Day 45: Completing (and abandoning!) Projects

The Task:  To collect all of the projects I have on the go and either complete them, make some progress on them, or abandon them along with all of their accompanying craft clutter.

The Why:  I have a confession to make:  I like to plan for and shop for a project more than I like to actually work on a project.  My craft closet was stuffed to the brim with the makings of some great (and some not-so-great!) craft projects than never came to fruition.

Plus I occasionally put off mending a torn piece of clothing for so long that by the time I finally do mend it, it no longer fits the child it belonged to when I first said "oh, no big deal, mommy can just sew that...."

When we think of clutter we often think of knick-knacks and useless kitchen gadgets, but to me the absolute worst type of clutter is to-do list clutter.  Projects that hang over my head undone stress me out and make me want to avoid working on projects at all!

The How:  I unloaded the craft closet into my laundry room (I wish I'd thought to take a picture.  It looked like the craft store went binge drinking with your grandmothers fabric stash and together they threw up all over my laundry room.)  Then I went through each item and decided which projects I would complete and which ones should be abandoned.

I spent a couple hours today working on the projects I decided to keep and was able to mend a stack of clothing and make some real progress on a couple sewing projects I am excited about.

And I have a mostly full tote of craft supplies to give away.

 The Verdict:  I feel so liberated! All of those projects I had planned for and shopped for and then lost interest in are no longer hanging over my head!  The only half done projects left in my craft stash are ones I am super excited about.

By completing some projects and abandoning others I was able to move most of my craft stuff to just the top shelf of the craft closet, making room to use it as an organized homeschool closet as well!  Woohoo!

And it is so nice to be caught up on all the clothes mending.  In fact, I just might like this feeling enough that next time I say "mommy can just sew that button back on..." I will actually do it, like,um, that day!

We are doing one small thing (almost) every day for a year to create a simpler, quieter, more intentional life. Take a moment to read all About Us, check out The Rules of our year long project and sign up for our RSS feed or "like" us on facebook so that you can follow our journey to radical simplicity!

Day 44: Restaurant-less Date Night

This weekend we had dinner on the patio of the cutest little bistro around.  Our own home.

 We put the kids down to bed, and by some miraculous act of God, they all went straight to sleep.

A candle in a mason jar, a flower from the yard, our best linens and dishes, and Serena Ryder on the stereo.  Sounds like date night to me.

We sat and talked and laughed together in the candlelight for hours until the mosquito chased us inside.

A simple, quiet, delightful evening on the porch.  A fabulous restaurant-less date night. 

We are doing one small thing (almost) every day for a year to create a simpler, quieter, more intentional life. Take a moment to read all About Us, check out The Rules of our year long project and sign up for our RSS feed or "like" us on facebook so that you can follow our journey to radical simplicity!

Day 42: Eat Your Pantry Month

Today is the first day of September, and that means the first day of September's Eat Your Pantry Challenge! 

 The Task:  To eat all the stuff that is in our pantry.  (With the exception of almond, vanilla and coconut extracts, meringue powder, salt and corn starch...we don't have to finish those things!) We will be endeavoring to eat the beans that have been there for a year, the chickpeas and split peas of unknown vintage, pastas, barley, and specialty flours.  Whether we like it or not, we are going to muster up the creativity and courage and turn them into dinner.

The Why: We are spoiled.  I am guilty of standing with the pantry door open and exclaiming that there is nothing to eat for dinner.  And what I really mean is that there is nothing that I want to eat.  Or that I failed to plan ahead enough to make something great from scratch.

Even though the shelf life of some of these dry pantry items is supposedly as long as 6-8 years, at the rate we're eating them (which is pretty much not at all) they seriously run the risk of going bad in our pantry.  So we are going to do what we should have done from the beginning: be thankful for a pantry full of (mostly) nutritious food instead of wishing we had something more delectable. 

The How:  You can create whatever ground rules you want for your own Pantry challenge.  You could plan to eat from your pantry 3 nights a week, or to make a soup from scratch every weekend using what you can from your pantry and freezer.

