Today I posted a few new listings including small lots of hardware I got out of a 1970’s house clearout. The new homeowner was nice enough to help me remove all the hardware from the cabinets and walls. He said he was going to replace them anyway so it was nice to put in a little work to make sure these didn’t go in the dumpster.

I hate Facebook and Meta as a company but unfortunately in this area FB Marketplace is one of the few places to reliably sell larger items that don’t go into the booth. I like to give people a deal on the purchase price because I know low prices make things sell faster and I usually don’t pay very much for items like these. This eagle wall hanging is a good example. Its beautiful, but if I had to sell it on eBay it would be a pain to ship, and if I brought it into the booth at a higher price it would sit for too long for the space it takes up. This guy is made of wood inlaid pieces and is very handsome!

Today I went into the OSS booth and pulled some older merchandise off the shelves as well as put in some custom dyed Halloween dresses I dyed recently. One is a vintage cream colored Jessica McClintock wedding dress I originally got from the Goodwill bins that had a difficult to remove stain on the front skirt. I realized that I could dye the entire outfit with a synthetic fabric dye to hide the stain and make a cute goth “Victorian-esque” dress. I bought four iDye for Poly Fabrics - 454-Black bottles and iDye fixative and boiled the dress in the dye mixture for several hours to achieve a really dark color. My boiling setup is a large aluminum cylindrical pot on top of an old chemistry lab hot plate (not the most accurate temp-wise but good enough). I washed the dress and jacket several times to remove extra dye and my only complaint is that the fabric is wrinkly and I my iron just wasn’t able to get the fabric totally smooth. My guess is that it may have to be steamed/ironed hotter? But I also wasn't brave enough to try.

Because the dress was made of different synthetic materials (possibly even a blend in the lace) the lace turned out a different color than the body. This was a fun surprise because I think that the different color lace adds interest to both the jacket and dress. I used some of the leftover dye for a youth dress I recently purchased from a house clearout. It was originally pink with white trim but the dye turned the dress a deep teal and dark blue mix, with the trims again having different dye results. I love a spooky dye result! These will be fun dresses to display in the booth for the Halloween season, but I am just as ok with letting them make goth displays year-round.

One of my favorite recent finds, a devil embroidered tea towel, just sold on eBay. I found this in a run-down farmhouse sale in rural Salem, OR. When I took photos for eBay I noticed that the feed sack label is actually on the back of the towel and just very faint. Its nice to see how these fabrics get reused!

I also sold a bottle of Haiku perfume on Mercari. eBay has been militant about its “no used perfume” policy, at least for me, including taking down my listings for empty bottles (WHY). I’ve been moving all of my vintage perfumes over to Mercari where they sell just fine.

Another free pile day! I've been going through my back stock and pulling items that I no longer want to sell or just extras I’ve picked up from house clean outs. In our neighborhood usually most or all of the items get taken - I try to put out items that are useful/worth cleaning/good for scrap.

We also got an idea from Scarlett O’Hair’s YouTube channel to have our chickens “carve a pumpkin,” where we scrape the shapes of the eyes nose and mouth of the pumpkin and the chickens eat away the rest. I'm looking forward to the result! Hers ended up looking like a creepy pumpkin zombie :).

Names and specific order information whited out for buyer privacy.

Another free pile success! This impromptu free pile was from a house clear out with an excess of clothing. I filled my car with several big contractor bags of useful but not necessarily high value clothing, suitcases/bags, and linens, brought them home, put out the free table, put everything down in the bags (not even organized or pretty), listed it for free on CL and FBM, and everything was gone within an hour and a half. Mind you this was on a Wednesday in the middle of the day. This is great news!

This means that others can wear, redistribute, or even sell these items, without the clothing going to a high volume thrift store right away where many items get thrown away or packaged for salvage sales elsewhere. I look at these free piles as a way to benefit my local community in a tangible way. Usually anything that doesn't get picked up and is ok quality I then donate. But today, everything was gone. As our lives get more expensive here in the US it's nice to help others for free with something I already participate in.

It's hard sometimes for estate clear-out companies to handle getting rid of / rehoming / donating this amount of material goods. This is why it's important for us to work together to help where we can to reduce waste and give away items for free. All it takes is my time and energy (and small amounts of gas).

