Stuff - Purging & Collecting & Hoarding in Between

It is a constant struggle to not let my stuff - my possessions - get the upper hand in my life. I've always been a collector. Even as a teenager, I rescued an old trunk and dishes from our neighbors and treasured pictures of our family going back generation after generation. I'm very sentimental.

Most of our furniture and dishes/china galore are from relatives. Then I turned "professional" and become an owner of this business, whose main purpose is to rescue good junk. Yikes!

A strategy that is working well for Lisa and me these days is a shopping moratorium. (Except for vintage French stuff. Every policy needs an escape clause.) We are working with all the raw materials and fodder currently in the storage areas of our homes.

Once a week, my husband and I fill up my Subaru Forester and take a load of things to the Goodwill.


And I am able to purge some of my collections. This week my Fire-King mugs and bowls are going to the studio.

But here's what staying:
Pez candy dispensers - There are few acquisitions these days. Currently they are displayed in a shadowbox style coffee table we have.

Snow domes - My favorites are the unusual shapes and the ones with moving parts. My sons' friends still bring them to me, and occasionally I'll add one if it is special enough.

Matches - Talk about a bowl of memories. My one and only waitressing job was during college at Elsie's.

So I am practicing purging. And still struggling with collecting and hoarding. -- Beth