Currently... Decluttering Everything. Clothes. Books. Stuff

By now, you've probably seen, Material World, a photography collection of people around the world with their earthly possessions, published years ago by Peter Menzel.  To see some of the photos from countries other than the U.S., we realize the embarrassment of riches that we have.

I've been thinking about those photos lately, as I've been feeling quite crowded and cluttered in my own house.  I don't even feel justified in buying one other thing because - where would I put it?  I'm not saying that I'm going to get rid of everything, dwindling our belongings down to a blanket and a water bucket, but I could get rid of a lot and still have plenty.  So I'm trying to slim down a significant bit before the end of the year. Yes, this is my December, end of the year, push.

Some of the stuff is actually useful, if I could just remember I had it or had an efficient way to get to it. Some stuff is useless, to anybody.  Some can be repurposed and reused, in ways I mentioned in a previous post about reusing old clothes, or donated for various purposes.  I'm sorting through it all, one thing at a time, to figure that out.

So what have I got? On the top of the list:

• Toys. I'm always sure that we are going to find that 1 missing puzzle piece and the rest of the games cards. And I keep picking up those little battleship pegs.  It's a process, but I'm admitting that none of that is going to happen, so it's time to let it go.  (Are you going to be singing Frozen all day now?)
• Socks. All those 1-socks, particularly the ones that don't even fit anybody anymore.  I'm losing hope that the matches will ever resurface. But I do let my kids, the youngest especially, wear mis-matching socks of the same style.  Do you know that you an actually buy mis-matched packs of socks? What brilliant mom (I'm sure it was a mom tired of matching socks) came up with this marketing genius? I wish it was me. Then I'd be writing this post from a sunny beach somewhere.
• Magazines.  I don't really read digital magazines, so that's not my replacement. I just need to admit that I'm actually not going back to that Real Simple article from June of 2010.  It was enjoyable then, it kept me occupied at the pool, now it's time to fill the recycling bin to make some new paper bags or newspapers or something.

Also - cookbooks, kids' clothes, sweaters, books to start.  I'll get into more details as I work through the piles, so come on back for all that.

What have you got that's piling up in your house that you need to get rid of?

Join the conversation on Facebook: Just Piddlin' with Frances

Spring Cleaning One Day at a Time

When the snow finally melts, we get all antsy for spring cleaning, don't we?  It's as if once we've started refreshing spring bed covers and cleaning out closets winter is banished.  But then after a couple frenzied days we're all exhausted and don't care about spring cleaning and just want to drink a pitcher of sweet tea. Or is that just me?

So then I go for the one task per day plan and after a few days of that, I feel like I've got it all taken care of and now, it's time for that pitcher of sweet tea.

But this year - I'm determined to get further along since I've come across a day by day schedule, posted by TheDCLadies.

On Monday, Day 1, I cleaned my microwave and stovetop. That was easy. For the microwave, I wet a cloth with water and a little lemon juice and microwaved it for 30 seconds, then wiped down the inside with the hot, lemony cloth.  Granted, we primarily use the microwave for popcorn and defrosting. If you are a serious microwaver - one of those people who can bake a cake and a turkey in there - you might need a little more TLC.  The stovetop, I took apart the burners, washed them, used a little degreaser and scouring sponge.

Day 2 was clean out the pantry and fridge day.  This is actually a great task right before the long holiday weekend. Get all that stuff out of the fridge that you know you are not going to eat anyway, especially if you're going out of town or having a big cookout.  Wipe up spills those you've ignored and those no-one ever mentioned.  Pull out the drawers and swipe out the crumbs and errant green onion that accumulate under them.  Wash the drawers in hot, soapy water.  Then put everything back neatly.

In the pantry, I like to put the dry goods in jars so that we can actually see them and keep them from going stale. (I always have trail mix and can never keep those plastic bags closed tight enough.)  And it's an easy recycling project!  I wash out our used jars (pickles, salsa, spaghetti sauce, etc.), peel off the labels, and to make it pretty - spray paint the lids.  It takes all of 2 minutes to paint the lids, plus the additional drying time.  You could get really fancy and get those chalkboard labels and stick on the sides of the jars (on my list for the next trip to the craft store, but in the meantime, let's stay focused.)

Quick, easy recycling project: paint jar lids & re-use jars to store dry goods.