I'll try to post more about these when I can, but if you are in Salem, OR you can follow me on FB to hear about these (usually one day) free piles. #giveitaway #responsibilityeconomy #freestuff #houseclearout

I grabbed this pretty metal frame from the Salem Goodwill bins for about $1.58 (79 cents/pound). After putting it in my lab oven for 65°C for an hour with other hard to clean bins items (long enough to kill any hidden bugs, bedbug paranoia here). I noticed that the circular area was missing its glass and backing. I have some extra frame glass I got for free from an auction house trash pile so I was able to cut a small square of glass and then clip the corners to make it fit in the frame slot, then put together a backing from scrap foam core, scrap black matboard, and black fabric material. Is it an exact match? Nope! Will it work for someone trying to have a nice Victorian-esque frame? Yep!

This was a fun salvage project! I got this large but well made wood crate in a local auction with a large lot of wood scrap pieces. I cleaned, sanded, and oiled the wood as well as reattached and reinforced the lid hinge. I added a top handle for easier lid lifting and painted "general store" lettering on the front in an antique stamp style. Lastly, I added furniture feet with cork bottoms for floor protection. This guy is now saved and headed off to auction!

This weekend I purchased $200 of items from a farmhouse estate sale, a low amount of money for the sheer volume of fabric, notions, various trinkets and cleanable/repairable things (about 5 full ikea bags of fabric and notions alone). This is always overwhelming once I get everything home, but I can't stop thinking of where these would have gone (especially the fabrics, and probably the trash). Grandmas sewing room didn't have very many visitors at the sale. I think of how much money grandma spent on these textiles made of linen, cotton, and silk. I think of how much I paid for a thin roll of elastic at Joanns. I think of how rare quality natural fabrics are in our world of polyester and throwaway capitalist culture. If I can change that I will. I am happy to make the effort to clean, sort, and reuse or sell these items for buyers who can't really find these anymore. It is a mixture of sadness and gratefulness that my brain is ok with being a racoon digging through grandmas messy storage and ferrying scraps and bits home.

My ADHD makes organization very important, and I ended up making these 3D printable watch/toy battery trays for drawer storage with large labels for instant identification and inventory. I need these for various repairs and love not having to dig through a messy drawer full of random battery packaging! All models are packaged together for 99 cents on Cults3D.

This was an interesting piece that I purchased in a rough state. Usually these coffee pots have insulation on the inside of the metal, and the red velvet interior was worn and disintegrated. I put together a few pieces of fabric into a quilted liner for the bottle that would fill in the exterior empty space and protect the bottle while still being removable if needed. The cap for the spout was missing so I siliconed a cork to the interior metal cover. It was an interesting project but will be a nice addition to someone’s collection! Currently available in my eBay store.

I’ve made a very small knitting loom with 14 Posts - it is about 30 mm / 1.2 in wide. I made it to play around with making tiny nets, ropes, and mini hats! I thought this would be a fun tool for knitting figurine and dollhouse hats and clothing. Theoretically you could print this at a smaller size for even more mini-sized knitting, but I haven't tried anything smaller than this size yet.

This little one is available for free on Cults3D.

Careers game board by Parker Brothers 1955. The scan ended up being a little finicky but this is a fun midcentury board game relic! Participate in 1955 life by seeing a rare butterfly, maybe going to sea, or having lunch with royalty.

Found this December 1961 booklet Fallout Protection: What to Know and Do About Nuclear Attack today at a sale in Hubbard, OR.
#fallout #nuclear #1960s

We are currently in the era of Beanie Babies being sold in bulk at estate sales. And, as much as people viewed them as collectibles back in the 90’s, they are most certainly one of the least popular items left over on the last day of the sale. For example, I got this Chocolate moose baby from a garage sale “free” bin.

I thought it would be a fun idea to figure out a reuse case for these beanie babies that don’t involve just donating a bunch of them to a thrift store (where many of them might get thrown away). One option would be to just give the toy to someone who really likes moose plushies. Another option would be to reuse the Beanie Baby skin as something else than a toy.

