March Tension Tamer challenge update & thrift store jewelry

Way back on February 21, I posted that I was going to set a challenge for myself for the month of March to tackle my out-of-control piles of stuff to be sold on Etsy & eBay. My challenge was taken from Peter Walsh's book Lighten up, and was to last from February 21 until March 31. My goal was to spend that time listing like crazy on Etsy/eBay/Craigslist and whatever hadn't been listed by March 31 had to be donated.

I'm ashamed to admit it, but I didn't do so hot! I did have some obstacles during the month of March: I spent 11 days out of town plus a day on either side of that for prep/cleanup. Two additional weeks after that, Maren was out of school for her break, meaning that during those days I got zero hours of kid-free work time. Also, we decided to repaint and recarpet our office and family room, which meant we had to spend several days moving every single item out of those rooms and then back in, and the office is where the computer lives so it's where I do all listing, shipping, etc. And then we had Maren's birthday party to plan and execute as well. I'm just full of excuses, aren't I? But truly, I don't feel that I had a fair amount of time to work on my listings. I did get some things listed and sold and that felt great, but I know that I could have done more if I'd had more time to devote.

Because of that, I've decided to extend my challenge a bit longer. I'm still in the process of redoing the office, where all of my inventory had been 'stored' in big plastic tubs sitting in the middle of the floor. When we pulled everything out so we could do the paint/carpet, it was so refreshing to have all the junk *gone* that I've been loath to bring it all back in. Having a new, pretty space definitely motivates me to keep things cleaner, and the way for me to keep things clean is to sell my stuff!

Another part of my challenge was that I would not bring in any new inventory during that time--which meant NO junking! I adhered to that rule until March 26, when Maren's birthday party was over and I needed to relax a bit. I hit the thrift and found a few fun sparkly things:

The cute vintage poodle brooch has green sparkly eyes, and he's for sale in my Etsy shop. Also for sale in the shop is the cool vintage Chicago souvenir brooch--the round bit is really a tiny perfume bottle! I'd keep it but I've never been to Chicago, so it holds no sentiment for me and it has to find a new home. My other finds are a big sparkly aurora borealis brooch, a tiny vintage bunny pin with sparkly red eyes, a homemade pin made with antique buttons, and an antique bullion piece that has been made into a brooch. Not a bad haul to end my thrift store diet and get me back on the wagon for a little while more!