Small Ounce Mini Storage Organization Container Jar Boxes: The Destiny of Things, Story 195

Small Ounce Mini Storage Organization Container Jar Boxes:  The Destiny of Things, Story 195

I use these for one thing, but most seem to use them as sample containers for their business'!

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy

I bought a hoard of these to manage and organize my bead collection.  I love these, I use them for my favorite "now" using beads and strung beads. Just set them inside and cut the string. Depending on the size of beads, it holds approx. 1 oz of seed beads.

This is a secure lid for beads. I have not tried it with paints yet. I store beads in mine and store them upside down so I can readily see what's in them and when I'm beading, I use the lid to hold beads I'm currently using.

As for liquid measure, it holds approximately 1/2 oz to almost an ounce. For dry measure, it depends on the size of what it's going to hold, but approximately 1 oz of seed beads.

As a child I loved sorting, especially beads, buttons and shells, so maybe your children will too! Take to the beach to get sand, water and shell samples or any adventure! Also good for students or children learning to count to 100 as a kind of scavenger hunt to see if they can fit 100 items in it! Easier than using walnut shells!

A little less than 1 inch tall by a little over 1 inch wide, small but still hold a lot. Secure lid.for beads. 

photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy

I thought others might find them useful too, but it seems most others used them as one ounce sample containers for soaps, lotions and other cosmetic type items.  And they sold out quickly in large order amounts.

As of 1/20/ 2014, NEW STORY from ETSY BUYER that I had on the listing: I was informed that these work well for one Etsy buyer to experiment with her "melt and pour" soaps and as a sample holder container to give to friends for sample soaps! 

How fun would that be?  Makes me want to dig out my Martha Stewart Soaps by Mail kit and make some soaps and send them to friends too!

 photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy

Then four months later, another Etsy buyer bought three packs of these and wrote me back with this:

I am using these little boxes to build my home business and mail my mini facial samples to clients. It is working out great! Thanks so much.

So good to hear, these little containers are helping someone with their home based business!  And in a tiny way, I am too!

 photo via JunkDrawerLoveEtsy

Saying Goodbye:  I still have a ton of my own stash of these, but it's interesting to see how something I thought others would use the way I use them ends up being popular for a totally different use as sample container!  So in the end, everything seems to work out!

What I Learned:

1.  My bead collection is still too large to organize properly without it taking up so much space!  I still have my bead collection from childhood through high school, college and to the present and my Mom has some of it too!  Some of it's listed on JunkDrawerLoveEtsy, here

and in the past I've used it in my mixed media art or Religious Folk Art:

When Angels Meet, available here

This was around the time my Day of the Dead Religious Mexican Folk Art morphed into Russian Folk Art and I made these using beads from my childhood, which my best friend and I would patiently wait for her Mom's Chinese beaded slippers to wear out so we could have the beads!

St.  Michael, the Protector, available here

As a child I would spend hours sorting my beads by color and still find it quite relaxing and peaceful.  As you can see here, I sorted these into all blue.  The skull beads are from a Tibetan rosary that was falling apart that I found in the 80s.

I made two of these necklace amulets in the 80s or 90s too with some scrap molas my Mom gave me, but only one survived time travel.  It is made with beads from my Aunt's Great Grandmother from the 20s, many of them as the garland around the top and bottom are steel cut metal beads and was part of only a handful of things that survived her house burning to the ground.

Also in the 80s, I took a basket weaving class and made several pine basket pieces one included a woven candle holder that incorporated many strands of beads.

photo via Hoarder Rehab, shown are my pine needle pin cushion, 4 coasters, 

catch all and crazy bead candle holder

 my handmade pine needle trivet sold out here

It's the crazy looking one upper left.  It casts some amazing wonderful shadows when lit in the dark against a wall or on a table and it's beaded arms are bendable, so it can be arranged in many different ways and cast all kinds of shadows!

Lately, since I'm allergic to metal, I made some gumball prize necklaces for myself, but find I just don't wear jewelry anymore!

70s - 80s gumball prize bird necklace made with WW2 surgical thread

comes in a gumball capsule

photo via The Destiny of Things, available here

70s - 80s gumball prize feline necklace made with WW2 surgical thread

comes in a gumball capsule has sold, but I will make to order

photo via The Destiny of Things, available here

Oh my, this turned into more of  a "show and tell" rather than "What I Learned" and I've run out of time.  I will add that so far this spring holidays have brought me more anxiety than last year due to one family crisis after another and I have CRASHED and BURNED!  More about that later!

