Buy Nothing Day and Creative Gifting

Photo Credit

While it is a few days late, I will say I did not buy anything on Buy Nothing Day. I didn't feel as if I was making any difference because I've already been trying to consume less, buy less, use less and I'm not a big Christmas gift giving person. I usually just focus on my immediate family. I don't even send Christmas cards. Although in an effort to get rid of the hundreds of pages of magazine clippings and arts & crafts in my apartment, I am making homemade cute Christmas cards this year. At the rate I'm going, people may receive them by next Christmas. Or maybe I'll give myself an extra week and call them, "New Year Cards" or something. Any hoo.

I have no intention of shopping. I shop for what I need and give myself a few indulgences. Although lately, I'm loving the empowerment behind creating and making my own products, that even my beauty indulgent purchases have decreased.

(I must admit. I did just purchase another bottle of Marc Jacobs perfume. Its my signature scent and I was out. Even though I have probably 10+ bottles of other perfumes that i need to go through. Ugh. I know. I know. I'd give them away but they are half empty or 1/3 empty. Who's going to take that? I mean if you want it, you are welcomed to it. I'll ship them to you for free. Email me and I'll send you the list of all the kinds I have and I will send them your way. This would really help my personal guilt.)

I digress.

Everyone in my family already has their "holiday gift" except my five year old sister. I use the "" not because i said holiday but because I don't really do "date specific" gifts like birthday gifts, anniversary gifts, christmas gifts. I am the person who will purchase or make something that's perfect for you and give it to you right then. So my mother received her "birthday gift" two months before her actually birthday. It was an all expense paid trip to Vegas for five days.

Last month my mother received her christmas gift early. Her laptop broke down and so I bought a brand new one for her with an external hard drive, with facial recognition software, with microsoft office...it was fully loaded! It wasn't really a christmas gift. Had this occurred in July, she would have received it then or whenever the need arose. Considering all the things my mother does with her laptop..homeschool children, take online classes her self, coordinate meet up groups, research, business and such...purchasing her a new one is granola. Laptops are multi-functional devices. Her's came with a built in camera, built in speakers, media player, dvd player...all that good stuff. Perfect for her life on the go.

There were a few things i could have done different or still can.

1. Recycle her old laptop. (She is still transferring all her files and software to the new one but once she is done, the old one can be recycled. Actually as I type this I realize she's using the old one as a backup for home use)
2. I could have purchased a refurbished laptop for half the price I paid and the possibly spent more money on more programs and such for her. Or purchased two refurbished laptops for the price of one brand new one. (Yea. So I definitely forgot to think about that! Even my mac laptop was purchased used. It was two months old when I purchased it off Craigslist with the original receipt. But for my mom's computer I did receive multiple discounts and shaved over $500 off the cost of the laptop and some software)

All in all. My mother has her Christmas gift sans the home made creative holiday card that I have yet to make.


My siblings also have their "holiday gift." Although it has little to do with Christmas. In an effort to promote the growth of their personal character, I started a project called the Ipod Project. The three older kids have eight weeks to accumulate a certain amount of points in various categories such as Character, Stewardship, Chores, School and Relationships in order to win an Ipod Touch. Each catergory has sub-categories. There is a cap on how many points they can receive per day and they can also lose points. They can not get points in the same sub-categories two days in a row in order to encourage a holistic approach to improvement. We have this whole elaborate chart where the tally is kept and they can only receive positive points by having another sibling take notice and they can only lose points by admitting it themselves. (They are notorious for ragging on each other.) If they receive bonus points, they can even win a $25 itunes gift card for music.


I must say I am having fun with the competition. There have already been improvements. They are behaving more positively towards each other. They are taking the initiative more. They are trying new things and thinking creative and I love it. We modeled the categories in areas where we knew each child needed improvement, or after general character traits that benefit any human functioning in the world and after their own suggestions for things. According to my mom, they are each on track to receive their very own iPod Touch.

(My three sisters and brother. I am in the middle. Bianca (15) is on my left. Hanna (10 soon to be 11) is on my right. Dasia (5) is in front of me. Daniel (14) is behind me.)

How is this sustainable? Because it focuses on the need to sustain ourselves! You can save the world, the trees, and the rabbit's fur but of what use is it without high functioning human beings. What use is the a beautiful sky without people to stop and appreciate it. We focus on saving the earth for the future. But we sometimes neglect the children that are the future. And teaching a child to pay attention to stewardship encourages a sustainable mindset.


