My family is coming down for Christmas this year and I knew I had to step up my holiday game.  Normally, when it’s just me and my husband, we whip out our 4 foot tall pre-lit fake tree about 2 weeks before the big day; put on some Christmas music and throw the ornaments up.  I have a hard time really getting into holiday decorating because I hate the idea of working hard to make something look beautiful and then taking it down a few weeks later.  Also, growing up, my mom replaced practically every item in our house with something Christmasy.  Reindeer art and Santa pillows were put up and their replacements were stored away.  As I got older, I realized how much space it took up to store an entire house of Christmas decorations.  I vowed to never go that crazy.  I certainly appreciate when other people do I just can’t do it myself. 

This year I knew I would have to do a little more than our random hand-me-down decorations and our sad little tree.  So, my third grade mind went straight to PAPER CHAINS! 

Off I went to Hobby Lobby (my favorite crafty store).  I bought 11 pieces of Christmas scrapbook paper, a paper cutter, and a long string of silver beads.  Then I went next door to Ollies (much like Big Lots) and bought 3 packs of silver garland in 15 feet lengths and some silver bows. 

I cut the paper into strips of about an inch and a half wide by seven and a half inches long.  Then I precut about 200 pieces of tape and got to work. 

You know how it goes… make the strip into a circle, tape or glue it then link the next piece through that circle and repeat until you have a glorious Christmas strand!

I weaved the silver garland in and out of the paper chains.  I hadn’t planned on doing this, but I couldn’t find any double sided Christmas paper and I didn’t want the white insides to be noticeable.  And tada… an INSTANT CHRISTMAS decoration!  You can throw this around your tree,

Hang it from your curtain rod,

Loop it above your fireplace, wear it as a sash… the world is yours!

Annnnd I’m back.  Told you there wouldn’t be a proper conclusion.  My favorite thing about the paper garland project is how she hung it vertically on the tree…I nevr would have thought of that.  Stay tuned for much more of Laura’s Corner…trust me, if you could see her house, you’d be excited.  Merry Christmas everyone!!

I decided to make my own mulling spices.  If you’ve never mulled, it’s basically a mixture you add to wine to make a warm, festive Christmas explosion in a mug.  That’s the only way I can describe it, it’s so delicious.  Williams-Sonoma usually sells a tin of mulling spices around this time of year, which I’ve tried and enjoyed.  But I thought it would be a lot cheaper to make my own, so I went on the hunt for a recipe.   I was looking for something simple, with not too many ingredients, and a recipe that didn’t include anything like orange or lemon zest.  Since I didn’t know how zest would hold up as far as shelf life.  I finally found the perfect recipe, which you can view on this fine lady’s blog.

Since presentation is everything, I also wanted to find some sort of cheap accessory for my mulling spices.  I came up with a few ideas but ultimately settled on a coffee mug.  I went to Michael’s hoping to find some Christmasy but not too cutesy options, and hit the jackpot. 

Yeah, they’re not Christmasy, but I’m ok with that.  The gift itself is very festive and these mugs were just too good to pass up.  I could do without the cheesy inspirational words, but otherwise, they’re sort of cool and in the style of urban outfitters, no?  They’re a bit quirky, which fits my taste perfectly.  And you know I couldn’t walk away when there was a vintage key involved

Wanna hear the price?  You’ll die.  ONE DOLLAR. Each.  Like I said, too good to pass up.  After Michaels I went shopping for spices.  Cue a huge shout out to Badia

If you don’t know already, you should be buying your spices in the international foods aisle (where the Mexican food is like tortillas and refried beans).   Badia spices are SO CHEAP it’s ridiculous.  I got probably 50 whole cinnamon sticks for $3.49, whole allspice for $0.89 and whole cloves for $2.15.  I would’ve probably spent $20 (or more) if I had shopped McCormick in the baking aisle.   Badia, I salute you.

