declutter and donate Archives | Kuball's Khaos

February – Clothing Donation Month

Lyn — Sat, 08 Feb 2020 13:52:00 +0000

Disclosure Statement: The links in this post contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. Click here for the full disclosure. February is a month for love….and practicing kindness is part of that love. During our 12 months of giving challenge, we take something in our own home and donate it to our community. February is clothing donation month. A way to declutter AND help others….who wouldn’t want to do that? Show of hands?? For February, we are going to focus on clothing. I suggest setting aside several days for this adventure. Whether you tackle a little each day or spend an entire day doing it, we all need to clean out our closets and dressers. Where do we start: Make a list of rooms and clothing storage units: Hubby closet and dresser My closet and dresser Oldest dresser Youngest dresser Some of these tasks are going to require a lot of work. Rules of engagement: You can use the KonMari method, if you want. But clothing doesn’t spark my joy….so these are my questions – Does it fit? Do I like the way it looks on me? Will I wear it? If any of these questions has a “NO” answer, GONE! Purging is the most important part of the process – and it feels really great to have a fresh start. We decided to take each dresser drawer by drawer, one day at a time, in reverse order from the list. Youngest child’s dresser: Top drawer: Undies, socks, bathing suits, and gymnastics leotards. Well, score one for Mom cause the leos are too small but I know just the kiddo that can use them! I don’t know how you feel about this….but I don’t think underwear is a donate-able item? Is it? I didn’t take pictures of this drawer….privacy is very important!!!! Second drawer: Jammies. This was just a matter of size and does she wear it. Third drawer: Shirts. We figured out what fit, what she would wear, and then separated by types of shirts. Long sleeves, short sleeves, and school/camp shirts. Fourth drawer: Pants. Really, it was separate pants and shorts. Last drawer: Dresses. Summer, winter, and fancy dresses. Well, not too many fit anymore. 😥 AND we found some sweatshirt in there! Middle child’s dresser: This one is a little easier because she just went through a growth spurt and we had to determine what she had after everything looked like she was waiting for a flood. Needless to say, she does not have an overabundance of clothing right now. In fact, it wasn’t even worth going through it. Oldest child’s dresser and closet: My son has already completed his task and ended up with a 30 gallon trash bag FULL! I didn’t even have time to take before pictures. Since the kids did such an amazing job during their February clothing donation challenge, Mom and Dad had to hold up their end of the bargain. Hubby’s dresser and closet Since the master closet makeover, my husband and I have kept up with our closets fairly well. So the purge in here was pretty limited. UNTIL……..I went to his dresser…………………………………………………………………………. Ummmmmmmmm…………………….I love him. I really do. I’m going to show you the before pictures – there is nothing to say…. Top drawer: I do NOT know why ONE person would need all of these socks…..but he claims he does. Dress socks for work, white socks for sneakers, and warm socks for cold weather. Second drawer: Home to the white t’s and…underwear? I guess when you have an entire drawer FULL of socks you can’t make room for underwear in there…so the next best place is the next drawer – with your white t-shirts….whatever works for the user! No picture….again privacy issues….. Third drawer: This is where the greatest purge took place. Many of these shirts haven’t been worn in years….I removed them and refolded the rest. Fourth drawer: The comfy drawer! I found 3 pairs of pants BEHIND this drawer. Do you know what this tells me? Things were stuffed so tight in there the pants started running away! HAHAHA! Bottom drawer: I couldn’t open this drawer when I started. Of course, when I removed the runaway pants from the above drawer, I was able to move it a little. I literally had to remove 5 pairs of shorts to open the drawer. My dresser and closet Since I had done this about a year ago, my dresser and closet were not in need of a complete overhaul….like some people. But some drawers needed attention – Jammie drawer I have a TON of comfortable pants that I don’t wear. Time to give them away. YES, I still have a t-shirt from my high school softball team! Shirt drawer I have accumulated several shirts this year…therefore I must get rid of some. Closet This was pretty easy because it was mainly my shoes and of course my Thirty One collection that needed organizing. I got rid of 4 pairs of shoes. And decided that my Thirty One Collection isn’t that bad this time! PHEW! This concludes our February Clothing Donation Month for our 12 months of Giving Challenge. Did you miss last months giving challenge? Check it out here! Happy Donating,

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Challenge 2020 – 12 Months of Giving

