My Personal Challenge
Day 4-

           It is 100 degrees out today so getting rid of a sweaters, tights, gloves, leggings and slips was not too difficult.  Purging the Isotoner driving  gloves was super easy. I will be 50 on the 30th of this month and they just seemed to be a constant reminder of my aging process.  Now the Jane Fonda leg warmers I may miss as I am a very cold natured person and they are perfect for my work-outs on cold winter mornings.  I do have another "back-up" pair still in the drawer just in case I get desperate.  The ladies that I exercise with have given me grief about my warmers in the past, but I think that they are just jealous.

First weigh in- lost 32.7 lbs.  

If I continue to lose about 8 lbs. per day, I will have a skinny house by the 30th

Only 4 days into my challenge and I am pumped up about my progress.  I have a ways to go, but I know I can do this!

My Personal Challenge
Day 3-

     Today I thought it would be best to work in the kitchen after having a little difficulty yesterday in my craft room. Everyone has "extras" in the kitchen, right? I always feel like I have so much more than I need to fix the basic meals each day.  I still have a few items that were given to us as wedding gifts almost 28 years ago coupled with the many others items that I have accumulated since then.  One of the reasons that I have not purged lots of things from the kitchen before now is that I felt that I needed to hold on to them in case my children needed them when they moved out of the house. Since both have moved out now, and they have not asked for any of these things, I feel it is safe to slip out at least 27 or so items.  I will probably let go  of more from this area in the days to follow, but tomorrow I will tackle a new zone.

I am going to do a "weigh in" soon to see how much weight much house has lost.  Should be interesting.

My personal Challenge 
Day 2-

     This morning I decided to work on my sewing/craft room and found that this area is where I am probably going to struggle the most with my flinging.  Getting rid of interfacing from decades past, two of my four measuring tapes, a free wallpaper sample book and multiple bobbins that don't fit any of my three sewing machines was easy.  The hard part will be working through my stacks of fabric and what I like to call my "raw materials" (things that I might need for a future project).  Tomorrow I may have to spend time in another area of the house so I don't hit a wall so early in my challenge. It's this little taste of "hoarding" that tripped this 27 day task to begin with, so I press on...

My Personal Challenge

I'm hoping to be thinner by my 50th b-day (my house that is!).  Yes, I am putting my house on a full blown diet.  For the next 27 days I am doing the 27 Fling Boogie-actually I am going to be doing a 27FB for each and everyday.  The Fly Lady http://www.flylady.net   coined rounding up and removing 27 things from her home, the "27 Fling Boogie".  By the end of my challenge I will have removed 729 items from my home!  I know that sounds like a lot, but I am determined to whittle the "waste" line of my abode over here. As a wife, mother, crafter, volunteer, seamstress, gardener, reader, journaler, cook, pet owner, dreamer and avid yard fanatic, I have accumulated so much more than I truly need.  It's time to pass lots of things on to others. It will be a win-win situation. If you see something that you want or need  in one of my posts, please let me know quickly as I will be moving the "flung" items out of my house in a speedy manner.  This will avoid any temptation to cling to what I fling. If you see an item that you have given to me in any of the pictures, please do not be offended; it's time for me to share the kindness that you showed to me with someone else.   I am going to try and remember to post a picture of the items that I "fling" each day.  Please wish me well...

Day 1-

       Okay, so I counted each floral stem today, but I do have a long way to go.  I have the right to "play it safe" on some days.

            

Highland Heights Community Art Room-
I have been volunteering at the H.H.C.A.R. for about 2 1/2 years. The art room is place where many people from different walks of life come together to create art using various types of mediums. It is a place where we can all be on the "same page" and express our creativity while sharing God's love with one another. We meet every Monday from 10am-12noon. They call me and the 3 other lovely ladies that I work with "art angels". I made the sign that I am holding. It is one of the dozen or so signs that will be displayed outside as part of our community outreach. We would love for you to join us sometime. The Art Room is such a blessing for our community!

Recycle and help the Millington, TN

Recycle and help the Millington, TN 

Crisis Center

Start saving items you normally throw away and the Millington Crisis Center will get cash for them!! They’ve partnered with Terra Cycle – you can join their team!

Contact Lois Wilbur at millingtoncrisiscenter@gmail.com OR on Facebook : Millington Crisis Center for more info... it is simple, easy, good for the planet and the Crisis Center!!!!!

     This is the bin that I have started at my home, but

 it is a small sample of what they are collecting.

   See below for a detailed list.

Candy wrappers – individual sizes and bags
Empty potato chip bags – any size
Empty cheese packaging – singles (outer plastic and individual wrappers), shreds, grated, ream/cottage cheese tubs
Cereal bags – preprinted bags only (not inner linings from boxes)
Oral care – toothbrushes & their packaging, toothpaste tubes/caps, floss containers
Cookie wrappers and inner tray packaging – any size
Foil drink pouches (remove straws & empty all liquid)
Elmer’s glue sticks, plastic bottles, refill jars & glitter glue tubes ***ELMER’S brand only***
Energy bar wrappers – any foil lined wrapper (granola, protein, meal replacement, etc)
Gum packaging – outer plastic, inner wrappers, gum box
Diaper/wipes packaging – outer plastic wrappers. Any brand/size
Lunch Kits packaging – trays, lids, plastic film, outer wrapping
Plastic tape dispensers and cores
Personal care packaging – empty make-up containers (any), hair care bottles/tubes, nail polish/remover bottles, lipstick/Chap stick tubes, body wash/lotion bottles/tubes, soap dispensers, face soap containers, antibiotic ointment tubes
Butter/margarine/cream cheese/cheese spread tubs and lids (please wash before donating)
Tortilla/tostada bags
Writing instruments – pens, pencils, mechanical pencils, markers and/or lids
Plastic cups (like Solo disposable – must be coded 6 for recycling)
Paper packaging – toilet paper, paper towels, napkins and moist wipes (outer plastic packaging)
Cell phones, chargers, phone batteries, cameras, digital cameras, camcorders, mp3 players
Inkjet/printer/toner cartridges

Christmas Card Keepsake

              Every Christmas we are so blessed to receive Christmas cards with photos of our friends and their children.  For years I kept them in a photo album, placing them in chronological order, so we could see how the children grew over the years.  After doing this for a quarter of a century now, I decided it was time for a new approach.  I sat down this past week and sifted through my Christmas cards from 2010 that had not placed in my old photo album.   I pulled out the cards without photos which I will make into gifts tags.  I did keep a card front with art work from one of my favorite artists (NJ Woods)  to use as the cover for my Christmas book. I ended up with a nice mix of colors and sizes.

           I began punching holes in the cards-3 holes for the larger cards and 2 holes for the smaller cards. 



          The holes were punched on the left-hand side of the card or at the top of the card depending on which I thought would look nicer when placed in my book.

I grabbed some bells and ribbon from my craft stash and 3 hinged rings to connect my pages.

This is where things started to take shape:

      I began laying out my pages, alternating short and tall cards, to give more interest.  If  the card did not state the names of the people in the picture I added it on the back so that years from now, I would know who they were. When I was satisfied with the way things looked, I fed my hinged rings through all the layers and clasped them shut.  My book was intact, but was in need of embellishing.  I tied the ribbon and bells to each of the three rings and topped it off with a large gold glittered star.  I just love how it turned out!

 

I had so much fun that I pressed on and made a book from our 2011 Christmas cards.  

They truly will be a treasured keepsake!