For assembly, I readied my packaging details,

And made each person’s spice mix individually (I gifted 12 co-workers total).  First I mixed the sugars

Then transferred the mix to one of my x-small clear gift bags (also purchased at Michael’s).  I sprinkled in the whole cloves and allspice and finished with the cinnamon sticks on top. 

I nestled the bag into my mugs, twined her up and added some homemade gift tags along with recipe instructions.  Voila!

Pretty cool, right???  I love the way the cinnamon sticks are perched right on top, they look so rustic and seasonal.  I tried to get a close-up while fighting with the glare on the plastic.  Spoiler.  The glare mostly won.

So that’s my story morning glory.  Here’s a price breakdown:

Spices (including sugars) – about $10
Gift bags – $4.99
Mugs – $12
Twine and gift tags – free

Total: $26.99 or $2.25/person (for 12 people)

Oh and here’s the directions I included in case you’re interested (the instructions from the blog were lame, so I came up with my own).

           Mulled Wine Hot Toddies

• Empty  mulling spices (contents of bag) and
  4 cups cranberry juice into a sauce pan
• Stir to dissolve sugars, and bring to boil
• Reduce heat to simmer and add 3 cups
  Burgundy or Pinot Noir wine
• Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 10 
  minutes, or up to a half hour (the longer
  you simmer, the more spice-infused
  your wine will become)
• Ladle into mugs, taking care to avoid
  any of the whole spices (or strain
  the spices out before serving)

Serves 8

If you’re thinking about adapting this idea for your friends in the workplace, here are a couple alternate ‘packages’ I considered: a bottle of Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw would be a nice compliment to the spices.  And since it’s only about $3 a bottle, it still won’t break the bank.  Another option, if maybe you only have a few people to buy for and you’re willing to spend a bit more, would be to give the spices along side a nice pair of gloves or a scarf.  I thought it would be cute to attach a little message like “Some gifts to help you stay warm this Christmas, on the inside and out.”   If you want to go for mugs like I did, check out Michael’s, but also try your local grocery store.  I’ve heard that some around here have been selling wintery mugs for a quarter each. 

So what do you think?  $2.25 per person, with the thoughtfulness of a homemade gift that is both unique and full of Christmas spirit.  Can you beat that with a stick?  No.  The answer is you can’t.

**Update – I forgot to mention that I did recipe-test my Mulled Wine Hot Toddies, and can confirm deliciousness.

Normally I have a very modest, almost Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  4 foot in stature, sparse and fake all over.  Not that I have a problem with fake…I graduated to a big girl tree this year, and it’s fake as well.  It’s also came pre-lit, which um hello — where have pre-lit trees BEEN all my life??  I know, the answer is, everywhere, and everyone has one.  But this was my first, so I’m basking in the glow of how awesome this concept is. 

Of course I wanted to keep the blue/red theme going, especially on my gorgeously lit, tall drink of water tree.  But, I didn’t want to go out and spend a ton of money on new ornaments.  Luckily, I already had a bunch of blue ball ornaments from previous years.  So that was half the battle.  To bring in an equal amount of red, I headed to Walmart.  I picked up a 99 cent 4-pack of red bulbs, and 4 – 88 cent packs of these:

Good ol’ Bob’s Sweet Stripes Candy Sticks.  I’m sort of obsessed with them.  I love the retro look so much that I find myself using them as vase fillers, as part of centerpieces, or in this case, as an quick and easy DIY ornament:

I had a hunch that with a little twine (twine!) would be the perfect tool to take them from candy to tree decoration.  And I was right,

Here’s the look at the full tree, which I think looks merry, bright, and on theme.  Plenty of blue AND red, and I only spent $5. Ho-ho-ho.

