Clutterbug - Real-Life Hacks and Tips to Declutter, Organize and Clean your Home Fast - The Unexpected Christmas Trend Everyone’s Talking About (And How to Get It!) | Clutterbug Podcast # 296

Episode Date: October 20, 2025

Get ready to deck the halls, vintage-style! In this episode, I chat with Dayna Isom Johnson, Etsy’s official Trend Expert, to uncover the biggest holiday trend of the year — “Grandma’s Christmas.” From cozy plaid patterns and rich, nostalgic colors to handmade ornaments, gingerbread everything, and sentimental traditions, this year’s Christmas decor is all about bringing back warmth, heart, and authenticity to the holidays. Dayna shares why and how trends change, what’s inspiring shoppers in 2025, and how you can easily bring Grandma’s cozy Christmas magic into your own home — without spending a fortune. Whether you love DIY holiday crafts, vintage Christmas decorating, or simply want to make your home feel more heartfelt and handmade, this episode will leave you inspired to slow down and celebrate the season with soul. ✨ In this episode:   The story behind Etsy’s “Grandma’s Christmas” trend   Why handmade, nostalgic decor is making a comeback   Simple ideas to bring vintage charm into your home   How to shop small and support makers this holiday season   If you love Christmas decor ideas, Etsy finds, cozy home styling, or nostalgic holiday vibes, this episode is a must-listen! 🎄 Learn more from Dayna Isom Johnson: → Etsy Trends: https://www.etsy.com/trends → Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/DaynaIsomJohnson → Etsy’s Holiday Guide 👇 What’s your favorite nostalgic holiday tradition — baking, crafting, or decorating? Tell me in the comments! And if this episode fills you with festive inspiration, please like, subscribe, and share it with a friend who loves Christmas magic. Because this season, it’s all about heartfelt homes and handmade joy. ❤️       You can find more Clutterbug content here: Website: http://www.clutterbug.me YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clutterbug TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clutterbug_me Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clutterbug_me/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Clutterbug.Me/       #clutterbug #christmasdecor #holidaytrends #vintagechristmas #etsy #grandmaschristmas #cozyhome #handmadeholiday #podcast #mondaymotivation Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The holidays are descending upon us. I know, it's a scary time. I feel like where did the summer go, but let's get real. It's almost Christmas time. We got to not only shop, decorate our home, and this is scary for us, clutter bugs, because this is when we start accumulating maybe more than we need or falling into trends. So today I have an incredible guest. We're speaking with Dana Isam Johnson. And not only is she so fun, but she is the trend. expert at Etsy. It is her job to know what's up and coming, what's trending, but also to make sure that we don't fall into the trap of just buying for the sake of buying. She's also a judge on NBC's making it with Amy Poehler and Nick Offman. This is going to be such an incredible conversation.

So just like always, you're not allowed to passively. Just listen. Get up and take action. You're about to start decorating your home within the next month or so. Let's make room. clear the clutter, clear your kitchen table, let go of things you're not using and loving to make room for a home that feels like a hug. All right, grab a trash bag and buckle up because this is an awesome interview. Hello, Dana. Welcome to the Clutterbug podcast. Hi, Cass. Thanks so much for having me. I'm excited. I've been deep diving your Instagram and it is a wonderful place of inspiration. Thank you so much. It's awesome. You are so crafty and I mean, you're nailing what's on trend right now. That is literally your job. I didn't know this was a real job. Please explain. Yes. So in all fairness, Cass, I did make my job up. So let's let's let's let's you know set the tone there. Of course there are other forecasters in the world. But specifically my role was something that I was fortunate to just,

be able to create myself. So I found myself at Etsy for a couple of years, probably three or four years. I was working on another team. And I just kind of landed in this incredible opportunity for me to be able to talk about how people are shopping, what they are buying, what our seller stories are, how I can really give them a larger platform and share what their stories are. And so from then on, I just kind of said to my higher ups, listen, I'd really like to be able to do this and to turn this into a job. And they believed in me and I'm forever grateful for that. And I've been doing it ever since.

