This week’s #holidaycraftwithus prompts are to make a Christmas journal card, altered paper clip or notebook/gift list. I am a list maker by heart so I opted to make the notebook/ gift list. I decided I wanted to make a pretty holder for it as well so I decorated a glassine bag to attach inside my 2022 December Daily to hold the notebook. I hope you enjoy the process!
I am taking part of an open crafting collaboration titled #holidaycraftwithus. This week’s prompts are to make a Christmas/Holiday ATCoin, flat ornament or cluster. Anyone who knows me at all knows I jumped at the chance to make some more clusters! This video shows both my process and the finished results of my week one project. Enjoy!
Today I have 4 days of the Minimalism game to cover. I admit it was getting hard finding stuff in my house, however, I hadn’t hit my craft room yet! I could probably do another whole month just with items from my craft room but I decided to add some here. These are all items out of my house so it’s not cheating if I include items from my craft room too. So let’s see what is going for these four days.
For day 26 I have 9 tops, 2 scarves, 4 pairs of pants, 3 books, 3 sticker sheets, 2 pumpkins, 1 veggie holder, 1 makeup brush and 1 small house decor.
On day 27 I have 2 pairs of pants, 1 pair of shorts, 2 tops, 2 scarves, 1 egg collecting basket, 1 alarm clock, 1 lamp, 1 package of oil pastels, 10 decorative tapes in dispensers, 1 cosmetic bag, 1 ink refill bottle, 1 squeeze bottle and 3 small vintage diaries.
On day 28 I’ve included 5 sets of washi tape, 1 bag of sheet protectors, 1 stack of hanging file folders, 5 colors of chalk ink, 3 packages of confetti, 6 colored ink pads, 2 craft storage bins and 5 books.
Okay, my last lot to get rid of in this post contains 29 items. They include 9 plastic photo storage boxes, 8 yards and threads, 7 packages of paper flowers, 4 boxes of seed beads and 1 bag of paper sentiments for card making.
Some things I am learning from doing this is that clothes are almost always included because I see what I’m not wearing every time I go into my closet or drawers. I have to get real about the projects I’m really going to do versus the ones I want to do someday. Sentimentality has little room when you’re decluttering your life. I do keep some sentimental items but not everything anyone I love has ever given me.
Now that I’m working in my craft room, my last post with 30 and 31 items should not be far off. I hope you are playing along and finding some breathing room in your home!
Okay folks, once again I apologize for taking so long to put these next two days of the minimalist game up. I really will try do better for the next 6 days. I must admit it is really getting harder and harder to find items to get rid of. I need to watch more minimalism videos to get myself in the right frame of mind to really ditch stuff. I’m stuck in the “what if I’ll need that again” mind set as well as the “I paid good money for that” mind set. Hopefully, I’ll get going again with the vim and vigor I started out with on day 1.
Okay so here are my next two lots to get rid of.
Three tops, 3 pillowcases, screen door decor, Christmas gift card holder, 3 napkin rings, book, nail decals, eye mask pads, 3 ethnic pins, 2 bracelets, 2 eye makeup brushes and 3 sets of earrings. Total 24 Items.
Two tablecloths, travel hygiene set, 3 jewelry bags, 4 books, 3 nail polishes, posture device, 2 cooling bottle holders, two flashlights, 5 jewelry boxes, a pair of jeans and a top. Total 25 items.
I seems to always have a piece or more of clothing to give up. A part of this is because I can easily see what I am wearing and what is being left on the hanger or in the drawer. The hardest clothing for me to part with is pants. I’m in the process of losing weight and I keep thinking I’ll fit into them again. I’m now making myself get rid of anything I don’t fit into today. If I lose enough weight that I’ll need new pants I’ll deal with it then. Having pants that are too small taking up so much room in my closet fills me with guilt because I don’t fit into them anymore. Having guilt is not helping me move forward.
I’ll start gathering 53 new items for my next two installments. I hope you are playing along and not taking as long as I am!
I’M BACK!!! I’m so sorry I had to take off so long but life gets in the way sometimes. I desperately need to keep up with purging items from my home and could not wait to get started again. I left off with 21 items so today I will be showing you days 22 and 23. Please excuse that the items are a real hodge podge, but I went back to some areas and gathered more stuff while hitting some new areas of the house. So without any further ado, here are my declutters.
Day 22
4 purses, 2 wristlets, 1 notepad, 1 cup, 1 bowl, 1 tin, 1 soap dispenser, 2 pillowcases, 1 sheet, 2 more pillowcases, 1 box of light switch covers, 1 pair of gloves, 3 tank tops and 1 key hiding rock.
Day 23
1 bag of straws, 1 wicker basket, 1 soap dispenser (we have three of the same ones so you saw one of the others on day 22), 1 wood bee skep, 1 candle, 1 beanie baby, 1 Chinese calendar, 2 Victorian journals, 1 Wreck this Journal, 4 small plastic gift bags, 2 pieces carpet padding, 1 scarf, 1 shirt, 1 package party picks, 1 pillow, 2 packages Christmas napkins
I warned you that it would be totally random but I think it’s fun. I intend to keep up with the game, however, my posts may be bi-weekly instead of daily.
