Craftier than Burnt Toast

With the suggestion of a Stash Reduction Contest and the allure of bonus points, how could I resist? My projects so far:

We recently got our stuff out of storage in Arizona. However, not quite everything made it. This platter came back missing a screw and washers. Not so useful that way.

I took a trip to the hardware store, and found what I needed. They didn't have plastic washers like I wanted, but they did have little plastic discs that I could turn into washers. Plate fixed for under $4. Points: it cost a little money, but not too bad. And now it's good as new. 20 points for this.

For those who have been to my apartment, you might have noticed something in that first picture. That's right. My dining room table no longer belongs to the computer. In fact, my table even gets place mats these days. This aspect of apartment organization was made possible by our downstairs neighbor who moved out. He gave us a desk, which relieved the table of that task. We still don't really eat at the table, but at least it looks better. 5 points.

This little Indian purse of mine has been kicking around for years. But the stitching had come completely out and the ties were no where to be found. Last night I decided it was finally time to do something. First I got out the leather cleaner. Then the sewing stuff. My thumb and forefinger are still sore from working the needle through the tough leather. The ties were a little tricky. I rummaged around the house for a bit and settled on the shoelace from one of the hiking boots that returned from Arizona but fit neither Marty nor I. Perfect! I would give myself 20 points for this, but I feel a little bad that when I give Good Will the boots, one of them will be missing a shoelace. So I'll just take 15 for this one.

And finally, today's project was to do something in that spare bedroom of ours. Photos. When I started we had a disorganized mass of pictures that took up two plastic bins plus a whole other box.
It took me a lot longer than I thought it would. My last camera was an APS one, so I had about 30 film thinggers. I was very excited when I discovered that I could actually identify (at least by year and location) what each roll contained. As for the pictures themselves: I did a presort--pictures that others in the family might be more interested in, high school and before, trash, and semi-recent (OK, this category extended back about 7 or so years). After the presort my main focus was on the semi-recent group. I organized them chronologically and put 300 of my favorites into an album that we got as a wedding present but that has remained empty until today. The rest fit nicely into just one plastic bin and a photo box. (Strange how much it helps to throw away the pictures that are just bad). Oh, for those who might be interested, I was thinking that I'd bring the pictures in the "pictures that others in the family might be more interested in" category with me to Thanksgiving and Christmas (I have a bunch of Pooka and Harvey's wedding reception, and both Ree's and Boss's high school graduations as well as many, many more). The total cost: free. I got to use both the photo box and the album in the functions for which they were made, and as a bonus, it freed up a plastic bin. Plus, I had a good time reminiscing. Points: at the start of the day I thought this would be a 20 point project. It got bigger than I thought I would. In the end I'd say it was a 50 pointer. But, I've lost one of the film canisters from one of the rolls of film from our wedding, so minus 5 for letting the photo situation get to this point in the first place.

Total point this post: I don't know. You go back and add it up! :)