Also the prize is multi functional. Music player. Planner. Email A billion Apps. This prize is SO worth it!


The end date is near Christmas time so if it makes the holiday gods happy, I can label it as their "holiday gift."


Mr. Officer and I are not exchanging gifts because I'm too lazy to think creatively and make or buy one. Who knew laziness could help me consume less. :)


I will also be repurposing things around my home as gifts for a few select friends. I have a bad habit of purchasing multiple coffee and tea mugs and for someone living alone..there is no justification in having 30+ coffee mugs. Since they are brand new with the price tags still stamped on, I will be filling them with packets of tea, hot cocoa and such and giving them as gifts to friends. It's the same with the WAY too many candles and other cute little things around my house that i have too many off. I'll add some flair and love and someone else will be able to use what's just crowding my space.


You are going to come across many blogs with holiday party ideas, green gifting ideas, no stress ideas, creative ideas and all that goodness. A lot of them have great ideas and are very useful. What i encourage. Just find what works for you. If you do like to shop and buy gifts for everyone you love..I encourage you to find gifts for them that will be used and not end up in the back of the closet. Create, repurpose or purchase gifts that hold meaning or that will last. Its not about finding "green gifts" per se. Its about finding ways to sustain life. Rather than buying a barbie for your little girl...although I LOVED barbies as a child. Buy or MAKE a game that your entire family can play. Instead of buying lots of new books...purchase used books or write and illustrate a fun, silly, or adventurous story for your children or with your children. Wouldn't that be a great gift. To make a "book writing kit" that includes story ideas, crayons, paper and such and then to tell your child you will have a special day where you write a book together. I may actually steal my own idea!


Now that "Buy Nothing Day" is officially over, what are you buying this holiday season and why? How are you shopping for sustainable gifts? What creative gifts are you making?

Green Art by JantiraK

One of my closest friends is an amazing artist and so so lovely and dark and twisted and beautiful and I love it!!! She's one of those people that I wish had a few clones because I swear the world would be a far better place.

After posting about Green Stage Management in a previous post, Jantirak told me she wanted to write something about Green Art and then SHE DID and it's great. She also posted it on her blog. So you can either read it here. She graciously let me repost it, in its entirety. But I also encourage you to go over to her blog too at Four Walls, No Walls, You and Me. just so you can catch a glimmer of a genius.

I almost forgot to tell you that Jantirak was the illustrator on a children's book I wrote a few years back. Perhaps when I'm home again, I'll scanned in a page or two. It was never published. Just given out as a christmas gift to a few people and a theater.

Ooh and also, did I mention she's an amazing artist? One of the few projects I remember clearly and vividly from a Theater and Culture class in undergrad involved a one woman show Jantirak did that involved us literally stripping her of her culture. Oh it was crazy. You'd have to have been there.

Without further ado, here is Jantirak's post.

  

GREEN ART by JantiraK.

Inspired by my friend Sheena’s new blog, Granola Tendencies, I decided I would do a post on eco alternatives in Art.

One of the big caveats with art is that it’s so damn expensive! In school, people would always comment on how lucky I was that I almost never had to spend the couple hundred dollars on textbooks for class. What they didn’t realize was that in the course of a semester, I would end up spending several times that amount on art supplies! One great way of being eco-friendly is to simply consume less. By this I mean ways you can use what you have around you to make art, as opposed to running out and buying new art materials every time you have a new project. This is very eco-friendly in that it reduces waste and doesn’t contribute to the enormous amounts of energy and materials used in producing new products, etc…

Chopsticks: Not only for eating noodles, they make great drawing utensils. You can also use forks or spatulas or credit cards to lay blocks of texture. In Learning by Heart, Sister Corita suggests an exercise where one makes drawings using only chopsticks and india ink. The combination of using something as simple as ink and a chopstick really invites a sense of play (which is crucial to any creative endeavor) since the way we feel toward a chopstick is not the same way one might feel toward say, a #12 Kolinsky Sable brush, for example.

Spoons: A good spoon or ladle can go a long way. Use these instead of a brayer for small prints. If you have larger prints, you can use an empty can covered with cloth for the same purpose. In fact, many useful things can be found in a kitchen utensil drawer. A butter knife makes an excellent bone folder.