That's so amazing. I find this, I find trends fascinating because it's like, does one singular person start it? Like, how does this wave? It is. It's like, a wave. And I see this a lot in organization, decluttering, like home design, but you're going deep into the weeds with like so that and so much more. But how does this happen? Yeah. So specifically for Etsy, which I think is what is super special about the trend edits that we report is that it's all rooted in customer-centric search data. So while a typical retailer, the way that they act on trends is to go from, you know, a president, a CEO, a creative director, that line of executives who kind of set the tone, right? What we're doing is looking at what our

sellers are creating and they are the source of the imagination. They are the source of the trend. So many of the trends are emerging from their own imagination. And so, you know, when when you have access to over five million creative minds, you are able to really source items that are speaking to so many different customers. And so, you know, like I said, when it comes to what we're reporting out on, this is what people are searching for in real time. Many times that's within a three-month time period

that's compared to the same time the previous year. So some kind of way, these creators are just able to let their, imaginations run fly and then the consumers are reacting to that in such a powerful way. I like that. I have a feeling like low-rise jeans coming back was just one dude, you know, in some Etsy's different. It's like the people are deciding because nobody likes low-rise jeans. And yet, how is this a trend that's back? I love that. Yes, you're right. Some are just the these ridiculous things that everyone's just copying. But what you're seeing in Etsy is like real life, what people want and what people need.

Yeah. And I think when you think specifically about the Etsy customer, they're coming for very specific reasons. They're coming, first of all, to start their search in discovery land, right? They want to discover something wonderful, something magical, something well made, something that perhaps is vintage and tells a story, but they know that they're supporting at the end of the day a real person. They know who their money is going towards. So it's just, it's a feel better purchase. And it's also just more of a conscious, driven purchase. So I have a question, because you're the expert. I've noticed a trend in like home organizing, home design. Let me know

if you think I'm on to something. There was this, uh, really long period of time where it was all about minimalism, right? And you have, and everybody was, and this was great for me because I teach people how to declutter. So it was like a yolo time over here at Clutterbug headquarters. But even I might have taken it a little too far. I painted my entire house white. I love it. But now I'm seeing people want their nostalgic for old things and maybe a little more maximalism is coming in, not clutter, not clutter, but like personality to a space. Absolutely. It's actually one of the leading messages that I'm talking about specifically for the holiday season is that people are leading with their personal style, their personal aesthetic,

and really kind of tossing out the door, this notion of things being cookie cutter and having to follow the book on X, Y, and Z. I think now more than ever is a time that we're seeing, not one decade that's really leading the charge. You know, 20 years ago, it was very easy to predict trends because you just knew every 20 to 25 years, the same thing was going to come back. You know, it's very cyclical. But today, you see multiple decades having moments at the same time, influences from the 90s, influences from Y2K, influences from the 70s, all at the same time.

And then when it comes to your nostalgic bit and your. your maximalism. So to start with maximalism first, you think these bright colors, pile on textures, prints, right? Like really having fun with it. This is what people are wanting that dopamine fix. Like they are injecting the fun. They want to, again, let loose and bring in the colors and the prints that bring them joy. And one of the trends that's really hot right now that we're talking about that's directly aligned with this is called Playhouse. And when that comes to fruition within decor, that's like, okay, can you find ceramics that are a bit cartoonish? Can you find items that have playful shapes but are still functional, to your point, right?

And then that second half of nostalgia, I have this other trend that we're titling Nona Holiday. And it's all about dialing back to grandma, you know, and thinking about like, what was in grandma's kitchen? that made me so happy. And I need to bring that back because I think especially within my work, too, a lot of seeing the why behind, we love a why behind, right, is what's happening in the state of the world, what's happening culturally, and that has a great deal of effect on the things that we want to purchase

and especially put within our homes. Oh, I'm seeing this. I'm so excited because I'm seeing this. same thing. So I don't, I'm not like a trend follower, but because I create content, I kind of want to create content that's inspiring to people. So I, I know it's not Christmas yet, but it's right around the corner. So I went on the pottery, I went on the pottery barn website because I'm always like, give me inspiration. And it looked like my grandma's living room as a kid growing up for Christmas. It's all like the tartan and the plaid and the reds and the greens and the,

Everything looked homemade. There was like hand knitted. It looked like pillows and gingerbread everything. But like kind of messy gingerbread. Like it looks like a DIY. And I was like, this feels like what we're missing. I think there was such a long period of this like cold, you know, people's whole trees were white. I did that.