Thank you Etsy buyers from JunkDrawerLoveEtsy for your all your back stories on how you are using the stuff in my Junk Drawers!  I am always happy to hear how others are using them in one way or another!

Also, many Etsy buyers have sent me their "back" stories on their purchase orders, so I may need to start writing a post daily because they are starting to pile up into a hoard!  Thank you so many kind Etsy buyers for helping me out and speeding me along towards daily therapy!

Thank you Etsy for finding new lives and homes for over 670+ of my hoarded items and for over 200+ stories from Etsyians helping me with my Hoarder Rehab journey!

Thank you US, China, France, Ukraine, Australia, Lithuania, Oman, Latvia, Russia, India, Poland, Germany, United Kingdom and other countries by supporting my journey by stopping  my  HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!  

Click on the shop names to visit new hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 167 items ,  The Destiny of Things-181 items , VintageToGoEasy - 155 items and now JunkDrawerLove - 128 items!  

My NEW GOAL is to have 175 items listed on each shop and one has just been met at The Destiny of Things, so I'll be listing at least 1 new item daily on each shop five days a week!  Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!

Thanks for stopping bye!

Obijime Kimono Accessory Tie Cord for Obi: The Destiny of Things, Story 194

Obijime Kimono Accessory Tie Cord for Obi:  The Destiny of Things, Story 194

I love it when someone is so excited about their order they blurt it out!

 photo via Hoarder Rehab, my last obijime available here

cute kokeshi fabric purse made with obijime, here

Note from Buyer Thanks for selling this, I was looking ALL OVER for a light blue obijime for my kimono ensemble that fit my price range. I can't wait to see it and use it at Nihon Masturi latter this month. Have a great day!

I am so happy this light blue obijime caught someone's eye and is just right in many ways.  Her story brought many memories back to mine!

The Nihon Matsuri was last month and the next one is April 25, 2015.  If you are in the Los Angeles area the biggest Matsuri Festival is Nisei Week.  Click on the highlight for more information.

The 2014  Nisei Week Japanese Festival is a nine-day event first held in 1934, and is recognized today as one of the longest running ethnic festivals in the United States. This event will take place in Los Angeles’ Little Tokyo district from August 9-17, 2014.

 photo via Hoarder Rehab, my last obijime available here

cute kokeshi fabric purse made with obijime, here

How to tie an obi using your obijime, here

Many matsuri's, especially the hanamasturi, hinamatsuri and Obon bring back fond childhood memories of my Buddhist grandmother supervising carnival booths, learning Japanese dance at summer's dusk, getting ready for the big Obon dance day, carnival games, delicious seasonal foods and running around way past our bedtimes til we passed out!

Every year, my parents took me to the "free" Japanese dancing lessons every week, maybe even twice a week.  The lessons started in the spring and ended when it was too dark to see even with all the parking lights lit.  I'm not sure if the lessons are still free, but I did find this schedule if you'd like to prepare and join in this year, here.

My Grandmother belonged to the Buddhist Church in Anaheim.  I can't find the date for their Obon this year,  usually my brother sends me a link a week or two before the festival date.  End of June, perhaps.  Traditionally celebrated in July in Japan.

 This is how I remember it looking as a kid.

Obon is a Japanese custom to custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist-Confucian custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars. It has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori.

Before the festival we would go visit our ancestors grave, give their areas a good cleaning, burn incense and leave them flowers, somewhat like the Day of the Dead.  At the Obon, we'd eat their favorite foods and ours too!

I remember my brother and I walking and running through the empty exhibits of bonsai, ikebana and other Japanese cultural art examples.  Both my Grandmother's and my Great Grandmother's practiced the art of flower arranging or ikebana and had quite the collection of folk art baskets, metal and glass vases.  Maybe that's where I got my affinity for collecting vases, planters, glass and metal flower frogs.

I think the Obon and other masturis is also where my love of carnival toy prizes began.  I was especially good at winning goldfish from the ping pong ball throw and even if I didn't win, the consolation prize was just as good!  Usually a plastic bangle bracelet!  Remember those?

There's a picture of my of my brother with my aunt with the biggest teddy bear ever!  My aunt's boy friend won and it was at least 2 times bigger than my little brother!  I wonder where that photo is now.