Glue: Why buy glue when you can easily make it? Wheat paste has been around for centuries and is a favorite among street artists worldwide. It uses just 3 common household items: water, flour and sugar. There are lots of different recipes for making wheat paste but here’s one if you don’t want to sift through google. They are all pretty much the same, and will be good for use for up to a week. Also consider this as an alternative to store bought Modge Podge or epoxy resins for sealing.

Photo Credit

Buy used: Nowadays, a lot of the art you see is digital. This means digital cameras, software, tools, etc. Consider buying these things used instead of new. Technology moves fast and it’s important to keep up, but unless you are a pro and making money off your art, then it doesn’t really seem reasonable to buy that new $3K digital camera or $2k for that pen tablet. Remember, it’s what you do with the tools you have. Although I may want the new 5D Mark II or D700, if I don’t know how to compose a nice picture to begin with, no amount of vibration reduction, vertical horizon, autofocus, etc…is going to make it any better than if i shot it using a disposable camera. And think of all the plastic you saved from the dump by buying used! Also, many programs come with multiple downloads or users. Consider splitting one among friends or searching for a single user from places like craigslist or eBay.

Notebooks: I LOVE notebooks. This is one area that’s really hard for me. Every artist needs a good notebook. I have a reserve of several nicer notebooks/journals for the stuff I want to keep or remember but for quick notes and to-do lists – the stuff that eventually gets tossed and recycled – I use scrap paper. At work we go through a lot of paper, and almost all of it is one-sided. I keep a pile of this on my desk for quick notes or things that I know I won’t need to keep around for a while. You can also gather up all this paper and bind it into a nice little notebook as well.

Pens: Ok, so this is me on my soapbox for a minute. As much as I love notebooks, I also LOVE fountain pens. They are very eco-friendly in that you only need ONE good fountain pen and it will last you for potentially your entire lifetime. At the very least it will outlast your cheapy disposable several times over. Just think of all the plastic that goes into making disposable pens – and then think of your pen collection. How many of those pens are disposable? I would guess that for most Americans, almost all the pens they use are disposable. All that ends up somewhere. Although I have several fountain pens, my favorite is a super cheapy one made by a Chinese company (Hero) that I picked up in Thailand for around $2 USD. Similar models (Hero 330) are available here for only $5. Noodler’s inks are also relatively inexpensive at around $10-15/bottle for 3oz which is more than enough ink to last. That’s a $15-20 investment, which I’m sure is around or less than what most of us spend in the course of a year on pens. Not to mention all the other benefits of fountain pens such as improved penmanship, less strain on your hand, etc… Fountain pens now come in many different nib sizes so illustrators have a variety of line widths to choose from.

Canvas: Yes, sometimes, you will need to go buy that huge canvas for that huge project, but sometimes, you don’t. Consider other materials that are readily available and free/cheap. Adam Neate made a career out of painting on cardboard. Consider this, along with wood, glass, vinyl, fabric, basically any surface. Many of these items can be found in thrift stores for cheap. Now, with the huge popularity of Street Art, the entire city is your canvas! Painting on an alternative surface also pushes you to think more about the nature of that surface. It engages your creative juices in a different way than painting on canvas or canvas board.

These are but a few ideas. Feel free to tweak these to suit your needs and resources. Also don’t be afraid to build your own tools. If you have any more ideas, let me know and I’ll post them here. More to come on eco-friendly art in future posts as well as different topics to consider.

Can I put Eco-Stage Manager on my resume? :)

While I'm still trying to articulate my views of socio-political theater and its interception with eco-drama, I have found other ways that I am able to incorporate granola tendencies into my theatrical adventures.

First, every stage manager must have a physical prompt book. While you may argue the merit of such a need and highlight all the ways we could get around a physical one that requires paper, I just don't believe it. I have seen too many challenges during a show that shows a necessity for having this physical book.

I worked on a show as an Assistant Stage Manager where the Stage Manager heavily relied on his computer to run the show. His action script and master cue list were on his laptop. Hmmm. Let me count all the ways something went wrong.

1. One night he forgot to charge the laptop and had left the charger somewhere else. Therefore, computer dead.
2. One day, the document just wouldn't open.
3. Another time...he left the laptop somewhere.

And whenever these mishaps would happen, low and behold...I had my prompt book that had the info we needed.

So being that I need a prompt book, I've approached the process of creating one in a granola kind of way.