Okay. I did. I did that. And it's like, what are we doing? There should be homemade ornaments on the tree, and it should be, you know, decorating cookies and they look messy, not these fancy crazy things. So this is exciting. Yeah, I love it. To me, this kind of resurgence of crafting and really putting craftsmanship at the forefront.

I think everyone else is kind of coming up on this idea of, oh, this. well-made, handmade thing people like, they're into it. And it's like, yeah, because it feels like a warm hug. And it feels like you made a good purchase. That's why. And it feels like memories. Yes. That's the thing I think we were really missing for a long time. We were all decluttering and we were trying to simplify, which is so important. But maybe we were also kind of letting go of that nostalgic, the things that, like the thing I remember most about Christmas is decorating the gingerbread cookies with my grandma and sitting on her couch and like a pile of mismatched pillows where she had crocheted the covers. And, you know, like, just, oh, it's all cozy and

lots of different color lights. Everything in my house is now just white lights. You know what I mean? It's just all white lights. It's not very. And that's, I want my kids. to have the same cozy, warm memories of the holidays. And I think all of us are kind of on the same page. And maybe that's a root of a trend is like this part of us where we're wanting more. It's not really just about what to buy. It's about how we want to feel. For sure. And you know what? Honestly, Cass, I think a lot of it has to do too with this little thing right here. because we are consistently scrolling, right? That means we have content being pushed at us nonstop.

So it is more important than ever to stay true to who you are. Sure, be inspired. That's fine. But it's not about copying. It's about being able to really have a true reflection of yourself, of your aesthetic, of your personal style throughout every portion of your life, whether it's the earrings that you wear to the throw pillows that are on your couch. Okay. So how do we find that balance then? Like, how do we not give in to the impulses when trends are constantly changing? Like, listen,

on my phone, I just saw this tape thing. You buy it. It's really huge. And it's like a, and you pull the tape out and then you cut it into little strips so you can easily wrap a gift. It's like two feet. Okay, it's huge. And I was like, part of me was like, this sounds cool. Then I'm like, stop it, Cass. Where would you store that? And I have this online group of 30,000 women who are trying to declutter their home.

And all of them are posting this dumb tape dispenser in there. Like, should I buy this? And I'm like, this is why we have a cluttered home. This is something trending on social media. They probably paid for it to like show up in our feed. And we're falling for this. And none of us really want this thing. So how, because it's ridiculous there, I said it.

But how do we know like what we're really craving and what we're kind of being told we're craving? And, you know, it's strategy on their part, right, to try to make you think that you needed. The number one thing to do is to pause, take a step back and say, wait, does this really align with number one my style number two is this really functional like a function that's needed in my space and three it's just like again take a look at your overarching space like i'm in my home i'm taking a step back right and i'm like will this work will this work or is this just something that i am falling into make it make sense for me Mm-hmm. How crafty are you? Are you like a crafty crafter? Because this, I go on Etsy, and I love Etsy so much, but everything I see, I'm like, I can make that. I can't. I can't make it. But I try. And now I have an entire room dedicated to craft supplies, which I'm staring at right now because I have three half projects I've started, not finished. Are you like,

a huge crafter. I do enjoy it very much. But I think mine is more based in seasonality because I love celebrating things. I love it. I love it. I love throwing a birthday party. I love throwing a dinner party. I love Halloween.

I'm going bonkers over. I'm in the thick of it right now as we speak, right? But I, so my crafting leans more into the celebratory seasonal vibes. I'm not like a, I'm not just going to needlepoint just to needlepoint. It's not my bag. I'm with you. I'm with you there. If I'm crafting, it's a wreath for my front door or it's, you know, a centerpiece or it's

homemade decorations. Right now I'm spray painting a bunch of dollar store little houses to, and then brown. so I can put chalk marker on them, like paint, so they can look like gingerbread houses, because this is on trend. I'm falling for the trend. Listen, it's a whole thing. So, but is this just going to add to clutter? Like, is this going to be out next year? And is it okay to sometimes indulge? How do we stop this, I guess, from being a clutter contributor, all these new trends. Well, also first, like, I think it's, it's, it's a good to take a step back and really ask yourself, like, what do I like to do? Because sometimes we also fall into the, like, let me try

everything. Do you really have time to try everything? I don't, like, I would love more time in my day, but I don't have it. So I think it's, it's being intentional with your time. And when you're intentional with your time, then you can be more selective. So to your point of you're making your wreath, right? You know that you want that reef to go up. This is also a controversial question when you start putting up holiday decorations, you know, but whether you're an after Thanksgiving or you're a day after Halloween or whatever your date may be, like give yourself concrete dates so that you don't have the pile up. Because if you're aiming for a finish line, it's never going to pile up.

