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Collections versus Clutter

12/26/2016

Collections versus Clutter
by: Jill Sanders Crider
A two-part series in helping you determine what you love, what you (should) leave and how to organize it all!

COLLECTION: a group(ing) of items that you have dedicated time, effort and money into curating over a period of time; items with purpose, order and meaning.
CLUTTER: a closet full of outdated, mismatched and useless items; an ever growing assortment of items without intent, purpose, structure or meaning.

Sounds simple enough, right? Then why do we struggle with this so often and especially with each move? Let’s talk about it! I can tell you a part of the reason. It is such an easy thing to do given our nomadic lifestyle! We can’t take every place we visit or live with us so we tend to acquire a piece of each, a souvenir of many, a momento from all. Ultimately, it results in clutter not a collection. However, our lifestyle also encourages us to “travel light” meaning we have weight allowances for household goods shipments and overages can be costly! I personally, refuse to go over our weight limit! We have been successful in that resolve for 28 years and through 18 moves. I cannot fathom a $2000 bill from the Army to cover the $300 worth of crocks, nutcrackers, pottery or whatever the items may be simply because we were unable to organize our clutter into a collection. So with that in mind, here are a few tips to assist you in beginning to understand the difference in the two elements of maintaining organization in your household goods.

Collections: - are displayed proudly! You WANT to show off those finds!
     Clutter: JUNK drawers, space taken up without order; piles and stacks.

-Have an element of organization! Visually appealing with intended structure.
     Clutter: too many of a good thing; no purpose, or organization.

-Have function! Collections are part of the design in your decor. They fit.
     Clutter: no plan, no structure, no function.

-Have consistency and sameness! Once you cross over the line of “one is not like the other” then you are headed toward the overage zone.
     Clutter: happens when you have too many items that aren’t part of any original collection.

-Have a theme! There is commonality. Color, size, origin, design, purpose, function. A thread of cohesion in the collection.
     Clutter: nothing really matches, no point of real reference.

-Have timeless appeal! You will want to continue collecting. It brings you joy in the time, money and effort that you invest.
     Clutter: gets old and overwhelming pretty quickly. You’ll want to purge even if you don’t know where or how to start.

-Tell a story! A reflection of you. A place you have visited or lived. A thing that you love, a hobby that you enjoy.
     Clutter: grocery receipts, athletic bags, outdated coupons, unopened mail, unread magazines--- all tell a story of a busy active life but do not reflect anything about your true self.

-Have personal meaning! The items reflect you. A interest that you or your family has invested in personally.
Clutter: no meaning, just lots more of the same, nothing distinct or special.

Check back next time as I discuss the process of filtering out those collections and keeping them from becoming clutter!

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Starting a New Christmas Tradition

12/25/2016

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'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse. Well, no in this house! We were very busy little elves on Christmas Eve getting ready to enjoy a new tradition we adopted after we were blessed with it from another military family at Fort Hood, TX. We woke up on Christmas morning to find that Santa had left a beautiful handmade Christmas ornament hanging on our door. It hung with a note that read, With love and appreciation for all that your family does everyday. From Santa. Of course, I cried. It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I had ever received. At that moment, I knew it was a new tradition that we needed to do with our family. All the little elves in our house worked to together making ornaments. My favorite ornament to make is a pinecone ornament. I love working with objects found in nature.

The process of making these ornaments begins long before Christmas Eve when we start collecting pines cones from around the area. We walk in on our neighborhood a look for the the biggest and most perfect looking pine cones. I even have my sister send me pine cones from her home in North Carolina, since the shape is so different from the pine cones we have here.

You will need to clean your pine cones and there are a couple of ways to get rid of any bugs hanging in the pine cones.

You can soak the bugs out.
Wash the pine cones in a sink full of warm water with 1/2 cup to 1 cup of vinegar. Let them soak for 20 to 30 minutes. Then lay down newspapers (a few layers) on the workspace that you will be drying the pine cones on. The cones should be fully opened when they are completely dry.

You can bake the bugs out.
Baking your pine cones on a low temperature for about 30 minutes can be just the trick to de-bug your pine cones. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees and place your pine cones on a foil lined baking sheet or casserole dish. Place the pine cones in the oven, making sure to check them often so they don’t burn. Once the pine cones have opened up and the sap has had a chance to seep out, the pine cones are done. Take the out of the oven and let them cool before you start decorating them.

Now for the fun part, glue, paint, glitter, and ribbons. Decorating a pine cone ornament is a great way to get the entire family involved. It is like therapy for me, but I think my family likes sneaking around at night and hanging them on the door knobs better. I always wonder what the family is thinking when they see open the front door and reads the note from Santa. It is a tradition I hope my children will do with their own families someday.

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Collections versus Clutter

Starting a New Christmas Tradition

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