Instead of preprinting most of my prompt book contents which include forms, calendars and scripts amongst other things, I have done majority of the work on my laptop until I have a final draft ready to print. The action script changes constantly. Someone was just taken off the contacts list. And so the story goes. So, if I've been able to wait to print it, I've done so. Each night I send a rehearsal report and I usually print it out and add it to the binder. The report is only one page long. So instead of printing one page each night. I wait until I have a chunk and print them double sided. (I wouldn't recommend using scrap paper. Its sort of a stage manager's portfolio and needs to be professional looking. You wouldn't print your final resume on scrap paper, would you.) When I have printed, I've also printed on 100% post consumer recycled content paper.

Sometimes I need scrap paper, just because I'm standing, I'm moving. I'm here, I'm there. The director is giving me 100 notes, an actor ask for this...and I can't hold my laptop and type it and I've tried using my cell phone to type it out too. Just doesn't work. So for scrap paper, I did something. Because I was notorious for pre-printing my prompt books and sometimes printing things that I didn't end up needing, I was able to make a stack of paper that can now be used as scrap.

Also, by purging my old SM prompt books I came across many generic forms that were blank and now I will be able to reuse them in the future. I have a stack of forms that I didn't use three shows ago, that are perfect for this show. So instead of tossing them, or letting them sit in a cabinet collecting dust and space, I'm able to actually use them.

In rehearsal there are some other things, either the performers do or the theater does that tend to be a bit more granola.

Redmoon Theater is notorious for being innovative, creative, and engineering wonder! That have all sort of contraptions and crazy things and many of them are home-made. Instead of purchasing these items, most of them are created in right in their shop, such as the swan headdresses.

Credit courtesy of Redmoon Central on Facebook.

Redmoon is also great with reusing items. (Theaters in general are great for this. Usually it has to do with financial reasons but its also a granola reason.) I've worked with Redmoon on numerous shows and many objects, puppets, contraptions, and things are reused, repurposed, upcycled and then used for something else.

This photo I took myself. It highlights two things. The clouds are something we may be using in this year's Winter Pageant and they were also something we used last year as well. While they are both two different shows with different moments throughout, sometimes they find ways to reuse a great object.

This photo also shows the car. You probably can't tell but that car is made of paper mache. Most of it aside from the part that makes it actually move and such. But the body of it or the outside (I don't know car vocabulary)...but the outside is made of paper mache.


And the other day on the objects/props table I came across a crazy wonderful looking puppet made from electrical tape! Its hair was made of old newspaper. (A picture will be posted of it eventually). So they are able to make objects, contraptions and puppets from regular "household" items. Tape. Newspaper, Paper, Glue.

I love that!
 

In this picture, a performer is experimenting during a moment in the fall. The paper on the floor represents leaves until we receive the real prop sometime soon. This rehearsal prop of ripped up paper is used pretty much each night. Instead of using new paper each night to work this moment, we sweep up the paper and reload it into the suitcase. Now sometimes some of the pieces of paper get wet..because there is water in the show and bubbles. Or sometimes they get really dirty because its the floor and the theater is inside a warehouse...so occasionally we have to throw some of them out. But, majority of it is reused each night.

So these are just some of the ways that we have been practicing granola tendencies while rehearsing for Winter Pageant at Redmoon Central. I acknowledge there are some big picture ideas on how theaters can be eco friendly such as in stage lighting, electrical use, huge scale recycling and such but that's a post for another day.

Do you have tips on other ways we can practice granola tendencies? How else can I as a stage manager incorporate green practices into my artistic work without sacrificing my professionalism or the quality of work I produce?

Regreet - Product Review

Photo Credit courtesy of Regreet on Facebook

I was recently contacted by the owner of Regreet.com to do a product review. While I am waiting for the Regreet kit to arrive and test out, I stopped by the website to read more about the company. I believe what Christy Elchers has developed is intriguing and creative and is a very good alternative to just recycling old gift cards.

Currently I have two boxes under my bed which houses old greeting cards, notes, ticket stubs, and all sorts of random things. Some greeting cards..whether store bought or handmade are so beautiful that I have them displayed throughout my apartment. My mother took some Maya Angelou Hallmark cards that I gave her and framed them.

But still... there are lots more cards that are in a box under my bed.

Recently for my birthday and associate at work...actually my BOSS BOSS sent me a card that's green and white and elegant and beautil and he wrote a note inside saying how the card had been made from post consumer recycled content and it was printed on soy ink and therefore he thought of me when seeing that card...since I facilitate our green initiatives at work....and the card is nice. I love it. Its one of the ones displayed on my bookcase.

