When did I become a packrat?

After Christmas is the time that saves me from becoming a total packrat. Everything gets moved and Christmas decorations go up. Centerpieces change, a vase of shells becomes a vase of Christmas balls, the fall door wreath makes way for the holiday door wreath. It is when I am putting away the Christmas decorations and restoring the house to order that I begin to find many 'things' that have crept into the closets and cupboards. When did I think I should save every small bag that something came in from the store. I don't take lunch to work so I probably don't need 10 Starbucks bags just in case. Scraps of this and that in the wrapping box can be discarded. Potpurri that no longers smells can move out.

I found I have a collection of throw pillows that no longer go with anything in the house. They are stuffed in closets and under the bed, perhaps waiting to be rediscovered. It just seems to something to throw them out. So this year I have uncovered them, put the stuffing in a plastic bag to wait a craft project that needs pillow stuffing. Maybe next year I will be able to throw the stuffing out.

Down comforters seem to be my downfall. I have accumulated four extra comforters. Two arrived when I put the down feather ones away in favor of the hypo-allergenic ones for the guest beds. One has a stain (but it goes in a duvet) and the fourth must be for just in case I am freezing. So they go in the closet with the spare bed pillows. Hard ones, soft ones, down ones, fiber filled ones, even a tempurpedic one. Heaven forbid I have a house guest who cannot find a pillow that suits.

This year I promise to use January to get rid of things. There are no gold stars for saving Christmas tree ornaments that have lost their shine. I have to learn that you can't re-purpose everything.