Like you got to give yourself a cutoff. And then when it comes to just the handmade thought in general, handmade is never going to go out of style. Like that to me shouldn't even be considered a trend. I think for so long, whether within fashion or home decor, we got so caught up in the fast fashion of it all because we're so used to getting things immediately that we, can sometimes lose sight on really investing the money in something that is long lasting.

That's how we can reduce the stuff. Reduce the stuff by investing the money in the top quality crafting items. Like, you know, the things that you can pass down to your children, your nieces, your nephews, not the thing that sits in your closet that's piled up. And you're like, oh, yeah, remember when I started that thing? and now I have all this stuff. Gotta go into it with intention. That's so true.

When I help clients declutter, it's like, they're like, oh, that can go, that can go, that can go. But you come across something homemade and it feels like love. They're like, oh, no, that was my grandmother. She made that. And it's so much more than just something that they bought in a store. It has meaning and it has love. It does. It feels like an absolute hug.

Okay, so for this year for the holidays, is there something that you, like a small thing that you think that is probably trending that my listeners might want to bring into their home that gives that feeling of hug or warmth? Is there something for the holidays that you think is trending that I just said don't give into the trends, but maybe this one they should give into a little bit. Is there a trend we should give in to? Well, you know what? I immediately thought of two things that align with the Nona holiday trend. One is decorative lampshades. Decorative lampshades are making a huge comeback. And we've seen the searches spike something crazy like 11,000 percent or something on Etsy, right? So staggering numbers. And this is, I love what I do too because I get to see the proof behind, you know, the thing that's actually bubbling up. It's not a prediction. It's happening in real time. But decorative lampshades to me are such an easy way to add a level of coziness to your home. And also just a pop of personality because there are endless colorways, endless prints, endless shapes, all these things that can really warm up, whether it's your bathroom, your living room, your bedroom, wherever in the space, right? the second thing that I think is really awesome that also to me can be what's considered an heirloom piece

a lot of Etsy sellers are working in the design space of handwriting transfer have you have you seen some of these items okay yeah so like you can get your grandmother your mother whatever loved one is very special to you that has one of those those recipes that just makes you know the holidays are here right? You can work with an Etsy seller to get that handwriting, then transferred on to a tea towel, a cutting board, a bread basket, like all of these very functional items that you will actually use and that can also just live on your countertop to be a beautiful almost piece of artwork that you'll never feel bad about looking at. And then eventually can be passed to future family members to really cement those memories.

That is so beautiful. I was just helping my mom move, and she had a box of cards from her mother. And she's like, I want to keep them because my mom signed, like, love you, you love mom. We could make like a pillow cover. Do a pillow cover with that. You could do a pillow cover.

Yes, you can. That's good. Oh, my gosh. That's so, so brilliant. I don't know what a decorative, lampshade looks like, but I'm going to go Google it immediately. I have one here. Oh my gosh. That's so beautiful. This is from an Etsy seller who we worked with recently on a Tanner Fletcher partnership, an incredible design team. And they are fashion, they're a fashion company,

but we partnered with them. And one of the sellers made these incredible lampshade. So I have it on my table because I'm actually trying to figure out where to work it into my, my home decor, but, um, but I love it because, you know, you've got these little scalloped edges, which is also a big trend right now, this awesome print. Um, and they're, they're just, they're lovely. That is. And it's not clutter, which I appreciate because people have worked really hard to declutter their homes. But the feedback I am getting is like something's missing, Cass, did I go too far? And I don't think they went too far in like decluttering the stuff they don't use in love. I think now that the stuff's gone, they're like, what's my home's personality?