Cleaned, recycled & filled - ready for the pantry!

Day 3 is clean the dishwasher. That's an easy one for me - I only use mine half the time, so I'll empty it and do a quick run empty, then wipe it down.   Maybe I'll get a jumpstart on under the sink.

Ready to spring clean?  Here's the complete schedule - #TDCL4WeekSpringCleanUp - join in and let me know how it's going.  Post comments here and/or pics to Facebook & Twitter.

Join the conversation on Twitter: @JustPiddlinBlog

Currently...Getting Ready to Party into Spring

March 30 - Can you believe there was wind, rain, hail, and snow yesterday?  The sun looks like it's peeking out today - please stay!  Starting out this sunny week, here's what I'm up to.

Eating... what is destined to become my new favorite omelet, but hardly will be served at the local diner. The site Food52 asks for readers to try and review recipes, breakfast choices were up this go 'round. One of them, a definite "gotta try it" was Kimchi Frittata with Sriracha Drizzle. But let me first say, I could/sometimes do eat kimchi, the fermented cabbage considered to be Korea's "national dish," at every meal every day. And sriracha, well, that's just the firey cherry on top, right? I didn't bother making it over the weekend since my family does not share in the idea that kimchi can be a breakfast food; though, perhaps my son would but he doesn't like omelet/frittata style eggs. Since I get to enjoy it all by myself, I only made half the recipe. The frittata is a simple mix of kimchi (I used Mat kimchi, the Chinese cabbage version that most people think of when they think of kimchi), scallions, soy sauce and eggs, with sriracha and rice vinegar. It reminds me of the steamed eggs my mother used to make when we were kids.  I'm eating it, all by myself, with a bowl of rice (what else?)

  

Plotting murder.  With the help of Shot in the Dark Mysteries, I'll be hosting a murder mystery dinner for a dozen of my friends. They offer a variety of themes, for any number of party-goers, male/female or co-ed. I considered a party with couples, but thought perhaps the spouses may get a little nervous, realizing how sinister and plotting their loved one could be, so I'm keeping it all women.  Keep up with me on Twitter for more on "Murder in the Winery" tomorrow.

 

Reading Mr Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore. I admit, I don't know what's going on in this book.  You may know already, if you've read my bookposts before, that I rarely read the back cover. I really do choose a book by it's (front) cover.  And this one glows in the dark, as I surprisingly found out one night on my way to bed.  There is, as the title suggests, a 24-hour bookstore, that doesn't really sell too many books. Instead, the "members" come by at odd hours of the night to exchange books, like a library, but the books are written in some kind of weird code. I'm following along with the bookstore's newest employee Clay Jannon trying to figure out what these members are figuring out. 

 

Purging winter clothes in the kids' closets and drawers. This winter has been so long that they've all grown out of their clothes. Coat sleeves are up their arms, jeans are skimming their ankles, and buttons are stretched tight on their shirts. Time to get rid of winter gear. Hopefully spring will indeed cooperate with my housekeeping.  As I outlined in a previous closet-cleaning post, I've got my piles line up - donate/give away, pass on to a sibling, throw out, recycle.  The task can be overwhelming, so I'll set a timer - an album on the iPod will keep me motivated, happy, and within a time limit.

 

And to welcome in the warmer days of spring, I am stitching a new pink and green shawl/scarf! I started and made good progress this weekend thanks to a rainy day basketball tournament.

 

Follow me on Twitter: @JustPiddlinBlog

Best of Just Piddlin': Top 10 of 2013

Thanx for Just Piddlin’ along with me in 2013!

I've had a wonderful year blogging and chatting with you.  Checking over my blog posts, these were the 10 most read posts of the year (no particular order).

Working moms and stay-at-home moms, alike, were represented in these motherhood and parenting posts:

• "Lean In" Isn't Such a Bad Message
• Now That You're a Stay-at-Home Mom
• Shall We Give The Kids a Sticker for Breathing

These dishes perfect for busy moms who want home-cooked food for their busy families were popular:

• Next Best Thing to Fried Shrimp - from Witchery in the Kitchen
• Asian Chicken in the Crockpot - selected as a Circle of Moms Recipe of the Day
• And for birthdays, holidays, or any reason to have cake - Cake Decorating - tips from Fancy Cakes by Leslie

Perhaps I’m not the only one struggling with the “where’s your family from” projects, as many of you read up on Another Family Heritage Project.