For us, I've moved all of the pantry items so that there is one big empty shelf in my pantry.  This is where any new things will  go: a bag of flour I need to get, some fresh potatoes, that sort of thing.  The rest of the shelves are the ones we need to eat up.  And eat them we will!

There is no rule against buying new things. We will need to buy fresh veggies and dairy products and meats to go with our pantry adventures, we just need to make a point to eat what is in the pantry.  And to be grateful for it.

So, what inspired pantry meal is kicking off this challenge in our household?  Black bean soup? Enchiladas? Split pea and brown rice burgers?  Errr....Um....well, actually we are grilling beef burgers with friends today!  But I had to do something to commemorate the first day of eat your pantry month, so I'm simmering some chickpeas (and then roasting some garlic, YUM!) so that I can make some homemade hummus to go on the burgers.

Are you joining us?  What are your rules to help you eat your pantry this month? 

P.S.  If you know of any recipes containing beans that are so yummy that even this avid bean-hater will like them, please leave a link in the comments below! And don't forget to get the button to share on your own blog if you're following along!  Thanks!

New here?  We are doing one small thing (almost) every day for a year to create a simpler, quieter, more intentional life. Take a moment to read all About Us, check out The Rules of our year long project and sign up for our RSS feed or "like" us on facebook so that you can follow our journey to radical simplicity!

Day 41: Putting a Limit on the Scrapbooking Supplies

The Task: To fit all of this...

into this....

(after some serious purging, of course!)

The Why:  I use Project Life to keep my scrapbooks simple, in theory.  Project Life combines the simplicity of a photo album with the flexibility and creativity of a scrapbook.  The problem is that I had collected so many scrapbooking items that getting out my supplies was an ordeal, and sorting through my options was overwhelming. 

I love the strategy of creating limits for our stuff.  By having a single bin for my scrapbooking supplies, I not only make scrapbooking simpler and more fun, I also prevent myself from buying more than I need, since I can only keep what will easily fit in the bin!

I have to actually use my craft supplies before I can shop for more.What a novel idea!

The How:  I have a general look that I'm going for in my scrapbooks and use many of the same items over and over again. I use a lot of brown kraft paper and white pens, paper doilies and labels.   So I just went through my craft stash looking for items that go well with my scrapbooking style.  I basically created a customized kit that is full of things that delight me. 

The most time consuming part was to go through photos and only keep the good ones that I actually plan to scrapbook.  My new rule is that if a photo isn't good enough for the scrapbook, it isn't worth keeping!

 The Verdict:

I did it!  I created a compact little kit full of scrapbooking supplies that I love to use.  It's easy to take out and use, and then put away when I'm done.

Having a little container full of embellishments I love is really so much more fun than the huge selection I had before.  I open this happy little container and start dreaming of the possibilities!

Last night I was eager to use my new little scrapbooking station and loved that even when everything was laid out on the coffee table in a jumble, I was still able to see and use everything!

 

The scrapbooks sit on a shelf in my living room.  One of them holds my unused page protectors.

If you're wondering, I use the White Signature Binders and the Clementine edition Journaling cards (although the new cherry edition looks super nice too!), along with a wide array of the photo pocket page protectors.

We are doing one small thing (almost) every day for a year to create a simpler, quieter, more intentional life. Take a moment to read all About Us, check out The Rules of our year long project and sign up for our RSS feed or "like" us on facebook so that you can follow our journey to radical simplicity!

Day 39: Bath and Beauty Products

The Task: To reduce our bath and beauty products and to choose safer products.

The Why:  First of all, moisturizers are having sex in my linen closet.  It is the only possible explanation for why I own 11 different moisturizers.  Either that or people who don't know what to give me for Christmas or my birthday pretty much always give me moisturizers and lotions.  Maybe I look dry?

But seriously, there are a lot of weird ingredients in the products we are marketed and sold for the sake of beauty.  Go ahead and type some of the ingredients in any ordinary shampoo into the Skin Deep database and you'll see what I mean.