Where's the love? Where's the love? What is my home saying? And I think we have to declutter first to get to that that part where we can build back a home that feels cozy, that feels like a reflection of us. Yes, 100%. And I think, like, lampshades are a great way to add in that personality that are not, it's not taking up space. You're not adding something new. you're just swapping out your basic cream lampshade that's already there. But you're just packing in that personality. Let's talk quickly about something that I call the power of pretty. And this is, you know, like, so you start decluttering and you're organizing and you kind of burn out.

Because here's the real truth. Dishes are boring. Every day is the same. We got to do laundry. And we can get to this point where our house feels kind of like a. chore, a never-ending, and what I discovered was when I took time to make a space pretty, even something small, like a wreath on the door, I fell in love with my home a little bit. And especially if there was a little like DIY component or painting something or just

adding, yeah, like a new throat pillow. I suddenly wanted to keep caring for my home. I was reinvigorated. It didn't feel mundane anymore. It felt like I was hugging my home and it was hugging me right back. So for my listeners, whether they are done the decluttering process or they're still in it, but you know when you hit that you hit this lull like, what's the point? It's just going to get messy again tomorrow. That's when we need the power of pretty. So do you have more like pretty suggestions, little ways that we can make a home feel beautiful. Absolutely. Okay, so I want to bring it, I love this power of pretty. That's so awesome. One thing that comes to my mind is like when fashion meets function, right? So it's kind of the same thing, right? How can you make swap outs of things in

your home that still offer you functionality, but also bring in that power of pretty, right? So two things that immediately came to mind. I'm looking at one right now on my credenza here. I have to have, I always need a pin around. Like, even though we type, I still need pins. I like notes. I like notepads, but that's messy, especially when it's not on a desk, right? But there's this seller, and I feel so bad for blinking on her name, but she makes the most beautiful boxes that I love crystals. I mean, I'm wearing them now. but I just I love crystals. I think they're so beautiful.

And she takes crystals and like manipulates them on top of these boxes that you could put anything in. You could put your remotes in. I use it, of course, for pins. But to me, it is a really beautiful addition to my tabletop that is functional, that isn't just stuff, right? The other thing that I think about that I really love is in my kitchen, rather than just having an ugly thing that I put my dish towel on. I found an Etsy seller that is a ceramicist

and hands spins these really beautiful ceramics that sponges sit directly inside. And it has a little lip so that the water drains out every time you put the sponge in the middle. I'm obsessed. I love it so much. So like all these two very small things. Like for like doing your dishes? It is like for cool.

Yeah, yeah. It's a little ceramic. It has a whole cut out. You put the sponge and then the water can drain out. This is nice. Everyday things just made a little more beautiful. Yeah. Good.

I might want to do my dishes more if I had this beautiful homemade. I'm telling you, it brings me joy every time I look at it. And I remember, matter of fact, around this same time last year, there was a social media a trend that was called fridgecaping. Did you, did you hear about this? Stop. Yeah. No. This was a, I'm sorry. If you're going to say this is a great, this was a terrible trend. No. There was picture frames and plants. It was. But in the fridge. I know. It was ridiculous. But the one thing that I did love that came out of this wacky trend, which let's not even call it a trend. That was a fad because that was like a, that was a here by night thing, right? But one thing.

that I loved that came out of this is rethinking how you put some of the things in your refrigerator. What changed my mind was I now use a really beautiful ceramic colander because you shouldn't be keeping all your berries in that plastic anyway. And so I take my berries out. I rinse them. I do the bacon soda wash thing. And now my berries sit in a very beautiful, functional berry bowl. in my refrigerator that makes me feel happier. There are no picture frames, I promise you. But you know what? That is so true.

I started putting my herbs in a vase. Like instead of, I just threw them in the crisper, and then I put them in a vase like a flower, and they last so much longer. And it's like a little like, I open up and I'm like, oh, it's like a little bouquet of flowers in my fridge. Okay. So, hey.

You're right. No picture frames. There was like no food. It was all just for decor. It was ridiculous. Like so ridiculous. But you're right. It is about making that everyday things just a little bit more beautiful.

