tools of my trade

These pens.

They were all I wanted for Christmas, and I got three of them.

They are harder and harder for me to find in stores.

Usually I go for the orange (red?) barreled ones - they are fine point.

But these, medium points, are working just fine.

This date book.

I've used this format for several years now.

It begins the August before the new year so has already been broken in.

Every year, I look over other formats

but return to this one.  It works just fine for me.

books

Read about the painful process here....

downsizing, consolidating, organizing and decluttering.
 ***
(And those chairs from the previous post?
They've had two coats of chalk paint and he says they need one more.
I'm getting quite anxious here!)

more than meets the eye

It's about so much more than artificial flowers 

in a large vintage vase...

It's about a tabletop all cleared off!

Finally.
***
Oh, and while I'm on the subject ("more than meets the eye")...

 Here's the finished produce (see prior post if you're curious).

collection or an illness?

 Sorting project #4.

I blush to say I have another storage shelf full of candles in addition to these.

You've maybe heard the song "A Thousand Candles"?

I seem to have been unconsciously working toward that.

Seeing these all lying out like this, I have serious questions about my sanity.

Definitely an illustration of thrift store shopping going amuck!

I'm tryng to decide what to do with them all.

I WILL have made a decision by the end of the day.

aftermath

 

Sorting Day 3 (see prior post) meant followup!

And followup included figuring out if all the pieces to this second-hand jigsaw puzzle are here.

No time like the present!

 I had COMPLETELY forgotton about this oil painting set.
It had been stashed and forgotten in a stash of boxed games.

 My husband will complete the one that's started -  and hopefully the other two!

Maybe this winter?

And yes, I DID get rid of twenty games yesterday afternoon!

“Clutter is nothing more than postponed decisions.”
-Barbara Hemphill 

sorting - day 3

 In the past week, I've been on a sorting binge.

Day 1 was jewelry.  Boxes and drawers of it.  Where did it come from?

What should I do with it all?

I kept some, made a pile for repair, filled a container to give to granddaughters,

and created a heaping mound  of it to give away or throw away.

Day 2 involved sorting the catch-all shelf under the microwave.

It resulted in a similar outcome.

And today it was games.  I gathered games from three separate storage spaces and began to sort.

When I was finished, I neatly stacked the "keepers" in the game closet.

Below is a picture of at least 17 boxed children's games & activities - many of them quite educational!  They are listed as "free" to anyone who will come and get them.

(I'm pretty sure I have a taker already.)

I still have a medicine-type hanging cabinet full of card games that I ought to go through one of these days.

I'll move on to another sorting challenge soon.  

There are still several categories to go.

What have YOU sorted lately?

 You can't reach for anything new if your hands are full
of yesterday's junk.   (Seen on Facebook)

thimbles, threads and tools of the trade

 You'll see that it has been difficult for me to pass up a good buy on used sewing baskets!

 Most have come with an assortment of sewing supplies.

My mother visited me yesterday, and we spent a few hours sorting...

 and trying to tie up the loose ends of a tangled mess of threads.

 What to do with the assortment?

I have NO idea.

They're still sitting in the wooden bowls I separated them into.

I seldom sew, but the presence of ample supplies seems to bring me some sort of satisfaction...

...more tools of the trade...

herding cats 2

 "Herding Cats 2" because #1 is already written...

 a reflection on an experience I had on Sunday.  You can read it here (if you care).

 It sent me photographing these cats and cat-related objects

that I've collected while thrifting--

not for myself, but for a cat-loving friend.

 It dawned on me that the results of my  thrifting forays in past

 have left me with a challenge that could be described as...

"herding cats".  

Do you know what I mean?

we do!

"Use it up

Wear it out

Make it do

Or do without"

Most of us have HEARD this adage or a variation of it.

At OUR house, we try to DO it.

This Rubbermaid(?) organizer has hung on cabinet doors

in a few houses I've lived in (THIS one, for the past 9+ years).

