My mom painted this (greenware) ceramic set for our 1st Christmas, 36 years ago! The kids would take turns hiding 1 piece each morning during Advent (& the others would look for it). My mom made a set for our daughter & her family, 10 years ago. Delightfully, our (toddler at the time) granddaughter played with Baby Jesus so much that he got lost!

My dh dislikes opening gifts in front of the giver, because of this expected reaction. He of course can say Thank You, but he can't fake the cheerful reaction.

Markers, Crayons, Colored Pencils, Colored Paper, Scissors, Tape, Glue Stick = essentials for me! I guess I see arts & crafts as a very fluid supply---you can ALWAYS buy more, so don't stress over what you end up donating. (Sounds like you can donate your surplus to the Kids' Flex Lab -- Win-Win-Win!)

For our young adult children, I just do creative cash gifts. You can hide $1 bills all around the living room, make them into origami, or google some other creative way to gift money. You can re-use gift bags & other things around the house as the containers for the cash.

I have ZERO experience with this, but there are several products called "Washing Machine Cleaner". Google, Amazon, etc. It may avoid the pitfalls of bleach.

If you have any experience tuning guitars, I'll nudge you to buy a piano tuning kit from Amazon & free software (Tune lab pro) . . . & DIY! It's like tuning 50 guitars (lots & lots of strings) but it's a straightforward process. I start in the middle (most often used keys) and work toward the ends. The kits are much less expensive than 10 years ago! I paid $50, now they're about $10. https://www.amazon.com/Tuning-Professional-Wrench-Hammer-Rubber/dp/B0BZJL31MM/ref=sr_1_7?crid=ZJ3AYYK8SGXH&keywords=piano+tuning+kit&qid=1698665397&sprefix=piano+tuning+ki%2Caps%2C211&sr=8-7

Agreeing with Ebay or Marketplace. Even if you don't sew, you can likely recognize similarities enough to sort them into similar stacks. (For example, I just love vintage Laura Ashley patterns . . . which are sold individually on ebay often) But it also depends on how much time & effort you can invest in selling. If you're on FB, you could possibly join a Vintage Sewing FB group & try to sell/donate that way. They are gems for the right niche of sewists! 😉 (Personally, I just wait for friends to donate their stash to me!)

You Can Do This! The benefit of LIW dress = it's baggy & doesn't have to fit precisely. Your dd will love this! Our dgd now wears the one my Mom made for our dd. ETA = I did make a new bonnet, as we had lost the original. It doesn't have to fit precisely either. We didn't have an apron.

Just chiming in that Post-Menopause and Empty Nest is truly amazing. Still dealing with our parents and our young adult kids . . . but it's just not as intense. Totally agree with stress affecting the body. Beginning to exercise daily-no-matter-what about 15 years ago really helped.

Very cloudy here, sadly, but I did find out our 2017 glasses . . . ready for next year. SIX years have passed!

Agreeing with PP, the profit needs to be at least $30 for me to do it. We all have an exaggerated idea of the value of our clutter, & trying to resell is an obstacle to finishing the task. Consider that donating really does help the thrift store shoppers. Your Library Book Sale can really, really use your donations to support your local library. Or make a pile of "Free" stuff at your curb, or at your homeschool meeting, or at your church/other group.

I initially began the online sign up process, on our state's ACA website, then realized you could talk with a Real Human. Our state's website had suggested local people (whose job it is to help you enroll) & their contact info. Lots and lots of information is required!

100% my perpetual fear. I'll add "The Enchanted April" by Elizabeth von Arnim. Because it made me recall that "Enchanted April" (1991) did a great job of adapting the book.

All the Light We Cannot See?

Rabbit trail (pun intended): We just pet-sat for outdoor rabbits, chickens, cats and dog. I totally underestimated the quantity of POOP we had to deal with. I'm still smelling it. I would think of some other way for the foster daughter to feel loved.

I would just laughingly remind them of all the problems the celebrity Prince had, when he died intestate. Or that Aretha Franklin's handwritten will that was found in the couch was deemed sufficient. Honestly I would just write something out on a piece of paper & have you both sign it. If there's NO other will, it's truly better than nothing. And I would refuse to be the executor......

I totally agree with OPs to Just Say No. However, Cremation Jewelry is in fact a Thing.

Agreeing!

The rest of us will love watching the launch on Youtube!

Youtube = https://www.youtube.com/@fromtheinside-outschoolofe1411/videos

Rabbit Trail, or smaller budget: Lego Puzzles, only $7 this week at Walgreens. Our 21yo son loved assembling the mini-fig one with his roommates. *** The Millennium Falcon and the Statue of Liberty are classic large Lego sets, which I think have been released in several different styles over the years. Don't be afraid of a vintage set from Ebay!

I'm now Friends with my now Retired Rural Mail Carrier. Last Christmas, I left a small treat in our mailbox every day of December. It's really really a brutal time, delivering all those Amazon boxes. *She* leaves a frozen water bottle in her mailbox for her mail carrier (on a hot day). (Also thank you notes when they do Click & Ship, stamp orders, etc.)

I discovered the Tyson chicken pieces on vacation . . . & haven't looked back since! Definitely use pre-cooked chicken like this. My dh eats low-fat, & the easiest (?!?) step was to swap out condiments. Fat free Ranch Dressing. Walmart's Light Vanilla Yogurt (it's like dessert), but dh uses it instead of butter. Baby carrots, fruits, vegetables = these are easy to serve. Bag salads Olive oil Spray, if needed to grease a pan for frying egg whites. Soup with BBQ sauce, Teriyaki Sauce . . . other lowfat broth flavorings. IMO: It's actually more likely that you'll find MIL doesn't WANT to eat lowfat. If she's over 80yo, I would just let this whole effort DROP, & let her enjoy her final years.

Your life seems excessively without margin right now. My main tool is to (try to) only have one day a week with outside commitments. We just ruthlessly say no to 90% of outside activities. Not a popular response, I realize!

Bumping this. My dh bought a spray can of this a few weeks ago, which is supposed to work for 4 sets of clothes. He hasn't used it yet, but I'll report back when he does. He gets ticks all the time while doing yardwork.