What to do with all this stuff???
We are moving soon, and I find myself with the daunting task of sorting through an amazing amount of stuff.  Looking through the amassed hordes of things we have accumulated in the basement, unused closets and rooms of the house I can't help but giggle. I think there are things that haven't been removed from their boxes since we moved to Columbus. That was five years ago. I think I can safely say that this purge will be good for us. I myself have an unending amount of items that I continually say that one day I will be able to wear again. Maybe it's because the item has some mysterious pull, be it the pattern, material, or shape. Most likely, in my case, it has sentimental value. Those are the hardest to part with. Like my old R.E.M. and Blind Melon concert T-shirts. These poor things have been worn lovingly for years, and I'm not ready to part with them. 

Most items have predetermined destines. They will travel to the new abode or to storage. If not, they will be sold or donated. There are those items that are just no longer useful in their current well used conditions. I couldn't sell them and would feel guilty donating them. There are also those items that could probably be worn again or can still be used in it's intended purpose, but there is something about it I absolutely love.  Clothing usually falls into this category as well as broken decorative items. I've been researching a lot of up cycling ideas as a way to stretch my household budget while doing a little bit to lessen the effect of this purge on the amount of waste that goes into the area landfill or worse yet just ends up in a box sitting in storage or the closet of the next place we live. 


So as I have been going through my stuff,  I have also been looking at up-cycling crafts that I can reuse my tasty and well, not so tasty items. I'm always looking for new techniques and ideas to pique my interest. The catch is that they have to be easy, attractive and useful. What is the point of investing you precious time to make something that will be novel for a while on the shelve but will so make to a drawer or closet. I don't have a lot of time to craft right now, and the house is in a stay of chaos. So for me to pull out my supplies or sewing machine it better be special. I have found a few projects I am looking forward to trying though.


I already melt down my old spent candles. I made quite a few simple candles using mason jars. When I ran out of Mason jars I got the idea to use these small copper Jello molds to make wax discs. They really turned out great, and will be useful when I want to make candles again. They're are also decorative. I love it when my supplies look nice sitting on the shelve. There are all kinds of tools and supplies that you can purchase to make candles. I have always just used old pots and utensils that I have in those boxes I was talking about.  I still have more to melt down and get in disc form, but with the weather warming up it is too hot to melt wax. Next rain I'm going to have to finish up the task. Next winter I'm going to have to make my self get this done during the cold months. But for now this discussion will have to wait for a rainy day.


What I have on the brain right now is felting old sweaters. This is a great use for those poor old wool, cashmere, alpaca or other animal fiber sweaters that have seen better days. If they were accidentally washed and dried before, then even better. Your almost there. So let's get ready to dig through those moth fill boxes and look for woolly sweaters.
Coming soon..Adventures in felting.