Lyn — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 23:00:00 +0000

Last year, I challenged you all to a more organized home….it was a lot to take on, I know! BUT – didn’t it feel great? Well, challenge 2020 is 12 Months of Giving. Disclosure Statement: The links in this post contain affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. Those funds help keep this site alive and kickin’ but it doesn’t cost YOU a thing! Click here for the full disclosure. Declutter your home while donating to those in need. Let’s take each month and challenge ourselves to removing it from our home and giving it to those who need it more. We will start here: January and November – Food Find your local community kitchen using this website – Food Pantries You will find your state and city – each city will have a list of food pantries. Connected to that are websites that instruct you on how to donate. Donations are usually accepted during certain hours and a list of what they DON’T take will be on the site. No donation is too small. The great part about food banks is they give things to people based on their family size. Don’t be afraid to give away ONE can of something you won’t use….someone will use it. The other option is to give to your local homeless shelter. This is a little trickier. They are VERY limited on what they will take because one box of cereal won’t feed everyone…….. February and August – Clothing If you spend each weekend in the month of February and August cleaning out closets and dressers, by the end of the month I am willing to bet you have at LEAST 2 trash bags FULL of unused clothing…in ALL sizes! Here is where some research might be needed on your part for our Challenge 2020 – 12 months of giving. There are plenty of organizations that help get clothing to people in need for cheap. Goodwill stores, Salvation Army, Rescue Missions…..but most of these places CHARGE for the items. If you want totally free – do your homework. Check out this website – Money Crashers – they have a list of nationwide clothing donation sites. March – Towels Donating to a local animal shelter is a good way to offload some of those not so needed towels. You know the ones you got for your wedding that don’t match your style or the 45 extra beach towels that you’ve accumulated over the years. This is an ultimate list of things your local animal shelter always needs: Want to find a NO-KILL shelter to donate to? Check out Best Friends for all the shelters in your area. ***Update – obviously 2020 has become a WAY bigger challenge to most of us than we could have seen when starting this Challenge 2020 – 12 Months of Giving. I did not follow through on several of these months because of this pandemic. BUT – maybe that should be the bigger reason to continue this challenge!!!**** April – Books I know, I know…..how many of you read physical books these days? I know I don’t very often. BUT – there is nothing like having a book on the beach….and I DO live at the beach…so I have some. I’m sure if you thought about it, you do too, especially to continue our Challenge 2020 – 12 months of giving. And then there is the kids……have books they don’t read anymore? Too young for the growing kids? Give them away! Sure you can give them to your friend’s kids….I know I loved when people gave me books for my kiddos. But there are other options too. Check out these places to see if they would like your books: May and December – Toys In this house, we have short attention spans. Meaning – lots of toys we “have to have” for Christmas end up being dust collectors by Spring. So…twice a year I go through bedrooms and the toy/playroom and find a bunch of things that my kids have outgrown. Instead of giving them to Goodwill……are there places that could use them….for free? June – Dishes I know that plates and bowls are not replaced every year, but if you have 5 pie plates? Do you really need them ALL? Or maybe you bought the newest Pampered Chef – if you have that one….why do you need another? July – Personal Hygiene I have this co-worker that takes every hotel shampoo and soap, every time she goes anywhere. She donates those items to our homeless population. AND let me tell you, they are SUPER grateful for those items. How many of you go on trips and bring your own personal care items? I know I do…except maybe body soap. So, is it wrong to take the shampoo and bring it back to our homeless? I don’t think so. So where can you donate personal care items? Let’s check it out: September – Home Decor If you can’t find a way to upcycle your furniture for yourself or someone close to you, consider donating it. Of course, pillows and appliances certainly apply as well. Make sure you call before you haul appliances though, some places will NOT take appliances. Here are some ideas to get you started: October – Warm Jackets and Blankets I picked this month to go through your jackets and blankets because it isn’t quite panic time in many parts of the country. We know that it will get VERY cold, VERY quickly. Going through your closets (and the kids’) to find jackets and blankets BEFORE there is a huge need makes more sense…to me anyway! Jackets are usually used for one season in this house. The kids grow so much from one winter to the next. And honestly, the jackets are kept in pretty good shape. I always offer them to friends first. But I’ve found that the older I get, the more I notice the kids at school getting out of the car with NO jackets!!!! Therefore, here is my list for giving jackets (I’ll get to blankets in a minute): Ok, now let’s talk about blankets – so many people need blankets. There are the usual places – homeless shelters. In general, just find a homeless person and give them a blanket. They aren’t going to turn it down. But there are some places you may not know need them: The bottom line is – don’t throw away those “less than” perfect blankets. Don’t give them to Goodwill – Give them away for FREE to people who shouldn’t have to PAY for them. Catch my drift???? Finish the year strong – November and December – Food and Toys/Books Like we did the previous months of our Challenge 2020 – 12 months of giving, keep in mind that these are the months that families are struggling to keep the lights on while figuring out how to play Santa. I read an article that said the Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots campaign will take “gently used” toys. They give them away in a different way than the “new, unwrapped” toys. How do you feel about this challenge? Can you do it? Something specific each month of the year, declutter your home and help someone in need…..sounds easy….right? Let’s do it!!!! Let me know what your ideas are!!!! Happy Giving,

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