reverse finds revisited

Nearly two years ago, I made a deal with myself (and my blog) to find a new home for some of my things every week during Spring. I called it "reverse finds."

In doing this, I realised that, while I am by nature a hoarding type, it can feel pretty great to give things away...

I look around our cluttered place today, and know I need to get on the reverse finds bandwagon again... but I need some inspiration - so I thought I'd tell the story of something big (for me) that I gave away last year - a story that still makes me smile.

This old printer's box was one of those things that became "mine" because no-one else wanted it. I can still remember the strain of carrying it to my car with all the drawers sliding out (until I worked out I should carry it the other way around).

I remember finding a few odd tiny letter type pieces in one drawer (they are now safely stored away somewhere I can't remember...).

I remember trying and trying to come up with some way I could use the tiny compartments - but they were just too small for anything I needed to store... even too small for buttons, or a little person's stone collection...

In the absence of any "practical" use for it, I used it as a little side table.

  
Then, I visited a work friend at her new home, and was lucky enough to be given a tour of her husband's studio. He designs and makes beautiful stationery using a beautiful old letterpress machine - a really old, carefully restored working piece of history... and I knew where "my" little box should live.

It took a week to convince my friend that the printer's box should become a printer's box again.

The day before I gave it away, I took a mountain of photos, to help me remember all the little details I'd loved but never used.

I love that I gave this box a home for so many years, and "saved" it from being scrapped.
I love knowing that one of the marks on the top is from when I left a drink on top and fell asleep after a long solo drive from my Adelaide "home" to my Melbourne "home".

I love imagining it being used back in the 1940's and wondering what was printed - newsletters? cards?

I love love LOVE that it has a new, more fitting home...

and I love that the week after I said goodbye, I found myself able to rearrange furniture and see new possibilities for our room - that one less thing really made a difference...

Do you have any favourite stories about things you've given away?

reverse finds

We've reached the last weekend in Spring, so this will be my last Reverse Finds entry for a while - phew! I've found the pressure of sticking to a weekly post no matter what a bit harder than I expected (and as it is, I cheated sometimes, setting up a link to last a fortnight).

I've also learned a bit about myself. It seems that I am more committed to blogging than cleaning up... and that, while I've given away a fair bit, there is much more to do. I've also learned that I need to focus not just on getting rid of things we don't need, but also organising what we do need...

So this week, I've done a bit of cleaning up - I spared you the before picture of our fridge, but here's the after...

It's a bit empty (except for eggs - guess who had eggs in bread for dinner?), but hopefully after a bit of meal planning and organised shopping, it will be filled in a more organised way, with a bit less food waste (nothing like a fridge clean out to induce food waste guilt...).

Now I just need to go through the freezer... and pantry... and plastics cupboard...

If you have a reverse find post to share, feel free to add a link below!

reverse finds

I have an "unallocated present" box in my place - a place for presents I bought for someone, then changed my mind, or found the "perfect" present later. The plan is to look at and use these presents before buying anything new... which works - sometimes...

Unfortunately it's been a while since everything actually fitted in the box... so I'm taking the tambourine and puppet from the top of the pile to the "Wishing Tree" - I know Target and Kmart both have them, and I'm sure a lot of other organisations have their own. I hope I am forgiven for giving a "noisy" present.. in my defense, I actually bought this for my own child (and then she got one from someone else).

Hopefully I can allocate a few more of these presents for christmas this year, too!

Are you giving away / clearing out too? You can add your link to the list below, if you like!

reverse finds

This week, I gave up on trying to find something of my own to give away, so turned to my husband's part of the wardrobe - surely with my help he could give away even more...

Instead, my contributions were on the "keep it" side... "maybe I could do something with that old t-shirt"... "some of the denim in those jeans is still good, surely I could reuse it ..."


Despite my "help" this modest pile did make it to the op-shop...

Feel like joining in and doing some clearing out of your own (however modest or large...)?

