. "Now 24" CD
41. orange melamine bowl
42. glass angel candle holder
43. metal file box
44. framed embroidery of birds and flowers
45. kids book "the Barking Cat"
46. desserts cookbook
47. old stationary tin with birds and flowers decal
48-58. things I threw away: old slip with torn lace, outdated calendar, old nail polish, rancid lip gloss, ring with a band bent beyond repair, and another ring with chipped enamel, turquoise spray-on hair color, bright blue spray-on hair color, dirty (as in would-make-Miley-blush-dirt) book, and another book that I spilled diet root beer on.
59-61. I returned to my parents three mason jars that no longer contained their homemade salsa and dilly beans.

So there you have it...61 unnecessary items I am eliminating from my house. This feels good! It was actually quite fun digging around for forgotten junk to get rid of. It's easy right now to throw stuff in the box. The junk I don't want is still very plentiful. :)

New Beginnings

Hello, my name is Carrie and I am a hoarder-in-training. I live in a small 1950's Cape Cod style house with my husband and two dogs. Our over-abundance of stuff (o.k., yes, it's mostly my stuff) is starting to make us feel a bit cramped and that's not good.  I have always loved my collections, mostly books and any manner of vintage nonsense, but I have noticed it getting out of control in the last couple of years. We hope to adopt soon and along with a child comes lots of more...you guess it...stuff! I have challenged myself to get rid of 2014 things in the year 2014. This will be a place for me to record my efforts and (hopefully) my progress.

The challenge will start tomorrow, January 1st, 2014. Although I have to be real here and admit I've already thrown some things in a box in my excitement to get started...

The rules for my challenge are as follows:

1. Get rid of 2014 items before the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, 2014.

2. If a new item comes into the house, something must leave. The item leaving the house as a result of a new item does not get counted in the challenge.

3. Food items and things you use daily like toothpaste, shampoo, etc. are not a part of this challenge. Everything else is game.

I will place a couple of designated boxes in the spare bedroom that I will sort things into as I go along. I need to get rid of an average of 5.5 things a day if I'm going to complete this challenge in time. Obviously, I won't be making drop-off stops at the thrift store every single day, just when the boxes are full.

I plan on donating some things as well as selling some things at a consignment junk shop where some of this very stuff originated from! Some things I will give away to friends and family, but only if it's something I know they really want. I will throw some items away if they are beyond repair or just plain ugly or busted, basically anything I don't want and would be too embarrassed to donate. If I find something I borrowed and need to return, this will count in the total. It's leaving my house, after all. I will also sell some of my vintage items on my Etsy shop but I will not count sales of items I had already listed before the start of the challenge.

I plan on this challenge being very easy at first and then increasingly hard as I run out of the junk I don't want and must start to pick off things I actually like (but don't need). Hopefully by the end of this thing, I will have a clean and clutter-free home with some room to grow!