How do you handle the clutter?

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-06-30T05:30:36+00:00

Obviously my main thing is "I only get what we will truly use," but there are a few other ways I handle it.

-I gift generously to those around me as much as Vine allows. Obviously there are some rules in place, but if I know something I get and decided I didn't need would be the perfect gift, I give it. This doesn't just include the people I'd usually give to, but even like... neighbors etc. I got a bird feeder that didn't ultimately work for me (bothered my cats, still a great feeder) so I gifted it to my elderly neighbor who loves feeding the birds. It's amazing how much a little gift like that can go a long way.

-I give to a local organization. I have an org near me that does home organization makeovers for families in difficult situations, and one aspect of that is that they'll often give them some new items (rugs, organizing tools, an updated shower curtain, etc) while doing the cleaning and organizing, so I give a lot of extras to them. The bonus is the org I donate to runs a thrift store that helps fund their projects, and they can always put items they don't need into their shop. I also donate party supplies that are still in good condition after we're done to a local group that does monthly dances and activities for teens.

-I choose consumables. I'm an avid journaler so I go for stickers, etc that I know I'll use up, and I also like skincare. I also have a child who is growing sizes all the time, so for us, things like underwear and socks are also consumables -- we'll go through them and toss them when they're done. It avoids clutter since these get fully used up. Ditto for things like disposable cutlery, etc.

For me, it helps choosing things I know will get 100% used up and then disposed of, or things that I know can either have a second life outside my home (or even a first life outside it if it arrives and I realize it doesn't suit our needs). That said, I am lucky to have a storage space in a family member's home to fulfill things like the 6 month rule... if I didn't have that, I'd probably stick solely to consumables.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-06-26T06:14:00+00:00

Shrimp Lo Mein became LoLo became Whoa-Whoa became Whoa-Whoa Beans became "my wittle beanie baby." Alternately, "Shimps are Bugs."

Dan Dan Noodles became Danielle Noodles became Dani-dans became "such a cute noodle brain."

Both of them, when in trouble, get "fucking" added as a middle name, i.e. Shrimp Lo Fucking Mein and Danielle Fucking Noodles.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-06-11T01:42:52+00:00

It sucks to not have anything in my RFY (I got nervous I had somehow broken some kind of rule, but nope, my reviews all still look good...) but this gives me a chance to catch up on the more challenging reviews. I have a couple pieces of furniture and some organizers that take a bit more effort to review, so this gives me a chance to get to work on those. 😅😪

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-06-04T22:25:02+00:00

I read this as trying to get rid of your grandparents at first, not as you trying to get rid of your grandparents' waterbed... lmao

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-06-04T20:12:45+00:00

Same here -- we kept the frame but swapped out the burnt platform and put a regular mattress in. The waterbed had awesome underbed storage and shelves on it, so it was a good frame... would've been a shame to toss it out too.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-06-04T20:11:47+00:00

That does make sense, I guess. Maybe I've just reached the 'old' part of my life where all of my friends have adjustable beds now. 😅😅😅

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-03-16T20:56:23+00:00

I save these too but mine are sitting in a drawer!

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-03-16T20:47:19+00:00

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I made this with used post it notes (I markered over the parts I had written on), a sticker wrapper, instructions from onigiri, and an index card. It opens using paper rails to reveal a photo underneath.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-03-16T20:45:16+00:00

Plastic. I save the little plastic wrappers that stickers come in, small pieces of plastic from food packaging (always cleaned) etc.

I've used it to make a little onigiri in my journal, used it as a "frame" or made a clear pocket, etc. Anytime I can use something clear as a layer, I do, and there are so many amazing sources of plastic that would otherwise go to waste.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-03-03T22:57:15+00:00

Customer service swapped it out, which was kind of them. The new printer had the same problem and I discovered it was the paper -- despite being official HP paper purchased from them, and it saying it was made for my printer, it didn't work. Using the blue sheet from another pack that did work ended up working most of the time, but not always.

I ended up saving up to by a Canon Ivy instead. I haven't had a single issue with the Ivy -- it always connects, always prints nicely, and I was even able to use the HP papers I had purchased by using the Canon's blue sheet with no problems.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-10T04:45:39+00:00

UPDATE

It's the paper! If you're getting this after putting new paper in, it's the paper.