I also remember eating the Botan rice candies and loving the prizes from the box too!  I still have my little car prize and do remember playing with the fan that open and closed until it fell to pieces!

photo via beachykeen1, here

prizes sold in 2009

When I was a little one, my aunt was a princess of the Queen's court in the 23rd Nisei Week festival, but I don't remember going to it at all.  I do remember going to the Obon every year due to my Grandmother's involvement and tradition to honor our ancestors.  And also because many of my friends would join in and my parents would take a car load of us to all the dance practices.

This is the closest photo I could find of what it looked like for me as a kid.

photo via bebelovesokazu

I remember all the fuss and hours of getting ready for the big night of dancing and either my Grandmother or her friends dressing me in layers and layers of my kimono and tying it with so many obijime's I thought I couldn't breath from all the tight knots and the heat!  All the make up, hair do with kanzashi and trying to walk around in tabi socks and geisha slippers! How to tie an obi using your obijime, here

I still have my tabis from that time and they are discolored because I used to kick off my getas and dance in my tabis around and around the circle until my make up would sweat off and I could no longer hold my arms up for my favorite Coal Miner's dance!

I don't know what happened to my kimono, nor why I never had a lighter yukata for the summer months, but I still have my childhood kanzashi and pre tied obi and it's box!  And of course, the tabis, unless someone wants to order them with my lacquer getas from the 70s.  Those are still practically brand new, however the tabis are not.

photo via VintageToGoEasy, geta and tabi available here

photo via VintageToGoEasy, geta and tabi available here

I've tried everything to get the stains out!

My childhood kanzashi almost left to be in Puccini's, Madame Butterfly in San Jose, California to their Costume Director, but she was kind enough to let me think it over and keep it in the end.  The story is here.

photo via Hoarder Rehab

Which reminds me to write it on my list of an art project day for the near future.  So keeping this triggered the keeping of my childhood pre-tied obi too.

photo via Hoarder Rehab

How to tie an obi using your obijime, here

The traditional obon dance expresses joy for the teachings offered by the Buddha.  The movements depict the livelihood of the villagers such as fishermen, coal miners, and farmers.  Your participation with other temple dancers is welcome.

The bazaar-carnival  will feature many games for the young and old.  We will have handicrafts and farm fresh produce at bargain prices.  Delicious Asian dishes such as beef and chicken teriyaki, sushi, udon (Japanese noodles), won ton, chow mein, corn, teriburgers, oriental chicken salad, Okinawa Dango (donuts), Imagawa Yaki (Sweet bean dessert), oden, soft drinks, snow cones and other treats will be available.

The Hondo(sanctuary) will be open to any interested visitors and hosts from the Buddhist Education Center will be available to answer any questions.  Books on Buddhism are sold at the entrance of the Hondo.

 Yep, I looked just as surprised and happy every Girl's day and Children's day

when my grandmothers would gift me something towards my kimono costume

photo via Hoarder Rehab

Back to the obijime:  An obijime is an obi cord, worn through the center of the obi’s rear knot and around the centre of the sash, tied at the front with the ends tucked into itself at the sides. It helps hold the obi’s rear knot (musuba) and the sash in place.

I have no idea what happened to my sash either.  I never had a yukata that I remember as a child, but in my teens when my family visited relatives in Japan, they did present me with a complete yukata outfit and the lacquered getas shown above were part of the outfit.  I remember using their traditional bath or ofuro and then my great aunt dressing me for a formal dinner party.  

The Japanese bath is a long ritual that entwines with relaxation and therefore is not so related to cleaning.  Washing if done before hand and the bath water is usually set at a high temperature so the steam and warmth of the bath is relaxing.

My Grandparents had a traditional Japanese American bathroom where a large shower area was not only a place to shower, but to sit on a stool, scrub wash and rinse with a bucket.  The shower area was connected to a very deep tiled bath tub with steps that were also used as benches, so one could sit at different levels in the water.  

 This is the best picture I could find that looks most like the one in my Grandparents house,

except there's was all in 1950s small blue tiles. Their bath was as deep, but sunken and level with the ground with several steps all around it.  The stools and buckets pictured are like the ones we used as children.

photo via MachWerx

My Grandfather liked his water ultra hot and steaming and many times I could only get my feet wet or sit on the first step.  He would laugh and often say a bath is not a bath unless it turns your skin red.  He also made the best bubbles for me to squish out of hand towels.

 photo via Hoarder Rehab, my last obijime available here

cute kokeshi fabric purse made with obijime, here

How to tie an obi using your obijime, here

Saying Goodbye:  This obijime story brought back more memories than I'd ever thought I could remember, so maybe the dehoarding really is uncluttering my mind, while letting my childhood memories rise to the surface to be remembered again.