Fellow yarn-holics picked up their needles for this one: My First Knit Hat

Folks were busy cleaning out their closets & looking for tips on what to do with those old clothes: Re-Use & Recycle Old Clothes

And friends were looking for answers of why they were de-friended (or justifying why they de-friended folks): 5 Reasons You & I Are No Longer Friends

Was your favorite in the top 10?

In 2014, we'll continue striving to grow Just Piddlin' and make it better - for you, the reader, and me.  To learn more about this whole blog-o-sphere, I attended 2 blogging conferences - Disney Social Media Moms and Blogalicious - conferences will be in the plans again in the coming year.  We received a pile of products and books for review which was a lot of fun and look forward to continuing to bring you great products and recommendations.

Book reviews will continue, but I’ll be changing the reading plan a bit.  I’ll let you know in the beginning of the month the Book I'm Carrying Around and invite you to read along and discuss the book with me.  (I’m busy trying to pick out what to start the year with.)

I’ll still be In the Kitchen, cooking and trying out recipes, especially anything chocolate.  Feel free to recommend any great foods or coffee/chocolate shops you think I should try if ever in your city.

And of course, I will continue to be a busy mom of 4, who is always carrying around a skein of yarn, a book, and my perceptions of the world.  I hope you’ll keep piddlin’ along with me.

Please feel free to let me know in the Comments below what you would like to see in 2014.  We'll see what we can do.

Join the conversation on Facebook: Just Piddlin' with Frances

Good-bye to the Teddy Bears

When we first moved into our house, one of our first tasks was painting, wallpapering, and furnishing the little bedroom that would become our baby nursery room.

The bear read our babies bed-time stories for 14 years.

We bedded and raised four kids with the baby teddy bear reading books to his stuffed animal friends circling the room.  We passed on the crib and teeny-drawered dresser to friends. We moved in twin beds and bookcases. But the wallpaper trim remained. And then my 10-year old boy told me it was time for it to go.

Okay, maybe I agreed a little bit. Can't really be a self-respecting 10-year old boy with teddy bear wallpaper. Can you? Okay, okay, you can't.

Off to the hardware store to pick out paint. And let me say - is there any household project that does not require at least 3-4 trips to the hardware store? We went to pick out paint, we went back to buy the paint. And then after further discussion of the plan for the room, we went back to buy more paint. We went back for some other random reason I can't even remember right now. There should be someone at the door who says, "did you remember to get paint brushes, weed killer, and nails?" or whatever, based on whatever else you've got in your basket.

It was a two day project. We had to tape off the ceilings and pull his furniture into the hallway.  And sand down where his sister had stuck a green foam Girl Scout project on the wall. And fill in the hole where the door knob made a dent in the wall when someone went for a slam dunk in the basket hanging on the door.  And then we painted over the little teddy bears.

The new blue wall. No more teddy bears.

Click here to keep Piddlin' with me on Facebook.

Mom-Me Celebration - Day 7: Clear Your Personal Space

Today, you have permission to get rid of that stuff in your house that is old, broken, and unused.  You know, the curling iron that works if you jiggle it and hold it just so.  The rice pot that doesn't keep rice hot for longer than 5 minutes.  The blender that would work if you ordered the little piece that goes on the bottom. Even that purse with the broken strap sitting on the floor of your closet.  Even the pile of mis-matched socks. Need a dump truck to get it all out?  Okay, start in your own personal space.  I know, the idea of "personal space" is almost foreign to mom's, but think about your bedroom, your bathroom, your night stand, your closet.

I have admitted before, I do have some pack-rat-ish tendencies. But -- I also have stated that I am trying to get better this year and clear out some of the clutter around me. I feel so weighed down and suffocated sometimes.  When we switched around the kids' rooms, forcing me to empty out my craft closet and move it all downstairs, it became more apparent to me how much stuff I've got crammed away. I'm working on it, it's quite a project.

For now - I'm giving myself a little bit more elbow room by getting rid of the stuff that even I can't justify keeping.  I think I'll start with the coffee pot that leaks every time I make a pot of coffee.