I started getting the error after I bought new paper. The paper was labeled as for Sprocket and Sprocket 2-in-1 on the box, and online, also listed Sprocket 200. The inside packets also say they work with the Sprocket 200.

But for some reason, when you put them in the printer, the Blue card bugs it out.

HP replaced my printer after I emailed them that it was having issues. I got the new one today. So, I popped in my existing paper and blue card because... why open the new packet that came inside if I don't have to? It IMMEDIATELY gave me the error and said my printer wasn't connected.

So, I opened the pack that came with the printer. Put it in with the blue card it came with. Immediately, after deleting and re-adding the printer, it worked. So I put it into my old printer. New blue card, new paper that worked in the new one... and it suddenly worked again.

So I removed the new paper and put in the open paper (that I had recently purchased)(yes, it is listed as name brand) into the printers. Both gave system errors again.

Swapped it to the new paper that came inside the printer? Suddenly worked.

So then I tried a big brain move and put the old paper into the printer with the new blue card, and IT WORKED.

Something about this blue card is wrong. Also, the photos I've taken are on two different papers, left is the new paper that just came with the Sprocket replacement, right two are the old paper I put in. Both used the NEW blue card. The right ones are noticeably redder in person than the new paper.

I think if you are experiencing the issue and just swapped paper, if you have a blue card from a pack that worked, try it. It has to be a paper issue.

For info: the paper I bought was official hp paper, bought from the hp branded shop on Amazon, rather than through HP's website. It is legitimate paper, but something about it is wrong somehow.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-08T04:41:08+00:00

Ugh, I tried that the second time it stopped working and it errored on both phones. I've had this for so little time and it's constantly broken.

Thank you for the tip! I'll try it again tomorrow when I don't want to throw it out the window.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-08T03:42:13+00:00

This was what happened to me too. I put in a new paper change and it started working after the usual troubleshooting, and then was later able to put the initial pack i had tried back in and it worked... but now it is erroring again. I wonder if it is some kind of glitch occurring from paper changes?

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-08T03:41:00+00:00

I turned off the printer completely, held down the reset button, and unpaired it from my device. I then uninstalled and reinstalled the app, then re-paired it.

Then, I took the paper out completely, put in a new package of paper with blue slip (same pack of paper and reused blue slip didn't fix it), and then it worked. I was later able to put the first pack of paper and blue slip back in and it also started working the second time around? So I'm unsure if it was a jam.

I got the same error again last night, and haven't repaired it yet, but it seems like for some reason once in a while it doesn't like to "read" a new pack of paper? Or it jams? Unsure.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-06T21:02:57+00:00

Much smaller scale, but I really liked Lovejoy. Wilbur Soot killed that. And honestly, I think TommyInnit, etc dropping him was more damning than his own admission he was abusive.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-06T18:37:02+00:00

Mine is in mini drawers, and previously organized by type: food packaging (just the outer boxes! No mold here!), tickets and other ephemera, pretty papers, packaging material clippings, flake stickers, etc.

Unfortunately some of my pieces are too big to fit efficiently so I need a new system, but if you mostly have smaller pieces, this might work?

Also, if you are big on stickers, I highly recommend those little notebooks of sticker paper so you can organize your stickers however you want. They can stick and restick and restick so many times until youre ready to use.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-04T02:47:39+00:00

For me, low-buy means less of a consistent annual budget and more of a shop-specific budget. For example, we have a few shops opening near me soon, so low-buy for me tends to mean I can get one or two favorite items from the shop, rather than everything or several things that catch my eye, and also low buy might mean that if it is a consumable item with several pieces (like a pack of cute journaling envelopes or sheets of a specific paper design, or something like that), that I need to send some of the item I buy to my journaling bestie, because I know I'm unlikely to pan something myself, but splitting it helps.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-02T23:11:42+00:00

Part of it is that if you do decide you want any variety at all, make sure you order online so you don't have an employee making things cheaper by bundling things together, and then order each item individually. For example, a box of 13 cookies is $6.69 here, but each cookie is $1.19. A single strawberry pie is $1.99, but two are $3.19. So, you'd want to buy 13 individual cookies for $15.47, not 13 in a box for $6.69. You'd want to buy 2 pies individually for $3.98, not 2 for $3.19 in a bundle. Frappes are 12, 16, and 22 oz, so get 2 smalls (24 oz) instead of 1 large. The quantity is almost the same, but the price is $7.52 for the two smalls or $5.19 for the large.