Which sits in my entry hallway.  I wanted something crafty and etsy-looking….with an appliqué Christmas flower.  The problem is…I’m really not very crafty.  I can’t even sew.  But I hatched a plan to skin that cat in a different way, and it began with two $3 placemats from Target.  The whole placemats-as-pillow-covers thing has been done before, on many other blogs, so in no way can I take credit for that genius.  Nor do I wish to take credit for my first attempt at this method, because…well, I blew it.  You see, it turns out my plan was ill-conceived.  To create my pillow, I decided to put one placemat on top of the other, and use bonding (hemming) tape to seal three edges.  Then stuff my cover and bond the final edge.  Things were looking good at first, I easily bonded my left, right and top ‘seams’.   I filled the pillow with pillow innards and attempted to secure the last seam.  No dice.  Once the stuffing was inside, it was basically impossible to hold down the two edges of the placemats neatly and straight, and even more impossible to keep them (again, neatly and straight) in position when trying to iron the bonding tape.  Every attempt came up with extremely sloppy results, and I eventually threw in the towel.  It was not to be.  Here is a picture of my end product – which to you may not look that bad, but trust me, it was a sad sack.

Notice how I tucked under the entire bottom edge – which was to hide the fact that it was full of bubbled spots and sections that weren’t even bonded together.  Also the poinsettia (which I’ll explain later) is an illusion, just set on top, not attached.  Sad.  Sack.

So after this fiasco and failure (which may or may not have included a near-tears melt down wherein I snapped to Jeff -  because obviously this  was mostly his fault – “I can’t do this!  I have these ideas but I can’t execute!”  Why hello there, drama queen!  Nice to see you.) I walked away from the problem and let it marinate.  Until a few days later when it hit me – envelope closure.  You know what I’m talking about – when a pillow cover has a slit in the back for inserting the cushion instead of going in through an edge.  Ah yes, an envelope closure seemed like just the ticket.  Now, obviously I wouldn’t be able to create a true envelope closure.  Normally there would be a bottom flap, with a longer overlapping flap.  But I figured that I don’t really need for the back to look perfect.  Since this is a strictly decorative piece (displayed in a spot where it never gets moved) as long as the front looks kosher, then nobody needs to know what’s going on around the corner..

Woops!  Too soon.  Let me back up.   Here’s how the reboot of PPP (poinsettia pillow project) went down.

1.  Iron both placemats. 

2.  Place on top of each other, and insert bonding tape between them on each side.  Make sure to put the bonding tape as close to the edges as possible.  Follow bonding tape instructions to iron and secure. 

3.  Pick which side will be your back, and pull at the fabric in the middle, so you’re sure to only lift up one of the placemats.  Cut a slit through the back placemat, top to bottom. 

4.  Insert a spare pillow or other pillow stuffing that you have on hand. (Although having tried both, stuffing it with an actual pillow works best.  Which makes sense…a pillow that’s already a pillow will give you a nice pillow-y inner structure.  Got that?)  As you can see (above), I simply put the pillow I already had in the hallway inside, on undercover duty.

5.  Smile like the Grinch as you behold your dirty little secret.

6.   Think about how weird and manic Christina’s Grinch smile was.

7.  Flip over and tada!  Placemat to pillow transformation = complete. 

8.  Add appliqué or desired flourish.  I used a safety pin to fasten.

To assemble the appliqué poinsettia, I cut out three layers of felt – I used felt because I was going for that uber-crafty look.  Obviously other fabrics would also work.  After I had a leaf layer, and two petal layers, I used bonding tape between each to join together.

For the middle (stigma?) I picked up some random doo-dads at Michaels. 

I truthfully don’t know what you’re supposed to use brads for (see? A crafty person would know that), but I loved how I could easily press one through the felt and then open it’s backing to secure:

And here’s the product of round 2:

Homemade crafty pillow?  I did it.  It’s a Christmas miracle.

