10 Items Day in 10 Days - REPOST

I initially posted this in 2009, and since then although we did detox a lot of stuff... my baaaaad habits die hard!!! So I thought I would re-instate the challenge and repost the original blog!

As a result of my new De-cluttering habit, I have set myself a 10 day Detox of Junk.

What I plan to do is to find 10 things a day for 10 days to chuck. If I'm feeling REALLY adventurous, I shall aim to find 10 things per ROOM per day to clear out!

I have no real master plan of what will go and what will stay. I am planning to just open the door to the room and place 10 things in a bag either for the bin, to place for sale on Ebay (or Trading Post) or give to Charity or Freecycle.

100 things will leave my house guaranteed. And from this Feng Shui cleanse of crappola I shall begin to feel clearer, creating energy, organisation and balance within my life!

Or at least, that is the aim...

Spotty Dress Refashion

This is a refashion I completed before we moved, but completely forgot about!

I LOVE the simplicity of refashioning ladies baby-doll style tops into dresses for my (then) toddler daughter, Jovi. As she gets bigger, I am making re-adjustments to how I refashion my old tops (or tops I find at charity stores!) but more on that later...

For now I just wanted to share how this one turned out. The original top was a silky ruffled babydoll several sizes too small for me at the time (but that is ANOTHER blog!) I picked it up at Vinnies for around $2. It was as easy as pining the dress to Jovi for size inside out, then running stitches up the sides to bring it in to those points and re-sewing elastic straps on! She LOVES the dress, and although it looks like an expensive party dress, I let her play outside with the dogs & gumboots in it!

The photos show her trendy bob cut I gave her last summer too :-) The joys of a mum who can weild a pair of scissors!

Tried and True.

This blog is not meant to be a "woe is me" page. I would rather keep it upbeat and show off my craft skills or some great find of late. But, unfortunately, time hasn't allowed for "me" time recently! I feel like I have been living in a crazy, hazy, whirlygig for the last few months. This year, 2010, has been one of the best, worst, happiest, saddest, proudest and humblest (is humblest a word?) years of my life. From dizzying heights and exciting possibilities to bleak outcomes and prognosis... I barely get a chance to sit and reflect. But I can for a moment. So I will.

The year started on a high - we were changing our lives, taking our family back closer to our roots. We had made the decision to uplift from the place we had chosen to be our "forever" home and moved back to a place we never dreamed to go to... but for the closeness to family (distance wise). Having never had a brilliant relationship with my parents, I took the plunge and the opportunity to share my life with them while my children were still young enough to want it but old enough to notice. Not to get into heavy detail, but I realised a while ago, this was not for me. Deep down, my heart belongs where we started from. But, I can say with brute honesty in my heart, at least I tried.

To keep myself moving forward, I decided this year to start one of my businesses up. So far, so good! I am so immensely proud of what I am achieving in a relatively short period of time! It is an online Lingerie store, I have a few plans for it down the track, but for now, it is doing quite nicely and I am learning so much: It can have it's downs, but the ups are fantastic. The pride I get from seeing something I set out to do being accepted and revered by peers is indescribable. It may not be Fredericks of Hollywood, but at least, I can say with brute honesty in my heart, at least I tried!

Dad was diagnosed with Stage IV bowel cancer about a month ago. It has not been easy. The big, powerful, sometimes scary man whom most of my own grievances with myself stem from, so weak (yet not wanting to show it!) in so much pain, with such a bleak outlook... His years of grudge holding and negativity are taking their toll. Friends he vocally and publicly shamed and shunned are now wanting to make amends... to which his pride will not back down. I sat one sunset and told him to "forgive and forget"... to which he argued was a sign of weakness and pity. I cannot change him. I can however, change my own attitudes and behaviours to not reflect his. And if at times, I don't manage to show humility or grace, I can say with brute honesty in my heart, at least I tried!

We are now planning to return to where we were living prior to our move. We weighed up the pros and cons and it came out above and beyond being on top, for the moment. It means I can continue my studies without issue, we will plan a space for my mum to stay for extended periods in the future. My in laws bought a Winnebago, so they need a destination to travel to! I can return with fresh eyes, a new outlook and a positive slant to the future for my kids, my family, myself. Nothing is over until it's over, and no matter how hard a situation gets, I know I have the power to change what I can and accept what I cannot - but in the mean time, I can say with brute honesty in my heart, at least I tried!