Preparing For 2018

After the huge purchase of the hall stand last week, I have stayed away from op-shops - on purpose. They aren't a bad thing for me... it's just that it's a big thing to buy and I need to save a little bit of money right now.

And besides, it was my whale - so to say - to have in my life (yep, a Moby Dick reference there). 

So, I'm in preparation mode this week.

I've been out at Variety1 to pick up a box or two so I can sort out my craft gear in the top of my wardrobe - as it's a mess. It'll be all sorted, placed in certain boxes and those boxes will be labelled and replaced back into the wardrobe so I can see what's inside them and I can pick them out as I need them. 

This means I can also put away the pillows and blankets which are now occupying the floor of my bedroom. 

And next year, I'm also hoping to work on my home office a lot more... yes, this year, I didn't get as far as I hoped in it. I got somewhere with it, but not as far as I wanted to - which was to get it completely organised and tidy. 

Pity. I was hoping it would be better than it is now. 

But there's always next year, right?

15th Donation!

Yay! I've done it!

Today, I chalked up my 15th Donation Run - and before Christmas too! I'm so darned proud of myself, and the house is looking so much better for it too!

Man, so much has left my house; and yet so much had come into it as well... but that's what decluttering and reorganising is all about!

Now, how many donations have you done this year? If it's your first year, don't be put off on how little you've donated... even I didn't donate that much in my first year of decluttering, but as the years passed by swiftly, my donation days became more and more - and I reorganised my house to be something I could live with better.

Now, with that in mind, I'm going to take the next week off so you all can have a very Merry Christmas and enjoy your time with your families - and so can I.

I'll see you in the New Year of 2018!

Christmas Shopping Finished!

Okay! It's days away from the big day - less than a week - and I have finished all of my Christmas shopping!

And you know something? I only bought 3 brand new things... yeah, not bad is it? The rest of the stuff is all preloved, recycled and upcycled - which I think everyone is going to love! 

For the past month, I've been shopping around all the different op-shops I normally go to and looking carefully at things for my family - to see if I can either fix them up or upcycle them - and it's been fun!

Then, I went to the bank to see how much money I've got left one day about 2 weeks ago, and the lady there told me I had a Christmas account I had started at the beginning of the year! So, I cleaned that out, except around $10 and kept the transfer in place for next year! 

Now, I looked at Christmas in a whole different way!

I could afford things - a lot of things! - for my family; and I was going to op-shop the lot!

Well, yesterday, around 5 things pulled together all at once, and I felt wonderful about it all!

The vinyl for my brother found a frame.
The frame I needed for Marnie Linger's artwork was bought at a cheap store.
And all the rest of the presents were painted, glued, taped and wrapped up!

Yep, everything is under the tree...

...well, except my folks' painting.

Yeah, it's not finished yet. So, I'm going to install that in their home while they're on holidays and it'll be there when they arrive home - it'll be their surprise when they open the door and find it hanging on the wall. 

Now, that's something for them to look forward to.

Otherwise, I did spot this hall stand at Vinnies yesterday and begged, borrowed and... well, didn't steal... the money to obtain it. You see, dear readers, I've been searching high and low for a decent hall stand; and to come across one like this in my area is a rarity! It will just fit next to my door, block out the light coming in through the side door windows - while letting in a little with the fogged glass - and replace 3 pieces of furniture; which I will donate to Vinnies in the process!

So, that's a great find in itself, right? 

And seeing it's Christmas this weekend, how about we don't do a challenge? It's just too stressful and I don't want to push you too hard.

But if you want to, by all means do this one:

Go to your bookcase and choose 5 books you no longer have an interest in, know you won't ever read and know have no value at all. Put them into your Donation Box and drop them off at your chosen charity store the next time you go. 

Yep, this one is an easy one... but you don't have to do it simply because it's Christmas; and I don't want to push you. 

Christmas Shopping Made Fun

You know, I enjoy this time of year. 

I get in and do my Christmas shopping and make sure I get things for my family which are special and endearing to them - things they'll use for years and remember I bought them or made them for them.

This year, I am op-shopping and hand-making things for them - and this has made things a lot different for me.

I'm not only going to charity stores for my Christmas shopping but also I'm going there to donate more bags and boxes of goodies for other people to buy from those stores at this time of year... which makes me feel better about my house and life as well.

Today, I donated a bag of clothes which have been sitting by the side door to my car port for weeks and found it was a good day to window shop.

Yeah... sure... window shop... me?

Anyway, I found myself a nice ladder for the bathroom, a tea set from the 1960's and a set of rosary beads (why I got the latter things I'm not sure; but they've always fascinated me to no end). Anyway, I'm pretty proud of the things I bought there.

I'm going to fix up the ladder and make it look good. Otherwise, it's going to be another day out for me to look for Christmas presents.

So, how are you doing with your end-of-year cleanout? Seeing I'm working from my local library, and not at home, I'll be doing a lot of cleaning out of my house in the next few days... not a bad trade from my computer monitor dying on me. I'll get the house cleaner for Christmas. 

Christmas Shopping Time

I know, I know it's going to be a tough one for us this year - us people who find it hard to declutter with weeks to Christmas and yet will be accepting presents towards the end of the month.

Now, don't worry, you'll be fine.

You'll be better than fine.

Like in my last post, this is the best time of year to get in and work on your decluttering and make room for yourself and your new things you're going to be getting from your friends and relatives.

This is also the best time of year to get in and look around your local op-shops and thrift stores for presents for your loved ones.

Yep, you heard me. 

Why spent up big at the huge retail shops when you can spend only a quarter of the money at a charity and help the less fortunate at the same time?

I've got a box of goodies to take to my local Vinnies and will be going there in the next week or so to search out the last few presents for my family with a friend from the USA... who is also in love with op-shopping too.

In the meantime, I'm making other presents from scratch... for example, I'm doing a painting for my folks, making Limoncello for my Aunty and knitting a t-towel for my Sister-in-Law... all hand-made stuff and it'll all be ready for Christmas by the time the big day comes around. 

And I can't wait!

Not only will I have not bought so many new things this year, but I'm also trying to clean out as much of my place as possible. 

Weekend Challenge: it's time to put up the tree and decorations - December 1st - and so, what needs to be done is to put away things that you're going to store for the next few weeks. 
What's a good idea is to buy a few plastic boxes for your Christmas decorations. Not only will they be protected throughout the year, but when you move house, nothing will get broken.  Also, you can sort out what decorations you want to keep and which ones you want to give away to charity.