Monday, June 30, 2014

Box of Dixon Ticonderoga ORIOLE 267 Pencils: The Destiny of Things, Story 215

Box of Dixon Ticonderoga ORIOLE 267 Pencils:  The Destiny of Things, Story 215

Another box of Dixon Ticonderoga ORIOLE 267 pencils have gone on to their new home!

photo via Hoarder Rehab
Dixon Executive 1408-2 wood pencils, available here
other vintage pencils and pencil related items here

and came with this email!

Received the pencils and other interesting items yesterday. Pick up was late due to my travels, not your posting. I am a huge fan of real lead pencils and use them everyday. Glad to have helped you decrease your hoard to a very small degree; however, I unfortunately have no interesting story to leave with you. Best of luck to you with your project.

and later this in feedback:

Perfection with a greater supply of my favorite lead pencils! Thank you for the opportunity to reduce your hoard. I will put these to immediate use. 

 photo via Hoarder Rehab
Dixon Executive 1408-2 wood pencils, available here
other vintage pencils and pencil related items here

So happy to hear these are being used immediately!  So unlike me, since I had them stored away for over 20 years!  I use pens more often than pencils and have been using the same 3-6 pencils for as long as I can remember.

 photo via Hoarder Rehab
Dixon Executive 1408-2 wood pencils, available here
other vintage pencils and pencil related items here

Saying Goodbye:  So happy these have found a new home and hope all the rest of my pencils from my teaching days and my favorite pencils from my pencil collections do also!

What I learned:

1.  I've always wondered about pencil lead and lead poisoning and from what I've read it's the outer coating of paint that caused the lead poisoning from back in the day.  

Although lead has not been used for writing since antiquity, lead poisoning from pencils was not uncommon. Until the middle of the 20th century the paint used for the outer coating could contain high concentrations of lead, and this could be ingested when the pencil was sucked or chewed.---wikipedia

2.  Some notable pencil pushers! from wikipedia

--- John Steinbeck was an obsessive pencil user and is said to have used as many as 60 a day. His novel East of Eden took more than 300 pencils to write
--- Roald Dahl used only pencils with yellow casing to write his books. He had 6 sharpened pencils ready at the beginning of each day and only when all 6 pencils became unusable did he resharpen them
--- Thomas Edison had his pencils specially made by Eagle Pencil. Each pencil was three inches long, was thicker than standard pencils and had softer graphite than was normally available.
--- Vladimir Nobokov rewrote everything he had ever published, usually several times, by pencil.
--- Johnny Carson regularly played with pencils at his Tonight Show desk. These pencils were specially made with erasers at both ends to avoid on-set accidents

3.  I tend to use pens over pencils.  What about you?

 photo via Hoarder Rehab
My Teacher Loves Me pencils, available here

Thank you Etsy buyer from Hoarder Rehab for leaving me a story to help me with mine and helping me stay focused on my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things

Thank you Etsy for helping me find new lives and homes for over 755+ hoarded items and for bringing me closer to my dreams of a dehoarded life, mind, home and truck!

Thank you US, China, Russia, France, Ukraine, Luxembourg, UK, Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Switzerland, Croatia, Hungary and many other countries supporting me and my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things

photo via Hoarder Rehab
90s Panasonic KP 110 auto stop electric pencil sharpener here 
What teacher doesn't love an electric pencil sharpener with auto stop?  
and how many third graders love to sharpen their pencils to stubs?

My NEW GOAL is to have 175 items listed on each shop and two have been met at The Destiny of Things and Hoarder Rehab, so I'll be listing at least 1 new item daily on each shop five days a week!

Click on the shop names to visit new hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 181 items ,  The Destiny of Things-194 items , VintageToGoEasy - 173 items and now JunkDrawerLoveEtsy - 159 items!  Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!
 
Related Stories:


"You must learn a new way to think before you can master a new way to be."  Marianne Williamson

Monday, June 23, 2014

Bachelorette Party Diamond Box Favors: The Destiny of Things, Story 214

Bachelorette Party Diamond Box Favors:  The Destiny of Things, Story 214

All the way to a New Orleans Bachelorette Party!  How fun! and then came this note...

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy
diamonds available here

Note from Buyer

Any ideas of what to put in these for bachelorette party?

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy
diamond boxes available here

I wrote back:

Hmm.... What to put inside the diamonds? What kind of bachorlette party are you planning? mild mannered? wild? cutsie? for the beginning or the end of the party? Let me know and we can come up with some ideas for you!