What I Learned:

1.  Why I bought so many obijime at the time is still a mystery to me, but I vaguely remember I was going to use them as curtains tie backs and never did.  I seem to have many ideas about what I'm going to do with my stuff and it never gets off the ground!

2.  I've been in denial about another melt down and it has finally surfaced enough to hit me square in the face as stuff is piling up again!  Just as I was making enough room in the house to clear out the back of the truck and not use it as storage!

Even when mr oz questioned me and gently said, "do you think you are starting to hoard again?"  I just shook my head no, but his words stuck with me and now two weeks later I realize the space I was making for the boxes in the truck is full from my unconscious denial of retail therapy stemming from another family holiday, EASTER!

All I can say is that I need to figure something out for the next family celebrations which is a string of family birthdays this summer!

3.  On a top note, I'm doing better than my last melt down, here and my creative project days are helping me immensely as an alternative to spending my time hoard buying, but I must admit a lot of my buying are for the multitude of "ideas" that churn in my head towards my creative art days, so it seems I still have some kinks to work out in my rationalization, justification, denial sense of "reasons" to shop til I drop!

So in teacher talk, we'd call it, a transfer or scaffolding of ideas into new ones.  As a hoarder, I've just found another different outlet to buy buy and more buy!  Which means, what I really need to do is focus on my goals and hold on to them, even in times of crisis!

Side note:  I couldn't resist some bread over the Easter celebrations and the gluten does not seem to help my buying moods, but seems to heighten it into what some might call a slightly "manic" buying frenzy mood!

What foods are difficult for you to resist during celebrations?  Mine is anything with gluten, especially if I'm hungry and a basket of bread is staring me in the face and in my haste due to stress forgotten my snacks!  Although I must say, I think I've learned my lesson and gluten was not worth eating.

I even bought more washi tapes too!  ho hum...

Inspired by mom who loves whimsical cats!

Available here

Thank you Etsy buyer from Hoarder Rehab for being so excited about your find you let me know about it!  Thank you so much because look at all the memories and insight it has brought to me!

Thank you Etsy for your continued support as I keep moving one way or another as I figure out the mysteries, sharp turns, baby steps forwards and sometimes backwards in my Hoarder Rehab adventures!

Thank you US, Spain, India, Germany, Australia, China, Netherlands, Russia, Ukraine and many others for stopping by and encouraging me to stay on my Hoarder Rehab journey!

My NEW GOAL is to have 175 items listed on each shop and one has just been met at The Destiny of Things, 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 my hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 165 items ,  The Destiny of Things-175 items , VintageToGoEasy - 153 items and now JunkDrawerLove - 126 items!   Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!

Related Stories:  

1.  My last melt down was over a year ago, read about it here

2.  Not My Childhood Kanzashi Story here

Most Read Story of the Day:  Native American Butterfly Money Clip:  The Destiny of Things, Story LXIX

All Time Most Read Story of Week, Month and All Time:  My 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!   

"Therapy only works when we have a genuine desire to know ourselves as we are, not as we would like to be." ---Dr. Lector conversing with Jack Crawford.

Pirate or Tooth Fairy Treasure Chest Tooth Keeper Box: The Destiny of Things, Story 193

Pirate or Tooth Fairy Treasure Chest Tooth Keeper Box:  The Destiny of Things, Story 193

Some toothy tooth treasure chests went to a family with teeth falling out left and right!

photo via The Destiny of Things, available here

An Etsy buyer left me this note:

These are perfect for our kids' teeth, which seem to be falling out rapidly at this point (8 year old and 6 year old twins)! The treasure chests were shipped quickly and with care, and there was even a sweet heart bead surprise in each. Thank you!!! 

 The bead inside each makes it sound like a pirate too is clanking around!

I have skull beads too, but no one has requested them yet

photo via The Destiny of Things, available here

I bought these for my students when I taught third grade and talk about losing teeth left and right, sometimes it was  like it was raining cats and dogs with teeth falling out!  Plus in true hoarder fashion,  I could never decide which ones I liked better the treasure chests or the tooth necklaces, so I would give my class both kinds, which worked out anyway because they do love to wear it as a necklace.  

They would even add the treasure chests to their tooth locket necklace, boys and girls alike! As below:

And they are the ones that pinned the name, "toothy tooth" container, chest, box, locket, keeper, etc.  A synonym lesson in itself!

photo via The Destiny of Things

Tooth locket necklace available in red, green or pink, here

I remember these and the mini pirate chests being the in the grand grab bag treasure chest at my dentist office as a child and also as prizes at various local carnivals as game prizes.  