The Beanie Baby designs are very cute and nostalgic, so I thought a zipper pouch might appeal to people looking to either hide money away in the stuffed animal bin inside a secret pouch or those seeking unique storage pouch ideas in general.

I’ve emptied the beans and stuffing out of this little guy and sewed in a heavy duty vintage jeans zipper. He’s simple and cute and I think he turned out pretty well! He’s now available in my Etsy store.

I grabbed this lamp at a thrift store because I knew they were worth a little bit of money and I could potentially resell it after fixing the wiring. This 90’s/banker’s lamp/art deco design is fun! But, I also wondered if changing the color of the black lamp parts to something more colorful might bring some life into it.

I spent some time looking at spray paint color options and was hovering around pale pink or blue because I love 80s colors. Ultimately I chose Rustoleum Gloss Harbor Blue because it had slightly more color saturation than a pale baby blue.

After realizing how hot the halogen bulb got in such a short time I decided to swap it out for an LED version. Not knowing much about halogen lightbulb sizes it took me some time to find the right replacement but anytime I can find an LED replacement I will swap old lightbulbs out for energy savings and safety.

The wiring on this guy wasn’t too complicated, just a dimmer switch in line with the power cord. When I am not sure if I will remember the wiring setup, I just take photos as I take a lamp apart and then go backwards through the photos to put it all back together.

I had to splice and solder in in some additional length of wire coming from the halogen bulb fixture and then also do the same for the power cord to the bulb and dimmer. The original wiring used permanent clamps that I had to cut off to get the lamp apart for cleaning and rewiring. Luckily I really enjoy the splicing / soldering / heat shrink tubing application process.

In the end after cleaning and repainting the black parts, putting the lamp back together, and turning it on in the darkness I noticed the color of the glass even more (a light green) and the blue and green colors really worked together. Overall the style of this ended up looking very art deco /cyberpunk / 80s so I’m super happy!

This metal sign piece was originally centered in a Fair Play branded scoreboard. I ended up with this for free because it had a broken lens, old decayed wiring, and no frame. To make this into a working hangable art sign, I’ve done the following:

• I’ve rewired the light fixtures using outdoor LED round bulbs mounted to a custom metal strip. Originally each light in this sign was controllable, but the controller no longer functioned. Now the lights all turn on and off at the same time as a decorative light fixture. ($11.87 for lights, some left over for myself)

• I added in a glass dome tail light lens (amber color) into the missing lens hole. The tail light lens has a slightly higher profile but it is a similar enough dome shape and was way cheaper than other antique lenses on eBay (difference between about $6/lens vs. $30/lens). ($5.57 per lens)

• I spliced the too-short LED light cord onto a long lamp cord. ($1 cord from estate sale)

• I made a custom wood box frame with scrap wood and painted it gray to match with the gray metal sign color. ($6 paint, $0 scrap wood)

• I added a cord notch in the wood frame.

• I added picture hanging hooks and wire to the back of the sign so it could be hung on a wall. ($1 for hooks at estate sale, $0 wire I already have)

Total cost to repair this guy was $25.44 and my personal time. I am hoping to sell it in a local auction. This was a fun and nice project to save this little piece of history from the trash. It will also be a great decoration for a baseball or basketball fan’s room!

Front of Fair Play remounted and rewired sign light fixture.

The wood frame lets the metal sign be hung on the wall while hiding the electronics.

The back is rewired with modern LED lighting.

This Koken barber pole was in rough shape to start, with broken porcelain light sockets, a missing light globe, loose and missing bolts, dirty interior, and dead motor. Some repairs were straightforward (motor replacement) and some were not (bulb socket temporary bracket). The nice thing about this old barber pole design is that it is fairly simple, and more repairs can be added with the future owner. This project was time and budget limited but I think it came out well! I took a lot of time researching how to do this and figured that someone might benefit from these repair explanations. The repairs are detailed below:

General notes for the buyer:

• Do not install outside

• This is not waterproofed and is meant to be used inside only 

• Consult with electrician about safe ways to waterproof/seal and wire for outside use if desired.