She wrote back:

We are going on a party bus and then to bar hop in new Orleans haha so I'm sure things will get a little crazy..but ages are between 18-45 so I don't want it to be too wild.

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy
diamond boxes available here

Here are my ideas:

Hi!

Bar hopping in New Orleans! Way to go on a party bus!! How fun! How about a party kit?

Small quick ideas:

Let's see, if you pass them out in the beginning, how about a small "on the go" snack, perhaps chocolates like plain m and m's (it will hold a small handful) or small wrapped up Godivas.

If it gets a little crazy, you can give them out in the end, with a little hangover kit inside? I think it will hold a couple of aspirin, mints, and a tiny sample bottle of "clear eyes." (I don't know if they sell tiny bottles of visine anymore.)

Beginning, middle and end Party KIt may include:

Or you can put the diamond inside a small party favor gift bag with more things, like

starters: small bottle of champagne, munchies for the ride, energy drink, chocolates, fun novelty sunglasses, etc....

little first aid: band aids, wet naps, tampons, etc

for the ride home: mints, aspirin, those neck pillows, sunglasses

for the morning after: sunglasses, tea bags, coffee candy, water, Starbuck coffee shot and cereal bar, toothbrush, etc.

It can be called, "Bride to be" name here" Party Kit ---- in sickness and in health....hahaha!

Let me know what you think!
Kennedy

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy
diamond boxes available here

Final decision:  Thanks! Great ideas! I think I'll go with the aspirin! That will be funny!

I think it would be funny too! A white diamond full of aspirins!  That's going to be a lot of aspirins and then some!

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy
diamond boxes available here

Saying Goodbye:  I have my own stash of these to use as small gift boxes and my art projects because everyone loves a diamond!  From full with little goodies or as empty to fill up on scavenger hunt adventures everyone I know young at heart love these!

I like to make little themed diamonds, like this red diamond for a teacher as desk inspiration!

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy
teacher red diamond with 25 items of desk inspiration, available here

What I Learned:

1.  I do love boxes!  I use these when I need something bigger than my gumball capsules to hold a gift and can be used in so many ways!

These come in handy for some little ones I know and they love them even empty to go on scavenger hunts in the backyard, around the block walks, even little treasures to find in their rooms and trade at a specified time, usually after nap time!

We sit around and arrange our cool trades and play with them and then we hold contests of who can find the most items to fit inside them!  Beat your own score next time...  Great for little ones learning to count.

Handy to keep on hand for any theme and costume imaginary play too!  Lost treasure pirate diamonds, secret message diamonds, beach shells, money diamonds, I Spy all blue or any color diamonds, what would a princess, prince, queen, king, knight keep in their diamond, etc.... even holds small snacks!

2.  I do love to make my own themed diamonds!  Here are some I've made, click on the highlighted words to visit at our various shops to view a Hello Kitty Diamond, Pirate Diamond, Pink Diamond, Teacher Red Diamond and Halloween Diamonds.

I give them to family and friends as thank yous and desk inspiration fun!  I like to open mine and arrange while I'm waiting on hold on the phone.

photo via The Destiny of Things
Hello Kitty diamond of at least 25 inspirational things, available here

Thank you Etsy buyer from JunkDrawerLoveEtsy for your question and story.  My hope is that others will be inspired and get ideas on how to use these fun diamonds!  And your story may one day provide insight to mine about my love of all kinds of boxes!

Thank you Etsy for helping me find over 750+ hoarded items new lives and homes to help my dream of a Minimalist Organic home with a room for music and art!

Thank you US, Canada, China, Argentina, UK, India, Japan, Luxembourg, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and others for your visits to my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!

My NEW GOAL is to have 175 items listed on each shop and 3 have been met at The Destiny of Things, Hoarder Rehab and now VintageToGoEasy, so I'll be listing at least 1 new item daily on each shop five days a week!

Click on the shop names to visit new hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 181 items ,  The Destiny of Things-194 items , VintageToGoEasy - 175 items and now JunkDrawerLoveEtsy - 157 items!  Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy
pirate diamond available here

Related Stories:

1.  Someone else loves boxes too!  Read about it here

2.  I Love My Gumball Machine Capsules!  The Destiny of Things, Story 156, read it here.

3.  Halloween Diamond Story and other goodies in a tree house, here
 
“It's never too late to have a happy childhood." ---Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker.  Author of "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues," one of my favorite novels from my college days.
 