Join the conversation on Facebook - JustPiddlin with Frances 

8 Ways to Re-Use & Recycle Your Old Clothes

Do a simple search on Pinterest and you will find a bazillion ideas for that old jacket or table or bicycle chain. Even before I was pinning stuff online, I was cataloging ideas in my head and putting things aside just in case I came up with an idea. Although I’m still pinning cool re-purposed stuff, I’m trying to get better about saving all the stuff only when I realistically have time to make them.

When I cleaned out my kids’ closets, there were a bunch of t-shirts and jeans that they had outgrown, were unwearable (ripped, stained, etc.), or didn’t like anymore. Most of the wearable clothes, I donated somewhere.  This is what I did with the rest.

Jeans

• Shorts – I swear, you’d think my kids played for the Baltimore Orioles or that they are required to crawl through school the way they wear out their knees.  The girls’ jeans get cut-off and worn as shorts, nothing new here. If you want to be fancy, you can add embellishments like edging and lace trim around the leg, iron-in designs to cover holes in the pockets, etc. (I don’t like the look for my son, so his get moved into another pile.)
• Make a quilt - A few years ago, when I was feeling quite industrious, I cut squares out of all the throw-away jeans and made a quilt, which we use as a picnic blanket. It’s great – it’s durable, washable, comfy.
• Recycle – Did you know that you can use denim, a cotton fiber, to insulate your home? I’m not stuffing my walls with our old jeans, but I did find a place that collects denim to recycle into home insulation: CottonfromBluetoGreen.org. You can send in less than 100 pieces of denim – in any kind of condition, any type of garment – and you can even have a denim drive! Check their website for more info. I figure its going to cost about $20 to mail the box but that pile is out of my house and I feel good about our used denim going to good use.

T-shirts

• Dust rags – This is how my mother used our old tees. I’ve found thermal shirts work great, too.
• Scrunchies & headbands – Cut the body and arms into strips for quick, easy hair ties. My daughters and I go through so many headbands and hair ties. They get worn out, they get lost. These are easy, they cost you nothing. I throw them in my gym bag so I always have one handy. They will lose their stretch after awhile, but surely you’ll have another t-shirt ready to use by then.

• Tote bag – Great for the tees that have a design that you like, for instances a sports team or school logo.  Or a Girl Scout shirt. I cut off the neck and arms, and sewed across the bottom. Ta-da! Perfect for carrying cookies and badge projects to the next meeting. This took me no more than ten minutes to do.

• Quilt – Again, in an industrious mode, I cut my daughter’s t-shirts in equal size squares (13”, I think) and made a quilt out of them when she finished elementary school. The t-shirts squares have to be lined with interfacing so that they do not stretch; this is easy if you use the iron-on interfacing. Sew the squares together in a row, then sow the rows together. Use a large piece of cotton fabric as the backing, and whichever loft of quilt batting that you select (someone in the quilting section of the fabric store can help you with the backing and batting selections). I hand-quilted hers simply by tieing it in certain points. If you have the skill to quilt, or you have a wonderful friend who does, you can do something more intricate (you can also find services who do this specifically).

Sweaters

I kept the ones that had a hole or stain in it, not worthy of being donated. My plan is to unwind the sweaters and reuse the yarn for a future crochet or knitting project. I’m not making any promises, we’ll see.

These are the things I thought that I could handle with our old clothes. If you are feeling more crafty, again, just search pinterest – or peek at my board - and you will find all kinds of ideas to refashion jeans into skirts, t-shirts into fancier t-shirts, sweaters iPad cases, and all sorts of stuff.

Let me know of any re-use/recycle projects that you’ve come up with for your old stuff. I’m always looking for new ideas!

I spent spring break cleaning out the kids' closets. This is part 3 in my series of posts about what to do with all of that stuff. Read more in previous posts on  cleaning out the closet and donating your used items.

Don't need it anymore? Donate it!

I mentioned in my post on cleaning out the kids’ closets that donations is one of my sorting piles. It’s actually a few mini-piles. And as I suggested, anything that goes into these piles should be clean, still fashionable, and wearable. Use the “would I want this?” rule. Broken zippers, hole in the sleeve, missing buttons? If you’re handy with a sewing needle, take the time to make the repairs if you intend to donate the item. Otherwise, re-use/recycle or trash them.

