closet cleaning

<holly paraphrase>We are talking purge of the year, we are talking spring, summer, and autumn cleaning....</holly>

I just finished the most thorough closet cleanup I have done since... I don't know when. I even tried everything on (!) and after removing the stuff to get rid of I re-arranged the closet so I can actually find stuff. Even took extra plastic hangers down to the laundry room, and ironed a few things that desperately needed it. I rock :P

The damage:

• Managed to finally get rid of a couple of painfully sentimental things that I'm never going to wear/are never going to fit again. Au revoir to the aqua raincoat and vinyl mini.
  
• Moved some of the sentimental things into storage - there were some things I just couldn't part with yet but needed to be out of the closet.
  
• A couple of things went to the fabric stash - don't fit but great cloth, can't just waste that.
  
• Hung on to some work clothes that don't fit quite right and that I'd like to get rid of but can't, because I've got to have something to wear for meetings/other events that require a professional look.
  

The results:

• I have enough socks - of every variety - to last a few lifetimes.
  
• I have thigh highs but no garter belt.
  
• I have no basic black skirt for work/any other occasion. My favorite long black straight skirt is looking kind of ratty and I have not found an adequate replacement for it either.
  
• Have some nice angora-like sweaters but the camisole to wear under them is so small its almost cutting my arms off.
  
• I can still get some wear out of my summer skirts if I wear "body-slimming" undergarments. These may still get thrown out if summer gets just too damn hot to wear said undergarments.
  
• I have lots of casual/work pants for summer (yay!) but not many for winter (boo!). I can at least wear thermal underwear with the summer work pants, but gotta do something about the casual. Good excuse for Dune trousers?
  
• I have an evening dress. More than I need, as I don't go anywhere formal, but need to hang on to it just in case.
  
• Need to have the wedding dress cleaned and put in proper acid-free storage.
  

I even went through the makeup - many lipsticks got thrown out because they were old and changing color. Proof that I really need to stop hanging on to those in the hopes that "I'll wear them someday" because they do go bad.

So that was my day. I itch from all the dust I kicked up but this is DONE and I won't have to think about it again for awhile. And today was a good day to do it - the weather is lousy and I had nothing else pressing that needed to happen.

permanent stamping on velvet

Despite the "kindergarten crafts" vibe of the site, I think this velvet stamping technique could yield Fortuny-like results if done right:

http://www.hotpotatoes.com/Default.htm

Definitely something to look at before next winter.

weather alert... weather alert...

Well, there is frozen stuff on the ground and the temperature is dropping.

Got a memo last week indicating that as a contractor, I am no longer given a free day off when the government closes - we have to take the time out of our sick leave, even though there is technically no work for us to be sick from.

So.....I can either make my own decision about the safety of the roads or let the gov't. make that decision for me - either way I lose. So I think I'll rely on me, thanks.

No, I'm not wimping out that easily - I'll get up on time etc. tomorrow. But if it looks like I'm going to break my neck I'll stay home.