One Man's Trash is Another Man's Treasure

In August, I was on a bit o f a quest to find some slides & stuff stored away. (Refresh your memory here and here.) And if you want to see a modern-day picture of what you can do with granny squares, check this out! A friend suggested this could be the replacement for the duplicate item in the crochet post (thanks, Ann!) ... So that is the background on why my front entryway looks like this:I brought home box after box of 'treasures', things my mom, or I, thought were important enough to keep. I'm sure some of it is, but right now I can't even get to the front door. My dilemma is, what do I do with all this stuff? What's worth keeping? What will my kids care about? What do I have room for and what is the best way to store it? I'm very intimidated to start this project. Last night I went through a bag of stuffed animals and kept only 3 things:
Who but me would want this stuff? Fluffy (bear), Thumbelina (doll) & kittie blanket.
Fluffy has had major surgery to reattach eyes & nose many times. And he's still smiling.
Well loved, hugged and tugged so much his tummy is bare. He used to be white but I think a wash might be the death of him. He'll have to stay grimy.
I don't know if this doll came as Thumbelina, she doesn't look like any Thumbelina I've ever seen anywhere else, but she's always been my Thumbelina. She has a string in the back that makes a weird mechanical noise when pulled and I think the head used to move with what may have been a cry. Matted hair, stained & worn sleeper, Thumbelina has also been well loved.
And then there is kittie blanket. Can you see the faded kitty batting a ball of yarn below?
Another obviously well loved item. I remember thinking my blanket was the best, the softest and prettiest blanket ever. How do you part with these things?
And I fuss when Grace wants to bring hers everywhere, partly because I know this is a treasure and it will eventually be lost permanently as it's been lost temporarily many times, also because... it is a treasure that looks like a rag. See?
So my question is, how do YOU pick and choose what is worth keeping? And then what do you do with it? And what's your long-term plan for it? Will your kids want it or are you storing it so they can toss it in a landfill someday?

And how about this: How does thinking about these things, the items we can't seem to part with, change what I'm spending money on today? Does it change your spending? Does it change how you are planning Christmas gift giving?

It's changing how I am planning gifts this Christmas. Between this, and the current economy, I'm planning to make celebrating Jesus, celebrating family and celebrating memories made more important that rooms full of stuff bound for a landfill.

I'd love to hear what your plans are, and how you deal with your own treasures!

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
~Luke 12.34