1. If you’ve entered a cheap-o chain hair salon and an asian woman has been ‘trimming’  your bangs for over 10 minutes, she’s cutting too much.  Go back in time, don’t go in there.
2. Boone’s Farm Strawberry Hill is elixir from hell.  Also filed here: Mad Dog 20/20 (any flavor) and Wild Irish Rose
3. The really good guys are often the ones you initially don’t notice at all.
4. I’d rather laugh at myself than be embarrassed. 
5. If your cold sore exceeds the diameter of a quarter, it’s probably not a cold sore anymore.  You’re allergic to the cold sore medicine.
6. I once asked an older coworker if I would ever reach an age where I would stop laughing at farts.  She said no.  As of age 30, she’s still right.
7. We should all regret that bratty adolescent phase when we decided our parents were annoying and we knew more than them.  We were lousy, ungrateful little jerks.  Make sure you make it up to them. 
8. If your life turns out to be anything like mine, know this: An ungodly loud noise in the middle of the night could be one of two things: Burglars have entered the house with the express purpose of raping you, or your nocturnal roommate is moving a closet. 
9. A great hairdresser is worth her (his) weight in gold.
10. Be cautious when trying out eyebrow pencils for the first time…there’s apparently a fine line between enhancing your look, and turning yourself into Groucho Marx.
11. Somehow I won the lottery in the family, friends and boyfriend department.  I don’t deserve any of them.
12. If you don’t miss college every day, you did it wrong.
13. Never stop trying to make yourself a better person.
14. I think my maturity level capped at about 17.
15. Make that 16.
16. As I wise man once said: I totally take back all those time when I was little and I refused to take a nap.
17. One of the best things about New Jersey is going to the gas station.  It’s like having a butler for three minutes.
18. There is no shame in enjoying the deliciousness of a chocolate fountain.  There is, however, shame in accidentally dipping the bill of your hat into the chocolatey streams as you dip your strawberry (WHY did I feel the need to get so close??)
19. The only way I photograph well is if I look square at the camera and smile.  All attempts of serious/sexy/candid  poses has proven to me that when I’m not smiling, my facial expression is always mouth-full-of-marbles.
20. Facebook and My Space are life-ruiners…tread carefully.
21. I wish that cell phones didn’t make so many people so rude.
22. Laser Eye surgery is the bomb.  My father sweetly paid for the majority of my procedure, but I would have gladly paid 40 times what it cost out of my own pocket.
23. Never trust a dog with a sandwich that is even remotely within their reach.  I don’t care how well-behaved they are, they can and will summon the strength of 1000 dogs to jump higher than ever before, retrieve that sandwich, and devour it within the 5 seconds you turn your back to find the remote.
24. It’s impossible to own too many cardigans.
25. Nutella is a gift from God.
26. So is college football.
27. For a good chunk of my life – and because I misheard something my sister said – I thought (and told many people) that it was illegal to have your sunroof open while driving above 60 mph.  Which makes a ton of sense.  With that much air flow, one can only assume it’s even more dangerous than Doc Brown’s 88 mph in the Delorean….the police have to keep us from going Back to the Future.
28. Never be shy about sending food back at a restaurant, even if it’s just because you don’t like it.  If you’re nice about it, most waiters don’t care – in fact, in my experience, all waiters don’t care.  They’ll bring you something new and then you don’t have to pay for something you don’t want to eat.
29. I really feel like the national treasury put the Susan B. Anthony coin in circulation so that we could all feel like pirates.
30. Birthdays can be cheesy, and often times people place too much importance on them…but I will say this:  they definitely make you feel loved

So here’s a little taste of my plan.  I wanted to put together a thoughtful and deliberate color scheme that would bring the holiday cheer while still complimenting my current décor.  I love the contrast of the light blue with classic red…sort of traditional with a twist.  Sure, some of these blues aren’t exactly on-the-money powder blue, but I kind of like it that way.  I haven’t met a blue I don’t love, so I’m sure my final scheme will include some variation.  We all know I’ll have to get my fix with a touch of turquoise.  It’s an addiciton, folks. 

