Out With the Old

Okay it is a New Year.  Over the past 50 years, at least, I have bought into the New Year Resolution Thing.  I can remember being  in Jr High and writing in my new five year diary that I was NOT going to like boys who did not like me back.  Figured that was a way to assure my young heart would never be broken again.

FAT CHANCE...........that one.     

Over the years, the changing year brought new resolutions.  Many I would never carry out and too many I would never ever remember.  I know now the most important idea for me is to welcome the New Year with a new determination to live life to the very fullest each and every day.   Always at the top of my list is to be aware of others.  If there is something nice I can do for someone, I will try to fulfill that to the best of my ability.  I don't need others to know about it.  It just makes me feel so good to put a smile on someone else's face.

I also like to start with a clean house, everything in its place, kind of feeling.  This year was no exception.  Before I would let my Hubby even think of taking the tree down, I had to go down to the basement and muck out all sorts of bins and boxes and separate the holiday items.   We have three storage closets in the basement, two of which are in bedrooms.   Our youngest and her family live in South America at the moment but have been out of the state since they were first married.  They have one and a half closets dedicated to their stored belongings.  The other 'half' closet houses the Halloween, Thanksgiving, Valentine and Easter decorations and costumes.  I was amazed I got it all in there, but I did.

The remaining closet houses all of the Christmas Decorations.  I do have several bins left over, sitting out side that closet but it is so much better.  I had that bedroom so full of all the holiday stuff, we couldn't use it for a bedroom. The furnace room houses all the outdoor holiday structures and also is my new 'stained glass' area.

I needed a cement floor and a space to work with leaded glass and solder that the grand kids and animals would not frequent.  I will post pictures of that room when it is fully functional.

In the meantime, I had stored boxes and bins of all sorts of STUFF.......................................

a collection, of Christmas horns, large and small...........................

real life fur coats and fur pieces for future one of a kind Santas.....who will carry the above Christmas horns.

a very large bin of vintage feed and flour sacks.............any ideas as to how to use them besides  pillows?

old tattered and torn cutter quilts.......have made many into lap size quilts, curtains and again Santas and Christmas dolls.

Anyone interested in pieces of these can let me know along with their address and I will be happy to share!

 Vintage chenille spreads............all of these are white....several given to me.....several for a few bucks and garage sales.....Future snowmen?  Pillows?  Sachets?  Suggestions?

Tons of old  beat up and newer picture frames to use for my family portrait wall.

several boxes of old books and encyclopedias to make into altered books

 Bags of stuff I could make myself part with for the local Good Will Store.

yes.....even garbage bags  ...and more thrift store stuff!

Pulling stuff out of my studio to fill the kitchen table and surrounds.....................

 as well as the dining room table with tons of vintage ornaments.....................

my studio work table full of stuff pulled out of the closets and brought up from the basement....................
TO BE CONTINUED!