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When you go to sales where you have to leave your things sitting on a table try taking some small lightweight pieces of white sheets marked SOLD to lay over them. It does help keep prying eyes away. I also take large IKEA bags marked sold with my name And sit them behind the pay desk until I pay.
Simplicio, personally I would sell them as large lots. I have done it both ways. You can study the brands that sell well individually and pick those out to sell alone, like Vogue or very vintage patterns. But the Simplicity, McCalls, run of the mill patterns aren’t worth the grunge work IMO.
Our garage ceiling joists are farther apart than in the rest the house and are not up to code for putting in load bearing floors. Although one of our neighbors did it for storage and it is working. Just be sure you take notice of how far apart yours are, and how much weight you plan to put up there. I guess most guys know all of that.
I had my 100% FB ruined this week, too. I sold a purse to someone who didn’t contact me or request a return. “it’s yellow and it has stains!” Yes, it WAS a yellow purse, as the photos showed. And I DID describe the stains and photo’d them! Have emailed her and even tried to call her; a man answered and said “she moved out and I don’t know where she is.” (right). So would Ebay remove the FB? No. Of course not. They want “more info from the buyer” who of course doesn’t respond. I used to get so bent out of shape. Now I just do the best I can, and if that fails, “Meh!” Whatever. Move on.
You all are killing me with your food scavenging stories. Too funny! Ryanne’s story was a bit cheezy. (pun!) I am not that brave! I just dig for bubble wrap and boxes. In doing so I did find a couple of nice items last year (a vase and an orca figurine) that I sold for best offers of $75 each. That’s as good as I’ve scored. Other than the former estate sale.
It’s an area of homes that were built by famous architects during the St. Louis World’s Fair for the well to do and foreign visitors coming to the fair. Ours was a modest one compared to most, which were upwards of 10-20K sq ft. With detached carriage houses. A couple of blocks away was the house used to film Meet Me in St. louis with Judy Garland. Many famous whiskey barons and celebrities have lived there over the years. However the downside is that they are extremely expensive to maintain and heat/cool. Just solid brick walls with lathe and plaster. The radiators couldn’t warm the house if it got below zero. It had the original knob and tube wiringnwhich was scary. Original plumbing. Etc etc. And the crime is bad there. We could walk to Forest Park and the zoo, but I wouldn’t leave the house on foot without my dog. The recent protests where they were throwing bricks through the mayor’s windows every night was just across the street four houses away from our former home. We are glad to be gone, although we miss a lot of good things about it.
My scavenger story? Once we bought a big old World’s Fair 1904 3 story home in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis, built by the city’s first postmaster. It was quite a bit larger than our previous ranch in the burbs at 5000 square feet, So I started hitting garage sales, thrifts and estate sales to furnish it over the five years we lived there. When we decided to sell the money pit (the buyers did an $800K rehab on it) I had my own estate sale to get rid of everything I no longer wanted and didn’t want to pay to move. I called my friends to come and help me hold the 2 day sale. I made $6K selling the stuff I had bought for much less to begin with, and the sale cost me nothing but the ad in the newspaper. Not to mention that we just about doubled our money on the sale of the house come to think of it. Sometimes things just work out.
In Alaska it is a very serious crime to take roadkill. If you hit a moose or anything edible you have to contact the State Troopers. They then give it to individuals or charities on their list of the needy who are willing to butcher it on a moments notice. Nothing goes to waste in Alaska!
I would like to know how to embed an image when it does work. Don’t know where to start, here, or on another website.
I love your story, Mike. I am not as talented as you are by any means but I have an upstairs studio sitting pretty much unused where I used to spend some time every day Creating something. I love to make jewelry, write, sew, and particularly make one of a kind art quilts. I just start with an idea or some pieces of fabric and work on it one step at a time until it tells me it is finished. I used to make traditional quilts for many years until after 9/11. That affected me so kich I wanted to express my feelings about it, so I created a memorial wall hanging about it bever since then that was the only way I could make a quilt, to express something. Perhaps that is how painters and sculptors work. I so look forward to your return to the arts!
Thanks you guys! I shared that to encourage everyone that if you have a specific goal, and just plug along slow but sure, it will become a reality sooner than you imagined. Just keep your eye on the prize every day. It sure helps to have the encouragement that you find here in Jay and Ryanne’s community of trash elves!