Not cute.  Because it’s sort of a messy eye sore, I keep the whole situation packed away and I tend not to pull it out very often.  Which is a shame, because if there’s no music, I’m not practicing my moves, and well……you know.  So You Think You Can Dance isn’t going to try out for itself. I brainstormed the problem and decided to create a convenient storage spot that would be both functional and appealing to the eye.  For less than $3.00? Challenge accepted.  Before we get into the meaty details, let me just warn you: this is a pretty basic and simple project so if you were expecting me to rise from the ashes of a 1 month hiatus by whittling rocking chairs out of tree trunks, you’re about to be disappointed.  I’m going to go ahead and keep the expectations low so I have no where to go but up.  That’s how I roll.

Here’s my ammunition for the DIY speaker box:

1 – Ikea Kassett cd box ($2,50)

Decorative scrapbook paper (free, already had it)

Spray adhesive (free, already had it)

Chalkboard paint (free, already had it)

Frog tape (free, already had it)

Utility knife (free, already had it)

Since I worked with an Ikea product, I’m going to call this an Ikea hack…although as hacks go, it’s pretty amateur.  I’m not making shelves into rabbit cages (seriously, how many rabbits does one have before condominiums become necessary??) But I still took one of their fantastically cheap items and customized it to my needs/style.  First, I cut the decorative paper down to fit the top of the box and secured with spray adhesive. 

Then I set my sights on the labeling area:

I got inspired by these awesome oversized baskets with chalkboard tags.  So I removed the metal frame, taped off the area, and sprayed on a couple coats of chalkboard paint. 

My maximum level of excitement for chalkboard paint = not reached.  I am still thrilled and amazed to no end every time I create a chalkboard out of…well whatever I want.  It’s like magic, no?  Like alchemy.  Except not like alchemy at all.  But still! Exciting!

The last step was to use a utility knife to cut a hole in the back of the box for the cords to feed out.  I made sure to cut all the way to the top, so I could easily lift the speakers out for use without unplugging anything.

Ikea, consider yourself hacked.

Pretty.  Easy.  Pretty easy.  All of the above.  I may go back and modge podge the decorative paper, just to protect it from wear and tear. 

Here’s the speaker/zune, moved into their new home:

Granted, it’s not a perfect fit, but does it really matter?  As long as it’s out of sight and easy to access, I’m happy.  I think my speaker box would also make a nice charging station for cellphones.  But for now, it’s got one purpose, and one purpose only

Holding my jamz.

You may have already noticed my recent penchant for everything spindle related with the bed I’ve featured on my side bar – which as long as we’re on the subject, NO ONE has built for me yet.  Just putting that out there.  Anyways, the above is an offering from Shades of Light, and it clocks in at $289.  Ouch.  Surely, I thought, there must be a look-for-less option.  Especially since I don’t discriminate – I like the spindle style in any variation.  So with a very open mind, I took to the internet to snuff out this style in any color, any shape – just not at any price.   Unfortunately, after an arduous search, I found myself right where I started.  Sulking over $300 lamps…

Pottery Barn’s take $290

Z Gallerie $269

What about Target, you ask?  Everyone’s favorite ‘discount store’ must have a more reasonable option, right?

$349.  Yup, actually the most expensive in the bunch. 

So I gave up, resigned to the fact that I couldn’t afford this look.  Then the other day, I stumbled upon a new item at Ikea.  Behold, in all it’s glory:

$30.  No joke.  Here she is playiing dress-up with a sassy shade:

AND, it even comes in a table version, for ten bucks

I think they’re both awesome as-is, but also love the idea of creating a custom look with a little DIY.  Obviously white and black spray paint on the floor model will give you the look of some of the more expensive options above, but I’m especially interested in taking it even further on that table lamp.  I can totally see it painted in a vibrant funky color and becoming a dramatic accent piece in any room. 

Can’t you imagine paiting two to matach your bedroom and using them on either side of your bed?  We’re talking major drama for about $25.   Well done, Ikea.  Well done indeed.

It all started with this mirror:

Which you may remember from the post where Pottery Barn once again got served, by me, via Home Goods. 

