Spring of Paring Down

Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with cooking or how to shop for the perfect paring knife. Foodies be warned!

If I counted how many coats, t-shirts and shoes I have I would be ashamed to write the number here. If I added all of my purses, scarves and gloves you’d think I was joking. I have a habit of holding onto clothes and shoes in case (“What if? What if?!”) I need them in the future. I always dread the day I’ll search for an item in my closet and then woefully remember, “Oh yeah, I donated that last year.”

My closet is like a time capsule. I can recall where I bought almost every item and which ones were gifts. I remember how much of a discount I got and the significant events I wore them to. Giving away a shirt or a hoodie is like giving away a packet of memories. For the past few months I’ve had a “To donate” pile in my bathroom. It just sits there. Every once in a while I add to the pile. Occasionally I pull an item out for rescue.

Clothes and shoes are only the tip of the iceberg. For lack of better words I have a lot of “just about everything.” I have a ton of inexpensive jewelry (hello Forever 21!), lotion (a popular birthday gift), old birthday cards and playbills. My collection of nail polish is so extensive I can hardly close my bathroom drawer without routine reorganizations. The presence of three different curling irons in said drawer isn’t much help.

I also have a problem area in my living room which has been boiling over for a while. My collection of scrap fabric and ribbon for craft projects is out of control! It used to fit in a plastic drawer set but lately it has spread to a few additional baskets and boxes and every once in a while it escapes onto the kitchen counter. Naughty, naughty!

I decided on this “Spring of Paring Down” seasonal theme almost a month ago. I tackled my fabric drawers first and made this entire wreath using fabric I already had. Not a bad start, right?

Looking around my apartment I know there is more I can do. I need to cut down my leftover inventory from my out-of-commission Etsy shop. I absolutely have to turn my old clothes and shoes in to Deseret Industries. I need to paste all of my souvenir tickets into my long-abandoned scrap book. Literally I want to get rid of half the stuff in my apartment. I am going to use the month of April to tackle all of this and then I’m going to spend May and June maintaining the new-found sanity.

In short Phase One will involve attacking these problem areas:

A. Closet: Pull every item out of my closet which I haven’t worn for one year. Say goodbye.

B. Bathroom drawers: Chuck all old nail polishes. Get rid of superfluous items.

C. Desk: Collect all tickets and other sentimental scraps. Slap them into scrapbook.

D. Fabric drawers & Etsy inventory: Organize all remaining fabric and ribbon. Re-open Etsy shop and sell everything at a deep discount.

E. Basement storage area: Remove all unused furniture/decoration items. Give them away.

Phase Two (read: maintenance) will test my resolve but I think if I make it all the way to June without re-cluttering my life then I can probably make it the rest of the year. If I can make it the rest of the year then maybe I can make it the rest of my life. Well, the rest of my “single” life at least.

If this doesn’t count as “paring down” I don’t know what does. I am already excited to see the progress. Happy Spring Cleaning to all and to all a good night!

Pinterest Projects

Have you ever been looking for something online (the perfect new jeans, a place to travel, paintings for your wall, a bridal shower gift, etc.) and come up with a whole list of possibilities? Maybe you added each website to your Favorite Places, or copied and pasted them into a Word document. Or, if you’re like me, you put the URL’s into an Excel spreadsheet along with store name, price and estimated sales tax. (Details!) Sure, you can applaud yourself for organization but constantly opening a documents and clicking links with no visual reference gets a little tedious. (I’ve also tried copying and pasting photos of potential items into a Word document but the formatting tends to get really messy.) Wouldn’t it be better to have an easily-referenced, environmentally-friendly, smart phone-compatible, completely visual option? There is!

Pinterest is an online “virtual pinboard” for any project you could ever dream of. When you see an image you like (whether on Pinterest or anywhere else on the web) you simply “pin it” to your board of choice. (If you want to swipe someone else’s pin, feel free! “Repinning” is highly encouraged.) When you go back to your board you can simply click on the pin, click on the image and be sent to the original URL. It’s as easy as that! You can have as many different boards as you like and they can be as silly or as serious as you want. If you see a pin on Pinterest that you’re fond of but you don’t really have a place for, you can “like” it and it will be added to your Likes page for easy reference. As for my boards they range from anything that makes me laugh to images that really get me thinking. I pin things I want to buy, skills I want to learn, styles I want to emulate, and ideas that might come in handy someday.

