Dark Nights, Crafting And Clearing Out The Clutter*

Unlike a lot of people I have to say I quite like it when the clocks go back. I love the heat and the sunshine and of course as a blogger the extra light for photography but I think the dark nights are really underrated. There is really nothing better than being warm and cosy inside, when it cold and dark outside.

It's all too tempting to snuggle up in a blanket, with a hot drink, in front of a DVD, and just chill and believe me I do it, but I also use the cold, dark to actually get things done.

Like every year I've set myself a few tasks to complete before the clocks go forward again. As well as blogging and You Tubing my little heart out, I'm also going to start paper crafting again. I used to be a real craft bunny making greetings cards and scrapbooks and I really want to get back into it again. I'm thinking of making a holiday scrapbook chronicling mine and Mummy Lou's travels over the last few years, and I also fancy making myself a little bit of wall art for my room. Something else that I'm going to try and do is learn how to knit with an excellent teacher - Mummy Lou. She says I don't have the patience but I'm determined to prove her wrong!

I've got all the bits pretty much that I need to get started but there is just one thing stopping me - the spare room, and mountains and mountains of clutter! Perhaps my key tasks for Autumn / Winter is too sort out my stuff. Every room in the house contains things that belong to me and are any of them organised ? are they heck. The thing that I'm going to do first is to sort out the spare room, at the moment it contains a desk, an old computer, my printer, several very disorganised drawer units, some wardrobes, and lots and lots of bags and boxes full of stuff, basically for the last couple of years it's been a dumping ground.

Scary isn't it? but my plan is to sort it all out, pack up my old computer, get rid of some junk, do lots of shredding, and basically transform the rabble into a craft and blogging room.

The next task will be too attack my bedroom, and give it a good sort and clear out. I'm not a huge hoarder but I just seem to have an awful lot of stuff that I could probably do without. Clothes, shoes, make up, CD's, DVDs, computer games, books, and even cuddly toys, you name it, I'm going have to be tough and get rid of it, after all as the saying supposedly goes a tidy house equals a tidy mind.

Thankfully in this modern era, if you don't want something you can pretty much guarantee that somebody else will. I'm big on making donations to charity shops in my area and that's something that I will always do but sometimes we all need a little bit of extra cash, especially at this time of year Auction sites are the most obvious option and are something that I often utilise but there are no guarantees that your item will sell (my major problem!), and to be honest it takes quite a bit of time and effort, so this time round I'm going to try and sell some of the DVDs that I haven't watched for ages to Music Magpie.

You've probably all seen the TV adverts, the premise is simple you simple go on the site and enter the bar codes of you CD's, DVDs and your computer games to get an instant price of your items, then you send your items to them for free, and then they send you the cash. They don't just take CD's, and DVDs though, they also take electronics and technological items such as hair straighteners, iPods and games consoles, and even clothes. I'm definitely going to give them a go this winter to try and make myself a little bit of Christmas money whilst at the same time regaining some valuable space and getting myself organised.

I'll keep you guys posted as to how I got on with my crafty things, and of course how with my decluttering, and the creation of my new blogging and craft space x Do you make any plans for the dark nights like me? and do you have any plans to declutter this winter? let me know in the the comments x

(*This Post Was Written In Collaboration with Music Magpie)