"Diamonds are nothing more than chunks of coal that stuck to their jobs." ---Malcolm Forbes

Friday, June 20, 2014

Mini Tribu Perfume Sample Bottle: The Destiny of Things, Story 213

Mini Tribu Perfume Sample Bottle:  The Destiny of Things, Story 213

Remember United Colors of Benetton?   This Etsy buyer's story parallels with one of mine!

more of my childhood perfume collection here

First in Note from Buyer, I received a mysterious few words, "There is a story! !! More later."  I am so thankful when someone actually reads my entire description or profile and there's a story!

Then a few days letter came this email!

Yes, my clutter interest is that I love to shop vintage, flea market etc but I'm already seeing how it can happen so I have stopped and cull frequently. I've got it under control early but I see my dad's place w/ more and more coming in each day..and a dear friend of mine that I call Mom too. So I love reading about minimalism and de-clutter.

My story about the purchase was in 1993 and I met a girl who became a friend for life. We were in our early to mid 20's and working jobs plus attending a trade school for court reporting, which is where we met.

We had many fun nights on the town together and I always wore Tribu perfume. She loved it and wanted to make sure it was ok with me that she wore it too. We are still close friends but she lives near Houston and I'm near Dallas and we don't visit often anymore.

I'm going to send this to her! Her birthday was May 5th but she'll be so surprized and it is certain to bring a flood of memories of our nights on the town as two single girls! One of my favourite stories is when we met at her place after work and she wanted to go out but I wasn't dressed for it. She said she had a mini skirt I could wear. Let me preface this by saying she worked in a very conservative law firm. So when I put on her "mini" it was to my knees! I was using to wearing 12" mini skirts and I was appalled and told her I absolutely could NOT go out in this matronly skirt! She said, "but YOUR Knees!! they are showing!" LOL

Needless to say, we had so much fun and but nothing in common. It was truly a case of opposites attract with our friendship. I had more laughs with her than ever!!!

She will be THRILLED to receive this tiny momento! And I'm looking forward to a whiff of it myself before I ship it off!

Cheers!

How fun is that?  All brought back from a bottle of Tribu perfume!  Can you imagine what kind of memories will flood back from just a whiff?  

Aromas can really knock some socks off when it comes to bringing back lost lost memories and sometimes it's the most unknown unsuspecting ones that can trigger a memory and bring it back to life with such surprising fullness and delight.

more of my childhood perfume collection here

In the 80s and 90s, I had a complete opposite girl friend too!  And we'd go out during our single college days and we shared perfume too, but she always thought my perfume always smelled different on her but I'd say our memories revolved around several pairs of earrings we each had and shared.

She was the conservative dressed up one and I was the casual punker.  She had every hair in place and her make up perfect.  My make up consisted of lip gloss, maybe some mascara and my hair was pixie short.

We met playing racquetball and were a mean team.  When we were starving students, we won many double matches betting for dinners just to get by during our first years of college!

more of my childhood perfume collection here

Saying Goodbye:   This Tribu perfume didn't give me any troubles letting go, but some of my other perfumes did, like my REVENESCENCE LIQUID by Charles of the Ritz and my 80s Must de Cartier perfume from France at the time did, but now that over six months has passed on both of them, I don't miss them now and am grateful they went to to better lives and new homes.

 This formula must be practically extinct since it's discontinued and although it did make my face glow later I found out, if I remember correctly it contains ambergris or oil from the digestive system of a sperm whale.  Not so pretty stuff.  Photo via The Destiny of Things

What I Learned:

1.  Scents are like bottled up small miracles because who knows where a scent may take me!  I have to avoid most scented things now due to allergies, but I think I might try and find some organic ones.  I think I may incorporate scents in gift giving so some memories can be evolved and saved around a certain scent.
2.  I was reading about 6 scents that heal last week or so, here and was thinking that I should grow the named scents in my garden: sage, rosemary, oranges, peppermint, lavender and cinnamon.  If grown organically they shouldn't bother my allergies.

3.  It's always good to hear how others deal with their clutter and over buys before it gets out of control.  It keeps me inspired and motivated with moving forward.

What is your favorite scent?  and where does it take you?  Today, it's fresh ground coffee because it reminds me of weekend mornings and it takes me to a place of relaxation with all the time in the world.

 This was a sad goodbye too, but it came with such a happy story!
And now it's good to know that 6 months later, I am happy this is
sharing old memories and making new memories for a couple!

