<p>After twice having contracts fall through and losing my enthusiasm for house-clearing, we are expecting to close on September 15th and I have been taking a carload to the Goodwill every day or two. I also managed to find a home for a huge box of wool scraps through the Weavers Guild and our running club picnic on Saturday will use up all the miscellaneous paper goods that found their way into my pantry over the last twenty-five years. I’ve sorted the better toys by age and put them in Rubbermaids for my imaginary grandchildren. I’m dropping a bunch of other toys at my sister’s. She has a real grandchild and I can postpone deciding about those items for a few years. Onward and upward . . . back to the attic. (The cooler weather we are having in the east is a blessing for me. :))</p>
<p>I had no idea we were talking about dolls. My own childhood dolls are in deep storage. Sometimes I worry they are lonesome, but like to imagine they are hibernating. My boys didn’t want dolls. Their most important stuffed animals are in drawers where they can easily access them on visits home. As far as I know, one of my brothers (over 50) still keeps a battered bear in his underwear drawer.</p>
<p>also in deep storage: one of the worlds largest lego collections, museum dinosaur collections, handmade toys.</p>
<p>no problem deaccessioning hundreds of plastic action figures</p>
<p>I made the boys take the D&D books, which I am given to understand are priceless both on the open market and in terms of sentimental value. </p>
<p>Imaginary grandkids – I love it, 1moremom!</p>
<p>We’ve got a huge box of ethnic/cultural dolls MIL & FIL acquired in their travels. Not sure what to do with them. Most are wearing peasant/celebration attire from various European/Soviet countries collected during the 1950’s and 60’s. Thoughts?</p>
<p>(does anyone remember the dolls from around het world from the gas stations) </p>
<p>arabrab, maybe a teacher would like those dolls to use in class? Or a children’s museum?</p>
<p>I am cleaning out our attic and was reminded to “always ask your kids for permission before getting rid of anything”. MIL was cleaning her attic out while DH was in college and tossed all of his baseball cards out. This was before “donating” was in. He was quite upset.</p>
<p>I’ve just thrown out all my dolls except my favorite. She is a 1960s Sasha doll with brown skin and blue eyes. (My parents were fairly forward thinking; we are “white”.) To add to her mixed up ethnicity I named her Nachiko. She often hangs around in the guest room and I have to admit, I change her outfits with the seasons so she’s not too warm or cold.
<a href=“Sasha Morgenthaler - Wikipedia”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasha_dolls</a></p>
<p>My SIL just blew through town with her four kids and decided to load the Pachinko, which was on Craigslist, into her minivan. DH has an appointment with someone who’s going to go through the vinyl and buy what he wants. (That’s a big step.) </p>
<p>A tip from a friend who played Div I basketball in her younger years-- she popped the engraved plates off her major trophies and donated the trophies. I suppose one might then mount all the plates on a plaque.</p>
<p>Can anyone tell me why I saved all the homemade (not sewn) Halloween costumes? Did I believe my son might one day want to dress up again as a five dollar bill?</p>
<p>Sounds like a real find for someone at the thrift store, 1moremom. I wonder if D’s classmate’s Rutabaga (!) costume for kindergarten Halloween is still in circulation. It was darling, though I had no idea at the time what a rutabaga even looked like. (I was also in awe at the mom’s sewing skills; something I dearly lacked. Cutting holes in sheets for a ghost costume was somewhat beyond my competency given the number of attempts that took.)</p>
<p>No, it was made out of green poster board (by my son). We were all about costumes made with cardboard, scissors and paint. (My sister was one of those moms who made the heirloom handsewn costumes.)</p>
<p>I still have the following:
- cow costume (S2, age 2)
- dalmation costume (S1, age 2 & 3) – both with matching headpieces
- various capes and robes from elem school. </p>
<p>All lovingly hand made. </p>
<p>Also:
- a stack of camouflage hats from S2’s Bar Mitzvah party. (His friends wore them well into HS)
- and while we’re at it, my wedding gown (which I also sewed).</p>
<p>If anyone has embroidery threads, trims or cotton quilting fabric they are looking to get rid of, I do fabric art and quilting for a homeless shelter and would be glad to provide a home…</p>
<p>My newly minted DIL wore the dress her grandmother and mother wore. She sews, too, including Roman shades, a futon cover, and the aprons she and my son wore when they served the wedding cake to their guests. :)</p>
<p>My wedding dress is up in the attic; it was never boxed. I should take a look at it and maybe take it in to the dry cleaner.</p>
<p>^^^Or the dump. 
</p>
<p>Ouch! Maybe I don’t even want to look. </p>
<p>I used my first wedding dress to make Halloween costumes for the kids at the hospital where I worked shortly after my divorce. It made several costumes for 5 year old girls all from one dress. I’ve been good about keeping our costume bin cleaned out. The only things in there are things that fit adults. </p>
<p>I have a bin of Lincoln Logs, some classic children’s books, some Barbie stuff that D wouldn’t part with, blocks, Marbleworks, and some classic board games which I will keep in case of grandchildren. If grandchildren don’t happen, they’ll get tossed. It is good for grandma to have some special “grandma’s house” toys. My daughter has a bin of Beanie Babies and one of stuffed animals. I’m purchasing Rubber Maid bins to put the kids’ stuff in, labeled, so when they’re done with college and on their own, they can take it and do what they want with it. </p>
<p>I was finally able to unload the four large bins of Barbies, accessories and that god-awful Barbie hotel! My nephew’s two young girls are going to have a blast with them!</p>
<p>I also came across all the Shirley Temple dolls my mom bought for my D over the years. D said I could give them all away except for the one in the yellow party dress! LOL! I secretly kept them all for my imaginary grandchildren.</p>
<p>Any Washington DC area folks - I saw an ad in the WaPo this AM for a place called Wonder Book that claims to buy ALL books. Anyone have experience with this?
We have some old textbooks, etc to get rid of and I am willing to drive to drop them off (they say they will pick up large collections, but I don’t think what we have qualifies). I don’t care if if get a penny for them, but I just cant bear to throw away books.</p>
<p>Ken, Midge, Alan, Skipper, Skooter, Ricky, Stacey, Tutti, and Kelly. We have at least one of each. Not to mention aleph-naught Barbies. I am not ready to deal with them yet. And for the most part, these are not the dolls with the personalities. :)</p>
<p>Fallgirl…most places do not accept textbooks. They just don’t. Call them and ask. But really it’s a burdens for most places because then they have to dispose of them. </p>
<p>I don’t like to get rid of books either, but I do recognize that old textbooks are right up there with the notes in spirals binders from those classes. No one wants them. </p>
<p>So, I take them to the single stream recycling at my dump. I do have to remove hard covers to do this.</p>
<p>There are charities that will take textbooks. Our College of Engineering has a bin for Textbooks for Africa. You might be able to find an organization that will use them if you do a google search.</p>