Since then, and possibly becuase I like sayiing the word ’quatrefoil’, I am in the grips of full-on obsession with this pattern/shape.  Every  time I see it, in any variation, my heart skips a beat (weird) and in the case of one of the items below –  upon spotting it on the shelf, I actually squealed, ever so softly, to myself.  So here’s my style board of quatrefoil expressed in various mediums.  My hope is that maybe you too will fall in love and then…..I don’t really know…we’ll do something about it.  Maybe form a club or something, I haven’t worked out the details yet.

1.  BHG Quatrefoil Shower Curtain ($16)

2.  Etsy Lattice Work Pillows ($64 for two)

3.  Quatrefoil Rug ($60 – $890)

4.  Quatrefoil Pattern Tote  ($12.99)  – You may not be able to see the qfoil-pattern very well, it’s more clear if you follow the link.  This purse also comes in brown, and has been spotted hanging out in my living room. 

5.  Quatrefoil Lamp Shade ($14.99) 

6. Quatrefoil Wall Decor ($20/each)

7.  Tile Bath Towels ($9.99/each)

8.  Quatrefoil Decorative Pillow ($12.00)

First let me show you what I’m working with.  Here is my hallway closet:

Then I have two fo these suckers in the bedroom:

My strategy was to come up with a set of rules.  Unyielding rules that I was bound to without excuses.  I came up with 4.  They are, as follows: 
     

1.   Set a specific (and realistic) goal that I can achieve.

The specific part is key.  No more ambiguous tasks like “try to get rid of some clothes”.  With that instruction, I could easily pile up 5 items in 5 minutes, rationalize that this is good enough, brush my hands together in the international sign of job-well-done, and go back to laying on the couch.  I wanted to aim for something that wasn’t open to interpretation.  Where there was only one way to finish.  So I set strict parameters – Get rid of however many clothes as is necessary to fit your wardrobe in two closets.  It didn’t matter what I got rid of, just the overall quantity of what I kept.  Another way to skin this cat would be to organize your clothes by categories, then edit them down by a specific number.  For example, if you had 30 button down shirts, decide that 15 would be a sufficient and reasonable amount to keep, even in the off chance that you attended a button down shirt convention.  Dig in and don’t move till 15 of those shirts go in the donation pile.

2.  Organize clothes into categories to better assess what I have.

No real explanation necessary…I simply put all the dresses together, all the pants together, etc.  How long will the stay organized this nicely?  Ehhhh, I give it about a month but I will try my hardest to maintain.

After step two, I had to face the nitty-gritty.  Actually making decisions about what to keep and what to pitch.  Although I mentioned that I think I’m fairly good about throwing out clothes once they’re past their prime, I still always have trouble with certain items that won’t go down without a fight.  Certain items that send me into a tail-spin of internal debate.  Which generally goes like this:

ME:  I should throw this out…I can’t remember the last time I wore it.  Possibly three years ago.  Or five.

Myself: But wait!  It’s actually stood the test of time well.  It’s not dated looking…I could still pull it off.  Maybe one day I’ll resurrect it for a night out on the town.

Me:  But that hasn’t happened.  In – what’d you say? – five years?  That should tell you something….

Myself: It’s timeless!  A classic wardrobe staple.  I must hold onto it.

Me: It’s from Forever 21.  You’re delusional.  And speaking of ‘nights out on the town’…girl, you’re like 30.  You rarely go out anymore, and when you do, you wear your work clothes.  Please describe for me the circumstances when you’re going to wear this sparkly top.

Myself: I’M 29 YOU BIT*H!”

Me:  Whatever, go buy some more turtlenecks to wear to the bar, nerd.

Myself: Now I’m going to keep it just to spite you.

You can see how the decision-making process quickly deteriorates.  But this time, I was determined to do it differently.  Knowing myself (and me) and what we’re capable of, I nipped that situation in the bud.   Which brings me to rule number three.