Thank you Etsy buyer from The Destiny of Things for your story and I am grateful that it helps me with mine and it's good for me to know that I have things in common with a non hoarder!

Thank you Etsy and Etsyians for supporting me and my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things in more ways than one in my ever evolving journey!

Thank you US, Moldova, China, Russia, Argentina, UK, Bahrain, Singapore, Ukraine, Luxembourg, Canada, Switzerland and many others for your visits to my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!

My NEW GOAL is to have 175 items listed on each shop and two have been met at The Destiny of Things and Hoarder Rehab, so I'll be listing at least 1 new item daily on each shop five days a week!

Click on the shop names to visit new hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 178 items ,  The Destiny of Things-195 items , VintageToGoEasy - 173 items and now JunkDrawerLoveEtsy - 154 items!  Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!

 Sample of how I used to display my childhood perfume collection
more of my childhood perfume collection here

Related Stories:  More stories from my perfume collection!
1.  Perfume is like time traveling, one whiff and who knows where it will take you.  Read about My Must de Cartier Perfume from France and where it took me and Karen and who knows who else when she wears it! 
 
2.  Yardley of London Invisible Talc Tin:  The Destiny of Things, Story 210, here

Most Read Story of the Day:  Freddie the Frog Puppet here, from my teaching days.

Most Read Story of the Month:  Eye bombing Street Art with Googly Eyes, here

All Time Most Read Story of The Week and All TimeMy Louis Vuitton Collection the end of mine for the beginning of someone else.  The last piece of my LV collection, my 80s LV gold cornered wallet is available here at The Destiny of Things!    
 
"There's never enough time to do all the nothing you want."  Sam Watterson creator of Calvin and Hobbes 

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Vintage 80s Eraser Box with Fruit Erasers: The Destiny of Things Story 212

Vintage 80s Eraser Box with Fruit Erasers:  The Destiny of Things Story 212

First the all strawberry erasers sold and three days later the rest, including the box!

photo via VintageToGoEasy
vintage 80s mini erasers in classic shapes,
 like shooting star, hearts, smiley faces here
 
So I received an email from an Etsy buyer and guess what?  They were more interested in the box than the watermelon and grape erasers!  All the strawberry erasers had sold a few days earlier to someone else throwing a strawberry themed party right after this photo was taken and then the box with the erasers were ordered and gone!

And they both shared a story!  The strawberry eraser story is here.  Since I don't do well when my hoard leaves to quickly, I took a chance and asked for a story:

Hi!

It's been reserved for you.

As a recovering hoarder, I am curious about the story behind your purchase and am collecting these stories instead of my more things, for my Hoarder Rehab Blog. Are you a teacher? party favors? I will leave you anonymous if you wish to share with me. Thank you for your consideration.

Many think there story isn't interesting, but your story will help me with mine!

Thank you and kindest regards,
Kennedy
www.etsy.com/shop/HoarderRehab
www.etsy.com/shop/thedestinyofthings
www.etsy.com/shop/vintagetogoeasy
www.etsy.com/shop/JunkDrawerLoveEtsy
hoarderrehab@gmail.com

Read 200+ stories from Etsy buyers who help me stay focused on my HoarderRehab!

hoarderrehab.blogspot.com

photo via VintageToGoEasy
vintage 80s mini erasers in classic shapes,
 like shooting star, hearts, smiley faces here
 
Here's the email story:
 
Hi Kennedy!

I will be happy to share my story. I am a collector of 80's mini stationery items, mostly Snoopy ones made by Butterfly Originals, but also erasers (particularly fruit ones!) and other mini notebooks, pencils, etc. from the 80's. I have always been a collector (and yes, a hoarder, too!) and kept all the items I had as a child in the 80's. When ebay came along I started buying more! I collect many, many other things, too.

I am a graphic designer by profession. Somewhere I read that graphic designers are almost always collectors, as well, and I have certainly seen this to be true. The many items I have collected serve as inspiration for my design work and make me happy as I look at them while I work. :)

Hope that helps! Let me know if you want me to re-write this on your blog, or if you need more details. I guess I would prefer to remain anonymous.

I am going to purchase the erasers/box right now! Thank you so much for setting up the listing for me!

photo via VintageToGoEasy
vintage 80s mini erasers in classic shapes,
 like shooting star, hearts, smiley faces here
 
How interesting is that?  An all 80s collector!  I've never thought about collecting from only one time period! I would love to be a fly on the wall in her studio!  I would love to know and see which pieces are the most inspiring and see her work that matches up with each inspiration! 
 
