So…I’ve been simplifying around here. Meaning–getting rid of lots of stuff!

I’m tired of coming home to a messy house that takes hours to clean–we have too much stuff if we can’t keep up with it in a half-hour a day during the week. (“Deep” cleaning can wait until the weekends!) And I’m a major  clutter culprit here! So I’ve been pitching stuff and donating stuff left and right!

Today I’m thankful for…

1. A patient husband! Yes, he complains about the clutter sometimes, but he’s been awfully good about accepting it’s existence since he knows we have a small house and I always have big ideas. He’s also really good about encouraging and saying thank you the last few weeks while I’ve been on this purging tear through all my stuff!

Case in point? This is some of the…um…clutter…that was taking over our master bedroom closet a few weeks ago…

Craft supplies, school supplies, important household papers, gift wrap supplies, photo boxes full of priceless photos, bird nests and oh yeah, and a few clothes…

And now that I’ve gotten rid of bags full of clothes (which didn’t fit anyway!), yarn, fabric, paper, magazines, etc…this is what it looks like!

And seriously–I didn’t move the mess anywhere else this time. It. Is. Gone. This is all that’s left!

2. A small house! (And believe me, I know that term is relative! Our house is literally twice the size of the one I grew up in.) The fact is, I have more than enough to keep my hands busy with what I’ve got. I like to think that more space would solve my problems, but the last couple weeks have proven that all I need is more grace, and less stuff!

More floors to scrub, windows to wash, curtains to buy, beds to make, walls to paint, carpets to vacuum…perish the thought! The Lord knows what we need so much better than we do! I need to cherish and take care of what’s in front of me. My workshop is a perfect example–can you imagine if this chaos was given a full on craft room to multiply in? Ugh!

At least in this embarrassing (but honest!) picture you can see one of our sewing machines. When I cleaned it out this past long weekend it was stacked even higher than this! Much higher.

I shared enough miscellaneous supplies with fellow crafty-ladies to stock a whole second workshop! But my space is actually usable again now! I’m determined to let my space limit my supplies from now on! If it doesn’t fit in the basket, it can’t stay.

We did find a treasure of a little cabinet (the red one on the right-hand side) to hold extra supplies, but I’m determined to limit my “stash” to only what will fit in the cabinet!

3. Crafty and Not-Crafty Friends! It was hard to let go of lots of my stuff because it was free. Crafty friends are always sharing great ideas with me and not-crafty friends are always sharing their supplies that they know they’ll never use so that I can try all those great ideas. But eventually you end up with 47 skeins of mis-matched yarn, 5 boxes of scrapbooking magazines from 1987, and an entire rubbermaid tote of old Christmas card fronts that one day you’re gonna make into gift tags.

I’m also thankful for the crafty (and loving!) friend that visited with me through three days of this and reminded me that 27 skeins of mis-matched white yarns is more than enough for right now–since I don’t actually even know how to knit. Yet. And that my kids only need so many pairs of pj pants and maybe someone else could benefit from me sharing some of the 28 gazillion yards of polar fleece I had squirreled away.

Sorry for the poor phone pic, but this is the final extent of my supplies now. If it doesn’t fit in here, I don’t have it.

4. That super light-hearted feeling of not having too much stuff! We’ve tackled the kiddos toys, the game cabinet, my craft supplies, our party and gift supplies, magazines and books, and adult clothes so far–and I can’t wait to keep going! Especially when I see that we haven’t missed anything. Plus there’s not so much clutter in the way when we want to tackle some home updates. Bring on the paintbrushes!

What are you thankful for this week? Any big happenings in your neck of the woods–or little things (like clutter-busting!) that are making a HUGE difference?  

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)