Miniature White China Cabinet: The Destiny of Things, Story #108

Miniature White China Cabinet:  The Destiny of Things, Story #108

Goodbye childhood miniature dollhouse collection!  Hello cottage kitchen!

It's been countless years and I'm not sure what I thought I was going to do with my childhood dollhouse miniature collection, but it's been kept in the same large blue dress box labeled on masking tape in my mother's writing, "MINIATURES."

As a recovering hoarder, I started to count the pieces and stopped at 35 because there are too many sets of miniatures, like mechanical vaccum and sweeper, distressed spun glass punch bowl with ladle and cups, working toaster, pots, pans, distressed wooden doll family, wicker baby carriage with caco twins, Casablanca upright piano with bench and sheet music, 70s retro mod patio umbrella, 6 nesting Mexican folk art bowls and much more...

I'd estimate from 50 - 100 miniatures from kitchenware, home decor, tea party sets to furniture sets, such as living room, dining room, bedroom sets and patio furniture.  Some of it has sold, maybe half of it is listed here, in my "yesteryear's toy box"section  or do a "miniature" search at HoarderRehab to see what's still available.

I was so happy to to find this note about my little china cabinet:

"This little china cabinet is just great ! And not to worry it will be well loved and filled with very pretty dishes and glassware and live in a cottage kitchen !" 

As a recovering hoarder it's always such a relief to get just two extra sentences of reassurance, it's feels like someone is patting me on the back for not only a good job, but everything is going to be okay in the dehoarding department of life.  The visual knowing that this cupboard is going to hold pretty dishes and glassware and have a new home in a cottage kitchen helps me to keep going beyond belief!

Saying Goodbye:  Ambivalent is the word that comes to mind, which I just looked up and means "mixed feelings or of two minds."  Actually with insomnia again, I'm leaning towards apathy.  There's a lot of lack of interest, enthusiasm and/ or concern about my dehoarding at the moment.

I was on a roll too.  I opened a fourth shop, JunkDrawerLoveEtsy, cleared out twenty or more empty boxes from the hoarded room and should be happy to say that many large items, at least 100 -200 have found new homes, so there's much more space now to move on to organizing my ga-zillion junk drawers! 

What I Learned:

1.  It's best to be thankful and count my lucky stars for what I have when I get like this from insomnia.  I'm thankful that I don't have something worse than insomnia.  I'm thankful that even though I'm functioning in a heavy slow motion haze, I'm still getting a lot more done than moping in bed.

2.  Maybe I can turn my temporary insomniac apathy into a good thing, maybe it's a good time to purge right now, especially since I feel apathetic about my hoard because usually my insomnia makes it much more difficult to let go.  X-nay that thought, it gave me a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach, like I might regret it later.

3.  I am thankful that I'm moving forward daily with my dehoarding and that over 360 items have been given better lives and new homes.  I am thankful that the path in the music art room is large enough to reach all corners of the room now, instead of half way in and out in one direction.

4.  I've loved anything miniature since I was a kid and as a teen to adulthood moved on to collecting miniature charms in silver and gold, especially the moveable charms.  I still love miniatures and charms, but don't have the need to own any.  Wow, did I actually say that?  I am making progress!

The beginning of my charm jewelry collection is available here at VintageToGoEtsy, here at HoarderRehab and here at The Destiny of Things.

What is your favorite childhood collection that you still collect today?  Off the top of my head, it's my coin, stamp and matchbox collections!

Thank you Etsy buyer for sending me a quick note that helped me know that my China hutch is well loved and will be used everyday in a mini cottage kitchen!

Thank you Etsy for the best dehoarding outlet ever!  I am already feeling better with a sense of accomplishment of so many of my large decor items finding new lives that I am now moving on to drawers!  With plans of closets and other storage furniture to tackle after the drawers!

Thank you US, Austrailia, Germany, Phillipines, Russia, Ukraine,  Singapore, Armenia, Canada, Serbia and India for taking part in my Hoarder Rehab:  The Destiny of Things!

Click on the shop names to visit my hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab,  The Destiny of Things and VintageToGoEtsy and now JunkDrawerLoveEtsy!  There are about 20 items listed on JunkDrawerLoveEtsy and will be listing 1-3 new things there daily and 1-2 items at the other shops!  Thanks for looking!

