January just seems like the right time to pare down, so I am cleaning up and clearing out. I am laughing as I write this as I hit some thrift stores in Brevard recently and scored a number of great finds! But as new-to-me comes in, some old has to go. Each year I try to find one area to give special scrutiny – two years ago it was my closet (What’s in Your Closet?), and last year it was the the recipe clutter (Getting Organized Saving Recipes). This year, I decided to take a brutal look at the linen drawers. I have linens for tablescapes in three different places, and this year I need to finally organize them better and discard the hopelessly stained. First is to pull out everything and give it a good going over. Some things get one more chance in the washer, and some things were given to DH to use in his garage. I got new kitchen towels for Christmas (thanks, dear MIL!), so a lot of the old ones need to finally go. Do you keep favorite kitchen towels long after they should be tossed?
All the Christmas linens were washed and this year stored with the Christmas stuff, instead of putting them in the hutch drawers to just take up space for a year. The autumn items were put in a different set of drawers in the secretary in the loft. That left me with a lot more usable space for everyday linens and colors that cross over holiday seasons in the main hutch. There may just be a bit of space for some new placemats.
The pumpkin napkin rings were put with seasonal linens.
The other everyday or cross seasonal napkin rings were put into plastic bags to keep them together.
Score!! Thrifting over in Brevard was very fruitful! I managed to get a neat set of gold square chargers (you saw them on the Romantic Table for Two blog hop) along with these marvelous magnolia plates, and a couple of shabby silverplate items.
Same trip, different thrift store, and I found some parfait glasses. I have wanted a set of these for a long time. The glass was cloudy, but how can I resist when they were only 10 cents each! Not one chip on any of them.
Amazingly, one trip through the dishwasher, and they were clear again!
DH will insist that if something comes in, something else needs to go. So, I let go of the black octagon dishes, and a set of round gold chargers. Linens I haven’t used in years were washed and put into the donate pile. I also let go of some other baking pots, and a few more Christmas items. Four bags of stuff were donated to the Blue Ridge Humane thrift store.
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More books went to the Friends of the Library for their semi-annual sale. Magazines to the exchange table.
Plus two bags of fabric bits to the quilt club. The fabric was set out at the January meeting for members to take for free and use in charity quilts or however they liked. What was left over went to Project Linus.
So, it was OK for these rattan chargers to come home for an outdoor meal next summer.
While I was in clean out mode, I cleaned up my workbench where I do stamping, crafting and painting. A box of stamps was put on eBay for sale along with some other items. More items went to the donation pile.
Now I have space to work. I plan to turn this tarnished little silverplate piece into a pincushion. This type of thing seems to sell well on Etsy, so I think I’ll try my idea of making one with velvet and some trinkets.
I found this one too, not sure what it was originally, but I think it will make a lovely pincushion.
More crafting, quilting and sewing coming up next. What are you playing with now?
Sharing
Pieced Pastimes Saturday Sparks
From My Carolina Home 
Hi Carole, your last picture of silverware is actually a salt dish, it would originally have had either a Bristol Blue glass liner or a hand cut crystal liner.
It is that time of the year… I am sorting bed linen, scarves, and decorative pieces.
Good morning,
Just like you I have been cleaning and trying to rid myself of unused items and working in the kitchen, Plan to measure drawers and sort knives and sharpen some and get rid of a lot of things I don’t need or even use anymore. My eldest son moved a small cabinet for me this past weekend and I haven’t decided just what to store in it so far but I’m sure it want take me to long to figure that out. Like you I have so many cook books, like the red plaid Betty Crocker book I got as a wedding gift I no longer want since I have fallen in love with the Taste of Homes line of books and so many more specialty books on potatoes, onions, carrots, with so many way of cooking those vegetables. I have been roasting a lot of my food now since it’s so easy to do. Love, love the magnolia plates, I have a lot of magnolia pictures and they are the theme in both my den and living room along with Angels and shelves with all kinds of nick nacks (dust collectors) Today is my day to go to the Good Will store for some treasures. They give the seniors a 25% discount on Tuesdays so like to get there early to get the best buys, lots of them usually but every now and then I come out empty handed as I try to watch what I buy so best be on my way
Have a terrific day,
Phyllis
Love your pincushion ideas: the one with a hook looks like either a salt cellar, or a jam dish, and the little ‘handle’ originally held a spoon, cute! I’ve done pincushions for myself in baskets, and for Christmas this year I bought vintage ones for my daughters, a little glass cat and a 40;s or 50’s Japanese girl. I found them on eBay as well… there are tons of ceramic dolls that were meant to have pincushion dresses (remember the cakes we all got in the 60’s with a southern belle doll as the ‘body’? ). I have linens I need to go through as well, some vintage items I bought to be repurposed may go back to eBay as well, sigh. But not the hankies! Some will go in a hankie quilt, some will be reused by me! ladies always carry a hanky, hee hee! I promised myself a Neat Receipts scanner for my collection of magazine pages with ideas and recipes that clutter up but don’t want to throw away yet. My daughter says it isn’t the scanner that is expensive, it is the ‘neat receipt’ software that sorts and catalogs the scans, so I bought a new scanner/printer after Christmas to replace mine that no longer works, and specifically got one with a feed mechanism as well as the flat scan and I want to use it on photos and such. Another weekend plan! This weekend is the Garden and Home Show in Denver. I need some inspiration so DIL and I are going on Sunday hopefully.