It's hard to see on this picture. But the top shelf has a white card with green swirls. That's the one he gave me. (Pay no mind to the random colored squares on the wall. They are paint samples. I was trying to figure out what color to pain my apartment. I settled on Ralph Lauran Suede Mochernut. Except its not eco-friendly. So I'm back to square one.)

All that to say...yes some cards are on display, some are framed by my mom and the rest are in boxes, bins and drawers taking up space. And each year more cards are added to that pile.

This is where Regreet comes in. Rather then just recycling the cards..why not extend the life of these cards and reuse them. Thus reducing the amount of cards that are purchased. Thus reduced the need to even buy them in the first place. (Although truth be told, I take scraps of everything since I do Art Journaling and make my own greeting cards.) But I also buy cards a lot too.

According to their website,

regreet™ Encourages Consumers to Get More Mileage from Their Greeting Cards

Greeting card re-use kits promote eco-conscious habits while connecting loved ones through the mail and online

MINNEAPOLIS – Sept. 28, 2009 – Almost everyone is familiar with “miles per gallon” ratings for their cars, but a new consumer product encourages people to consider “miles per greeting” for their greeting cards. regreet™ greeting kits enable consumers to reuse greeting cards they receive by sending them on to loved ones using whimsical labels and envelopes. In addition, card senders and recipients can track the path of these “regreeted” cards online, and watch where they travel over time. 

Reducing human impact on our planet and encouraging thoughtful consumption are central to the regreet business philosophy. regreet kits enable consumers to reduce the number of greeting cards they need to buy by reusing cards they receive. In addition, regreet kits are produced on earth-friendly materials with a minimum of 30 percent post-consumer waste and printed with soy inks. regreet kits enable consumers to reduce, reuse and recycle with panache and style. Each year, the typical American household purchases 30 cards at an average price of $2-$4 each. Getting more “miles per greeting” out of just a few of those cards each year will help eco-conscious consumers reduce their environmental impact and save money at the same time.

Supporting the Community an Important Part of regreet Business Model

At regreet, encouraging reducing, reusing and recycling of goods is just the beginning. regreet supports designated nonprofits by sharing a portion of company profits. Each time a customer purchases a regreet greeting kit, they earn the right to cast a vote for the nonprofit they think is most deserving. This year, the regreet team designated three nonprofits to receive donations: 4-H, The Nature Conservancy and Susan G. Komen for the Cure®. regreet will use the vote counts to proportionally distribute its nonprofit donations.

About regreet™

regreet greeting kits enable customers to reuse old greeting cards, reducing the number of greeting cards that enter our waste stream and saving consumers money. Regreeted cards provide more whimsy with less waste—helping senders look good and save the planet at the same time. At regreet, encouraging reducing, reusing and recycling of goods is just the beginning. regreet supports nonprofit beneficiaries who are improving the world in important ways. Every time customers purchase a regreet kit, they get to vote for the nonprofit they think is most deserving. Each year, regreet tallies the votes to proportionally distribute donations to the nonprofits. Learn more about regreet at www.regreet.com.

So, I am going to try it out. When the kit arrives I'm going to take a few of my greeting cards that are in a box under my bed...some have been there since 2000. (Almost ten years). And i am going to regreet them and send them to others.

I will also upcycle and repurpose others. I'm really trying to clear the boxes of things from under my bed and get rid of all the paper and things I have around the house. So I will take some cards and reuse them for pieces in my art journal. Maybe I'll make collages out of others. And who knows what else.

I look forward to doing a product review of Regreet and letting you know how it goes! Has anyone ever used regreet? Or has anyone regifted/repurposed a greeting card on their own? How did it go?

The Granola that I Am

A few of my most recent granola tendencies.... (i'm scared if I keep going down this path, you might actually catch me hugging a tree)

COFFEE AND TRASH

Today, since I'm being more cognizant of of trash, as I have been the past couple of days, I give second thought to most things that I grab. As I mentioned before I've been putting honey in my tea so that I don't have to open and discard little sugar packets. Today when making my coffee, I almost grabbed the little containers of half and half creamer. But that would mean two small containers of waste to throw away. So instead, I grabbed the skim milk and used that as my creamer. I've never done that before. And you know what, I liked it! My coffee was smoother and my stomach handled it much better. I suppose I should stop drinking coffee altogether but that won't happen until pigs fly. So in fairness I drink fair trade coffee that is distrubted locally. Intelligentsia.

