Use It or Lose It
I can't tell you how many times I say that phrase over in my head. When I'm the youngest one in my yoga class and I see these women bending and stretching with no issues, I think, hey, "use it or lose it". And now more than ever I have been feeling that way when I am liquidating an estate.
vintage purse
I recently worked on a home that was filled with happy, laughing people. And as I worked through box after box of memory, box after box of travel souvenirs I thought, "Wow! they used this stuff!". And they made memories with it. And then I would open a box of completely sealed birthday party decorations bought 1/2 price or Thanksgiving tablecloths never opened but bought on clearance and I thought "uh-oh".
So, while it's easy to judge, I went home and looked at my garage. I knew I had bins that hadn't been opened in at least 3 years because "I'm waiting to use them". I opened those bins and if I couldn't find a home for it, whether on my walls, in my closet or at a friend's house, out it went to my local thrift store.
About 15 years ago my husband traveled to Australia for a over a month. he came back with some amazing things. Out of everything, the thing I thought his strangest purchase were these souvenir tea towels, Cute, yes, but he never wanted to use them. Finally after helping me with my sales, he agreed to the "Use It or Lose It" theory. I am happy to tell you, that since last month, our tiki masks adorn our backyard wall, his tea towels grace our kitchen, not as decoration, but as a useful towel.
The purse above that I purchased because, SOMEBODY HAD TO!, is now available on our ETSY shop. Yup! You read that right! We opened an ETSY shop this month. It's small, but the items are special and we will add to it each week.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SilverLiningLasVegas?ref=hdr_shop_menu
But please do me a favor, before you start looking at all of the cool stuff on ETSY, take a look around your home and open a cabinet and look at what you aren't using now, but has potential. Take it out of your cabinet and use it this week, in some shape or form. Start using your stuff and see what joy it can bring, before you buy something else.