As a teacher, I figured my inner city students would love these too!  Many didn't get a chance to visit a dentist on a regular basis and our nurse did not have these for safe keeping of fallen teeth, but I did.  My students got both each year along with a tooth brushing kit during Tooth Health Hygiene week, which I think is in February.

Anyways, I've bought thousands of these through the years and the quality can vary, so I put a heart bead in each one as a quality check.  Besides, before I pass them out I stall by showing them and then let them clank around and say, "I wonder if a pirate (for the boys) or tooth fairy (for the girls) has already left a tooth in one?"

photo via The Destiny of Things, available here

As a kid I just loved anything miniature and even better with secret hiding places, like these lockets.

As I grew older this love grew when my Grandmother gave me my first charm for my charm bracelet!  And I guess she couldn't decide either because I have one charm bracelet in gold and one in silver.

As a teacher my love for them and the thought of how my students love to keep their teeth in these and how exciting it is when they get one just before we study teeth and tooth care brings me a smile.

As a recovering hoarder, I had tons of these and some of them were vintage because as a teacher who taught at a year round school where the classroom is never really yours and we would roam from room to room every few weeks or months, I would often lose my stash!

photo via The Destiny of Things, available here

Saying Goodbye:  I have my own stash of these and use them in many different ways.  From trick or treat alternatives to passing out candy to pirate  or fairy party favors to my plastic collection charm bracelet or my mixed media art to passing them out to forlorn looking kids or senior adults when I see them.

They certainly will make happy new memories for the young and bring back and make them for old still young at heart too!

What I Learned:

1.  I think I might be finding niches for a lot of my hoard!  I do have a blog posting started around the time I first started this blog in 2012 titled, "Hoarding Without Hoarding."  Back then, I had to no idea what it meant and it's just a blank posting with a title, but now I'm starting to figure it out....

What new thing are you learning about that has been slow in coming?  

Thank you Etsy buyer from The Destiny of Things for leaving me a little story to help me out with mine.

Thank you Etsy for helping me my amazing Hoarder Rehab journey by providing an outlet for my hoard with Etsyians willing to go an extra mile to help me out by leaving their back stories!

Thank you US, Belgium, China, India, Spain and other countries for your visits and supporting my  HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!  

Click on the shop names to visit my hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 164 items ,  The Destiny of Things-175 items , VintageToGoEasy - 151 items and now JunkDrawerLove - 127 items!  

 

My NEW GOAL is to have 175 items listed on each shop and one has just been met at The Destiny of Things, so I'll be listing at least 1 new item daily on each shop five days a week!  Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!

Related Stories:  I sure do have many toothy tooth necklace stories! and this if my first tooth chest one.  Thank you to all my Etsy pals!

1.  For a good old fashioned Halloween party without candy in a tree house, read here!

2.  These shipped out ASAP for a loose tooth! Read about it here

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

4.  Tooth locket story from a fellow teacher for a family of loose teeth, click here!

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

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

7.  Update on Miswak, here, yes I still love it and use it twice daily.  New update coming soon!

8.  Tooth Fairy Tooth Holders and Healthy Eating Art:  The Destiny of Things, Story 163, here
9.  Tooth Locket Necklaces and Fortune Fish:  The Destiny of Things, Story 166, here


"It's not hoarding, if you can hide it."  someecards.com

Encyclopedia of Furniture Reference Book: The Destiny of Things, Story 192

Encyclopedia of Furniture Reference Book:  The Destiny of Things, Story 192

I am so thankful that some Etsy buyers have the same taste in books as I do!

photo via The Destiny of Things, 

I must say that for some reason, it's much easier for me to find new homes for my vintage books than it is for my vintage clothes!  I thought it was going to be the other way around.

Anyways, I received a simple note from the buyer:

Hello !

If there is a way to exclude the invoice in the package, please do! This item is a gift and is being sent directly to the receiver. Thank you! 

photo via The Destiny of Things, 

 If you are like me and love encyclopedias, you might enjoy 

Encyclopedia of American Cities, available here

What a cool gift!!!!  So I wrapped it up with in general neutral gift wrap with it's omiyage "thank you" package and off it went!

As a child, sometimes the only thing to do at my Grandparents house was to read the encyclopedia because as children my brother and I weren't allowed to watch television, except for about an hour a week, which was either the news for a half hour or Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, which if I remember correctly was on Sunday nights for a half hour?