Blessings dear lady,
sharon in colorado (and yes, I have a few of those kitchen towels…)
Sewing room was first to be cleaned then the book shelves. If you have a “Half Price Book Store” in your area, they will buy your books if they are in fairly good condition. Have you ever checked out freecycle.org ? It is a global organization, totally free, you post if you have something you don’t want and you could get a response and you either set a meeting place or place it at the end of the driveway and they come get it. I received 3 paper size boxes of fabric. Some were too odd sizes or too small to use, but LOTS can be used.
Keep thrifting,
HPB is my all time favorite place to buy used books, but they don’t pay much. There is not a store within 200 miles of me, sadly, so I can only shop when I visit out of state. Yes, I have been on Freecycle for about six years, a great way to get rid of usable items, and get some great stuff too.
Great job on cleaning out! I spent the fall doing a lot of that allover but need to focus on the kitchen and books now. I’m curious what soap you use in your dish washer. My glass comes out cloudy from mine. It makes me crazy. Thanks for the inspiration!
I spent so much time cleaning the house of too many “things” in January that I better not go to thrift stores now! or I will need to clean out the house again.
I’m rather tied up right now, but this has given me some inspiration for this project when the time comes! Great job!
Wonderful post full of ideas. On this most recent move, and hopefully last move, I went through my tablecloths after the move. Rather than put them back in my dresser, I decided to hang them by pants hangers in a closet. Voilà! I now have room for all sorts of things in the dresser. I like the idea of moving holiday linens to storage with other holiday items. That will free up a whole drawer for me. I will need to re-read this whole blog to see what other ideas I can use. Thanks.
I’ve got to do some major cleanout. I try to keep to the 1 bag in 1 bag out rule for thrifting. I don’t always succeed.
I rearranged my sewing room to get rid of even more clutter, now I am happy with the workspace.
The magnolia plates are a definite score!
My January clean up has been our office walk in closet. Oh my, the “treasures” that were discovered. I have sent many do you want? emails to my sister for her young grandchildren. I now have an organized area for my card making supplies, wrapping paper and ribbons. Yes there are things set aside to go to new homes and some things that should have never been kept! The best part it’s not a Fibber Mc Gee and Molly closet. Did I just date myself?
for stains on linens I have used OXY Clean soaking them and sometimes several times and it really works!
My ego has shrunk back to manageable size after reading about all your organizing and clearing out. I dusted my bedroom!!!! I’ve told it I expect it to stay dust-free for a year.
Carole when you finish will you please come to my house and organize my closets & drawers especially my craft room! Lol
Hope you are doing good, remembering you in my daily prayers!
I’m off to get some “weeding out” done in my cupboards, closets, and drawers! LOL What an inspiration you are. Wish I lived near you and could go right over to that thrift store you are donating to–to shop! LOL I MUST get things organized and more unloaded this year. :o)
Good idea! I’ve already made one Goodwill run with some kitchen things, have three huge bags of quilting cotton I had not touched since the move west nearly 3 years ago on the way to the Blankie Project , for quilts for adult cancer patients, took a few pieces of my Wedgwood serving pieces to my daughter’s and am now trolling through my studio for fabric and notions for the “Dress a Child” project run by a nearly group. Next up, old papers and files! @susansquiltstudio
it always feels good to clean out around the house. I am in dire need of redoing some of my recipes that are so stained. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Good for you that you clean out something when you get something new! Great finds–I have some parfaits almost exactly like those. I found mine at a yard sale 😉 Thanks for sharing your treasures at Vintage Charm!