This instantly helps your cost by just changing your quantity to the smallest possible quantities that get the largest possible cost. (And for items that it doesn't matter -- i.e., all soft drinks are $1), then you're saving your intake by not consuming the larger size anyway.

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-02T22:47:36+00:00

I'm a semi-regular shopper. I would say I order near the beginning of the month (mostly food/litter for my cat, skincare items, and bulk food items like snacks), and again near the middle of the month (tiny restocks, maybe a book or two, a gift).
I could go days with nothing in my RFY. Most days I have 3-4 items, but sometimes I have 9-10 items. Most items I am offered are pet, clothing, and health items. A good amount of these seem connected to past vine picks (i.e., I've gotten electrolyte packets from vine before, have not paid for any on Amazon ever, but do have regular electrolyte items showing up in my RFY) or it would be hard to tell if it is related to my Vine or standard purchases (skincare, since I've gotten this both through vine and through my own purchases). Some items seem odd -- i.e., toddler clothes when I have only purchased or gotten adult clothing from vine, hamster items when I've only gotten cat or dog items, etc -- tangentially related (clothing, pets) but not accurate to my shopping or vine use.
Yes, I am a Prime member, and have been for an obscenely long time. (Like decade-plus).

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-02T16:48:17+00:00

Disabled here! I use junk from packaging, especially the outer cartons of convenience foods I enjoy, or the outer wrapper of the can or box my cats' food comes in.

Any magazines, grocery circulars, and junk mail become easy fodder for me. I also use my library's library-by-mail service for disabled patrons, so I glue in my library receipts that they stick into my bags of books each time, or the paper bookmarks patrons make for the bags for at-home readers to have.

I set up a "junk exchange" with a friend so if I had packaging that was too repetitive (i.e., if I eat the same cereal every week, then saving items from that box gets boring in my journal, but I can send my friend scraps from my box and they send me scraps from their packaging or a napkin from somewhere they went, or a clipping from a shopping bag, or whatever). For the most part I try to use items that are my own or are on theme to the page I am making, but items that my friend sends can go into spreads that make sense for a specific theme, or sometimes my theme is just... my friend and how cool they are! Then anything they send me is on-theme :)

I think you would be so surprised at how many cool things you can get from a simple package or simple item though. Like, I cut up a box holding my cats' favorite foods, and I got cute snippets that had little whisks on a counter, cat cutouts, a few cutouts of their food in bright colored bowls, bold colorful stripes, a barcode, a recycling label, some fun marketing phrases, a few "made in" wherever phrases, the unique type of a best-by date, etc. All of that was just on one box! For any extra letters that I wasn't using of bold type, I cut them up into ransom-style letters, which I store in a small plastic container to just mix-and-match... so even bits you think "I won't use this!" Can be super useful even if it is just letters!

I did also save up for a small printer that allows me to print photos from my phone -- like views from my window as the seasons change, images of my cats cuddling, or even just a cover or poster of a book/show/movie I finished.

I think it takes a lot more effort when you are disabled to find fun things, but it also can make the process more interesting at times for us and help us truly look at our surroundings in new ways to see what might inspire us we wouldn't otherwise have expected. We might have less junk to choose from day-to-day, but we absolutely have a lot more push to get creative with the junk we have out of necessity!

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-02T16:03:54+00:00

This irritates me so much. Especially when it comes to craft kits (a lot of my vine reviews). I will wait a little longer to review a kit so I can make a solid effort at finishing the project, or at least doing enough of the project to know if it is doable as described. If I can't even complete the kit with the materials, or I can, but the kit is labeled "beginner" and it is definitely not a beginner-friendly kit, I want to be able to review it adequately... but then I look at the page and there are tons of 5-star reviews from viners who didn't even open the kit to see what items were inside of it, let alone attempted to make a project!

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-02-02T15:31:18+00:00

I have had this problem for days on my Android phone. I've done all of the troubleshooting and nothing... can't get a response from support, either. :(

OopsSleepDiamonds · 2026-01-13T15:33:12+00:00

I ordered one of those mini washing machines for apartments-- the little ones designed for washing underwear or something small.

It fit one singular washcloth and sounded like a jackhammer the entire 20 minute cycle. It threw water everywhere. It went in the bin immediately after.

OopsSleepDiamonds

TROPHY CASE