Hello New Year goodbye junk, and a game of Keep Or Toss

I spent a large chunk of yesterday alone, in our basement, sorting though bins and boxes and stacks of our stuff that have been accumulating down there since 1997. You see, our basement has served almost exclusively as storage for us (with a small corner for laundry and another for a tool area) and so it has been used (and abused) as such. The problem is, if you have too much storage space you tend to fill it. And this is precisely what we’ve been doing for over a decade.

We’re going to be renovating our home and will be moving out in the Spring, so it’s important that we get rid of as much unwanted junk as we possibly can before we start packing. I really don’t want to pay someone to haul and store our garbage.

To make my work a little more fun for myself I tweeted as I went. Pretty soon I had a little Twitter cheering section (or maybe it was more of a support group?) that helped keep me going.

Care to play a game of KEEP or TOSS with some of the items I unearthed yesterday? Tell me, what would you have done with the following:

Bridal magazines from the year we were married (circa 1998):

My wedding dress, which I haven’t looked at since August 7, 1998. My kids thought it was a hilarious when I tried it on:

My grandmother’s parasol; fabric top, wooden handle, in perfect condition:

Kiddie art. This one says: “I have seen squirrels pick their noses”:

The first gift my husband gave to me (and behind the kettle is a chocolate advent calendar. That’s where he hid my engagement ring when he proposed):

My husband’s old textbook:

My high school graduation photo:

A complete set (at least I think it is) of E.T. cards:

A cool-looking Coke can:

Champagne flutes that were an engagement gift:

What would you keep? What would you toss? I’ll tell you what I decided to do with each item in the comments below in a couple of days. :)