• New motor installed from Marvy

• Interior spiral is plastic tube (not cardboard)

• Do not pull on electrical cord, this can cause interior wiring to unravel

• New 8” outer diameter globe light installed from Marvy

• More research needed on how to authentically attach light socket

• Current solution holds light socket in place but is not original method (I have no clear reference for proper placement)

Completed Repairs:

• Added new screws to motor bracket

• Drilled into existing motor bracket for motor mounting

• Installed new motor

• Cleaned interior and exterior of striped tube

• Cleaned glass interior and exterior 

• Reattached metal “x” bracket on striped tube

• New screw in metal strip brackets that hold top cap

• Made custom mount for new ceramic lightbulb socket (barber pole attachment for the socket is an unusual length)

• New nuts for lamp globe screws

• Installed new glass globe light cover

• Wired bulb and motor to grounded plug, ground attached to metal pole via drilled hole on back

• Gathered original parts (not reinstalled) into container for return

Photos and comments:

I could not find Koken Barber Pole Model #5391 in a (brief) online search. I’ve included a sheet of known barber poles I found for reference. 

This “X” shape was rusted off of the top of the striped interior pole. I’ve reattached this with wire and had to drill small holes in the top of the post. The whole striped pole should probably be replaced in the future. 

After removing the original motor, I drilled into the motor bracket to increase the hole size for the new motor shaft to accommodate the larger top “T” shaped portion (held in by set screw and is detachable from the motor base). I also drilled into the existing motor bracket to screw the new motor into place. 

I’ve made a custom light socket holder because the new light socket (cleat style) screw holes did not match the length available for attachment to existing hardware. The attachment of the top iron cap made it difficult to put this light socket underneath the iron cap. This may be replaced in the future with a new configuration but it works for now.

I’ve wired this pole like the diagram below. I’ve added extra length on the hot and neutral wires of both the motor and the light to help with moving parts around during troubleshooting/repair. This may be useful if the buyer wants to fix portions of the pole. I am including a reference wiring diagram for a Marvy pole. I’ve added the ground wire to help with safety, and I had to screw a hole in the back of the barber pole metal to attach this. The problem with these old designs is that they are not grounded, and so the interior (including the lamp socket) should not be handled when plugged in.

Hopefully the buyer will appreciate the new fixes!

Seeds planted into paper pots with cardboard labels under an LED grow light.

Empty seed packets and extra seeds sorted into pill organizers.

I am a little late getting started with some of these seeds indoors but am happy to have everything planted that needs some extra time. The main reason I am trying to plant more of our own food this year is that I am tired of plastic packaging and poor environmental practices of grocery stores and growers. Food has gotten more expensive and I’d rather spend that money investing in my own knowledge, learning how to grow food to save money and reduce my impact on the environment (perhaps even improving the environment a little?).

My current setup is a rolling tray with old baking trays as water catchers and an old broken clothing dryer as the light holder. The seeds are planted into rolled office paper tubes that have been folded in half and paperclipped together at the top. The labels are cut cardboard with sharpied names so I can just plant the whole thing when I’m ready and it will biodegrade. My extra seeds are stored in thrifted pill sorting containers (not my idea, but a good one!) The grow light is LED with white, red, and blue settings for different growth types, and the light is connected to a timer.

I’d like to have the indoor setup always growing greens because that is the one thing we consistently eat. Also no more hurrying to eat cut + packed lettuce!

Saving packaging and filler scraps in a bucket for reuse has saved me a lot of time and money! The trick is getting the kitty hair out. This is Soot Sprite aka “Little” digging and then laying in the “garbage.”

A few weeks ago I went to an estate sale run by the family of the deceased in a 55+ park. There wasn’t much left in the house, but there was a box of antique needlework and crotchet magazines dating all the way back to the 1910s and 1920s. I was going to buy the whole box but because of my interest in the magazine contents the family decided to give them to me for free. Most of these types of magazines do sell on eBay but for me they are not necessarily worth the time and postage to individually go through them. Many people use them for the ads and fashion references. I thought that scanning and posting these online would keep the information in these magazines alive a little longer (they are disintegrating as we speak!) and let people access these old patterns for free. My personal favorite in this issue is the lion table runner. I also admire any craft that gets us making our own items and buying less stuff.