PAPER

I have been using my phones more to take down notes instead of post its and even scrap paper. I am also printing so much less that its ridiculous. Do they give awards for that? Because I deserve top honors. If only you could see how much I used to print a day. Maybe 50 pages or so a day sometimes. And in the last week I've printed one page because for accounting reasons I had too. But when I spoke to my boss about it, he said I'd no longer have to do that starting January 1st. Yea! I didn't have my phone on me at one point today, so instead of grabbing a post it...I did something probably worse...I wrote on my hand instead. Ink poisoning or Killing Trees? I've been using Evernote. I was able to put in on my mac laptop at home, my iPhone, and my PC at work. Unfortunately it doesn't work with my blackberry pearl. However, if you have another kind of blackberry, I think you are all good. In a meeting I used it to take a picture of a graph someone drew. I used it to take notes for another meeting. At my pc, I used it to snap a picture of a website that i want to go back too. (Now if I must use paper however, at my job we use 100% post consumer recycled paper and recycled post its and scrap paper...fyi)

COMPUTERS AND ELECTRICITY

In my 15 months of working at my job, before this last week, I've turned my computer off only ONCE. My computer has been turned on for more than a year non stop. Yes, tree huggers everywhere...say a prayer for me. Its the culture of my job. No one turns there computer off. We just log off at night, if that. One person said be programmed his computer to automatically turn on and off. I can do that on my macbook pro but not on my pc. Anyone know of a way to do that on a pc? Well, it doesn't even matter. Because since last Thursday, I have been turning my computer off at night.

CELL PHONES AND ELECTRICITY

My lovely friend Sam mentioned that she no longer keeps electronics in her bedroom and has found she sleeps better for it. In the book Creating Sacred Space with Feng Shui, Karen Kingston speaks about this. I highly recommend the book! Anyways, Sam told me about this last Sunday when we got together to make Apple Pie with Gouda Crust and Stuffed Tomatoes. So on Sunday I moved my phones into the bathroom. (I been hitting snooze too much anyway) So now my alarm goes off and I have to go to the bathroom to turn it off. Which then since I'm up, I brush my teeth and began my day. Along with doing this, I stopped charging my phone all night. While I'm consistent with letting my battery run down on my laptop before I charge it, I don't do that with my phones. They stay plugged in from the time I get home until I leave the next day. Since Sunday, I have just left them uncharged. When I wake up in the morning, there is still enough juice in it to begin my day with. Nice!

UPCYCLING

An associate at work received an invitation to some event...that doesn't really matter. What matters it that it came in the most beautiful envelope I had ever seen in my life.

As she was telling me about the event, I kept starring at the envelope. She started to throw it in the trash. "WAIT!" I said a little too loud, "Are you going to throw that away? I could cut off your name and use it for arts and crafts. As well as a reference for the perfect colored dress that I want. Can I have it?." She smiled at me and then passed it along. Trust me, the picture doesn't do it justice.

I'll take a picture of whatever I use the brown envelope for. Most than likely it will be in one of my art journals.

What are you latest granola tendencies? Any suggestions on further steps I can take?

By the way, I'll be featuring my first interview with Sam and her roommate Laura on sustainability and their city dwelling granola tendencies. Stay tuned.

Purging Through my Closet

Two nights ago I came home and decided to purge.  (I was inspired by Every Small Thing.) I tried on everything in my closet and made various piles.

• Summer clothes to store
• Clothes to give away to Goodwill
• Clothes to send home to my sisters
• Clothes to send to the cleaners for repairs

It felt good to make more space in my home. Every inch does not have to be filled.

While doing this, I found some frames in my closet that have been sitting there for months. I'm waiting to paint before I hang my artwork. One frame however has sat in my closet since 2005 in every apartment. Therefore I took the picture out of it, put a new picture in and hung it in the kitchen.

I've decided since hanging it that I don't like the picture. But I am encouraged. I at least took something out my closet that had lived there for FOUR years! Can you believe that? On Friday I will take the time to actually make a more creative piece for the frame.

I also, came across a skirt that I've had for six years. It is brand new. Price tag still on it. I'm still not ready to part with it so I have to find a reason to wear it. (Truth be told, I came across too many things in my closet that I've never worn. Most of them are because I don't know how to accessorize with a certain piece. Or I have a skirt but am not sure of what top to wear with it. Therefore, while purging everything, I tried different outfits. Tried combinations I wouldn't normally try. And I discovered some new ways to wear my old clothes.)