365 Days of Giving January 7th.

Why are those of us who are teachers such hoarders? I keep raiding my desk at school as well and came across bookmarks. Lots and lots of bookmarks. And all are still sitting in their original packs. Each pack you see here contains 36 bookmarks. That means I have 360 just in this photo alone. Today I will give away 3 packs of bookmarks to teachers, kids in the halls, and to anyone who will say yes. That's 108 giveaways, but I think I will just count it as 3 (one for each pack).

total donation count: 31

total days: 7

365 Days of Giving January 6th

Most of you don't know that my "day" job is teaching. I am in my tenth year and if you know any teachers you won't be surprised to learn that I am as much of a hoarder at work as I am at home. Ugh. As I raid my desk drawers.....well, let's just say it ain't pretty. And incredibly overwhelming. So although I am technically not "lightening the load" at home, I believe that giving these away from any aspect of your life has a cleansing effect.

The papers below....I bought these at least five years ago. Seriously. I don't have a clue what the project was supposed to be or if I just thought it was pretty, but I bought a pack of this rather expensive foil paper. And in my desk it has sat. Make that desks. In the past five years I have sat in at least three desks. Which means I have painstakingly packed these and taken the from school to school and even town to town. But never actually used it. Today, I picked a super nice kid to give this pack to. She is one of those kids who is soooo nice that she tends to get passed over. So Jessica, today, received this pack of paper and was super excited to receive it. She has laryngitis and has barely been able to speak for a few days, yet she kept forcing out several "thank yous". I was incredibly touched by her reaction. It was a good day.

total donation count: 28

total days: 6

365 Days of Giving January 5th

Continuing on my freecycle journey (although no one has emailed me about the other items I posted..I have hope!), today I am listing a large clear glass ribbed vase. This is the kind you get form the florist when flowers are delivered. I guess somewhere along the way I got flowers from someone and decided to hold on to this vase, even though I never get flowers or, when I do, they come in yet another vase.

I am sure if I dig deep enough I will find a week's worth of these vases. Ridiculous.

total donation count: 27

total days: 5

365 Days of Giving January 4th.

I am still raiding drawers, closets, and everything in between looking for new things to give away. I can see how this can quickly become an obsession. I thought I would stick with freecycle again today and give away these two serving spoons. I bought them YEARS ago when I got my first apartment and thought I would be one of those people who cooks. I don't know if you can tell by the photo, but no, these were never used. What's even funnier? I actually have a SECOND set of them! Seriously, what's my problem?

So on to freecycle they go and hopefully to a new home soon.

total donation count: 26

total days: 4

365 Days of Giving January 3rd

Ever heard of freecycle? If not, you have got to check it out. What a great way to give and get things for free rather than throwing the away or visiting the local big box stores. I have been using it off and on for several years and this past year got really serious about it. For the next three days, I will be giving one item away a day.

Today's item? A white Cuisinart Handheld mixer. Not in perfect working condition, but for anyone even slightly handy, this will be a great find. And since we have a second one already (why? why?), we did not have to go to a store to buy another one.

total donation count: 24

total days: 3

365 Days of Giving. Jan 1 and 2

A couple of years ago I heard from a friend about a personal challenge he was planning on taking. It involved giving away one personal item a day for 365 days. As an avid believer in the motto of"reuse, reduce, recycle", I thought this would be perfect for me. I have to say, I followed it perfectly for all of 2009. Last year, it seems, I took a little vacation from this although informally (i.e. not keeping track) I did give away tons of things. I thought this year, as a personal challenge to myself, I would do it again, this time formally and will track myself here.

I certainly cannot promise to write every day. For those of you who know me personally you can understand why (teaching, etsy, and graduate school). But I will chronicle as best I can.

For the first couple of days, January 1st and 2nd, I raided my drawers and came up with 23 different shirts to get things started. All of them will be donated to one of my favorite places, the Salvation Army in Newark. NJ. I guess technically I am making my first 23 donations, but I am just going to count it for days 1 and 2.

Total donation count: 23

Total days: 2