Anyways, my encyclopedia reading became so intense that my parents bought us a set and I happily read it from A to Z several times over.  I was also content as a child to read a dictionary.

And it carried into my adulthood.  In one of my moves, my Aunt and her friends came to help me and we spend one entire day just packing up all my books!  I lost count of boxes of books!  My Aunt also returned to help me unpack and it took us all day to unpack them too!  She kept suggesting that I take advantage of my local library!  haha! 

Her suggestion must have stuck because I do use my local library now and soon after and before one of my next moves purged almost all my books I had collected from childhood through college.  However, I do regret letting go of most of my 70s-90s American literature!  And when I do go thrifing look for my lost literature books, but end up picking up old reference books, dictionaries or encyclopedias!

photo via The Destiny of Things, 

 If you are like me and love encyclopedias, you might enjoy 

Encyclopedia of American Cities, available here

And I have a specific way to reading my reference books and magazines!  I like to turn every page and look at all the pictures.  Then I go back and read what catches my eye and lastly I read it in order from the beginning to the end!  

This Encyclopedia of Furniture was quite interesting and easy to use because it was in quick dictionary like reference guide style. For example, if you ever wondered what is meant about "cabriole" you can look it up like using a dictionary and find a definition, brief history, illustration and black and white photo examples. And it included a glossary of designers and craftsmen.

 photo via The Destiny of Things

More of my vintage book collection, available here

Saying Goodbye:  I don't mind letting go of my books or at least one hasn't hit a nerve yet and I always tell myself, if it doesn't sell I can use it as paper ephemera for one of my art projects!

I even like to buy old high school or college text books to read.  And I don't mind them marked up, underlined and with comments penciled in the margins!  Those I usually keep to myself because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who likes them that way.  And I'm also a reader who does the same to my books, but only to my keepers!

 photo via The Destiny of Things

More of my vintage book collection, available here

So I am very pleased when I find writing in books, like this one above with the book owner's signature or the one below that had it's newspaper advertisement taped right in it!

I like little surprises like these found in old books 

and was secretly hoping this book wouldn't sell, but it did, so I could upcycle it!

 photo via The Destiny of Things

More of my vintage book collection, available here

 

What I Learned:

1.  I think now that more and more of my hoard has left, it really is starting to help unclutter my mind too!  And the upside to my more clear mind is that I notice things about myself and my habits, like how I love to read reference books and magazine and how I enjoy reading them, even dictionaries!  

 

Well, I have to be pretty bored to read a dictionary now a days, but do keep a mini one in my bag, just in case I'm stuck some where with nothing to do!

 

2.  What to do with my vintage clothing because they sell so slowly and for me, they are the most time consuming to take photos and list with measurements, but when I buy something I need to see how it looks on, so taking the time putting them on and putting them away, etc is no fun in the park for me.  It's probably why I don't like clothes shopping in the first place!  I find it tiring to try on clothes!

 

Any suggestions "out there" for selling vintage clothing more successfully?

Thank you Etsy buyer from The Destiny of Things for making requests and leaving clues to how this book might be spending it's time now!

Thank you Etsy for helping me let go of over 665 hoarded items by finding new lives and home for them.  Many with interesting connections that help me learn and demystify my hoarding ways!  Thank you!

 

Thank you Spain, US, Kazakhstan, China, Germany, Pakistan, Libya, New Zealand, Malta, Oman and many other countries helping me too with my  HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!  

Click on the shop names to visit my hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 163 items ,  The Destiny of Things-173 items , VintageToGoEasy - 149 items and now JunkDrawerLove - 125 items!  My new goal is to have 175 items listed on each shop, so I'll be listing at least 1 new item daily on each shop five days a week!  Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!

 

Related Stories:  All from Etsy buyers who bought books to help unload my hoard!

 

1.  Goodbye Mr. Happy and Book, my first book with a story, here 

 

2.  Baton Twirling How to Book, never thought I'd get a story with this book and it sold the day I listed it, read it here.

 

3.  Another book I was hoping wouldn't sell, so I could use it for paper ephemera in my art, A Spanish English Children's Dictionary with Richard Scary illustrations, read about it here 

 

4.  More Scary Stories To Tell in the Dark Book by A. Schwartz & Stephen Gammel, here

 

5.  Ali's first story from the Alvin Schwartz book, More Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark:  See the tree house where the stories will be read out loud from an Etsy shop owner, thank you Ali! (click for her Etsy shop)

 

6.  UPDATE with the book and tree house dressed up for Halloween!  here 

 

7.  If You Give a Mouse a Cookie Book and Mouse doll, here

8.  A lovely story from a quilter and her Quilt Book, Quilts: A Living Tradition by Robert Shaw, here

 

 Nyanko Burger Cat stationery memo pad with mini grocery bags and stickers to match!

