The Great Purge Pt. 3

OK, things have slowed down because we have been busy, but the Purge continues:

To be tossed/recycled:
1 stained, torn pillow used for the past several years as a booster seat by Happy, but which I found on the floor one too many times
2 bags of junk mail purged from the closet!
AND 1 plastic storage box full of old papers that no longer fit into the filing cabinet*

To be returned to family:
1 18 mo raincoat
1 18 mo long sleeved snap shirt
1 18 mo vest
1 12 mo coat
1 12 mo hoodie

To freecycle:
1 package of new but unused lap harp music (so sad to discover too late it does not fit our lap harp!)
1 old but still useful baby sleep positioner
1 pair little girl pjs
1 white little girl top
1 little vintage paperback entitled "Mixing and Serving Drinks" (c. 1963--given to me by my MIL when she was purging before a move, which is actually pretty funny, as that was the same time she gave us a bottle of rum she uses for making rum cake but could not take with her--and gave us the strictest instructions not to drink it)
1 white/gold little girl top
1 knitted hat made by D's cousin, which I accidentally washed and shrunk. : (
1 plastic plate an acquaintance sent home with me holding leftovers from a birthday party--I have been holding onto it with guilt for FOUR years. We only see each other by accident anymore (you know, in the groccery store once a year, that kind of thing) and I think it is time to LET IT GO. I have a feeling I cared more about getting it back to her than she cared about me giving it back to her.

To be given to friends:
1 pretty headband (sending to the missionary friends because it matches the dress)
1 gorgeous smocked dress my mom made
1 child's magazine
1 adorable pair of baby shoes that Smiley never wore

To be donated to church:
1 little bag of foam stickers, leftover from a project

To be put away for nostalgia sake:
1 adorable vest knitted by my sister for my little girls

To sell on eBay:
1 pair Oilily corduroy capris
1 women's Oilily top (turns out I don't care for that look on me!)

To give to Goodwill:
1 adorable little white girl top
1 very nice iron and rattan in/out paper box, which I love but have not had a use for in about 6 years. Out!
1 very nice Land's End raincoat (if my little sister does not need it for her daughter)

To make into rags:
1 pair old, baggy pajama bottoms!


Which is 29 items!


Which brings the total up to: ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY SIX!


In case anyone is wondering how I determine what goes to whom:

--Designer label clothes--in my case Hanna Andersson and Oilily, which are generally very well made--I will try to resell on eBay, because the things that are in good condition will usually sell. Even things with small flaws I should be able to sell in "play condition" and get a few bucks, if they are sought-after items. And just to clarify, I bought them all on eBay, for a fraction of their retail price, and most of them have been worn by all three girls and still look great! Sometimes quality really is worth the money.

--Clothes that were special to me or my favorites I give to friends or other families at church. It is fun to see them again every now and then, and feels better than just giving the stuff to Goodwill.

--Clothes in good condition but not special go to Goodwill, because DH likes to get the donation credit for tax time.

--Clothes with stains or needing mending, etc. I gather into bags of like things (for example, toddler girl, baby boy, women's size S) and put the whole bag up on freecycle. I usually have several people interested in each bag, and I pick whomever sounds like a good recipient.

--Misc. toys and random things, like socks or hairthings, etc. I put together in a "treasure box" for a certain age/gender child (for example, Toddler, baby girl). Those are very popular on freecycle, and also usually have several interested people emailing. And what could be better than getting rid of a whole box of misc stuff at once?!

--Even if you have stuff that you think no one would want, be creative and you might be able to give it a second chance at life before the landfill. For example, a few months ago I gathered a bunch of really cool vintage or handmade things that had holes, stains, etc. and which I could not or knew I would never repair. The beautiful cardigan my sister Rebecca knitted for me before I was married, which moths got into this past summer while we were gone and ruined. : ( Some unfinished hand-sewn craft things I took after my Grandma Betha died, not knowing what to do with them, but not wanting them to be tossed, since they were pretty and her hands had stitched them. Some tattered doilies I bought 10 ago at an antique store just because they were pretty and inexpensive. And I bundled up all these things and through freecycle found a local artist who "upcycles" such things. She sent me a link to her etsy page, and she makes gorgeous stuff! (Of course I saved the link--somewhere--and of course now cannot remember where, or what cryptic filing system was in my head at the time.) So now these seriously flawed but still so cool textiles will hopefully find new life in the hands of this artist!





*This item sounds so unimpressive, but it was such. a. big. deal. I had to take a whole bunch of folders of papers--old bank statements, credit card statements, etc.--out of our one filing cabinet to make room for school stuff, and all this homeless paper has been camping out in this plastic bin on the floor of our shower room. It has taken me DAYS to sort through it all, and I have been shredding documents until the shredder literally smokes! My butt and back and knees are stiff from sitting on the floor hunched over piles of papers. My living room floor has been perpetually spattered with paper bits. So to write it here as I did brings to mind the scene in The Return of the King when in the midst of battle Legolas single-handedly brings down a ginormous Olifant and its whole murderous crew, and as he leaps from the wreckage, Gimli looks and says, "It still only counts as one!"