Clothes Donations

• Pass down to friends – These are some of my favorite outfits that I thought particular friends would like. Also included, my aunt hand-knits sweaters for my kids, so I prefer to personally give them to someone rather than put them in the anonymous donation bags.
• Moms’ group – When our kids were smaller, we used to exchange some barely worn clothes in our moms’ group. This is great for boys’ suits, girls’ special occasion dresses, and infant and toddler winter coats, all which hardly get worn out before the child grows out of it. This is also a good pile for specialty wear like dance costumes and sports equipment (swim flippers anyone?)
• School – The nurse and guidance counselor at our elementary school keep a stash of clothes for the inevitable little kid accident, whether it’s someone falling in a mud puddle, spilling their chocolate milk at lunch, or not making it to the bathroom on time. I put our too-small school logo shirts, along with a few casual pieces in this bag. In the winter, I also include mittens and jackets. Be sure to ask first if they need it, if the school doesn't have a regular collection.
• Local clothes collection – When I have seasonal clothes to donate, I take them here. They will accept any clothes, but space seems to be tight, so I figure that in-season clothes are more welcome than out of season items.
• Pick-up donation – I admit, I don’t know what the various agencies who pick up clothes and household stuff do with it all, but I’m glad to be rid of it. For this reason, this is my pile of last resort.

Non-clothes Donations

Books – I don’t get rid of a lot of books, but sometimes I acquire books that I don’t really intend to keep or I have craft books I don’t need anymore. And my kids have used books that we don’t need to keep because they’ve outgrown them. I pass these on to the next readers:

• Donate to library or one of the local schools for used book sales
• Take to a kid-focused event (for example, PTA, Girl Scouts, the swimming pool) and invite the kids to take whatever they want
• Donate to women’s shelters
• Give to the guidance counselor and teachers at school for their classrooms

Towels and sheets – The mis-matched sets, the towels that don’t match the new bathroom paint color, the towels that are worn or torn – I’m taking them to the animal shelter.

Craft supplies - Donate to the school for the classroom and art teachers.

If you're closets are like mine, you'll find that most of the stuff you are getting rid of isn't in bad shape, you're just done using it. Pass it on and help someone else enjoy it.

Clean Out Your Closets with 5 Simple Piles

With the anticipated (but as yet not fully realized) change of weather, I tackled the seasonal task of sorting through my kids’ clothes. My closet is next. I’m sharing my steps with you for when you, too, are finally ready to check this off your to-do list. Pour yourself a cup of coffee, that’ll make it seem more relaxing.

Starting with the youngest and working with one child’s clothes at a time, I went through every drawer and closet. Everything was put into one of the following piles:

• Keep  The clothes that fit that child. I think this was a small percentage of clothes for each child.

• Pass down   Too small for that child, but will fit the next. Of course, most of the items for consideration for this pile were from my oldest daughter to the next one, and the middle one to the youngest, but there were a few exceptions. Since my oldest often wears boys’ sports shorts, these could go to her brother. And some of my son’s sweatshirts were fine for his little sister to throw in her drawer, especially since she really only wears sweatshirts on the way to and from her tennis lessons.

• Donate    Of course, anything that goes into the Donation pile should be clean, still fashionable, and wearable. I always consider each piece thinking “would someone else really want this for themselves/for their kid?” This pile is further sub-divided, I’ll go into the details in my next post. For now, put your special occasion items and ones you have some kind of sentimental attachment to in one pile, and everything else in another.

• Re-use, recycle    This was mostly jeans and t-shirts, with a few sweaters. If you are particularly crafty, throw in dress shirts and skirts, too. Part of my keep-everything-ness (my pack-rat tendency, as my husband would put) is that I feel like I might come up with a great idea to re-use something. And I also feel wasteful throwing stuff away that someone else might have a great idea of how to re-use. Anyway – more on what to do with what accumulates in this pile in a separate post.

• Trash    All the stuff that did not fit in the piles above, mostly holey socks and too-small underwear.

Once all the sorting is done and there’s piles of clothes all around the room, it’s time to put everything away.

• All the “Keep” clothes gets folded or hung back in the closet.
• All the “Pass down” clothes gets moved into the appropriate younger siblings drawers or closets (this is why I start with the youngest, so there will be space for the new clothes).
• Bag up the donations and mark where they are going.
• I have a plastic bin for the re-use/recycle clothes until I get to them.
• And trash the rest.

Depending on your energy level, available time, and how much coffee you have left, you can repeat this process with the next kid’s closet now or wait until the next day. But do try to do it all within a short amount of time, say a few days, so you won’t have piles sitting around forever.

