To Be KonMari Clean (Smaller Clothing Items)

Posted on 10/11/2015 by n2n

Don’t have many pictures here, the rest of the clothes subcategories are mostly small items too numerous to record. It was getting in the way of the KonMari cleaning process.

Socks/Underwears

donated all sports socks (worn only a few times)
donated new stockings that I removed the packaging to save room
downgraded old underware for carpet spot cleaning

Bags/Accessories

everything in this subcategory fit in one box, placed with the unmarked side out. Marie said any text or decoration on the box would add visual noise. Try it, it’s true.
donated all trinket jewelries. Though they are still cute, I don’t wear them anymore.
gave away most hair accessories, only kept the claw clips that I always use

Clothes for events

own 1 dress, I chose it because it would work for all events. If you care about having the same dress in all different event photos, then I don’t recommand it.

Shoes

donated all pumps excpet for one black pair that my feet love
Kept 5 paris of sandals, so I have a least a pair for my flat feet when I send the others out to be resoled. All the “inactive” sandels are packed into one box. To avoid seeing text (visual noise), I placed the label/item list under the box.
I’ve been living with 1 pair of running shoes (my everyday shoes) for a long time and have no need to get other kind of shoes

Other

kept two sets of beddings (need to clear these out so I can put things back into my closet) for rotation

Use what you have, keep what you’ve earned

As I’m posting this a month after the clothes cleanup, I have more tops and socks to go to the donation. When I was sorting, I thought I needed them but as I live with my “renewed collection” of clothing, I find myself finding ways to use what I already own and often there is no need to buy more.

Holey Clothes Are Still Holy

Posted on 10/04/2015 by n2n

What do you do with all the clothes you don’t want to keep? Go through this in order so you can get the most of the your old things.

Donate

Bring your best items to a local/church thrift shop first. If possible pick one that is all volunteers so all the money would go to the needy.
For the not-so-good items (i.e. just good enough to go out in), go to places like Good Will or Value Village

Recycle

For cloth with holes and damages, recycle them. Check with your own garbage company if they recycle cloth.
Look for a local recycle company that accepts textiles
When all else fails Good Will seems to take cloth in any condition.

Reuse

I just don’t have the hear to make other people sort through my old unmentionables, so I saved them to use with Folex, my favorite non-toxic carpet spot cleaner.

To Be KonMari Clean (Clothes on Hangers)

Posted on 10/04/2015 by n2n

Continuing with my KonMari process, I tackled the “clothes on hangers” sub-category.

For me, they were the old business outfits and dresses that I’ve stored away in another closet that I couldn’t possibily fit into my own.

Other then the volume of clothes, this was very easy. They were too small but still in very good condition so all of them went to my favorit 100% volunteered local charity. And of course, there were many other ways to give your old clothes second lives.

In my previous post, I mentioned how I thank my out-going clothing by folding or arranging them nicely before I delivered them to charity shops. A lady at the shop mentioned how nice it was to received them this way. Not only my old clothes got more appreciation, it brought the volunteers joy while they work.

Back to clothes on hangers. Here are my notes:

I had bought a bright yellow, waterproof, stylish jacket with a hoody to fulfill my promise to my designer cousins. I love the jacket but never wears it. Now it has room to breath on the hanger, it sparks joy every time I see it. I wore it on walks in the fall rains and very happy to find out that it’s warm and really waterproof (Style to me often means impractical.)
I wished I’d donated these quality garments much sooner. I found some spongy padding on hangers turned to sticky dusts because they are so old, I worried that the charity shop might not get as much money out of them.
Do keep the dry cleaning bags for until you are done with the entire cleanup. Use them as light garbage bags (tide the hanger opening). Or in our area, home shredded paper are required to go into a clear plastic bag, so I saved it for the document clean up phase.

After the clean up, there are only three things left on hangers that I don’t wear often.

1 long coat for super cold winter
1 jacket (mentioned above) for rainy spring/fall days
1 dress for all formal occasions

I love that I can actually see the backwall of my closet now.