And I think we're striving so much for this picture perfect, magazine perfect. But it is sometimes devoid of personality and love and feeling. Yes. And functionality. Like lead with functionality. what works for you, what works for your style. Let it be a reflection of you in every single way. This is so good. Okay, I would love to diagnose your organizing style. I already am getting this vibe that you like to see things because you do. Yeah. Visual organizers really, they appreciate the beauty in everything and the story behind everything, which are. oftentimes can unfortunately lead to a lot of clutter because there's like the,

you're hiding your face. Okay. Because there is visual organizers. They're like, they're seeing like the beauty in it, the story behind it. So things do feel even more special than they would to a hidden organizer. But I'm wondering if you tend to be like a really detailed, logical A type person who wants everything put in a perfect spot? Or are you more like laid back big picture, non-detailed? Yeah. That's me. That's me. So you are what we call a butterfly. And a butterfly, they're

almost, they're always creative and they're carefree. But they also sometimes really struggle with clutter because it is the opposite of traditional organizing style. So filing cabinets and stacked containers with lids and everything hidden behind closed doors is the opposite of how your brain works. So it's really difficult to stay tidy in a home that's built the opposite of your brain. Cass, you just, I feel like I opened one page of a book and you just read my entire life. Wow, that's spot on. I love that. But like knowing your style. So what, would work for you as lots of open shelving so that you can display all your beautiful things. Even if you're, I don't know if you struggle in your bedroom, hopefully you have a walk-in closet.

But when we have like a small space behind closed doors, sometimes just taking off the doors can inspire a butterfly to like stage it like a store and it stays tidier. I got to spread my butterfly wings. Oh, I like this. It's making things. feel visual and beautiful and inspiring and giving an actual home for things that's out. But again, that is feels really visual. And it sounds like you're doing that. Like you have your pens in this box that's out. That's like that visual cue for you. Your sponge is in this visual cue, but it's a beautiful thing. So that's so good. It's so good, especially for butterflies to be able to see and bees. Bees are also very visual, but they're like meticulous and detailed.

To see their everyday things, but to also see them and it sparked joy because it's so beautiful to look at. Oh, I love. I'm going to just walk around telling everybody, did you know that I am a butterfly organizer? Did you know that? And if you have a spouse who's like, why are you always leaving your stuff out? Why are you always leaving a mess? You're like, I'm a butterfly. Oh, I'm telling you that's what butterflies do.

Literally this afternoon, like, you know why? You know why this lampshade is still here? Because I'm a butterfly. That's right. Because it's out of sight, out of mind. And that is so true. So yeah, okay, this is fun. I really appreciate you being on the Clutterbug podcast.

I hope everyone listening is feeling inspired to add a little bit of love, a little bit of like intentionality and some homemade things back into their home. And I think the holiday season is like the perfect time to do that, right? let's dust off that old. My mom like handmade this ceramic tree that had all these lights. Remember those from the 80s? I have my parents still have that. And my mom like gave it to me years ago and I was like, that's so ugly. And I was like, everything needs to be white and boring. No, I am digging that out. Yes. It is coming out for this holiday season. Oh, I love that. That is, that's, you just sparked such a happy memory for me. I think of that tree very often. I'm going to call my parents and tell them to make sure

they dust that off this year. That brings me joy. And all my listeners at home, what was it that felt magical for the holidays growing up when you were young? Like, what do you remember? What triggers? It could be the red tablecloth that your grandmother used. It could be decorating cookies. It could be the tinsel. Wait, can we not bring back tin? Is tinsel coming back? The mess, the mess, although I will, I will say, it's, I don't think it's like gone, gone, because it is, it's a metallic and metallics have been having a moment. So, um, just like low-rise jeans, let's leave the tinsel in the past. I mean, my grandma's tree was just, could you see, you had to move the tinsel.

She called it angel hair to see the decorations. It was. Also, what a fire hazard. Definitely a fire hazard. So let's bring Grandma's Christmas back. You call it Nona's, right? Is that what you call it? Nona's Christmas. Nona Holiday is all here, but maybe without the tinsel.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so good. Let my listeners know how they can follow you. Your Instagram is so amazing and how they can learn more about you. Thank you so much. Yes, so my Instagram is just my name, Dana Isam Johnson, but I'm Dana with a Y. So D-A-Y-N-A-I-S-O-M, J-O-H-N-S-O-N.

Also on TikTok, I share a lot of mommy moments because I had a baby this year. So I'm always sharing all of my mommy moments and trending kid things. I'm going to totally make everyone these like pillow covers and dish towels and things for the holidays. This is like going to be my homemade Christmas where I'm taking these beautiful messages. I hope I didn't make anyone else declutter their greeting cards. I make everyone declutter their greeting cards. I'm going to have to go through. My husband needs help with that.