Please share any other piles or closet cleaning tips I've missed.

Replacement Parts

I admit - I'm a bit slow in replacing stuff that breaks or wears out.  My procrastination on such tasks are often to the amusement, annoyance, or frustration of the people in my life - friends, my mother, my husband.

Last year, I got a new washing machine. It had been about 8 or 9 months since the first one broke.  For all those months, I made weekly trips to the laundramat and realized, it was a pretty good option.  The relative ease prolonged the urgency of shopping for a new one.

Then, last summer, shortly after that new washing machine, my car started making funny, clunky noises.  When it started leaving a trail of oil like Hansel & Gretel's bread crumbs, it was all over.  The truck's been parked since then as we decide what to do with it. 

The question of when or if to replace a broken thing often is a financial decision - done any major repairs on an SUV lately?  Actually, we don't even have to go to that extreme - ever bought new windshield wipers for one?   There's also a mental laziness that comes into play.  That washing machine?  Cycles, hot & cold water options, eco-friendly, gallon capacity, top-open, front-open - agh!  It was just too much to think about.  And then, if there's someway to make do without, well that just delays the replacement  process even more.

At first, when we sidelined the car, I was in a panic - what were we going to do?  How would we get around, how would we survive with one car?  Yes, as if there were no other people in the world living their lives with one car (how large our problems sometime seem, right?) As it turned out, we have been surviving, our lives have not collapsed.  We've made some adjustments and some of them have been pretty good.

• I can only drive carpool when my husband is home and I don't have to take all the kids with me.  That wasn't something I really considered until the first time I was to drive and realized I somehow needed to fit 6 kids in a car not built for all those folks.  We've had to make some schedule adjustments, thanks to our flexible sports team families.
• I've had to ask for rides for myself.  I have my own activities to go to, during the day and in the evening, generally PTA, sorority meeting, or a tennis match.  When these have run in conflict with kid activities, I've had to bum a ride for myself so dad could have the car and the kids wouldn't miss their practice or rehearsal or whatever.  Being dependent on other people?  Not something I'm really good at, but my friend's who offered me a ride have made me better at this.
• Coordinating with my husband on our day's plans.  With our own cars, we often came and went without much discussion of where and when we were going.  Nothing secretive, it just wasn't particularly necessary.  But in sharing transportation, we had to talk about our plans for the day, coordinate our plans, ride together sometime and drop each other off.  That's a good thing, right?  Talking to your hubby and spending some time together.
• I'm sure we're saving gas somehow in coordinating our rides and trips and carpooling.

We'll get the car fixed eventually and will be back to being a two-car family again.  Although, there will be some conveniences I'm looking forward to (I can go to Costco and get the 48-pack of toilet paper,  35 pounds of ground beef, and super-super-size bag of coffee all in one trip), I have to admit, I'll kinda miss my husband asking, "when are you coming back?"

The other morning, the coffee pot started leaking hot coffee all over the kitchen counter.  I need to get to the appliance aisle somewhere real soon.

I'm Moving Out!

After all these years, I'm moving out.  All my stuff's been un-successfully forced into a closet, spilling all over the floor, and stacked precariously in baskets and bags amongst the toys and in the back room.   Now I finally get a room of my own.  I'm not even sure how it happened.

My four kids share two rooms.  All had been fine up to now, but we recently decided that Jay is getting older (and his little sister sometimes gets on his nerves) and he sometimes doesn't like all the dolls that steal his Legos.  And the girls thought it totally unfair for him to have his own room and the three of them to live together.  Although they did think it would be cool to have bunk beds.  So Nattie's moving to the girls' room, pushing Elle to the office.  Dad's now homeless, but since he actually works from home, he does need a space, so he's taking the front room of the house.  Where all my books and yarn and whatnot are.  The eviction from the office also kicks all my scrapbooking and miscellaneous crafts stuff out into the hallway.  So, then I was homeless.  Until somehow, everyone agreed that I could move into the spare room in the basement which is currently the dominion of all the toys.  Wow - how did that happen?  I'm not really sure, but I am busy clearing out the boxes of puzzles with missing pieces, the piles of Monopoly money, all those 12" beauties and the bazillion Legos before anyone realizes that I've relocated.

Then I'm going to add a door.  And a lock.  And a coffee machine.