Good luck, Julie! I have a few Christmas things that I need to get rid of, but not many. I've already gotten rid of some things & sent them away to charity.

As I decorated this past week, i put aside things that I no longer wanted. And so I have a carton full of Christmas items that a local Freecycler is picking up later this afternoon. She is grateful for these items since money is tight.

That's another route you may want to consider. And it's convenient too!

Good luck with your endeavors!

Good luck Julie!

I actually tossed about two dozen unloved/damaged Christmas ornaments as we put the tree up yesterday. Today I tossed a dozen placemats that never regained their shape after being washed, even after multiple attempts at ironing -- I kept them for two years, what was I thinking?

Enjoy flinging!

I decided to simplify this year. The tree is up, one wreath on the door, and one nativity set. I looked in the four boxes of decorations I have in the attic. Several cheap plastic wreaths,that pieces fall off of every year. Holiday dish towels. Stuff like that. Again, what was I thinking? I think I will just drag all the boxes to the curb next week. If any dumpster divers want the stuff, fine.

Julie...how is it going? This is your Christmas clutter conscience calling...

:)

Ann

Ann,

You made me laugh! Thanks for checking on me. My son and I spent the afternoon cleaning the family room in the basement so we could GET to the Christmas containers (my husband spent the afternoon in hiding). I wanted to clean up the mess down there before we added to it. That part is done, and we did pull out the bins. So far I've thrown out 2 candle wreaths and a shopping bag of junk that never made it to the bins.

Oh, and while we were cleaning the basement, I threw out a shelf unit thing that served no purpose, and a VCR. There were TWO old VCR's down there... apparently every time we replace one because it's not working right, the old one goes downstairs. I asked my son which one worked the best, then we tossed the other.

P.S. My son did ask what DAD would say when I tossed the VCR... He's figured out his dad doesn't want anything thrown out ever, especially if it still "sort of" works! LOL

I was ruthless with the decorations a few years ago. I actually had to go out and buy some last week so that I could put up a garland on the staircase. I think I still may pitch some of the ornaments this year if they don't get me excited. I really like buying some of the new ones out every year.

Gloria

I was ruthless last year...and apparently I had forgotten when I opened all the boxes this year. I kept saying, "Where is this...where is that?" I actually had planned on putting them out this year!! LOL

Sheryl

Today we're going to early church, and BEFORE lunch I plan to have every bin opened up and sorted. The Christmas tree will be decorated by early afternoon.

Now that I told you that, I'm committed, right? I'm not sure why this is becoming such an ordeal in my mind... maybe because there are so many bins?

Gloria and Sheryl, I will not be concerned with being ruthless... I'm sure if I ever change my mind and want something, I can easily replace it.

I spent the afternoon/evening cleaning out Christmas boxes without mercy. It took HOURS and HOURS longer than I expected. It's amazing what I collected over the years from well-meaning friends and relatives who've never figured out that I don't have a lot of space for knick-knacks. I managed to eliminate the one huge cardboard box, and just have a half-dozen huge rubbermaid bins left to store. One bigger-than-big bin smells musty, which I think is from the wood/moss nativity stable inside. It's a big stable (though meant for a table top) and that's the only thing big enough to fit it... but I won't put anything else in there and tossed most of what had been stored with it. I need to wash out the bin with Lysol and wrap the stable in plastic this year and see if that helps.

At final count I think I filled 3 1/2 tall kitchen garbage bags for tomorrow's pick up, AND filled a rubbermaid bin of "nice junk" to take to the family reunion AND have a smaller box of Spode to take to my sister AND DH took out 2 big new-in-the-box knick-knack things (somebody gave them to me, I didn't buy them!) to give to his sisters at Christmas (they don't exchange gifts, but he thought he would "rescue" some of the knick-knacks from the family reunion).

I feel better now.

Last spring, I was clearing our storage locker to make room for my new bicycle, and I desperately wanted to throw outthe old Christmas tree (it's too big for our apt. and it has seen better days). DH insisted we keep the tree, and at this time of year I am glad we still have a tree and I even bought some new ornaments (bad move). I won't tolerate any Christmas knick-knacks on the shelves/counters though. Seasonal towels and dishtowels are OK since one always uses these items and they don't take much storage space.

We also have seasonal dishtowels. We use them all year long.

Ok, I know I should switch them out... but I don't.

Speaking of dishtowels, is there really any difference between dishtowels and regular bathroom hand towels? Our hand towels seem to be better quality (thicker, etc), and we have more of them. They don't wear out like dish towels, or so it seems.

Funny you should mention dishtowels. I use bathroom hand towels in the kitchen for that very reason, and bought coordinating cotton cloths for drying dishes. I can't stand the skimpy terry towels sold for drying my hands in the kitchen.

As to ornaments, when we were getting ready to do some decorating (DH loves lots of "stuff" around, I don't) I mentioned that we had so much that we don't really use and I needed to weed it out. He said to go ahead and get rid of some of it!!!!! So, in early December, I took several boxes of ornaments and other Christmas stuff, as well as a lot of wrapping paper I had bought over the years from co-workers' kids selling for school projects, to the community center where they take donations of just about anything. They were thrilled. Win-win situation.

Wantoretire,
And skimpy kitchen towels aren't too great at mopping up large quantities of water either (don't ask how I know).

With a cabinet full of mismatched but like new hand towels, I'm thinking the next time a ratty dish towel needs washing, I'll toss it instead.

Good job on your Christmas de-cluttering! Every year it seems a couple of us take the big step to get rid of things we store 11 months of the year--and this year was our year!