He keeps, and it's because he loves his mom, and that's wonderful. But he keeps every card from his mom. I'm like, can we pick five? Can we pick five? And maybe if he had something useful with that signature on it or that sweet message, maybe you could do this for your husband. You could make him a throw pillow or something. Maybe I should take my own advice and do it for him, huh?

You should do that. Then he could declutter the cards, which are useless and have something like, you know, a hand towel that has this beautiful message from his mom. You know what? I think we both have made some holiday list and we're ready. I think this is epic. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for having me. This was a delight. I have to take a second to thank today's podcast sponsor, Caraway. It was almost a year now that I switched to Carraway's cookware, their pots and pans, because first of all, my old Teflon were scratched and I heard that those are toxic. Like every time I fry an egg, I'm poisoning my family. So I wanted some non-toxic cookware, but I was really surprised at how

like luxurious cookware can be. These pots and pans are not only beautiful. They come in so many different colors. I have the blue and the cream, but they are heavy and solid. And I can fry something and then immediately put it in the oven like Martha freaking Stewart over here. I feel like a grown up, you guys. Every time I cook, I'm like, look at me, chef boy R.D. If you want to give Caraway cookware a try, go to caraway.com slash clutterbug, and you can save 10% off their famous, beautiful cookware. Again, go to caraway.com slash clutterbug to save 10% today. Now it's time for my absolute favorite part of the podcast, which involves you. Let's have Talk to Cass, and let's start with Gloria.

Hi, Cass. I just started watching you recently. Found you somehow on YouTube and started watching your videos. And I want you to know that you have inspired me and to start decluttering. I started two weeks ago in my closet and removed five trash bags full of clothes to take to the woman's sheltering. that today I actually conquered my pantry and completed getting rid of all expired food, things I haven't touched. I had food in my pantry that went out of date of 2021. So thank you for inspiring me. Thank you for helping me see that I can do this, that it's not overwhelming, and keep on, keeping on. Thank you, Gloria. Gloria's got the urge to purge. It is addicting. Like, once you start, it's so empowering. And then every time you walk into now your closet or pantry, it looks so much better. You're probably just staring at it from the doorway like I do. Like, oh, look how good this looks. I'm happy for you, Gloria. Keep going. And I hope you keep us, like, up to date on your progress. Now we're going to hear from Mary. Hi. I just wanted to say that it's fun. that your name is Cass and you have a podcast so I'm calling your podcast a podcast and another thing

your last name is Arson and you are a firefighter isn't that irony like a wordplay you know That's all I wanted to say for today. This is just to say, hi, I appreciate you, and I follow you. I listen to you every day. Bye. Mary, thank you. You're hilarious. Yeah, I never put the podcast.

I mean, we drop the tea. That's pretty cool. And yeah, the arson thing. You think they would just, like, my firefighter bros at the hall would, like, make that No, they call me pain in the arse. So they took it a different direction. That's my nickname. At least I have a nickname.

I heard that means they like you. But yes, the irony did not escape me. Now let's hear a message from Tamla. Okay, Cass. So my name is Tamla Hughes and I'm so excited. I'm finally decluttering. I am self-diagnosed ADHD OCD, which means things. take a long time to get done but once they're done they're as close to perfect as I

can get them so I started in the kitchen I watched all the videos like all the videos shared most of them with my family they didn't watch them anywho I rezoned my kitchen and then I got to my jump drawer which I emptied in this cabinet that had things and I put all the new things where they belong and then there was not room for the other junk. So I got this tub and these small drawers and I put those things in there and all that. So anyhow, in the midst of me doing this

and feeling really good about myself, my husband goes to his cousin's house and he surprises me with a new old mixer after I had just found a home for the one I use and it's amazing and it's old. like I thought you like it because it's vintage. It has like this old, this old lady house cover for it, which I do love. And he bought me an electric griddle and then I opened the cabinet and showed him that we already had one. So I'm in the middle of my journey. And I think

the people in my house are working against me. I don't know. I don't know where to start with explaining to them the goal and how to get there. And we do have all the things. We have the speakers. We have the books, the box of DVDs. We have the VCR DVD player next to the flat screen mounted on the wall issue. So, yeah, that's what's going on over here. Hope things are great with you.