No doubt the unit has stretched,
and for sure the packaging of these items has shrunk!

The paper and foil seem to always be falling out - to my aggravation and consternation.

So this morning - EARLY this morning - I asked my husband to help "make it do".

These are his hands and the terrific solution!

Yay!

We DO make it do!

 These slacks just may be as old as the Rubbermaid organizer!
At any rate, they are good quality and lined.
The pleats don't do a thing for my figure,
but I don't mind "making do".
The outfit will see me through a varied schedule from morning through evening.
(Everything I'm wearing came from a thrift store
at one time or another.)

blame it on Susan

 Thanks to Susan (click on her name to see)
I went out to find the Thanksgiving basket.

 Though I thought all my Halloween decor was in one basket,
 it must have spilled over into THIS one.

 Whoops!
(Except for Christmas, I have pared down my seasonal collections
 to fit into single baskets like this one.
It makes things much simpler.)

 I kind of forgot what I had but was really delighted to find this drawing

 right at the top of the goodies! 

 I need to find a white candle to place in the clear candle-holder....

...and a place for these additional "turkey" pieces.

(Preferably before tonight when we host a small group of friends

for a soup supper!)

I have to dash off soon to meet a friend for coffee

and then to the Amish farm where I have an order in for a pumpkin roll!

Susan!  Look what you've started.

Of course, if you know me at all, you know

that most of these items were thrift store purchases.

spend, sort, save

I'm SO aware that this isn't a "pretty" post, but
 I bit the bullet this morning and SPENT some time 

 at a chore I've been putting off for quite awhile--

SORTING  my stocking drawer!

On the right (above) - those worth SAVING.

(One tug at the waistbands was the initial test!

So many of them had lost their elasticity!  Aggravating!)

 Above, the throwaway pile!

The end result is that I WILL save $$$ !

I see that I have plenty of leg-ware that

SHOULD last me through the winter at least!

In the sack to the left - socks and trouser socks, etc.

In the middle - tights & hosiery (yes, I still wear "hose").

To the right - footless leggins. 

I'm sure there is more spending, sorting, and saving

to be accomplished elsewhere in our house.

What have YOU sorted lately?

There. That's Done!

Last year I got rid of a lot of excess "Halloween" decorations.

I stored everything left in one basket.

 I'm glad I did it.  It made decorating the mantel this year
SO much easier!

 One thing that was NOT in the basket was this box (below).

I found it while looking for the basket!

I have NO idea when/where I got it....

but it is PERFECT for holding the chalk I use

when changing the message on the chalk board that hangs next to the mantel! 

"95% PURE CHALK"

Oh.  You know how they say, "Step back.  Take a look and remove one thing"?

I removed the gold sheep that you can see

on the far right hand side in the top photo.

What WAS I thinking!
Then...I thought it best to move the basket to the outside...

The Final Draft

me and my cubbies

 This (above) is my latest "cubbie"--found along with the 

 paint-by-number picture featured in my last post.

 Ever since childhood, I've needed cubby-holes in which to stash my treasures!

 Seems like I STILL "need" them
AND  find them (or they find me)!

 Worst thing about them is keeping them dusted!

All of these were purchased at thrift stores or
(in the case of the old cheese boxes)

obtained for free!

organizing

"Organizing is what you do before you do something, 

so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up."  (A. A. Milne)

 We're definitely ahead of our game here!  We haven't even received our 2010 tax forms yet!

But it was slow and snowy afternoon, so we took the hanging folder 
in which all the year's receipts were deposited (hopefully).

These were sorted, stacked and placed on our tabletop.

Then, pile by pile the receipts were sorted further and stapled together.

Next came the calculator...

Now we've DONE something so that when we DO it, it is not all mixed up!

THRIFTY NOTES:

We "do" our own taxes.  So far, so good.

The stapler is one of many office supplies I've purchased in thrift stores.