Week Six, Items 43-50

Frog socks

I bought these frog slipper things as a gag gift for someone before I found out that they really dislike that sort of thing (gag gifts, that is. I don't know what they think about frogs). So now I will just donate them. These are quite soft, and I'm sure someone out there would love them (though not anyone who enjoys sliding on wood floors. These have "ribbit" written on the bottom in grippy letters).

Green hooded tee

This shirt is comfy, but I haven't worn it in ages. I think it might be a little bit too casual for me now or something. I just have too many clothes to keep ones that I don't wear, so I'm going to donate this. Someone else might love it, and I don't need it sitting in my closet, going unworn.

Business card holder

Yet another item from the seemingly bottomless box of things from college. (There are some fun & useful things in there, too, but then, that's not what this blog is for.) I keep business cards in one of those plastic file folders with the internal dividers. Somebody gave this to me at graduation, but I've never actually used it.

Mary Higgins Clark book

I read a bunch of Mary Higgins Clark books in middle school. I think I liked them because I was always able to solve them partway through. They really were terrible books, though. Think of all the hours I wasted reading complete crap! It's sad, really. I'm not even completely sure how I ended up with this one, but I think my bookshelf will be happy to see it go.

Invitations

I bought these packages of fill-in-the-blank invitations when I was helping someone out with an event a while back. She wanted "not flashy" fill-in-the-blank invitations, so I found these. Then she decided an Evite would be easier for the guests. These have just been sitting around ever since. I'm not a fill-in-the-blanks invitation person (my handwriting is terrible), so I'm not going to use them. Instead, I'm giving them to someone who will.

Ginormous red earrings

I ordered these, along with a few other things, from Forever 21 a few years ago. I love big, bright earrings, but these are chunkier than I thought they would be. It's an awful lot of red to put next to one's face, so I've never worn them. I'm sure they could work in the right situation, but I don't think I'm the right person for that situation, whatever it may be.

Spiderman

Yes, this is on VHS. Like Black Hawk Down, I bought this used for cheaper than I could have rented it. I typically love movies adapted from comic books, but this is an exception. I have a vague sort of appreciation for it because its success paved the way for a bunch of movies that I do like, but I just was not a fan of this movie.

Movie guide book

I can't even tell you how excited I am to be getting rid of this thing. It's larger than a phone book, and full of little bits of information about movies. My husband has had it for years, and for years he's refused to get rid of it. I've tried to explain to him that there's this useful thing called the Internet, where he could find even more information than is contained in this book. It's seven years old, and just a waste of space. Since starting this blog, I've finally convinced him to embrace the Internet when he wants movie info, and get rid of this waste of space. Hooray!

Progress: 50 items out of 400 = 12.5% done

Week Five, Items 36-42

Orange hair spray

Last Halloween, my husband and I dressed up as Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman. My husband used this stuff to turn his hair red like Adam's, only he looked more like he shampooed his hair with Cheeto dust. It worked for Halloween costume purposes, but it got all over his shirt, jacket and hat. It was a huge pain to get this stuff out of all of those, so I am quite happy to get rid of this.

Pair of pillowcases

Since discovering fleece pillowcases, my husband has gotten hooked on how soft they are, and now that's all he uses. These plain old cotton pillowcases just aren't up to snuff, I guess. They're too big for my pillow, so we can just get rid of these.

Turquoise sweater

I bought this sweater mainly because it's extremely soft. I also liked the color, though I was never that crazy about the style. I shouldn't have bought it, but I guess my husband isn't the only one who's a sucker for soft things. I've hardly ever worn this, but I'm sure someone else can get a lot of use out of it.

Set of plastic organizers

We used these to organize our silverware when we were renting a condo that had really narrow kitchen drawers—a regular organizing contraption wouldn't fit. Since we moved into our house, these have just been taking up space on the top shelf in a cupboard. If we had another way to put these to use, we would've done it by now. But we haven't, so they can go.

Black Hawk Down

I watched this movie once, and while I'm glad I did, I don't feel I ever need to watch again. It is just too damn depressing. I bought it used at a Blockbuster for less than it would have cost to rent it (this was back in the Dark Ages, before Netflix existed), but I am sure someone out there would like to own it. For me, though, this is just the kind of movie that I can't handle watching more than once (and even once was tough).

Saxifrage 1 and 2

Saxifrage is my college's literary journal. I read through each of these when I got them, though I have not looked at them since (these are also from my box of random college-era things). To be honest, I don't read much fiction. I think these would have a better home with someone who loves fiction and poetry. 