I have so much fun with inspiration me that quite frankly I don't get much work done!  Did I just say that?  Well, it's true and I must work on having one inspiration after another and being so full of ideas I can't decided which ones to focus on!  That is today's hoarder insight from someone's story to help me with mine!   Thank you Etsy buyer!

photo via VintageToGoEasy
 
Saying Goodbye:  I am thankful these went to a home that inspires a graphic designer daily because they were just stored in a box in my home. Oh my I just added up how many years they've been stored away and it's 30 years.

What I Learned:

1.  When I told a new friend that I was a recovering hoarder and wasn't focusing on my art because I couldn't find many of the textiles to finish what I started because they are in boxes lost in my hoard.  She asked me if dehoarding was like a tangible journal of my life story.  

Instead of words to express myself in a diary, if perhaps my hoard is like some huge kind of mixed media art collage type time capsule of my life!  And I think she's right, it's like a big huge "out of control" time capsule of my life and instead of a box buried in celebration to open at a later date, mine is a house full of boxes which I think have been randomly saved, but perhaps not!
 
2.  I'm now inspired to list more of boxes from my 80s teaching days, especially the ones with the pop up window.
 
3.  Now that I realize that not only does my hoard tell the story of my life like a tangible journal, but too much of everything inspires me and sparks several creative projects at once with each new idea falling like an endless set of dominoes, what to do about it?

If you were to bury your own time capsule of your life, what would be in it? and how big would your box be? I'd hope mine would fit in a small box, like the one in Amelie, but I highly doubt it.  What a chuckle!

The mysterious box Amelie finds in her apartment from the tenant before her and she makes
it her mission to return it to the owner and thus begins the chain reaction of changing, not only this stranger's life, but many others, including her own.
photo via madovermad
 
Thank you Etsy buyer from VintageToGoEasy for your story because it's helped me realize issues I have with mine!  Now what to do about them!  Hmm....

Thank you Etsy for helping release over 750 items of my hoard back into the world and helping me find ways to lessen my cluttered life and reach my goal of a Minimalist Organic home with a music art room!
 
Thank you Moldova, US, Canada, Germany, China, Luxembourg, Australia, Ukraine and many others for supporting me and my  HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things

My NEW GOAL is to have 175 items listed on each shop and two have been met at The Destiny of Things and Hoarder Rehab, so I'll be listing at least 1 new item daily on each shop five days a week!

Click on the shop names to visit new hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 177 items ,  The Destiny of Things-193 items , VintageToGoEasy - 169 items and now JunkDrawerLoveEtsy - 154 items!  Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!
 
photo via VintageToGoEasy
vintage 80s mini erasers, available here

Related Stories:

1.  Vintage and New Kawaii Strawberry Erasers, here

2.  Tiny 80s - 90s erasers from Taiwan for 30th Birthday 80s themed party, here
 
3.   Here is a link to a Time Capsule Century Chest from 1913, opened and on exhibit 100 years later, see some of it online here and/or read a letter from the chest to their future descendents, here
 
"It's the job never started that takes longest to finish."---JRR Tolkien

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Finding Neighbors Movie: Today's Hoarder Rehab Epiphany #9

Finding Neighbors Movie:  Today's Hoarder Rehab Epiphany #9

For those going to change the world and then a quarter century passes... it's never too late!

photo via imbd

If you are like me and one of those people who were going to change the world and ended up somewhere else 30 years later this film will renew all HOPE!

I'm always tempted to read spoilers, so I'm not even going to write any.  If you want to know the synopsis, read about it here on the Finding Neighbors website.  If you need to know how famous the actors in it are and the awards it's won, and about Jud Jenkins who wrote and directed it and his previous awards, that is here.

And if you are like me and must see the trailer before you read on, it's here on vimeo.

Finding neighbors and getting out of an isolating rutt

I received an invitation from a long lost friend to see this at the LA Film School in Hollywood!

I debated whether or not to go because I lost touch when I became bedridden sick, but I decided to step out of my comfort zone and try something different.  And I'm thankful I did because I not only reconnected with Jennifer, but the entire experience connected me back to some of my own long lost dreams.

Finding Neighbors could be about anyone over 50 or any age really who has lost touch with themselves, others and their dreams.  I liked the fact that the characters didn't have to go far to find themselves and their dreams had never really died, but were dormant.

