Daily Declutter

I did stuff today! I'm much more proud of myself than I should be, but this is the first time in a couple of weeks that I have been able to make a concerted effort to declutter an area. I went out to the shed yesterday, and was faced with the horror of other people not putting things away. I put out of season sheets away in their boxes (I love flannel sheets in winter!), mended a sheet that got torn (on an edge where it doesn't matter for feel but it does matter for wear, and generally put things away.

Then, I started clearing up the craft supplies. I have a really hard time getting rid of these because I feel that they might be useful for a gift, or for a school project. But honestly, my kids are past the age when they need to make a lot of school projects out of cotton balls and popsicle sticks. I threw away baby food jars (but I don't have a baby! If I need them, how will I get them? --- I haven't needed them in 11 years, I'll probably live without them.), lids to jars I no longer have, dirty cardboard (?!). I donated fancy cut-out confetti, modeling clay, flat marbles, a cute basket.

I also created a container of "If I don't use it this year I'm giving it away" stuff. If I found something that is just too useful to give away right now, I put it together. This will be my first line of attack when making gifts for people. The three single pompoms that can be used on a birthday gift tag? Use 'em or lose 'em. The bag of rainbow colored wool fleece? It will become a trivet this year or never. I feel too tense to get rid of this stuff without giving it one last chance, but I also don't want to keep everything forever "just in case." Make the decision now and don't keep everything always.

I know it would be cleaner to just get rid of these supplies and replace them or do without. It would be more "minimalist." But I also want to be true to myself, and I like making personal gifts for people. I like the creative process, and I like having a low impact/zero waste gift giving style. I figure the compromise will be beneficial by the end of the year. Since I've taken so long to collect all my clutter, it's fair to take some time to streamline without making myself or my family feel deprived or pressured to get rid of things to meet an outside standard.