Clearing Out Bathroom Clutter

Clearing Out My Beauty Products

Somehow I have accumulated a bunch of jewelry and beauty products, which is weird because I don't wear jewelry and I rarely use beauty products. I like to use lightly scented body lotion, face wash and moisturizer, deodorant and body spray but that's about it. So why is my bathroom cupboard full of perfumes, stinky lotions, colourful make-up and a bazillion hair products? I seriously have no idea.

It's a good thing I have girly sisters who can hopefully take these products off of my hands. I don't really like the idea of throwing away useful things. I did have to get rid of some stuff that's probably expired though. I have no idea how long some of these things have been laying around my bathroom. 

What to do with old beauty products:

• Use it up - It's best to use up your make-up and beauty products before they expire. 
• Put lotion on your feet and cover them with socks before bed. This is especially helpful for me because my feet get really dry in the winter. 
• If they haven't been used it's alright to give them away.
• If the products are unused and unopened, consider donating them to women's shelters.
• Or if your friends and family members aren't germaphobes, they might be willing to take products that have been used. 
• If there's just a small amount of lotion or shampoo left, pour it into travel size containers for your next vacation. 
• I've heard that by adding a couple drops of nail polish remover, you can give old sticky nail polish new life.
• If it's expired, unfortunately you might have to throw it away. 
• Shampoo can be used as body wash, or hand soap.
• Conditioner makes a great alternative to shaving cream.

Now that I have cleaned out my beauty products I won't be buying any more for a while!  Because I obviously don't use much of it.

 Clearing Out My Jewelry Box

My jewelry box is overflowing as well. Other than a couple hemp bracelets, my peace sign necklace and piercing jewelry, I don't wear any of it. I think the red necklace was part of a Halloween costume. There's some of Sidney's hair accessories there, too.

What to do with unwanted jewelry: 

Unlike the beauty products, these things don't expire. I plan on putting any jewelry I have but don't want in my spring yard sale. Other options include donating it to local thrift stores, selling them online, using beads and strings of broken jewelry pieces for crafts, give them to the kids for dress-up or give them to friends/family.

One more task to check of my to-do list!


What do you do with your old beauty products? 

Thanks, 

Magazine Article Organizer

Too Many Magazines

 

If you read my Week in Review post on February 16th, you might remember that I decided to 

get rid of all my magazines.

I had a pretty large collection of magazines. I like reading articles a lot, and it’s way more comfortable to cozy up on the couch with a magazine or a book over my laptop. However, having over 50 magazines laying around because I like a few articles in each of them doesn’t make any sense to me.

I also want to keep some of these interesting articles. Articles that inspire me, inform me, amuse me. Articles on parenting, gardening, health, money and business, interior decorating. Just little tidbits of information I think I could use for later, either for a future blog post, or a project around the house, or both.

Organizing My Magazine Articles

So I dug out an old binder, purchased some dividers from the dollar store and made an article keepsake book. I can now cut out and keep my favourite articles all in one small space without keeping an entire magazine around. And because it’s organized by category I can flip through it easier to find which article I’m looking for.

For example, if I felt like writing a post on how to budget, I could flip to my Business and Money tab and easily look it up. Much easier than trying to remember which magazine I thought it was in to end up having to flip through a dozen or more.

Categories I Included:

• Health 
• Business/Money
• Decor
• Art/Crafts
• Gardening
• Holidays
• Happiness 
• Family

Another idea instead of a binder is putting your favourite articles into a filing system. I was considering doing this, but my filing cabinet is pretty full already and I like being able to grab my binder and flip through it.

Now I have to decide if I should stop buying magazines altogether.

I’ll just have to try to enjoy reading articles online, but if I do pick up a magazine (which won’t be nearly as often now) I can always recycle it afterwards. There’s no need to hold onto magazines any more, but there’s also no need to completely go without something small that offers me a great deal of enjoyment.

Do you like to keep magazines for particular articles, or do you normally throw them out after reading them?

Thanks,
Cole

Minimizing My Wardrobe At Last

Getting Back on Track With My Goals 

 

This year is supposed to be a great one. I felt it all last month, but February’s been kind of depressing. It usually is for me though. It’s grey, cold, wet and snowy. My birthday is in February, too, which always depresses me. It has something with getting older, but not so much age wise, just the fact that I thought I would have accomplished so much more by now.

I figure since there is only one more day left of this dreary month it’s time to get back on track with my goals and priorities.

Something that I am very passionate about is moving towards a more simple, healthier and eco-friendly lifestyle. 

Minimizing My Wardrobe

I’m planning on getting rid of more than half of my clothes. Seriously! As of right now my clothes are either too small, stained or ripped or simply no longer my style. I wear the same clothes over and over again. Time to clear out the rest and make room in my drawers. Besides, I hate doing laundry. Less clothes = less laundry.

1. Stained and ripped clothes will be cut up and saved for rags.
2. Too small and no-longer-me clothes will be neatly put away for my spring yard sale.
3. Concert t-shirts will be stored away and perhaps I will make them into a quilt or piece of art. They have sentimental value, which is weird I know but I love them anyway.

Now I’m left with:

• 3 jeans
• 1 dress pants
• 2 track pants
• 1 PJ set
• 2 black tank tops
• 3 t-shirts
• 3 sweaters (I’m always cold so I need more than one!)
• 3 long sleeved shirts
• And 1 ugly t-shirt and track pants for painting, dying are, and just getting dirty in general.

And that’s it! Other than a bathing suite, socks and undergarments. I might have to add to my wardrobe if I get a job that has a specific dress code.

How to decide what to get rid of:

• Obviously if it’s ripped or stained, throw it out! You deserve better than that.
• If it doesn’t fit any more, and hasn’t for a while, it might be time to say goodbye.
• If it’s because it’s too small and you plan to lose weight, how about you get rid of it now and when you do lose weight reward yourself with new clothes! However, if that dress or pants is your motivation clothes I guess keeping one is okay.
• If it’s because you lost weight, what the heck are you doing keeping clothes that are now too big?
• If you haven’t worn it in a year you probably won’t ever wear it again. I say a year because by then every season has gone by and you still haven’t worn it.
• If you have something you wear but feel uncomfortable and annoyed every time you wear it, seriously just get rid of it. I have this really annoying pair of jeans I kept torturing myself with and now they are gone and it feels so good.
• If you’re like me and have sentimental clothes you can’t stand to part with, do yourself a favour and store it away, or take a picture of it for good memories and get rid of it.
• If you don’t love it, and only wear it once in a while because you have nothing else to wear, get rid of it! This is pretty much half my wardrobe alone.
• You will feel so much better once you’re done. You did something productive, you either donated your clothes to less fortunate or made money in the process, and by cleaning out your closet you have uncluttered your mind and can be at peace. Or at least now you have room for newer, better clothes. However, I’m trying to live a more minimalist lifestyle so this doesn’t apply to me.

 

Now I can close my drawers! Yay!

So there it is, goal complete! :)

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Weekend Bloggy Reading Party - Serenity Now

Thanks,