Well, there were many things I liked about the movie and I hope I didn't let too time pass to write about it when I had so much to say and now can't remember a thing.

Refinding yourself again, over the age of 50

The film shows the magic that occurs when the most unexpected people come together and change it for the better.

So in a way going to see the movie and listening to the Q&A of the film makers and then going to the Cat and the Fiddle afterwards an reconnecting with Jennifer was like living the movie in one evening!

Can culminate into bringing new life to new passions and old dreams
or combine new dreams with old passions, etc

My mind is cluttered with many ideas and directions to go with them about this movie, but long story short, I would say my epiphany is that I saw the magic that occurs when people come together at the most unexpected times and change it for the better. 

Wait, I didn't just see the magic and feel it, but that night I lived it.  Not just through the movie, but literally and figuratively in a span of about eight hours.  It's the like movie broke off and continued on through the night to the Cat and the Fiddle and I reconnected with Jennifer, Ron, myself, my husband and my crazy lost dreams.

When we got home, we talked late into the night to the wee morning hours, until we just fell asleep.  

Ever since, I've been evaluating my life wondering how dedicated and focused I need to be on dehoarding and little by little returning to at least two of my lost dreams!

There was so much more I wanted to write from what I learned from the movie, the Q&A session, the graphics in the movie and it's circular ending and more, but I'm just going to say, if you get a chance "go see Finding Neighbors!"  It might just reboot your life too and spark a flame!

Thank you Jennifer for inviting me after all these years and having hope in something unseen.  Thank you Ron for running with your long lost dreams and making them come true to life for yourself and many others including myself.  I'm going to go run with my long lost dreams now.  Thank you.

"Art is the shadow of what a person is thinking."

This coming Thursday, I'm going to start sharing one of my long lost dreams!

Monday, June 16, 2014

Vintage Strawberry Erasers: The Destiny of Things, Story 211

Vintage Strawberry Erasers:  The Destiny of Things, Story 211

One thing leads to another in two or three! First all 8 strawberry erasers left and then...

photo via VintageToGoEasy
vintage mini erasers in classic 90s shapes, like shooting star, hearts, smiley faces here

The buyer said she needed more erasers, so I showed her some other vintage mini erasers, but she didn't want vintage erasers, but more strawberry erasers but I only had new retro style ones and she took those too!

 photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy
strawberry pencil topper erasers, here

And then these too!

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy
600 twist tie closures available here

I bought the twist tie closures for Day of the Dead last year and she bought them for her daughter's strawberry themed party!  I'm not sure how she used hers, but I just twist tied some on to a papel picado banner to catch a glint of sunshine.

photo via ehow
I just cut mine free hand with scraps of tissue paper,
kinda like making a Christmas snowflake, but taped them further a part and added the ties here and there

Papel picado can be used for any festive occasion as a garland banner and children love to cut and make them too!  It's a great way way to introduce geometry and symmetry and these are easier to make and more forgiving to mistakes!  Another words, they still look good.

Also a good introduction to paper chain banner garlands too!  Remember holding hands paper doll chains!

Anyways, back to this story.... I had a whole box of vintage fruit erasers mainly grapes, strawberries and a few watermelon left over from my teaching days.

photo via VintageToGoEasy

These erasers all had the mark Taiwan on them, which mostly dates them at the 1980s to 90s, which is about the time I first started teaching.  How they ended up with me after retirement is a mystery, except I did work at a year round school in an inner city that was vandalized almost every weekend, so many times if it didn't fit in my designated closet during my two month vacation twice a year, I would end up taking it home and leaving it in a box there.

Teaching was not healthy for my hoarding ways due to low resources, weekly to monthly weekend outside vandalism and having 30 plus students to supply.  Just to give you an idea of how low resources were back then, I only had 4 student books in Science my first year teaching with zero teacher guides and I had a class of 32 and to complicate it even more 4 were English readers and 28 were Spanish readers. Oh and I am not bilingual.

I could go on and on, but it just gives me a stomach ache now.  I've been trying to move on, but due to no fault of mine that's another story in itself and most likely a whole other blog.

photo via VintageToGoEasy

Saying Goodbye:  I kinda had a twinge of sadness when the strawberry erasers left that got a bit larger when the rest of the erasers including the box left too!  But that is this Wednesday's story!

Due to the memories these bring, I am still tied to teaching in ways I do not have control over yet.  Only time will tell.