Later, bye. Oh my gosh, I could relate to you so hard. Yeah, this is the thing. When I first started my organizing journey, I was like, I remember I did my whole craft area, and it was so beautiful and so perfect. And then I went to another room and I found like a whole bucket of clay. And I was like, son of a, like, I want this, but I've just made this spot perfect. What a nightmare.

And it was. So I feel like, it's hilarious. but this is very normal in your journey. So here's my advice to you. I know you said you had OCD, but like practice being kind of shittier, like organizing kind of shitty, not making it epically perfect because the thing that I've had to learn the hard way is that your organization is always in flux. You're always going to have like different new things coming in, even if it's a griddle, right? Maybe yours breaks and then you have a new one. So if everything is like picture perfect for the life you have in this moment, it doesn't really leave room for tomorrow.

So it's okay if your cabinets are slightly messy or there's a little bit extra room because it's always going to be like in flux. But keep going, man. Your family's not against you. They just haven't seen the light yet. Keep shining it, my friend. And they'll catch up, I promise. Last we have a message from Anonymous. Hi, Cass. I have been doing well with my decluttering. I am having trouble with the organizing part. I have OCD and can't seem to get anything put away until I have the plan for how I want everything to be organized. I have empty drawers and empty closets and empty shells and stuff everywhere waiting for me to come up with the perfect

plan for where everything needs to go. I wondered if you had any advice for someone like me. Thank you and I love the show. I love this. you know what, this is again, the same, I'm going to do the same message, which is ironic because yesterday I just submitted my book proposal and the title is this advice I'm going to give you, which is practice doing it shitty. I know you don't want to hear this. No one wants to hear this, but honestly, I want you to embrace picking one drawer and just like, I'm going to do it good enough. I'm going to go back and make it perfect later. But this is like the first draft, the first pass and then continue that through your whole house.

Like organize knowing that this is not the final project. This is phase one. Because what's going to happen is you're going to realize at the end, like phase one is so good. Like phase one's pretty awesome. And maybe this one I want to tweak a little bit. But letting go of the idea of making it Pinterest perfect right off the bat is the key. It's the key to making it look Pinterest perfect eventually.

is taking that really shitty first draft. So it's going to be hard for you. It's going to feel wrong, but literally, please, practice organizing really, really shitty. A few podcasts ago, I asked you to send in what you do, what you tackle, what you normally like accomplish while you're listening to this podcast. And my team has told me that I've had a ton of awesome submissions, but we definitely need a few more. So if you go to clutterbug.com slash talk to Cass, please record a short little message of the things that you get done or that you normally go to while you're listening to this podcast. And we're going to feature your stories in the 300th episode, which is bonkers, it's pure bonkers. But I'm excited for it. And I hope you're part of it too. I also have more exciting news. Tomorrow on my other YouTube

channel, just clutterbug. I'm going to be featuring Jessica McCabe from How to ADHD's Doom Room Transformation. I got to tell you, she knocked my socks off because I was not sure how this was going to go, ADHD and procrastination, and her partner has autism, and this was the messiest space in her entire home. It was crazy pants. Wait till you see the transformation. Make sure you check that video out tomorrow. I really found Dana kind of awesome. Like she was like down to earth and cool, but she knew what she was talking about. And the idea of taking the signature or those nice little messages that you've received in a card from loved ones and turning them into a useful, functional, practical thing was genius. Honestly, genius. I don't know if I'm going to make

fancy lampshades, but I can tell you this. Everybody's getting tea towels for Christmas this year. with like my grandmother's signature on it or one of her favorite recipes because what? How cool is that? This is what your home should really be. I love her message is that your home should be a place that feels like a hug and all the stuff in it should not only be practical, but it also should be beautiful and just filled with love and memories. So like, yes, feeling good. How about you? Did you get a lot done today? Are you feeling inspired? Do you want to make your home like Nona cozy for the holidays? Because I certainly do. Let's do it together. Thanks so much for listening and I'll see you guys next time. Frozen lasagna, medium power, 15 minutes. Sounds like Ojo time. Let's play. Feel the fun with Playo

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