If you allow it, Pinterest will search through your Facebook friends and set you up to “follow” them. This means your homepage will be comprised all the pins (from newest to oldest) that your friends have recently pinned. If you get tired of one of their boards you can go to the board and click “Unfollow” at any time. Pinterest will also set you up to follow some of the most popular pinners (including Pinterest co-founders) who have the same interests as you.

I’m fairly new on Pinterest but I have had some really good times trying out of the tutorials I found on the site. Here is my first round of Pinterest projects.

DIY Scarf Tutorial

Source: shwinandshwin.blogspot.com via Laura on Pinterest

I saw this scarf and immediately thought, “I can do that!” I bought a cheap t-shirt at Forever 21 and went to town following the tutorial. It turned into a mini disaster. I worked on it for almost two hours but I still had a blast sitting on my living room floor watching Terra Nova. My suggestions for future success: use a thick t-shirt (mine was super thin) and don’t use a white t-shirt (mine looked like sad bedsheet strips tied together before I took it all apart and fashioned it into a laughable nautical-themed braided “scarf”).

Cost: Approx $7

Time: If done right it should be fairly quick

Video Tutorial: How to transfer a photo to a wood block

Source: youtube.com via Debra on Pinterest

I was so excited to try this tutorial. I found inexpensive 12”x12” pieces of craft plywood at Robert’s. I read in the comments section of the video that you only really needed Gel Medium (made by Liquitex) so I saved a little money because I didn’t buy Mod Podge. I spent $3 to have my picture of choice enlarged at Costco. I tried the tutorial twice (once with a photography and once with a photocopy), failed miserably both times, and gave up.

Cost: Approx $15

Time: Unknown

DIY Ear Warmers

Source: prudentbaby.com via Lora on Pinterest

After my photo transfer failure I was worried the rest of my Pinterest project attempts would be doomed. Leah and I agreed to work on this ear warmers project at her house. I was excited to buy fleece and buttons since they were on sale. Leah showed me how to use her rotary cutter and cutting mat (now on my “must have list”) and I got acquainted with her sewing machine (I need one of those too). Three hours later I had my first ear warmer headband completed. I was elated with the result. On subsequent visits to Leah’s house I made four more (for gifts) and got quicker each time.

Cost: Approx $5 each

Time: About one hour each (once you’re warmed up)

Galaxy Nails Tutorial

Source: letthemhavepolish.com via Allie on Pinterest

I had no idea there were entire blogs dedicated to nail polish. Considering I have loved nail polish since seventh grade this was a very fun find. I had seen several instructions for “Galaxy Nails” and since I had lots of a colors and a foam paintbrush at my disposal, I went for it.

Here are the colors I used and my final result:

Cost: $0 (I already had all of the nail polish. My favorite brand, Nicole by OPI, costs about $8 at Target)

Time: About 30 minutes

White Floral Wreath

Source: domestifluff.com via Crystal on Pinterest

When I saw this pin I knew I had to try it. I had to buy the felt (the tutorial called for way too much – you only need ½ or ¾ yard), the Styrofoam ring and the push pins. I decided to get fancy so I also bought light blue sparkly tulle to add a frosty effect and spray adhesive in order to add translucent glitter which I already had. The most time-consuming part of the project was cutting out the felt circles. The most frustrating part was trying to fashion long strips of uncooperative tulle into five flowers for an accent. Now I know better than to try to follow this homemade wreath tutorial.

Cost: Approx $23 (I also bought a wreath hook for my door)

Time: About 2.5 hours (while watching TV)

Scrabble Tile Coasters

Source: danimariedesigns.blogspot.com via Beth on Pinterest

I fell in love with this project when I saw it but it took me some time to figure out who I could make it for. When it hit me I got really excited and ordered a set of Scrabble letters on Amazon. (If you are going to try to make this project I suggest saving some money and searching for used Scrabble games for sale.) The next step was hitting three different craft stores (so I could use three different coupons) to buy the cork, exacto knife, paint brush, wood stain marker pen, wood finish and wood glue. After I stained the name letters and let them dry I had a blast arranging the 5x5 design on each coaster to spell out hidden words. The tutorial warned against accidentally spelling swear words but after double- and triple-checking I was confident I was ready to glue the letters onto the cork. The result? A fun, personalized coaster for everyone!

Cost: Let’s just say it was pricey

Time: About 2 hours

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All in all I hope this was a helpful introduction to Pinterest. I have had a lot of fun on the site and now that I have a quick and easy way to organize visual information and ideas I can’t wait until it’s time to plan my next big vacation or redecorate my home. Just let me know if you need one of those elusive email invites in order to join. Happy Pinning!