A Little Decluttering

Back in mid-January, Jemma set a goal to declutter 55 bags of stuff from her home and she has been posting weekly updates. I've enjoyed keeping up with her progress and have been inspired to do a little decluttering of my own.

One thing that I started working on when I began my new teaching job was my wardrobe. It's been 5 1/2 years since I've worked outside the home at a paying job with a dress code, so I decided I would declutter my wardrobe as I chose my outfits each week. I worked my way through my slacks and blouses and shoes, and when I came to an item that I couldn't or wouldn't wear, it went immediately into the donation bag. There were a few items that I wore but that turned out to be uncomfortable or I just really didnt' like the way it looked or fit, and those items ended up in the donate bag as well.

I found a few little things around the house to add to the donate bag - a puzzle we didn't like, an old recipe holder I no longer used, a hoola-hoop that was always getting in the way in the garage, and a set of tunnels that my nieces have grown too big to play with now. I gathered all these items together and took them to our local community outreach center last week.

 

I also did a little decluttering in my craft room as I was straightening up in there. I had a huge pile of alphabet stickers that I bought as a bulk lot a few years ago that were beginning to not stick as well as they used to. I kept two sheets of each color, then took the rest of them to school - the art teacher said she could definitely use these in collage and decoupage projects.

As I was incorporating the remaining pre-printed patterned papers into my stash, I pulled out these old pre-made pages that were part of a pre-made album. I've never used any of these pages, so I decided it was time to put them in the recycle bin.

I didn't take a photo of these last three items:
*I straightened and decluttered the end table that holds a collection of coloring books, Crayons, and crossword puzzle books - I put a stack of loose pages and miscellaneous smaller books into the recycling bin.
*I cleaned out my yearly file cabinet and shredded all the papers I did not need to keep, adding a large trash bag of shredding to the recycle bin.
*I sold one bag of books and magazines to the local Half-Priced Books store - they really don't pay very much, but it did get that stack of items we won't re-read out of the house.

It's nowhere near 55 bags, but at least it's a little progress. Have you decluttered anything lately?