Waiting for the Perfect Layout

Each Monday, I discuss my Scrap Happy project based on Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun.

A third feature of buying some happiness is spending out (here is part one and part two). I see spending out occurring in two ways:

1. Don’t save your supplies for the perfect layout.


Have you done this? Have you bought the most beautiful embellishment and then never used it because you were awaiting the day to find the perfect layout for said embellishment? I know I have. In fact, I am pretty sure I spent more money on the above embellishment than I ever have on any embellishments and I have never used it. I was waiting for the perfect layout. I even forgot I had it when I created my wedding scrapbook. I flipped through the album once looking for a place to put the embellishment, but could not find a suitable home for it.
You may have heard this line of thinking in other parts of your life. I know my mom tells me not to save my daughter’s good outfits for the perfect occasion because she will outgrow it before she wears it. I’ve also heard of folks using their good dishes on a regular basis. There is something to be said for using the good stuff each day. What do you think?

2. Donate your excess supplies to a worthy cause

I am working on this. Every so often, I sort through a paper storage envelope or embellishment box to see what I can part with. I have a basket to toss the items into. I still am on the fence as to what I am going to do with the supplies. I am leaning towards donating most of the items to my daughter’s art supplies. She is running out of things to paint and loves stickers, so I would ultimately save money by giving her most of the items. I don’t know. The basket is about half full and I suspect it will be full by the end of the summer. I think at that point, I will sort it once again and donate some of the items to my daughter’s art supplies and then find a home for the rest of the items. What do you do with supplies you know longer need or want?

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If you want to read more about The Happiness Project or my Scrap Happy Project, check out the other posts in the Scrap Happy series.
Are you doing a happiness project? Are you doing a scrap happy project? What’s stopping you? Join me today!

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Stephanie