I just had to have this to add to my kawaii stationery collection!

Another hoard mystery to solve...

 

"Half the ills we heard within our hearts are ills because we hoard them." ---Bryan Porter

Half the ills we heard within our hearts are ills because we hoard them.

Bryan Procter

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/h

"The Loss of Nameless Things" Hoarder Inspiration or Desperation, Story 18

 "The Loss of Nameless Things" Hoarder Inspiration or Desperation, Story 18

I know one isn't supposed to judge a book by it's cover, but I often buy one just  because...

I didn't try it yet, but it might be available at the PBS site to watch online, here
 photo via IMBD

 I love the cover.  I buy stuff only because I love the packaging. I watch movies just because I love the title. The movie, "The Loss of Nameless Things," was one of those I watched because I fell in love with the title and wanted to know how it pertained to the movie.   And if the title could help me as a recovering hoarder.

I watched it last April and started to write a posting about it, but got no where with it, but it's been a year and it has returned to benefit me!

Last Friday, this bracelet was ordered and as a recovering hoarder my high anxiety began!

photo via The Destiny of Things, scroll down and see more views of it here

Then just a few hours after, this bracelet was ordered and I started to have a panic attack!

 photo via VintageToGoEasy, see more views of it here

Then someone inquired about Caco baby twin set and wanted to know how much shipping will be to NY and the thought of that leaving too was like the cherry on top of an avalanche!

I almost had another melt down!  I kept reminding myself that dehoarding practice is supposed to make things easier and to rely on the my alternatives for stress relief, like breathing, mending and art, but unfortunately, my weekend started off not well and Saturday I felt paralyzed by Sunday I was feeling a little better and just felt crippled.

 At least this order came with a story!

photo via Hoarder Rehab, see more here

By Monday, as a recovering hoarder, I started to accept I was never going to figure out my stories behind these two crippling items, when my rational was this and that and decided to chalk it up as "the loss of nameless things."

As soon as I accepted that fact, lo and behold, the light and mystery began to dissolve and I found my answers.  My loss of nameless things were two friends who left me.  One in college and one about 5 years ago.

Now my rational thinking got me no where and just rolled around in my head like the noisiest rock tumbler ever!  I kept telling myself I can't wear either one of those bracelets, so there is no reason to feel the panic of losing something so dear.  That didn't help me on bit.

And when I really really dug deeper and thought about them, they weren't dear to me, not because I couldn't wear them, but because the Taxco one was bought as a gift for my college friend, who in the end gave it back to me because she only collected Taxco warrior face bracelets and didn't want it.

And in the end, out of the blue said she was never going to see me again and when I asked why, she said because I was 45 minutes late and missed most of the poetry reading, plus the King Cobras came warm.  (We met at a monthly poetry reading and she asked me to pick up one of her friends who she thought was on my way, but it really wasn't and I ended up sitting in traffic)

I thought she was just kidding and mad in the moment, but nope, I never heard or saw from here ever again.

  photo via VintageToGoEasy, see more views of it here

The ww2 bracelet was from an enabling hoarder friend.  We shared a friendsthip for over 25 years and spent most of our time together thrifting our little hearts out, until one day his gf found out I was allowed in his house and she forebade him to ever see me again.  And even though I send him a Christmas card every year, I haven't heard from him for the past 8 years.  So her ultimatum worked.

I guess I was the only one allowed in his house because it was so hoarded up he didn't let anyone in, but I didn't think I was the only when he let in.  One day I was so tired of having to drive down the hill to go find a bathroom that I begged him to let me in because I wasn't going to make it to a public restroom!

I did have to walk on about 2-3 feet of grocery bags to get to the bathroom and felt awkward, but not really since I had to go so badly.  And then walk on them on the way back, it was unavoidable.  I tried picking up some of the bags that crunched, so I wouldn't step on them again on the way back thinking I was breaking stuff.  The only place I could stand without stepping on something was the kitchen.

I'd check out the loot in the bags I had stepped on or tried to avoid and usually he let me keep some of the stuff.  I remember once I got silly putty for my students.  They prized that stuff, once I showed them it could lift off words from any book!

