Day 19 of the 500 Pound Declutter - Finding Hat Pins and Pretty Painted Trays

(linky at the end)

Have I ever mentioned the pretty painted tray I got in Florence, Italy and my grandmother's hat pin collection?


No?


That's probably because two of my favorite decorative things were buried in clutter in our master bathroom.

 

They are in there, I promise.  Need a closer look?

So I tackled this project this morning.  I started off by digging into the jewelry box on the edge of the counter.  I uncovered this box when I was doing the bathroom closet last weekend.  But knew then I didn't have the energy to deal with it then.

Why?  Because all of the jewelry I actually wear is in another drawer.  So this is, for the most part, the random sentimental stuff.  Pins from my great grandmother.  Bead necklaces Brian made for me when he was more prone to wear Birkenstocks and tie-dyed t-shirts (yes, there was that phase).  My graduation tassel. 

In that little box, I found these things.

 

Sorority pins.  Alumni pin from college.  Baby ring (mine).  And my NFL pin.  Nope, not that kind of NFL.  NFL as in delightfully geeky competitive speech "National Forensic League" pin.  And as proud as I once was to earn it, I don't see myself sporting it anytime soon.

After going through all of this, I decided I would limit myself to that one box above.  I could fill it with sentimental stuff I actually wanted to keep.  And the rest would go.

That left us with this.  Toy cars and Legos.  Piles of jewelry.  Nail polish. Dead lightbulbs that need to be recycled.  All sorted and either dealt with or put away.

Then I noticed this.  A class picture from daycare.  That has been sitting there, for who knows what reason, since 2004.  That is Noah in the front row, second from the left.  Yes, he had a scratched up nose.  Something my kids seem to regularly do the day before any school picture.  Okay, that was fun.  I put it in Noah's keepsake box.

While I continued to dig, I stumbled across this purple bead.  No big deal, right?  But this silly bead is so indicative of my problem.  I keep stuff that has a story.  And this is the bead that, then 4-year-old Noah put up his nose when we were driving home one day.  We're driving along and Noah suddenly starts freaking out and screaming, "Ahhhh, the bead is stuck in my nose!  The bead is stuck in my nose!"

Me: [Trying not to start freaking out]: Why in the world is the bead up your nose?

Noah: Because I stuck it there!

Caleb: [Sobbing (see, they really do love each other!)] Oh nooo, Noah is going to die!

Noah: I am going to die?!

Me: NO YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DIE!  JUST DON'T BLOW YOUR NOSE!

You see, Noah was at that stage where when he tried to blow his nose, he would suck in.  And I had to figure a bead in the brain wasn't a good idea.

We went to urgent care.  They didn't know what to do, so we drove to the emergency room.  And I decided, at the last minute, to try to coach Noah through how to really blow his nose in the parking lot in an effort to save us a $100 copay.

He succeeded.  The bead flew across the car.  We all cheered like he had scored a touchdown.  The kids told me I had to save it to show Dad.  And I did.  For nearly three years.

Alright, that was fun.  Moving on.

Are you kidding me?  Another stacking doll.  Between these and high school photos of my brother, I think I have found one just about every time I have cleaned.

Which left me with this.  It was all filthy.  So I took the time to clean and sort the pins.  Some were my grandmother's.  And some I had picked up along the way from eBay or antique sales. 

I decided I would just keep the ones I actually liked and let go of the rest.

Leaving me with this.

 

I now have a pretty bathroom corner.

 

One with a hand painted tray that reminds me of our trip to Florence.  It displays a lovely collection of antique hat pins that reminds me of my grandmother.  Best of all, none of it makes me think about clutter that needs to be cleaned.

I got rid of another 4 pounds of clutter bringing the grand total to:

337 pounds!

If you want to link up your decluttering or organizing efforts, please do.  Please link back to The Snyder 5 and feel free to grab the button at the top of the post.    The linky will be up all week.