I'm a typical American woman -- I enjoy shopping, collecting, and displaying. However, now I'm reflecting on how much is too much?
My collections include: Royalty memorabilia, pheasants (not real or stuffed), Porcelain bisque in the color ivory, Deer figurines, Madonna figurines (holy, not the Superstar), and plenty of other quirky vintage stuff. I've collected for a lot of years. For example, in my teens, I had saved all my issues of Seventeen Magazine in my closet and until there were so many stacks that my mom thought they were going to collapse the floor and fall into the basement...so she got rid of them. I do wish I had the first Seventeen Magazines where Whitney Houston was the cover model, though.
The television show, "Hoarders" is both fascinating and horrifying to watch. Those people have too much junk and trash and their homes are uninhabitable. My brother-in-law (jokingly, I hope) calls me a hoarder. But I think my stuff is organized and there is no trash laying around anywhere!
Having said that, I know I can get rid of some of this accumulation. I've held a lot of great tag sales (I was once told that "Garage sales are keeping the earth in balance because the junk keeps getting moved around from home to home"). I donate goods several times a year to Goodwill or other charity shops, and donate books and magazines to the library.
In the past I had a booth at a local antiques mall and I've sold over the years on eBay (also known as "Fee Bay" because of all the fees the seller incurs). Today I'm selling books on amazon.com and recently opened a store on etsy! I really love etsy and have purchased a lot of stuff over the years; I've featured some of my favorite purchases on this blog. I have bought original artwork prints, postcards, stationery and books on etsy. The aspect of supporting artists is important to me. I am not one of the talented artists, but I have some quirky vintage goods to unload.
Here is my etsy storefront: GueraMart
I have already sold three items, and one of the items in my store was featured this week in an etsy Treasury: Vintage Cruise
So...my plan is to minimize purchases at estate sales, tag sales and thrift shops. Limit my etsy purchasing obsession. Declutter and recycle. Keep selling and donating.