3.  Make piles.

To begin, I would obviously make a donation pile for everything I was ready to give the definitive nix.  Next, any piece of clothing that fell into that in-between-should-it-stay-or-should-it-go territory– went directly and immediately into its own pile.  I called it the B-list pile.  Like one might have for wedding invites.  I said to this pile “Look B-list…you’re my friends and we’ve been through a lot.  But we haven’t really talked in a super long time.  And I’m just not sure that, even if I invite you into my closet, we’ll ever really talk again afterwards.  So you’re on the back burner, for now.  You’ll hear from me if a spot opens up.”

As you can infer, I decided to not make final edits on the B-list pile until I saw how much space, if any, I had for maybe-someday-clothes.  To my delight, this system worked really well to wrangle my indecisiveness.  It was nice to have an intermediate spot before making final cuts.  Sort of a gradual step-down process….or as I like to think of it, a nicotine patch for letting go of clothes.    

What I didn’t know was that I actually needed two B-list piles.  I like to call my second pile B-list: The Fantasy Files.  That was a spot for all my ‘skinny clothes’.  All the stuff that didn’t fit or flatter me anymore – but that I kept, with clenched fingers, just in case I lost the weight to make them work again.  Now, don’t get me wrong, I think it’s fine to have some skinny clothes, stuff that may inspire you to put down the Nutella and hit the gym.  BUT, it was a good exercise to make this pile, so that I could evaluate how big I wanted my skinny clothes arsenal to be – especially within the context of my entire closet.  I found there were pieces that had survived years of closet clean outs, each time given a blind pass simply because they were in my Fantasy File.  This time I forced myself to ask the question: if I lost some weight, would I even want to wear these clothes again?  I mean really?  On the day I lose that 10 lbs, am I really going to run home, rip open my closet doors and say “FINALLY.  Come here you plaid highwater pants with annoying pockets.  Our day has come.”  Probably not. 

4.  Make final cuts, finish the job.

Once I had all the definite keepers organized nicely in only two closets (!score!) I turned to my piles.  The donation pile went immediately into garbage bags.  Then I turned to my Fantasy Files, where I easily made the decision to keep only 1 item.  Finally, I faced the B-list pile.  And you know what?  Seeing all those clothes in a messy stack on my bedroom floor…well, it really just turned me off.  No internal debate, I gathered them without a thought and bagged ‘em up.  I truly think my pile system worked, and somehow tricked me psychologically.  Had I gone through those clothes one-by-one to make individual decisions, I know I would have kept more than I did.  I even had the closet space to hold a few extra pieces.  But I’m really happy that I didn’t…there’s something very satisfying and refreshing about achieving a more minimal approach (which is a laughable description, because my edited-down wardrobe is by no means minimal.  But for a clothes horse like me, it’s progress).  All I had left to do was finish the job – and by that I mean, actually donate the clothes….as opposed to leaving 4 garbage bags full of clothes piled in the corner of my bedroom for an indefinite amount of time…which I am entirely capable of doing.  So even though it was close to midnight when I finished, and the weather was crazy humid with drizzling rain, I forced myself to take two trips down to my car to load up the clothes to be dropped off the next day.  Done and done. 

Who wants a peak at my newly organized clothes?  Probably no one, since these pictures are the opposite of exciting, but, in the spirit of bringing things full circle:

This is one of the main closets in my bedroom which has sliding doors, forcing me to take a picture of each half and then piece them together (with debatable success).  I do promise this is all one closet even though half of it appears to be floating above the other.  Next, I kept the hallway closet for the rest of my wardrobe (leaving me an entire double door bedroom closet open for storage!)  I was able to dedicate my second closet to only dresses and suits:

Dresses, suits and Christmas Trees apparently.  And a bunch of other random crap, but oh well – that’s another job for another day.  Baby steps.

In a very random coincidence, my blog-heroes John and Sherry at YHL did a very similar post today.  Check it out for more closet-wrangling advice.