Relates Stories about Miniatures and/ or Charms:

1.  Mid Century Modern Mini Television:  just like my grandmother's real one!

2.  My Teacher Charm Bracelet:  the entire alphabet in tiny sterling letters! updated with photos!

3.  Love Charms:  Story from another teacher!

4.  Joan Walsh Anglund Planters:  my small child size planters!

Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite: Native American Souvenir Barrette: The Destiny of Things, Story #107

Ahwahnee Hotel, Yosemite: Native American Souvenir Barrette:  The Destiny of Things, Story #107

A heart felt item is gone!

Yes, as you can see, even Bambi is shedding a tear!  No fear, it came with an email making letting go more encouraging.  Here it is:

Elizabeth Ross

Jul 11, 2013

 

hello kennedy!

i received your lovely barrette and i love it! i equally enjoyed your very touching note and sweet items enclosed with the barrette.

i want to congratulate you on your recovery and i think the idea of exchanging stories for things is amazing. you are incredibly resilient and empowered!

i am not native american and love native american clothing, art, history, people and jewelry. i think i am an indigenous person trapped in a white body : )

i have been wearing the barrette and i just love it!

keep up your amazing work and never stop!

much love,
elizabeth xoxoxo


And this is what I wrote back:

Kennedy Miranda

Jul 11, 2013

 

Hi Elizabeth!

Thank you so much for the email!!! I am so happy and relieved that you love it too! and especially that you wear it! Also, thank you for the kind words about my recovery as a hoarder. It really helps when I need to let go of sentimental items that I can no longer use, but love.

Funny, you mention that you are a trapped indigenous person because when I was little and my mom would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always wanted to tell her an Indian, but never did, cuz she would have freaked out!

I hope you will give me permission to use your email "as it is" for my HoarderRehab blog or I can use it and leave you anonymous. Let me know if you have the time, otherwise I'll leave you anonymous and use my own words, if that's all right with you too!

Thank you so much for all the encouragement and being such a BIG part of my HoarderRehab!

~Kennedy at
www.etsy.com/shop/vintagetogoetsy
www.etsy.com/shop/HoarderRehab
www.etsy.com/shop/thedestinyofthings

Read 90+ stories from Etsy buyers who have shared and helped me one way or another on my Hoarder Rehab journey!

hoarderrehab.blogspot.com/

From the date on the email, I've procrastinated long enough on this posting due the sadness and seller's remorse I used to feel when I looked at this barrette in my sales area!   I finally can look at it and even though in my head I've known and been telling myself over and over that I can't use it due to being allergic to sterling, my heart was feeling pain.

I think I might have gift guilt or something.  I don't know how I got it in my head that "gift giving is kept forever" and I feel like it's a necessary extension of the person who gave it to me. I have a terrible time letting of gifts, even if I've never used them and have kept many of them for decades!

This is a special gift because not only is it a gift, but it's a souvenir gift from the Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite National Park in California.  Click on the highlighted link to go to their official sites. 

Here's the view as you enter Yosemite (wiki link for more information and pictures) from Inspiration Point with El Capitan (wiki link info), the largest piece of granite on the earth, to the left and Half Dome (wiki link info) opposite.

My parents took us to Yosimite every spring or summer, sometimes bi-yearly for the snow season.  It holds many happy memories, like hiking to Sentinel Dome (wiki link) to visit Jeffrey Pine, which was a pine tree growing out of solid granite.  Here's a picture of where it formerly stood:

We used to love driving through the HUGE Wawona Tunnel Tree.  There are several pictures of us driving through each year til it fell from a heavy snow storm, like this one here, but in color:

The giant sequoia is estimated to have been 2,300 years old. It is now known as the Fallen Tunnel Tree.

And one of my favorites was when they threw fire logs of a cliff every night!  It was better than a bedtime story and was called, Yosemite Firefall (wiki link for more info).  We would sit around a camp fire with the Forest Ranger and sing songs.  Here's a photo of the grand final of each evening!

Interesting, I just noticed that the three memories I chose off the top of my head are the ones that are no longer available at Yosemite. I wonder what that means.  Anyways...

Saying Goodbye:  We probably went on the tour of the Awhanee Hotel every year, but I don't remember choosing souvenirs from the gift shop until I was in my teens.

And this souvenir gift seems even more heart felt because I can only remember getting two souvenirs from the Awahnee and this is one of them.  It was a pair, but one of my friends borrowed the other one and never returned it.  I've been thinking of letting go of my 14k Zuni Sun God ring, which is the other souvenir from the Ahwahnee Gift Shop, but I can't do that yet, even though I can't wear it due to allergies.

One of my other childhood souvenirs is here. 