Decluttering

In addition to these items, I also tackled another decluttering project this week: our medicine cabinet. I threw out everything that was expired (some things in there had expired in 2009!). I am not counting those items toward my total, though, because some of them will be replaced. Tackling that one project gave me a sense of accomplishment I haven't gotten from just getting rid of a few items a week. I would love to come up with a few more defined decluttering projects like that one—it's so encouraging to see a huge improvement, even if it's just in a small area.

Progress: 42 items out of 400 = 10.5% done.

Week Four, Items 29-35

Set of Sephora lip glosses

Sephora gives a little bonus gift to customers on their birthdays, which is a nice gesture. There is a downside, though: you don't get to choose the gift. I don't wear lip gloss, so these have been sitting around, untouched, for months. Precisely the sort of thing I don't need to keep.

Nail polishes 1 and 2

When I graduated from college, I thought I had to start acting like a grown-up. Buying boring nail polish was one of the first things I did before I started my job—I figured I was too old to continue wearing my favorite super bright and super dark colors. It didn't take me long to ditch that idea and go back to wearing colors I like. These hardly ever got touched. They're several years old, and it's time for them to go.

Sunglasses

I'm not really a sunglasses person. I've owned one pair in my entire life that I actually liked, and they broke one day when we were sailing (I know, I know—first world problem). I've kept the broken pair because I'm pretty sure they're fixable, but I haven't gotten around to it yet. I got a couple cheap pairs as replacements, and I like the other replacement pair more than I like this pair, so I won't keep these.

Green earrings

Confession: I own a truly ridiculous amount of earrings. Seriously. I don't even want to count how many pairs I own, because it might not be a defensible number. Still, I wear nearly all of them regularly. Not this pair, though. I have a pair that's similar to these, but in a color I like a lot more. While I hardly ever wore these, I'm sure someone else would love them.

One-shouldered top

I love how one-shouldered shirts and dresses look, but it turns out wearing them is a hassle. So, while this top fits me, I'm not going to keep it. I may not be too old for vivid shades of nail polish, but I am definitely too old for the whole exposed bra strap thing.

Painted sign

I made this to take to Seattle's Rally to Restore Sanity, but it didn't fully dry in time. Damp paint + public transportation + crowded event seemed likely to result in a minor disaster at best, so I decided to leave the sign at home. I stuck it in my office and forgot about it. I cannot think of a situation in the future where this sign is likely to come in handy, so I am just getting rid of it.

Progress: 35 items out of 400 = 8.75% done.

Week Three, Items 21-28

Creepy gingerbread thing

We host an annual party near the end of the year to which our friends wear tacky holiday stuff. We deck out our house in a similar fashion. To do so, we've rounded up some holiday decorations from thrift stores. This thing in particular weirds me out a little bit, and I'm happy to have an excuse to get rid of it. Back to the thrift store it goes!

Star of David tablecloth

We've had this tablecloth since 2006, when we first hosted our tacky holiday party. After several years of use, it has some tears and stains, and I think it's time to put it out to pasture. We certainly got our money's worth out of it; it only cost a dollar. This is exactly the type of item I don't want to bring into our house anymore, though—things that are cheap and disposable, as if they are meant to go straight to landfills. I don't want to be part of the cycle of cheap consumerism.

Dreidel set

I think the idea was that people would actually use these at the holiday party. To my knowledge, though, no one ever has. I don't feel the need to hold onto these in the hopes that someone will use them this December.

Silver flats

I really like silver flats in theory. In practice, I'm not that crazy about this particular pair. I hardly ever wore them. Better to own things I love and use than to own things I think I might grow to like more someday. It's pretty obvious which category these fall into.

Aflac duck

Someone gave me this little duck at an event I worked at as an intern. My internship was awesome, but I don't need an Aflac duck to remind me of it (my internship wasn't even at Aflac—there was just someone from the company at this particular event). There's no good reason for me to have kept this for so long. It's just something that made its way into a box of stuff from college, which has moved with me from place to place, but never been unpacked.

Set of flower magnets

Another item from the box of random college-era stuff. 

I used these magnets on the mini fridge I had in my room, but I haven't used them since. Honestly, I had totally forgotten about them. That's definitely a sign that they are something I don't need to keep.

Headlight replacement bulb

The headlight replacement bulbs for our old car came in a pack of two. We only had to use one. But now we have a different car, so this won't do us any good. It's just one more thing we don't need to have in our house.

Square brads

We used these when putting together our wedding programs. The finished products turned out great (thanks to a few friends who helped us assemble them), but putting them together was a giant pain. I want nothing more to do with these—fortunately, I know a creative, crafty person who could put them to good use. 

Progress: 28 items out of 400 = 7% done.