He was a dear friend.  He would feed my dog and save my mail when I went on vacation.  He would fix my flat tire at his lunch break while I was at work teaching, even in the rain.  I would listen to his should have, would have, could have stories and boxes of kleenex over his relationship woes and he'd listen to mine.

We would go thrift shopping to countless thrift stores in Los Angeles and Orange County until I dropped and was basically just following him around in a daze, like a kid waiting to go home from shopping in a mall with a parent.  We had our own little thrifting rules and inside jokes, so we wouldn't fight over the good stuff.  I kept my stuff in the trunk and he kept his stuff in the back seat!  And at the end of a long day thrifting, we ate our favorite cheapo restuarants no one else we knew liked to eat at!

I never really got to say goodbye to him and to wish him the best with his girl friend.  And I think one of the saddest parts for me is losing someone that I had so much history with...over 25 years of friendship gone in a flash..... swallowed up in a black hole, deleted in one full swoop....

  photo via VintageToGoEasy, see more views of it here

Saying Goodbye:  When I watched the movie, "The Loss of Nameless Things" about Oakley Hall III, a movie by Bill Rose, by the end of it I tried to make a connection with my hoarding, but couldn't really make one that made sense or I could express understandably.

Here's what I wrote about it almost exactly a year ago:

As a recovering hoarder, just the title meant a lot to me because secretly or unknowingly I have nameless lost memories, hopes, dreams, and worries stuck in things.  It seems I have to "take the time" to examine and item and see what is buried in it.  It's usually a memory.

After writing over 80 "Destiny of Things" stories, I've noticed that I am not the only one.  Others who have stopped to examine something they've bought have shared their memories, lost dreams, or worries as well, so it's good to know I'm not the only one.

I tried to rewatch the movie again this weekend, but it's not on netflix anymore, so if my memory serves me right, "the loss of nameless things" pertains to a part in the movie when either Lewis or Clark is talking to Sacagawea about something and she says, "We call it, the loss of nameless things."  How Sacajawea, Lewis and Clarke pertains to the movie, I can't remember.

Hoarder Inspiration:

1.  I never know which items listed are going to cause me pain until they leave, but I am starting to better understand the mysteries behind the pain.  So my dehoarding is unlocking some memories that lead me to better understanding myself and my past.

2.  Another interesting aspect is that these two items brought me what I needed without an Etsy buyer sending me their story!  I wonder what that means?  Is my mind uncluttering enough now?  All I know is that I'm headed in the right directions while more and more layers of the onion get peeled off towards the core.

I wonder what's in the middle?  Personally I never thought I'd reach the center, so I was a little scared, but not really because I thought I'd never find out, but now that I see there's a good chance I might make it to the center, I'm more excited than scared... or at least I am today.

3.  Awhile ago, I found about "Immersion" therapy and have been trying out little bits and pieces of it on myself, like looking at the bracelets in the "sold" area until it's just another item in there.  It used to be so scary and I'd just avoid it, but I'm finding the fear and pain is becoming less and less.

Looking into the face of fear, isn't so bad and I think in six months I won't feel the pain and scariness of losing my friends the way I did.  I wonder how long I've been carrying that burden of sadness without knowing it but having it anyway.

Hoarder Desperation:  At least for today, I think I've managed to turn my desperation into inspiration!

No question of the day.... I'm drained and wiped out now.

Thank you Etsy buyers for helping me dehoard over 655 and counting items!  and helping me search out the mysteries to why I keep everything for some day when I think I'll need it or just keep things to keep things.

Thank you Etsy for being here as an outlet to release my hoard in the most pleasant, manageable and easiest way to dehoard without accumulating back ten fold!

Thank you US, Malta, Germany, China and others for supporting my  HoarderRehab and The Destiny of Things!  

Click on the shop names to visit my hoard listed daily: HoarderRehab with 162 items ,  The Destiny of Things-1671 items , VintageToGoEasy - 147 items and now JunkDrawerLove - 122 items!  My NEW GOAL is to have 175 items listed on each shop, so I'll be listing at least 1 new item daily on each shop five days a week!  Thanks for looking!  Maybe you'll find something to take home and share your story too!

 

Related Stories:

1.  All 17 of my other Hoarder Inspiration or Desperation Stories, here

 

Most Read Story of the Week:  Beginner Jazz Piano Books:  The Destiny of Things, Story 189

All Time Most Read Story of Month and All Time:  My 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!   

 

"Therapy only works when we have a genuine desire to know ourselves as we are, not as we would like to be." ---Dr. Lector conversing with Jack Crawford.