What I Learned: 

1.  I have a lot of souvenirs and am used to getting one from almost everywhere I go!  What an eye opening realization!  My Dad and I have souvenir matchboxes from restaurants.  I still pick up a rock and put it in my pocket from beaches and parks.  If I go to somewhere special, I seek out something to keep as a memento. Even if it's a just a new ice-cream shop or opening of an art gallery!

I tend to save stickers worn to get into events, ticket stubs and parking tabs from them too!  Yes, I have quite an extensive paper hoard that I do throw out periodically, but I wonder how much of it has survived through the years.  They are in the bottom boxes of my stacks to the ceiling.

2.  Souvenirs are a big thing in our family and we often loaded up on souvenir gifts to give to our friends and relatives when we returned home.  I also saved rocks, dirt and sand from them too, however those are long gone, but I do have some of the shells.  I kept them all categorized and labeled too in little glass tubes from my bead collection.

3.  Maybe this item was so heart felt to let go because the memories in it are ones that can no longer be physically visited.  My family visits Yosemite each autumn.  As soon as we arrive at Camp Curry, my mom calls to make reservations for the next year!  We all still hike to Yosemite Falls and sometimes there's snow!

Which souvenirs are your favorite and what memories do they hold for you?

Thank you Elizabeth for emailing your story with kind encouraging words and it makes me so happy we both love all things Native American and especially that you wear it often.  I wore them often to keep my hair off my face!

I can't thank Etsy enough for all the connections, dehoarding and adventures I've had since opening three shops and am working on opening a fourth shop, JunkDrawerLoveEtsy!  The dehoarding continues as I can see more light at the end of the tunnel now!

Thank you visitors from US, Canada, Switzerland, India, Netherlands, Philippines, Spain, Italy and Mexico for joining me in my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things! via VintageToGoEtsy and now JunkDrawerLoveEtsy!

Click on the shop names to visit my hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things VintageToGoEtsy and JunkDrawerLoveEtsy!  There are only a few items listed in JunkDrawerLoveEtsy and will be listing 2-3 new things there daily and 1-2 items at the other shops!  Thanks for looking!

Note to self:  proof read this, count up souvenirs, add related stories.

Most Read Story of the Week:  "Say When" Jigger Shot Glass:  The Destiny of Things, Story #106

Most Read Story of the Month and All Time:   My Louis Vuitton Collection: my end and someone's beginnings

"Say When" Jigger Shot Glass: The Destiny of Things, Story #106

"Say When" Jigger Shot Glass:  The Destiny of Things, Story #106

The last of my shot glass collection!

The story I received goes something like this:

Pls wrap carefully for a friend.  Thirty years ago, from visits at my friend's Aunt's house I'd always see this shot glass and thought it was such a hoot!  So many things on Etsy: I had, my mom had, or a friend had.....

As a recovering hoarder, I can so relate to the last line about seeing things from my past and the people that went with them.  I suppose in some ways, it's like having a hoard of loved ones and memories around, but I'm learning to keep my memories in my heart, instead of things.  Sometimes they keep spiraling around in my head and I need to let them go, some how pass them into my heart.  And many times, I keep them on this blog to visit any time I need it.

I had a party sized shot collection, which I gave to a dear friend along with my wine and champagne glass collection about twenty five years ago.  I just kept these and the full set of my Grandmother's Fostoria Navarre Patttern wine and water goblets, which were well used when I got them and I continued to break no matter how careful me or my guests were and finally sold them on HoarderRehab before they were destroyed.

I was reminded that these are jiggers and not shot glasses from a kind person on Etsy, but my friends used them as shot glasses and it was the first thing they'd look for in the cupboard.  It was the common joke to talk about which drinker one was going to portray for the night!  There were a whole lot of pigs and donkeys running around the parties!

It was also used to measure out their other favorite drinks, like Gin Fizzes, Lillet, Jamesons and Casino Royals.  It's been a handy liquid measure too for wheat grass shots.

There are two still available, one here at VintageToGoEtsy and the other here, at HoarderRehab.

Saying Goodbye:  So far, so good, but I still have two left, so I won't really know til it gets down to the last wire!  I must say that it's brought back some fun and funny party time memories!  Thank you!

However now that my insomnia is back I have noticed that I do experience an uncomfortable panic like spike of "seller's regret" every time something sells, but it's just one heavy jolt that eventually diminishes to nothing.