What I Learned:

1.  I can't keep buying things to relieve my stress, but at least now I know when my times of high peak stress are and what causes them, which I would have most likely not figured out without starting this Hoarder Rehab journey.

2.  Later I'd like to post about my "hoarding without hoarding" experiment to help with my high peak stress levels that occur 3 times a year, but right now I think I'm too overwhelmed with it in so many different ways that I can not explain it well, even to myself.  I think it's cluttered up my mind again!

3.  If you are like me and always learning how to find dates on certain vintage items, you might enjoy reading a little history and date guestimating from this article, Country of Origin as a Dating Tool by Coxsackie Antique Center, here.  It is interesting and quite informative to help guess the age of an item by it's country of origin usually printed on the bottom of it.

What new experiment have you tried with your life lately and how did it turn out?  My "hoarding without hoarding" experiment has kinda cluttered up my life again, but as with everything I'm sure I'll find it's silver lining!

 Fish Feet Strawberry Dance, available here
photo via Hoarder Rehab


Thank you Etsy buyer from VintageToGoEasy for letting me know that these erasers are going to be in your daughter's strawberry themed birthday party and it's good to know that others are out there that love vintage, but can mix and match the new with the old.

Thank you Etsy and the Etsy community for supporting my continually evolving Hoarder Rehab journey!

Thank you US, China, Taiwan, France, UK, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Philippines, Russia, AU,Brazil, Canada, Serbia, Germany and others for supporting me and my  HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things

My NEW GOAL is to have 175 items listed on each shop and two have been met at The Destiny of Things and Hoarder Rehab, so I'll be listing at least 1 new item daily on each shop five days a week!

Click on the shop names to visit new hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 176 items ,  The Destiny of Things-194 items , VintageToGoEasy - 170 items and now JunkDrawerLoveEtsy - 154 items!  Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!
 
 photo via VintageToGoEasy
 
Related Stories:  Other themed parties!
 
1.  Tiny 80s - 90s erasers from Taiwan for 30th Birthday 80s themed party, here
 
2.  Syringe Pen as part of cake topper for a Dexter themed party, here
 
3..  Underwater Themed Party with updated photos using Fortune Teller Miracle Fish in the AU, here 

"A dream is a wish from the heart."----Unknown

I'm really excited about tomorrow's blog post because it's not about hoarding, but about a very personally inspirational movie I saw last week, Finding Neighbors, which is about finding yourself and your dreams again, past age 50 and the magic that occurs when the most unexpected people come together and change it for the better.

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Yardley of London Invisible Talc Tin: The Destiny of Things, Story 210

Yardley of London Invisible Talc Tin:  The Destiny of Things, Story 210

Someone sent a story with an update photo!

photo via Hoarder Rehab
This was part of my perfume collection I started in childhood
the last of my mini perfume collection available here

Here is the email with update photo of it in it's new home!

Great Piece for my shaving ritual. Notice the matching badger hair brush handle w talc! Thanks

I so love and appreciate reading about and seeing my hoarded items in their new homes!  Thank you Etsy buyer for taking the time to arrange and send me a photo!  It looks wonderfully handsome as part of your shaving ritual!

photo via Etsy buyer from Hoarder Rehab

The Invisible Talc does match nicely with the matching badger hair brush handle.  I've always loved this 10 sided container with it's contrasting silver and brass colors.

As a teacher, I was always on the look out for multi sided items to share in class as realia, especially when studying geometry.  This was a perfect example of decagon to show in everyday life and daily use.

Other things, I have with multiple sides are nonagon Japanese tea cups.  The Japanese favor odd numbers, so these 5 tea cups with 9 sides would be a significant detail as a Japanese gift.  I can't even imagine how these might have been created.

photo via VintageToGoEasy
9 sided or nonagon tea cups, available here

The last thing is this antique purple 11 sided or hen-decagon bottle shaker I recently acquired with some purple bottles I needed for my bottle collection.  (More about adding to my collections later!)  

photo via VintageToGoEasy
11 sided hen-decagon shaker, available here

Last of lastly, if you are a teacher, home school parent, or kite lover, here is an easy "tetrahedron" kite to make from stuff you may have laying around the house, namely straws, tissue paper and light string.

