April 22, 2007--citronella candle

i'm so embarrassed that i even still have this. it's broken, the candle is mostly burnt and it's so old that the citronella is probably non-existent anyway!

April 21, 2007--wind chimes

one of my favorite college professors gave me this wind chime as a wedding gift. it's broken now. i may decide to re-use the chimes themselves to make myself a new windchime, but this one is kaput. if i re-use the chimes, is it cheating to list the item on this blog?

April 14-17, 2007---blank books

when i was in high school and college, i had an insatiable fetish for blank notebooks. thing was, i actually wrote in lots of them. i wrote poetry, lists, stories, journalling.... but i don't do as much of that anymore. and these four notebooks aren't really my style any more, so, i'm passing them along to the next mad scribbler.

April 12, 2007--free stencil

martha stewart likes to send these "free stencils!" along with the pleas to buy her magazine and i tend to keep them, but WHY? i'm pretty much never going to use them. and they're always the same design.

April 11, 2007--duvet

i bought this duvet at a thrift store in tulsa on a shopping trip with my favorite thrifting cousin. she was jealous that i'd found it first. now, it's not really my style and i don't need to keep it.

April 7, 8, 9, 2007--mops

i hate mopping. i really do. and i have a very large kitchen/dining area to mop. a few weeks ago, i purchased the "o mop" system from method at target. it includes a washable, absorbent cloth that velcro's to the mop's head and you squirt floor cleaner onto the floor, then mop it up. when you're done, you throw the cloth into the laundry. i can live with that. a lot less wasteful than the swiffer mops or any of that family of knock-off's. so, here are the past three mop contenders i've had at my house. i'm getting rid of all of them. i'm not sure yet if the o-mop is the perfect mop for me, but i like it better than any of these three!

April 6, 2007--rag rug

I think this cost me... maybe $1? maybe less? i bought it because it was cheap and kind of cute. but now that it's been washed a few times, it's gotten stringy. and much less cute. and the other day i looked at it and realized that it wasn't adding any beauty to my house and that it must go.

March 26, 2007-- rickety stair rail

yay! my birthday! let's list something really great for today. i know! this stair rail! we've been meaning to replace this railing since we bought the house 3 years ago. it's unstable (wobbly if you lean on it) and the space between the balustrades (?) is wAAAAAy too big (i can fit MY head through it, so you KNOW a toddler can!). well, we finally, this month, got our carpenter friend to come build us a new one. it wasn't particularly cheap, but it's beautiful and sturdy and since we opted to "finish" it ourselves, it's not quite done yet, so i don't have an "after" picture, but here's the railing we got rid of! (i think this picture was taken before the bottom post got shredded by the cats--another classy touch.)

March 19, 2007--wool blanket

this one is a bit more difficult for me to get rid of. i've kept it in the trunk of my car for years (sometimes in the back seat instead) and occasionally used it when i got cold in the car. thing is, i now have a cute polar fleece one from my grandma-in-law that is much less scratchy and this one has colors that are rather dated and ... it's just not one of my favorites any more. the story behind it is that i found it at pier one when i was in high school and debated with myself for a very long time before buying it. i don't remember how much it cost, but i do remember thinking that it was very expensive, but on sale so it was cheaper than it had originally been and i LOVED it and thought it was the most beautiful thing ever and whenever i'd ask my mom if she thought it was worth the money she'd say helpful things like, "is it worth it to YOU? if so, then it's worth it!" the thing is, i struggled for a long time (who am i kidding--i still struggle) with determining the value of a dollar. especially in non-used stores. i am a pro at deciding if something is "worth it" to me at a thrift store or yard sale or at an antiques shop (most of the time, anyway) but my points of reference feel all out of whack when i go to stores that sell new things. growing up, i rarely purchased things at the mall and sort of had this feeling that EVERYTHING at the mall was expensive and that was just what things at the mall were worth and that it's okay to pay $16 for a turtleneck at the mall (which is a price i would never pay for one at a thrift store--even if the tags were still on it!). anyway, this blanket is from that era. i loved it dearly once upon a time, but i'm not really that fond of it anymore. yet another example of how even the things that i "love" can go out of fashion and lose their appeal.

March 13, 2007--yellow futon cover

I apologize. this will be my first post with no photo. i forgot to get one before i gave the item away! this item is a full-size light yellow canvas futon cover. i bought it for 50cents a pound awhile back thinking i could use it either as a futon cover or as fabric to cut up. it's too big for my own futon and it's so nice that i couldn't bear to cut it up. then, last weekend, i realized that some of my friends have 2 futons and at least one room in their house is painted yellow (so they like the color) so i asked if they wanted it and they're trying it out! i hope it works for them. that's the joy of buying things "by the pound." in most cases, stuff ends up being sooooo cheap that you can afford to give it away and if no one ends up being able to use it, you can return it to the store (not for any sort of refund, mind you) and not feel like you're out much money.

March 8, 2007--izze bottles

when this soda first came out, i was enamored of the packaging (is that grammatically correct?) and thought i'd use these as vases. y'know, i've got a collection of blue glass bottles and a collection of green glass bottles and clear glass bottles are pretty common. i think it's time to recycle these.

March 5, 2007--glass container

this is a container from my most favorite moisturizer ever which has, of course, been discontinued. i stocked up when i found out and i'm working on my last jar (and trying desperately to find a good substitute) but this is an empty jar. it's glass with a plastic lid and i found the shape to be appealing and thought i might use it to store something or .... something. but inspiration hasn't struck yet and really, it's just garbage.

February 12-27, 2007--16 things from under my sinks

whew! treasure trove of great things to chuck under my sink! here we find expired medications (at least one is over 10 years old), plastic containers i thought i'd use for travel, but have plenty others of now, let's get rid of some, a comb (i own 3 and use 0) some fancy soap that i don't use some shower curtain hooks that i've replaced because they fall off the rod, a cute brush shaped like a foot (i have 2) and a travel toiletries bag that i've replaced with another one i like better. also, from under the kitchen sink--a wire basket with suction cups that seemed like a good idea but mostly got in the way.

february 4, 2007--mini greenhouse

oh, ikea, you are full of cute yet mostly useless things. and they are all so CHEAP! this "mini greenhouse" was purchased on my very first ever trip to ikea and i really haven't ever used it. it's too small to be practical for anything and who am i kidding-- i'm no green thumb and i never start anything so early that i need a greenhouse. plus, it's proven itself fairly useless as a decorating prop as well.

january 31, 2007--paper picture frame

this lovely little picture frame was given to me by my mother around the time of my wedding. for years, it has held a photo, printed on regular paper, of my husband and i cutting our wedding cake. the frame is now somewhat faded and my complete adoration of all things handmade paper has narrowed and i'd like to pass this frame along to someone else.

January 22, 2007--green thermal blanket

for some reason, when i was in college, these blankets were the big thing. everyone had one in a different color. i'd recently forgotten that i owned it. i'm not sure what the appeal was all those years ago--these blankets are full of holes, not that attractive and if my cats got hold of it.... well, it wouldn't be pretty. i think someone else will get better use out of it.