What I Learned:

1.  There are so many things on Etsy that I used to want to buy, but now on Etsy I can organize my favorites into categories, which has really helped me to understand why and what triggers my hoarding habit buying sprees.  Many of the items are from my past and remind me of people, places and experiences.  Others just make me happy by design or color combinations.  And some are just so wildly creative that I take a moment to see see them on zoom.

While waiting, I was reading about a diet called, "The Pleasure Principle" and learning to work with one's body's own intuitive and biological needs for pleasure.  Eating for pleasure was one way to lose weight, but it also said that viewing what one finds particularly beautiful brings on pleasure impulses in brain activity.  So I'm doing my best to just look and capture that "good" feeling, instead of buying it.  And I'll cross my fingers about it helping me to lose fat.

2.  I was corresponding with another fellow hoarder - now email pen pal and learned that we both used to write.  She wants to write children books, which is what I wanted to do in college also.  I have written several short stories and used to be in a writing circle during my college days.  We would write about the same event we all experienced, share our writing and talk about it, however the shot glasses usually took over and well, there was another story to write about!

So I'm going to make time and return to short story writing and release some of the memories that are spinning like a broken record!

3.  Also, I was inspired by another Etsy shop owner, who has over ten shops and still finds time for crafting!  This inspired me completely and I've been having my own project days too because I really need to find something to replace retail therapy!  I've gone back to making collage cards, mostly out of washi tapes.  If you'd like to see them they are here at Hoarder Rehab and here at The Destiny of Things.

Now that I've started the cards, I'm also going to incorporate poems in art, like I used to do too!  And I'll start writing short stories again, since many of my memories are too long to write about on the blog.  It's my experiment to see if these activities can replace "retail therapy".

Off topic:

Look what I found in my hoard last weekend!  I made over 100 "out of context" cards back in 1985.  Time travels fast!  They are already vintage!  I'm so excited about refinding them!  See the inside here!

It's interesting how they they look similar to my washi tape Gee bend quilt inspired cards.  I'm still in the 80s?

Which past times would you like to revisit from your college days?

Thank you Etsy buyer for leaving your tidbit of information that garnered me so much towards finding several alternatives to replace my hoarder ways!

Thank you Etsy for adding the categories section in the "my favorites" area because it's amazing how much it's helped me figure out how I shop and why!  And I've taken full advantage of the 25 categories!  Thank you so much!

Thank you US, China, Australia, Serbia, Switzerland, France, Malaysia, Netherlands, Russia and Chile for your visits this past week.  It keeps me motivated to keep posting with my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!

Click on the shop names to visit my hoard listed daily:  VintageToGoEtsy, HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!

Other Last Collection Stories:

1.  Not My College Mugs  About the almost last two mugs from my collection.  Now I have four mugs, I used to have an entire cupboard shelf of mugs and many of them stacked ( I love stacking mugs) and many of them from my childhood.  The last two mugs are here at VintageToGoEtsy and I have one more to list.  I have a cup and saucer collection too, but that's another story!

2.  My Louis Vuitton Collection:  A story about how the end of my collection is the beginning for someone else and it was my first sale on HoarderRehab!  My last piece of Luis Vuitton from the 80s is available here, at The Destiny of Things.

Love Heart Charms: The Destiny of Things, Story #105

Love Heart Charms:  The Destiny of Things, Story #105

A repeat buyer story!



This Etsy buyer bought the floral religious medals and out of the blue returned to buy these love heart charms!  I was so surprised, they left so quickly!

I think they were only listed for a day!  I had took a double take and sure enough they were ordered and gone to Di again!  Thank you Di!

Saying Good- bye:  I had no attachment to these and can't remember how I got them, except back when I was collecting charms, ahem--- during my three year buying spree--- I bought a lot of charm bracelets and necklaces because it was just as expensive sometimes.  Cost effective.

Anyway, I'm so happy they went to Di who interchanges her jewelry to mix and match!  She said she has already gotten a lot of compliments wearing them.

What I Learned:

1.  My charm collection might be as vast as my religious medal and cross collection.  I started to collect charms as a child after my Grandmother gave me a gold charm bracelet and when gold got expensive I switched to silver, so now I have two full bracelets and many waiting to be attached! 

I also collected charms for my art projects, like my garden cross which can be seen here.  I used a sterling garden bench, dandelion and beaver.  Each charm on that cross has symbolic meaning, inside jokes and memories in them for me.

I had many different charms collected to make more, for example, a sailing cross for my uncle who enjoyed sailing often.  A race car cross for a friend that designed race cars, etc.  I even made a lover's cross for a relative to find "true love", which I call the lover's cross.  It is here.

