Decluttering Round Two

In Meg's last post she mentioned she should count her post as one of her decluttering items since it'd been sitting around waiting for her attention. Ditto here. These posts have been written for over a month just waiting. But here we go...

picture frame-was in my room growing up and has been sitting in a pile of others like it for a few months waiting for something to be done with it. I have a little craft idea for it for Rich and Sarah, so it'll be leaving my house which is why I'm counting it.

key-been sitting on my dresser because I didn't know what it opened. One of my board members has a beautiful bracelet made out of spare keys and she inspired me to make something beautiful with it. I was thinking about a wind chime, but I have something in mind for it and the picture frame.

notecard-why isn't this just trash? Well someone sent me a letter on it a week or so ago and the design is pretty and I often cut up other pieces of stationary to make my own, like I did this Christmas for my cards. So I knew I'd use it and it's going to be part of the craft mentioned above.

tiny tiny gift box-it's cute but I have nothing to put in it. don't know where it will go…

bookmark-don't use these things.

bottle of fish oil capsules-these are really old, so I'll trash them.

2 pairs of socks-one pair has holes as part of their design, but I feel like that's just asking for cold feet. My mom will wear them so I've passing them to her. The other pair is not designed to have holes but they do, so they will move to the trash.

black belt-I never wear it and have another one I do, so this will go to Goodwill (apparently a new one opened up so maybe I'll take it there).

black shirt-a hand me down from a friend but I've never worn it because I don't really like the way my arms look in it, so it will also go to Goodwill.

pair of pajama pants-have others that I wear more often.

pair of camo rip away pants-I know what's going through your head right now, "wtf?!" They were a purchase in high school for spirit week and I think they are absolutely hilarious, which is why I've held on to them, but I probably haven't worn them in a year and I'm embarrassed to wear them to the gym, so I'll donate them. Brittany will be relieved by this I'm sure.

gray short sleeved blazer-also a hand me down, I'd like to think I'd wear it, but I probably won't. Maybe consignment for this baby.

khaki corduroy jacket-Haven't worn it in awhile...

pair of brown shoes-these were given to me and I never really liked them, but thought they might be handy for my new job since I didn't know the dress code. Turns out it's pretty casual so I don't have to wear these.

baseball cap-I almost never wear hats, and I have another one that I like much better so I'm happy to get rid of this.

tobogan-got this in high school from some women's group at church. I don't really wear hats, but I am in the process of knitting one so I'll use that one instead of this one.

cowgirl hat-it's sort of lost its shape and I haven't worn it in awhile.

computer charger-it caught on fire around this time last year and the computer is now dead too. Held on to it for some reason, but I'll ask my neighbor (who works for Mac) if there's a good way to dispose of this.

box of name cards-pretty sure these are from high school graduation and I have absolutely no use for a box of cards with my name on them, so I'll recycle these.

traveling soap container-the face soap I buy now comes in a fancy case, so I have no need for this one.

wallet-it's Vera Bradley, enough said. I'll donate this.

2 rewards cards and 1 insurance card-from the wallet, will be trashed and shredded respectively.

3 tubes of chapstick-these are of the lipsmackers variety and I don't use that. I'm very particular about my chapstick and for the past few years have only bought from this local maker in Athens. I'm going down there in a few weekends and will stock up then.

5 tubes of mascara-don't ask me why. They were sitting in the vanity next to the chapstick, but they are trash now.

4 erasers-don't use these, will maybe give them to a teacher friend.

2 bibles-I have at least four others and these are from my child and teen years. It's probably time to let go. I'll donate these or take them to the used book store.

Pens-went through a stack to get the ones that didn't work. These will be trashed

6 notepads-I use the back of envelopes or other junk mail that comes in to make my lists and what not. I will try to find a good home for these or just donate them to Goodwill.

Germany travel guide book-Whitney and I planned a trip to Europe a few summers ago, it didn't happen for us. I ended up going alone, but this book belongs to her and she said she'd take it back.

2 sets of mailing labels-you know the promotional kind you get in the mail? I'm counting these as two because they have two different addresses on them which means they've been around for awhile.

box of stationary-given to me as a gift. I will never use this. Probably donating it.

ring

2 pins-you know the pointless kind I mentioned in my last round.

7 necklaces

7 pairs of earrings

13 bracelets

lotion bottle-again, you might think this should just be trash. And you're right, but it's been sitting on my vanity for awhile thinking I'd try to get every last drop, but I think that's happened already. (This may seem weird, but I have two guy friends who told me that they cut open toothpaste containers to scrape out every last bit of goo, and when they told me this I felt like a horrible person since I didn't go through such efforts).

deodorant bottle-I made my own deodorant recently and thought I'd use this bottle to put my concoction in, but I FINALLY found an aluminum free deodorant that I like-Trader Joes people. Go get some!!

Pile of stationary-this stuff is ugly (to me) and I won't use it. Thinking about maybe taking it to Serenity Place so they can use it to write to their families.

address book-will probably also take it to Serenity Place or Goodwill.

Presbyterian College vase-received this as a gift many many years ago and just haven't used it (I'm not really a flower person). At one point I thought about putting a fish in it, but I'm kind of against pets for myself. Snapped a picture of it with my camera and sent it to Whitney, knowing she would want it. She did!!

bag of papers to be recycled

96 items total. 96+55=151. Woah!!! That's really really crazy to me. I can already identify items for the next round too; this is going to be a lot easier than I thought.

You know what's interesting about all this stuff? A) I remember the story behind every bit of it. B) almost all of it was gifts. Out of everything in this photo, I purchased 11 of the items myself….

It kind of concerns me that I remember all the details behind the stuff. Why can't I remember important history facts that I spent over $100,000 on college to learn?

I'm kind of relieved as I go through the stuff that I've picked to get rid of since most of it I didn't buy for myself. It makes me think that I really am conscious about the decisions I make to bring stuff in to my life. On the other hand, it's kind of sad that people who give me gifts (note-most of the gifts I get rid of come from one person) don't know me that well if they think that I want some of this stuff…