To Be KonMari Clean (Clothes-Tops, Bottoms)

Posted on 09/30/2015 by n2n

As instructed in Marie’s book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, I started with clothes.

From one of her Japanese tv appearances, I learned that you should never take anything out of your room for this. I decided to work by the subcategory so I’d have the room to sort and fold. And again by the order suggested in the book.

The check list here is posted in my room and I gave myself a sticker as I finish each subcategory. The the gold stars you get when you were a kid.

And no worry about not being overwhelmed enough that I’d go back to my old way again. I thought I did a “deep cleaning” last year yet I saw I still have so much more.

Pick What You Love 1st

When I saw all these clothes, I didn’t know where to begin. Then I saw the corner of my favorit summer shirt peaking out and remembered I need to pick out what sparks joy.

When to Take Short Breaks

There were moments I wanted to give everything away and moments I worried I’d have nothing to wear when the weather tunes.

These were the irrational moments I took breaks. I also remind myself that if I didn’t keep going, I won’t be able to sleep in my bed then I got right back to it.

Showing Gratitude to Not-Keeping items

It felt funny literally thanking each item because it feels like an empty gesture (it’s a very Japanese thing to do but I’m not Japanese). But I also didn’t want to skip this step, especially after thanking so many times.

To show my respect, I folded every piece as if it’s going back into my closet (also very Japanese but this one I can do with sincerity.) Even if it’s going to be recycled, I still folded it.

This is also a good opportunity to inspect each item for it’s proper destination. More explanations in Holey Cloth Are Still Holy.

Storing

I’m going to wait until all of my clothing are sorted out so I can position them logical, accessible way so I’d never have to “remember” where I put what.

My room is a mess right now but the vision of my dream room is fueling my effort.

Notes

When Marie says keep what sparks joy, I think that includes the items you need.
Remember to do this by yourself in the room, you need to be the one making the decisions.
Do this in silence, it will help you stay mindful and being in the zone.

Side Effect

Unsubscribe from sites I’m no longer interested. I can always sign up again when I need to later.

How I make my hand stitched notebooks

Posted on 05/24/2011 by n2n

A fellow Etsian asked me if my notebooks came ready made and I just added something to it. So, I think I should explain my process.

Before I go on, in my notebooks, you will usually find that the first/last inside page is different than the rest. I did that because I use them to as the place for the table of contents and notes. But if the design/purpose doesn’t call for it, then it will be the same as the rest of the inside pages.

If I have a cover design in mind:

I select a cover weight paper that fits with the design
Print the design using my laser printer (so the design won’t fade by water droplets) but a few designs do require ink jet output.
Select the first/last and inside pages to go with the cover

More Examples: “Your Way, Yes Way“, “Idea Reservoir”

If I find paper with interesting pattern or texture, I’ll pick something different for the first/last page to go with the pattern or texture.

For the inside pages, I usually use quality white paper that is much more opaque than copier paper. If the design calls for it, I’ll use the color paper. In is case, the notebook might have less pages because color paper is thicker than the white paper.

Once the paper for the cover, first/last and inside page are collected, I use a color cotton thread that goes with the notebook, then hand stitched them together.

The last step is to cut the notebook into the final size. And depending on the design, I decide to round the corners or not. Most of the time I do because straight cut corners tend to get bent.

I try my best to find materials that are made of recycled materials and/or can be recycled and often decides against designs that will make my products hard to recycle.

Think downstream

Posted on 03/25/2011 by n2n

“Reuse!” People say that a lot and it’s a great idea but I suggest that you take it a bit further downstream.

Seen those art projects people make out of the liter soda bottles by glueing more items on them? How would you recycle those after that? We don’t know if the items attached to the bottles are recyclable or not. Or if they will break or jam up the machines/process at the recycling plants.

To me, reuse only make sense when you can’t find a place to recycle the item or when the item is reused in a purposeful, long term way, such as glass bottle wall.

Needs to Note

Quests to Satisfy My Curiosity, Metaphysical and Otherwise

Tag Archives: recycle