2.  It took me a decade or so to realize it, but my art projects lasted about two years and then I'd move on to the next one.  In hindsight I most likely I might have spent more time "collecting things" for these art projects, rather than creating them!

For many years I used to be a collector of "idea" art and the stuff needed to make them.  I am changing that now due to some conversations with a kind Etsyian.  I work daily on dehoarding and look forward to enjoying an organized and spacious music art room!  Also, I've been practicing other stress release activities, like washi tape collage cards, instead of retail therapy.  See my new outlet here and here!

Thank you Di for taking more items off my hands and giving them useful lives!  Thank you for the pictures of the finished product of the floral religious medals.  The whole gift is so thoughtful and beautiful!  I've been writing the update on the floral religious medals, but techless me needs to learn how to download them from the application of a slide show or something.  Anyways, I can't download them the way I know how.

Thank you Etsy for helping me make more room in my house.  I can see progress in many corners and the boxes in the music art room aren't stacked to the ceiling in rows of two anymore and there is a path big enough to use a vacuum!

Thank you US, Australia, UK, Serbia, China, Malaysia and Russia for your visits the past few days and taking part in my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!  Click on the shop names to see my hoard: VintageToGoEtsy, HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!

Next week, I will be adding more of my charm collection and my childhood bead collection too!

Do you collect charms and if so, which ones are your favorites?  Mine are the moveable ones!

Most Read Story of the Week:  Miswak Twig:  My Instant Organic Toothbrush

Most Read Story of the Month and All Time:  My Louis Vuitton Collection  My last piece of my Louis Vuitton collections is here, all offers considered.

Tooth Fairy Tooth Keeper Locket Necklace: The Destiny of Things, Story #104

Tooth Fairy Tooth Keeper Locket Necklace:  The Destiny of Things, Story #104

Another story from my Etsy "Note from Buyer" box!

 

A simple little note that made my day!

Note from Buyer

red string please............the tooth is loose!!!! please send quick!
:)

As a recovering hoarder, little notes like these bring such relief and to know this is actually going to a "real" loose tooth sounds fun and exciting for a little one out there!

Saying Good-bye:  With insomnia and the blues it's a little more difficult to let go which I think in my mind is a bit odd because it had gotten so easy with practice, however I do acknowledge the feelings of of loss are real in my heart.  But then again at this point with over a month's worth of insomnia even my daily routines are at times challenging.  Do you ever feel as though it's best to hibernate anyway until the sweet dreams arrive?

What I Learned:

1.  I've functioned quite well most of my life with insomnia, but several months ago, I got about three months of pure sleep and tolerating insomnia now isn't as easy as before and now it's brought some blues with it.  All I can say is that I move more slowly, repeat positive affirmations endlessly and quadruple check things a lot and roll with with life, instead of mull over it!

2.  At this time as a recovering hoarder insomniac, I am keeping my stress levels low by choosing the more easy stories to deal with, however the stories are piling up.

3.  I am gaining quite a collection of Tooth Locket Necklace stories!  

Click on the highlighted links here for the tooth locket or here for the tooth saver treasure chest if you'd like to order some! 

Thank you Etsy buyers for sending your stories!  It's such a relief to know where my loved items are going and I'm always interested to hear about their new lives!  Thank you all for helping me reduce my hoard by finding new homes for 350 items!  My dream of a Minimalist Organic Home with a music art room rather than unused hoarded storage is becoming closer and closer!  Thanks to you all!

Thank you Etsy for attracting such a kind community of people!

Thank you US, France, Germany, UK, Poland, Australia, China, India, Canada and Italy for your visits this week as the world of a recovering hoarder slowly turns and awaits for sweet dreams!

Click on the shop names to visit my hoard listed daily:  VintageToGoEtsy, HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!

What loose tooth stories do you remember from your childhood?

Related Stories:

1.  A mother hunts down these tooth lockets for her daughter's presentation here!  with updates and pics!

2.  Tooth locket story from a fellow teacher, click here!

3.  These plastic tooth lockets maybe molds to make sterling jewelry at an Etsy shop, here!

4.  Pros and Cons of Organic Toothbrush Twig called, Miswak here

5.  Update on Miswak, here, yes I still love it and use it twice daily.

Distressed Glass Frog Flower Holder: The Destiny of Things, Story #103

Distressed Glass Frog Flower Holder:  The Destiny of Things, Story #103

In this case, it's now a pen holder!