Also you only need one tetrahedron to fly, so it's a quick lesson to make in a day and they can try out at recess, but connecting 4 tetrahedrons gives students more motivation to practice making and studying them!

photo via blog, MyBestKite.com, here
Tim explains it's mathematical uniqueness

Also, here is step by step teacher directions here 
in the manner I taught it to my third graders
and as side note, a good way to introduce various knot ties
Source: http://ford.berea.k12.oh.us/Kitewebpage/Tetra.html

When students become proficient, they can take home kits for optional or extra credit and make more cells
to make one huge gigantic 8 to 16 tetraheddron cell classroom kite!
Yes, some of my classes opted to make one this big!

This also makes a good rainy day activity in anticipation of better weather days!
Youtube how to here

photo via Hoarder Rehab
This was part of my perfume collection I started in childhood
the last of my mini perfume collection available here

This was part of my perfume collection I started from childhood and is one of my favorite pieces because it looks good with anything! It's the best ever display piece. I was attracted to it's engraving, "By Appointment Purveyors of Soap To The Late King George VI Yardley London" and UK Lion Unicorn coat of arms that reads: Dieu, Et Mon, Droit , which is the motto of the British Monarch in England.

The royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom! Dieu, Et Mon, Droit literally means, "God and my right", and is said to be first adopted motto of England by King Henry V in the 15th century. Okay, that was a lot of info, but that's why I bought this item for the unicorn and lion.

photo via Hoarder Rehab
This was part of my perfume collection I started in childhood
the last of my mini perfume collection available here

Saying Goodbye:  That certainly was a round about adventure from the mind of a recovering hoarder!  This looked great on my curio cabinet that held all my perfumes.  And as a recovering hoarder, I did count them and I have about 45-50 perfume bottles in my collection and my Mom has the other half!

Over 30 have sold with about 15 remaining here, not counting the ones with my Mom!

Here is my perfume collection re-enactment with my curio cabinet:

photo via The Destiny of Things
The rest of my mini perfume collection, available here

What I Learned:

1.  There were a lot of memories buried in the Yardley of London Invisible Talc.  I bought this thriftng with one of my good friends, who knew the hours for thrift stores that were open from 8 am and closed at 10 pm.  He knew all the thrift stores from Orange County to Los Angeles and everything in between including small cities with Mom and Pop shops, like Compton, Alameda, Huntington Park, El Sereno and Santa Ana.  

He even knew of an outdoor indoor thrift shop that was more like a huge junkyard with large trough like bins and sold by the pound! and it was 10 cents per pound!  It was an experience, we'd find purses full with things, even money in the wallets, like someone lost their purse in there!  Jewelry boxes with remnant jewelry in it.  Those were the days!

Talk about shop til you drop!  He was a good friend and I do miss those days!  However I am torn because I don't need any more things and thrifting with him was a never ending cycle!

What's the oddest thrift store memory you have?  Mine is definitely the "10 cent by the pound" thrift store.  Once he found a money belt with a hundred in it and we spent it thrifting and eating!

Thank you Etsy buyer from Hoarder Rehab for sending an update photo of my your our Yardley of London Invisible Talc in it's new life and home and making my Hoarder Rehab so much more fun and for helping bring back memories and insight as to the attributes contributing to my hoarding ways! 

 photo via Etsy buyer from Hoarder Rehab

Thank you Etsy for you help and especially for your latest blog article on "What Etsy Sellers Should Know About the European Unions New Online Selling Regulations," since we are testing out how to expand our market by starting to ship internationally.  These new regulations for EU start today and it is quite a lot of information for online buyers and sellers.

Thank you US, China, Slovenia, Canada, UK, Ireland, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland and other countries for your supporting my HoarderRehab: The Destiny of Things!

Related Stories:  More stories from my perfume collection!

1.  Perfume is like time traveling, one whiff and who knows where it will take you.  Read about My Must de Cartier Perfume from France and where it took me and Karen and who knows who else when she wears it!

2.  Next week, I'll write about My Benetton Tribu perfume from an Etsy buyer from he Destiny of things!  Read it here.

Most Read Story of the Week:  My Louis Vuitton Collection Update:  80s LV Eyeglass Case:  The Destiny of Things, Story LXXIV, here

Most Read Story of the Month Eye Bombing with Googly Eyes:  The Destiny of Things, Story 200 

Most All Time Read StoryMy Louis Vuitton Collection the end of mine for the beginning of someone else.  The last piece of my LV collection, my 80s LV gold cornered wallet is available here at The Destiny of Things!   

“I have found the very best way to advise your children is to find out what they want to do and advise them to do it.” – President Harry Truman

Happy Father's Day!!!