Maybe it's because I'm a bit of a skeptic when it comes to consumer and marketing issues, or because I don't own a television and haven't seen a cosmetics commercial since 2006, but I really think that it is kind of strange that we rub products that contain dubious chemicals all over our bodies in the name of beauty.

I would like to opt out of a consumer culture that is constantly trying to sell me (and my daughters!) the right products to make us all look like supermodels.  In fact, I know this is a little counter-cultural, but I want to embrace the idea of growing old with grey hairs and laugh lines.

Well, I do most of the time, anyways.

The How:  Since this project started we've been reassessing our products as they run out.  When a bottle of a certain product became empty we would ask ourselves if it was really necessary, and if so, what is the safest product we can find to do that job. We've been using GoodGuide.com to choose items that we feel are safe enough for our family.

Today I went through and disposed of products we won't be using (such as the absurd amount of yummy smelling moisturizers).  This is what we are left with:

This is every bath and beauty product we own!

1. Shampoo.  We chose  Aubrey Organics Blue Chamomile Shampoo because it is currently the second highest rated shampoo on GoodGuide.com. It's mostly just for the kids (since hubby and I have dreadlocks and wash our hair with soap).
2. Soap.  We use Dr. Bronner's Pure Castile Soap in Almond as a body wash.  Luke and I use it (diluted) to wash our dreads, and I've been using it to wash my face too ever since I ran out of face wash, and I am very pleased with the results. 
3. Deodorants. Because of the available selection at our local stores, Luke and I settled for deodorants that were safer than many other options but still have some questionable ingredients.  In the future, we may order a safer product online or consider making our own, but for now these are a step in the right direction.
4. Razors and Shave gel.  I've always been too cheap for shave gel, so I've been shaving my legs with just soap for at least 10 years.  I'm pretty sure Luke just buys whatever shave Gel is on sale.  We've both chosen razors with reusable handles because it seems awfully wasteful to throw away a perfectly good handle when all we really need is a new blade.
5. Moisturizers and lotions and creams.  We kept three.  It's interesting to note that the regular grown-up lotions that we happened to have scored much better on both GoodGuide.com and The Skin Deep Database than either of the two "gentle" baby lotions we had!  We also kept a Bee Silk bar and some Sweet Almond Oil.
6. Toothpaste.  We've been using Tom's of Maine Fluoride-Free Toothpaste for ages now and love it. My favourite flavour is Fennel! (My kids don't like the fennel flavour that much, but our bathroom isn't a democracy so I buy the fennel anyways!)
7. Lip Balm. We are using a Peppermint Lip Balm by Made On Skin Care. It contains only 4 ingredients: coconut oil, shea butter, beeswax and peppermint essential oil.
8. We also have plain ol' hand soap in our soap pumps. I wasn't sure if that counted as a bath and beauty product, so it's not in the photo.

Things we are happily doing without:

• Specialty dandruff products.  We've discovered that an apple cider vinegar rinse can help with dandruff.  Put about a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar in the bottom of a 250ml mason jar, fill the jar with water, and slowly pour the mixture over your head.  Let it sit for a minute or two, and then rinse it out.  Although your hair will smell like vinegar when it's wet, I find the smell goes away once the hair dries.
• Specialty kids' products.  I have found that kids products such as baby soaps and lotions and kids toothpaste almost always score worse for the safety of their ingredients than the grown up counterparts!

The Verdict:  The other day I had to go to the drug store for some razor refills and I was pleased to see how little I needed in that store.  It felt good to take my one little item up to the cashier and be in and out in minutes.

And I really don't think that our larger selection of bath and beauty products was really ever doing anything to make us cleaner or better looking. Between you and me, I think it's all just a scam....

We are doing one small thing (almost) every day for a year to create a simpler, quieter, more intentional life. Take a moment to read all About Us, check out The Rules of our year long project and sign up for our RSS feed or "like" us on facebook so that you can follow our journey to radical simplicity!