An Etsysian wrote telling me that she has a penchant for collecting these vintage pens and pencils.  And not only does she have a pen and pencil collection, but a glass frog holder to display them all!  And the best part is she also said this is the smallest glass frog she's ever found.  I find that a compliment!  Thank you!

Other information I found interesting is that she started her message with something like, "I don't know why but I love to collect..."  I have so many collections also that I think it's best for me to explore why I start "some" of them because it's a mystery to me too!  I think some of my collections are beyond enjoyable, overly nostalgic, obviously overwhelming and many are in the "over" achiever range.

For me as a recovering hoarder, I think many of my collections are some how linked to my past and this one I'm not sure how yet, but I do have a more than three glass frogs somewhere in my hoard and I have the metal kind too.  I've always liked them for some reason that is beyond me.

The only connection to my past that I can think of is with my Grandmother who took ikebana lessons, however, it's such a vague memory and I don't remember ever seeing these glass or metal plant holders while growing up or visiting them.

She also mentioned that she likes very small miniature items and this one is the smallest one she's found so far!  I too used to collect miniature items, most of my miniature doll house collection is listed on HoarderRehab, here and my love for them is still apparent, for example my pencil sharpener collection.  My favorite one is a miniature milk carton.  Also I used to collect miniature charms with my favorites being the moveable ones, which I will be listing in the near future.

As a child not only did I have a shell collection, but I also have/had a miniature shell collection.  I probably have more miniature related collections, but at the moment, trying to remember them is causing me a lot of stress.  Last month ended and continues with insomnia and this month I feel overwhelmed by many things, several of them stemming from what I call, "drama trauma."

Anyways...

Saying Good-bye:  For some reason, this "mysterious" collection of not knowing why I have so many of these glass and metal frogs  is a good reminder of how sometimes trying to dehoard too quickly might actually be the cause of ending up with more things!

What I Learned:

1.  As a recovering hoarder passing up a bargain is very difficult and I think that is one of the reasons as to why I ended up with so many "mysteriious" collections of unknown origins on top of my other collections.  It's still hard to pass up a bargain, but I can say, I am passing them by more frequently.

Sometimes passing a bargain feels like it's killing me and I can mull over it for days, but just like changing other habits about my hoarding ways, I hope with practice the feelings won't last so long and will become easier for me to recover from them. 

2.  I will admit when I  had a lot of stress between working as a inner city teacher without books, with mostly a Spanish reading class and speaking very little Spanish myself, remodeling a house and in the middle of it all navigating through a long messy divorce, retail therapy was a dream in disguise!

I think I've mentioned this on another post, but during that time, I think it lasted at least three years one of the things that got me through one of the most stressful times of my life was having something on my doorstep just for me when I came home from work and even on the weekends.  I'd even double up on Saturdays for Sunday!

I hate to do the math, but that's a whole lot of retail therapy!  That's like 1,000 things retail therapy!  And that doesn't count all the thrifting I did back then either!  Yikes!  Although in my defense, I can remember that thrifting was a lot less expensive back then.  However I can't even talk about how much I used to spend on my students and classroom!

3.  Well, that was a hit in the head back to reality.  I hope... I know I need better ways to deal with my stress and all I can say, are two three words, "exercise" and "creative outlets."  And my creative outlets took me for a loop, as in buying spree, I need to rephrase and contain my creative outlets to "stuff" I already have, but that's another story!

Thank you Etsyian for sending me your back story with so many "clues" for me to help my HoarderRehab!

Thank you Etsy for everything, especially for starting me on this journey and for connecting me to more kind people than I ever imagined!

Thank you US, China, UK, Poland, Romania, Russia, Canada, France, United Arab Emirates and Bangladesh for your visits and supporting my HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!

Click on the shop names to visit hoard listed daily:  VintageToGoEtsy, HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!

Related Stories:

1.  HoarderRehab Meltdown:  Since I feel as though one might be coming again!  yikes! and I'd rather not relive that again, so I need to seek out and try other alternatives!

2.  Retail Therapy, Part 1:  Although that was fun, I think I'm ready to try other alternatives to stay focused on my dream of a Minimalist organic home with a music art room, rather than unused hoarded storage!

3.  Washi Tape Retail Therapy, Part 2:  I do feel like buying some washi tape and have some projects in mind for them!  However, collecting too much nostalgia from the past and now collecting supplies for the near future art projects without acting on them is keeping my dehoarding at a stand still!  We'll see what happens!

4.  Destiny as Infinity:  Other coping reminders and questions to remind myself to stay focused on my HoarderRehab!