How I spent my day; or, the never-empty dresser.

I cleaned off one of my dressers today.

I wasn’t planning to, I just wanted to find a particular item. But as I kept searching, I ended up with more and more stuff on my bed and it turned into a monster cleaning session. Finally, I was left with an empty dresser scarf.

Well, ALMOST empty. Let me tell you, if you feel like using a vacuum on your dresser scarf, you’ve left it waaaaaaay too long. ;P

I finally found what I was looking for, but along the way I also found all of this: 2 emptied giftcards, an immodium packet, a small can of baby powder, ribbon holder with umpteen ribbons, 2 fabric scraps, old caladryl bottle, ladybug trinket box, lots and lots and lots of long hairpins, old ponytail bands on caladryl, heart trinket box, 2 price tags, card case, little chest, deposit receipt from ‘98, pocket bandaid case, basket, 2 pairs earrings (never worn because my ears closed up), 2 combs, yellow tray, a pair of nylon footies, 2 brushes, 3 hair scrunchies, trim scraps brought home from work, pocket comb, deodorant, a small lego block, a steel crochet hook, assorted business cards, mini screwdriver set (incomplete), 2000 datebook, old watch, wallet insert with old family pix, 12+ paperclips, 6 good rubber bands, lots and lots of barrettes, empty pinbox, 2 pieces fabric, train ticket, 2 packets hairnets, assorted sm. plastic bags, empty card box, 2 snoods (one too stretched out to use), several craft instruction sheets, spring barrette still on card, an unused giftcard to JoAnn Fabrics (!), 2 bookmarks, throat drops, instructions for walkman & headset, a miraculous medal, 4 extra shirt buttons, 43 receipts from as far back as ‘05, and enough dust for a respectably-sized dust bunny. LOL

(By now you're probably thinking I'm a packrat.)

Wait, there's more! The yellow tray contained a 7 day pill box, exacto knife, more old ponytail bands, spring barrette, assorted scraps of paper, a recipe written on printer tape, more long hairpins, an inexpensive green rosary, 3 loose large barrettes, 3 large barrettes still on the card, 3 holy cards, a Happy Easter paper basket with a lot of small hair clips and the ponytail bands I actually use, and a checkbook box containing EVEN MORE long hairpins, a box of oldfashioned hairpins, 5 screwhooks, a rubber ball with colored swirl, a few small bobby pins, old single ball ponytail bands, an ancient pair of small barrettes with bluebirds, 3 God Bless You Dad cards, and 2 more extra shirt buttons.

(And a magpie.)

Hey, where are you going? You haven't heard about the basket that holds 2 claw clips, 1 mini claw, 1 butterfly clip, a spring barrette with a bow, 7 other spring barrettes, a french twist doodad, a magic bun doodad, yet another unidentified hair doodad, 3 terry hairbands, a tiny dolled wrapped in a ribbon, a banana clip, a packet of french hook earring keepers,2 pens, a really old pantliner sample, and an old deodorant container kept so I can color-match the lid for paint. Or the little chest, which only has 6 pins, 5 pendants, 4 rings, 5 pretty stones, 2 small safety pins, a crystal on a string, 2 pairs of earrings, my grandmother’s pearls, a wooden cross necklace, a gold butterfly slide, a long black ribbon, a silver ankh on a chain, another chain with 2 more pendants, a silver tone bangle, a gold/pearl necklace, a multi-strand seed bead necklace, a tarnished silver puff heart necklace, a cloisonné pendant from Greece, a turquoise and silver necklace, and a set of HB 0.5 mm pencil leads.

(And you'd be right. LOL)

I can see your eyes glazing over, but there's just a little more: a heart-shaped trinket box with a pink butterfly pin,a silver angel pin, a gold circle scarf pin, and a pair of small safety pins; and last but not least, the object of my original search, a ladybug trinket box containing an old watch face and a pin and coin from Russia.

(I was looking for the box, not the contents.)

While I was sorting all the junk out, I washed the dresser scarf and most of my ribbon collection. Then I relocated a lot of stuff and threw quite a bit out or collected it to give away. Here’s an “after” shot of the newly clean and organized dresser. It’s not empty by any means, but at least now I can not only SEE the scarf, I can even tell what color it’s supposed to be. LOL

Maybe next week I’ll tackle the other dresser.

Then again, maybe not. ;P

"Unfinished" should be my middle name

Tonight I picked up a shrug I started crocheting last winter. I had one side almost finished when I stopped. Don't really remember why I stopped, I just did. This got me thinking about projects that I've "abandoned" midway through. There are more than I like to think about. ;p

There was the dresser scarf I ignored for several years. I finally finished it, but only after having to scrub off the cork stain from the metal hoop I used originally.

In college I started a quilt, possibly for my parents. I haven't worked on it in 13 years, since I started working. It's nicely folded away in large plastic bags in a box in my overstuffed closet. Someday soon I plan on getting it out and finishing it for me, since the quilt I made for myself 20 years ago is about ready for the cedar chest (or the rubbish bin!).

About 4 years ago I put down an extremely involved counted cross-stitch project because my eyes were bothering me. It's still sitting where I left it, still in its hoop, on the shelf of the table between the recliners.

My first knitted project, a baby hoodie, is sitting in a box in my room, waiting for me to block and seam it and add the finishing touches --- three years after I last worked on it.

More recently, I started crocheting a helmetliner for the troops last winter (after I abandoned the shrug). So far I've gotten the top of it done, and that's all --- not even down to the eyeholes. :o(

And I've got a ziploc bag in my room with what will someday, some century, be a sweater vest. It's about 3" high after too many years to count.

I'm not even counting the half dozen baby blankets I haven't put tape on. I pull threads on them when I'm bored so they make up quicker when we need to restock.

I do eventually finish things, like the dresser scarf I mentioned. There's a baby blanket that took me several years to crochet, since I only worked on it at craft shows, but it is finished.

Better get back to this shrug. If I work at it, I can have it done in time for next winter . . . . . . or maybe the winter after that. :o)