Add your link below - this one will stay open for two weeks, as I'll be away from the computer next Saturday.

reverse finds (and giveaway winners)

So as to distract you from the mess that is to follow, I drew the winners from my giveaway... they are Gill, The Clip Cafe, and Alison... the only problem is, they all want the red set... so there will be some emails and negotiations to try and make sure everyone is happy!


In other news... this is what our couch looked like the other day. Caused by a mixture of falling way behind in the laundry due to work / illness / disinterest, and of not actually having space in wardrobes and cupboards to fit everything.

So, with the somewhat better drying weather (some days, anyway), I've been working my way through the cleaning - but pausing at the putting away stage to see if I can part with anything. I've managed to send one big bag off to the oppie so far.

Any decluttering / clearing out / giving away going on at your place? Join in with your own reverse finds link below - open all week.

reverse finds - a giveaway

I've hit a bit of a reverse finds wall - feeling indecisive, and lacking confidence to follow through on my plans and ideas. A prime example is my vintage sheet and fabric collection. I have enough to call a "stash" now, with some special bits and some not so special... but I find I can't bear to cut into them to start using them up.

So I'd like your help. How about I hold a giveaway, and give you some fat quarters of fabric / sheets, to get me on the "cut it up and use it up" wagon?

I'll admit, these are from the "not especially special" pile, because I have to start somewhere. They are all used (oh, except for the 2 bits that are fabric and not sheets), and some have fade marks and small stains - but I will do my best to cut around these or give you more fabric to compensate.

I have 3 "sets" to giveaway - a fat quarter of each fabric shown in the set (with possibly a bit more fabric if you have a special favourite that I can manage to part with!)...

the red set (apple sheet - which has some misprints throughout, bear sheet, and a Christmas "panel" - the panel is a rather wonky 40ish x 60ish cm)



the blue set ("japanese" style sheet with coordinating small floral print [trust me, it's there, even though you can't see it!], and bunny / mouse sheet - which has some noticeable fade marks)


the stripe set (rainbow stripe sheet, the other 2 fabrics are, well, fabrics!)

(sorry about the photos - if you live in Melbourne, you'll understand why!)

To enter, leave a comment telling me which is your favourite. While you're there, I'd love some ideas for using up the old bits of sheets that aren't worth sewing with! I'll draw the first 3 winners, and if necessary, email to negotiate who gets what if your preferences don't automatically work out.

You can get bonus entries by being a "follower"(a term that still makes me laugh!), and / or entering your own reverse finds link below (1 entry for each). Reverse finds is a loose concept - basically anything that reduces the clutter in your place really - even by a tiny amount! My old posts are here if you want to see what I mean!

Entries and links are open until Friday 29 October at midnight Australian daylight saving time - I'm going to have a day off next Saturday! I'll announce the winners on Saturday Oct 30.

reverse finds

My contribution to today's reverse finds is more promise and plan than finished product ... I'm going to take part in Softies for Mirabel.

Have you heard of Softies for Mirabel? Pop over to Pip's to find out more...

To make it a reverse find, I'm going to try and make as many softies as I can (though given my track record, more than one will be an achievement...), using only fabrics from my stash. The only thing I will buy is more "cloud fluff" (toy stuffing).


I've started some fabric sorting and tidying - and collecting the scraps into a container for reuse in child art and child role playing (for regular games of "fabric store").

Join in and add your link below - the concept "reverse find" is entirely open to your own interpretation... My previous reverse finds are here, here and here.

reverse finds

My reverse finds effort this week is a little lazy... all I had to do was carry (or in one case get my husband to carry) some old things to the nature strip. Yep, it was hard waste week!

My contribution was pretty small - a TV that finally gave up a few months ago after being coaxed through existence for nearly a year, needing a half-hour warm up before actually showing anything on its screen; a few big plastic containers that stopped being able to hold water after Melbourne's march hailstorms; and a few old pots (that disappeared within minutes of landing on the nature strip, hooray!).

I even nearly managed to get through hard waste week without adding anything to our place...nearly (I'll show you tomorrow!).

Please add your link below if you'd like to play along - come on, it'll be fun, you can find whatever way suits you to do it (op shop / charity / pass on stuff to friends / have a stall / sell online / whatever), and we can cheer you on!