If you don’t know about the minimalism game, please check out my earlier posts. I hope you are playing along and finding some relief in your less cluttered space!
I am truly bummed after having such good momentum to have to take a break at the minimalism game. I have been hit with not one, but two big crisis’ in my life within the last 24 hours. I fully intend to continue when these issues get sorted out. Until then I leave you with day 21 although looking closely at this picture there are 22 items not 21.
If you are playing along, I hope that you continue on to day 31. I am really gutted by this but sometimes life happens. Stayed tuned for my continuation.
I am not going to lie, this is getting harder and harder. Not because I don’t want to get rid of anything, but rather that I just don’t have tons of stuff to get rid of. I’m not including my craft room because I will be doing this all over again there in January. Maybe more than once seeing the over abundance of craft supplies I have that I never use!
So here are the items leaving my house from this post.
If this isn’t an eclectic lot, I don’t know what is. Everything from a handbag to hair color to more cat toys.
You’ll be seeing a lot more Christmas ornaments once we put up our family tree.
Plastic tote bags of all sizes, wall decals, doilies a purse and some more holiday items.
I got into the linen closet here. Notice there are still more Christmas items!
All kinds of wrapping items and three random floral picks.
As you can see, I just pick up items as they catch my attention and add them to the pile. This stuff is all leaving my house so I don’t really care how it’s grouped.
I’d love to know if any of you are playing along or if you plan to do this in the new year.
Okay I have to admit the Minimalism Game is getting harder. As I already stated in my first post about the games, I don’t like clutter. This means I don’t have tons of stuff to get rid of. I’ve had to go through all my cupboards to find this stuff. Never fear though, I will have enough to get rid of 485 items. So here are days eleven through fifteen’s worth of flotsam and jetsam.
Some CDs, a cassette tape and two random frozen Charlotte dolls.
I realize this is more than 13 items but I just wanted to get rid of them and be done with the cd cabinet.
Okay, so here I really get random. There are some Easter decorations, a silver plate bowl, two concrete candle jars, some laces, a handbag shaped box, a book and some wire stuff I was going to craft with.
I had to hit up a cabinet in the laundry room for all these cat toys. We used to have two cats but now only have one. There are so many more toys it’s ridiculous. Our cat, Holly, doesn’t play with toys like this so out they go!
I figured out that I have now gotten rid of 120 items. Tomorrow is a new day of decluttering. I’ll be back in five days to show you more items that will be vacating our house!
Okay, I haven’t even been playing the minimalism game for a week and it’s getting hard. I’m mostly through my clothing, although I may have a few more accessories to go through. So now I attacked my bookcase and that is where I find it get’s difficult to decide what to keep and what to let go of.
I have lots of Bible study guides, sermon notes and personal improvement notebooks that just sit on the shelf. My thought on keeping them was that I would go back and reread them. The reality is that I have not touched a single one and they are just piling up. Please note, however, that this does not include my junk journals and December Daily journals because I do go through them frequently.
The five days I’m showing here contain a lot of books and personal writings. I asked myself honestly if I would ever read any of them again and the answer is “no”. It’s a nice thought but I am always at church taking new notes and in new Bible studies. I’ve decided to review my sermon notes one time during the week they were given. I will allow myself one year of sermon notes and then they will have to go.
Two random Christmas tins among the books.
The Christmas tree added to these seven books is day eight.
I even decided to get rid of my Clever Fox planner from this year. It was a tough decision but I need to get real with myself about ever going back to look at it again. I do have my junk journals from this year which have the interesting bits and bobs I’ve collected, so the year has been saved.
Stay tuned for the next area of my life I am simplifying. I’m not sure what it will be but books are done now.
I have always liked clean and tidy spaces. I don’t like clutter and mess. I am not a die hard minimalist, however, I do like a cleaner and less cluttered look than most people.
I was watching some decluttering and minimalism videos on YouTube last week and they suggested I might like a video called “How to Play the 30-Day Minimalism Game” (link to video below). So I watched the video and it looked like a fun, although not easy, challenge. Every day for 30 days you get rid of one more additional item than the day before. For instance, on day one you get rid of one item. On day two you get rid of two items, etc. If my math is correct, by the end of the 30 days you will have gotten rid of 485 items!!!
I’m ready to declutter a lot of stuff so here’s the first five days of my challenge. I’m not going to explain every item unless there’s something of interest to say about it. Most days will just include a photograph of the items.
I really love this tunic but it’s too big for me and doesn’t look good.
I have had that belt for years because I love it. Unfortunately I’ve gained weight and it no longer fits.
Some of the items I get rid of will be donated and some will be sold. I hope to post my progress about every five days so it doesn’t get too overwhelming to photograph all the flotsam I’m jettisoning!
So if you want to start the new year with less clutter watch the video below and see if this game is for you.
glitteronmyface 