My mosaic art puts broken pieces to good use.

Mosaic is a perfect match for a dedicated recycler. Especially since I've found a cheaper source for broken glass.

Damn. Missed the good used hardwood

I saw on Craigslist that 1,000 sq ft of used Brazilian cherry in excellent condition came and instantly went (for $2 a sq ft, of course it would) at our local ReUse. I guess I'll have to volunteer there or something if I want to get an exotic hardwood floor. I won't buy one new, but I will buy one used.

Made new bird baths from "not new" glassware. Sure hope they'll sell.

I doubt I'll be able to get anywhere near minimum wage for these, but I'm hoping to at least make more than I invested in the parts. These are much more difficult to make than one would imagine. The glass pieces are far from even, so in many cases, you sort of have to put them together looking lopsided to get a level bird bath. I've sealed these so they can be left out in the Winter with a proper covering on the top, but I'm not going to seal the rest as it takes a lot of time and looks slightly messy...people will just have to bring them in for the Winter. What price range would you think people would pay for these?

Repurposing for free "not new" seed starting containers.

While many gardeners might not buy things in such containers, I'm sure your neighbors might. A walk down the street on garbage day could result in all sorts of containers for seed starting: most with lids!

Creative repurposing even before going "not new."

As I was picking up the doddy doodoo today...our first really nice, dry day of the year, it occurred to me that I was in a "not new" mode even before deciding to buy nothing new this year. My dog poop container is the offspring's old diaper "pail." (I obviously didn't have to think to far outside the box on this one). It works great...a lid to keep odors down and flies out and a handle to carry it all over the yard. As I was filling my birdfeeders, I also noticed former repurposing that was a bit more of a stretch: the insert from the old potty chair is now the scoop I use in my sunflower seed container. Can't recall what happened to the chair itself.

15 cents a tile at Buffalo ReUse...and old fashion colors not available elsewhere!

I certainly didn't buy enough ceramic tile...just ten. But, I am proud of my restraint...I could have brought home hundreds. And I don't have any place to put hundreds. So, I'm going to go through the projects I want to do, make some color copies for reference, and then go back for more tile. I'm hoping they'll have cinderblock or some other materials I can use to build my raised garden beds when I go back. Because it is going to warm up someday. Isn't it?

Buffalo ReUse: rooms of old sinks, windows, doors and more.

If you live in a big enough city, there is likely something like this there. (If not, start one up!) Buffalo ReUse does "green demolition," salvaging as much of the original structure as they can and reselling it from an old warehouse. I believe they work in partnership with our local Habitat for Humanity. It really is a rehabber's dream as you can find stuff that fits the look and era of your properties. They also have odd lots of ceramic tile and other such stuff that comes in...the prices aren't ridiculously cheap, but they are very good. Lots of cool stuff, too, like glass doorknobs, fancy wood molding, pieces of old marble counters, etc.

I, stupidly, went to a 75% off day at an estate sale (stupid, because I didn't notice the sale ended early that day and was over when I got there) nearby and then went to Buffalo ReUse to try to find cinderblock or something similar to build my raised garden beds. No luck this trip, but they did have some uniquely colored ceramic tile for my mosaic work.

More "not new" at The Foundry Buffalo

These mirrors are created by a gentleman who also works at Buffalo ReUse doing "green" demolition of buildings. With green demolition, as much of the building as possible is salvaged for resale at Buffalo ReUse (went there today, more about that in a future post). The reddish mirror is made from flooring at an old John Deere factory. The ones I liked were made with wood that still included bark. I think the spaces at The Foundry are free, or very low cost. They prefer neighborhood (East side), women/minority, and/or low-income individuals, but anyone can apply and if there is space, you have a good chance of getting it.

How could anyone let this mid-century modern gem get away for $112?

Well, I let it get away, but I wasn't happy about it. The finish needed a little work, but it's an American of Martinsville piece! So beautifully constructed: dovetail joints, solid walnut...and the bones of the piece were excellent condition. It's a shame people pay three times as much for crappy particle board furniture when something like this is available for a few hours of elbow grease.

I have no place to put this. Still, I would have purchased it anyway if only I had a van and two strong guys to carry it. With a tiny bit of work, I could have turned it into a gem and sold it for a huge profit. (I love refinishing furniture. Housework, not so much.) Sigh.

My "not new" leather chair and my "new" feral cat. Sigh.

Finally was able to coordinate getting my sister's van and my son's muscles together to go check out a leather chair I saw on craigslist. It was not cheap ($250), but it seemed like it would be perfect (emphasis on "seem").

Nice people, but the "flawless" chair had a major scratch smack dab in the middle of the seat. Still, I had made so much effort to coordinate the pickup, I bought it anyway (with a $25 discount for the scratch, which, in my opinion was not enough...I'll post about that later). When we got the chair home, the husband determined I hadn't shoveled a wide enough path (our snow is still shoulder high, a shovel's width is all I opted for this year, and that nearly killed me) for he and the offspring to get the chair in the front door (likely the only door it will fit), so the chair is staying in the garage overnight.

Sooo...the problem is, a cat moved into our garage last night! We couldn't get it out, so I left the garage door open about a foot on the bottom so the thing wouldn't be trapped. Again today, kitty doesn't want to budge. Even my dog barking at her half the day hasn't phased her (she has plenty of spots to hide). The dog sure is enjoying the entertainment, the neighbors probably not so much.

I am worried the cat will use the chair as a scratching post or toilet. I have it covered, as you can see, but I am still worried. Tonight I am building a little cabin for kitty: plastic storage bin with lid askew, 2 liter bottle of hot water wrapped in a towel, blankie and an open can of tuna in front of the whole shebang. Hopefully this will lure kitty away so I can close the garage and protect my chair. Things never seem to be easy. The first time I have a cat in the garage and the first time I have a leather chair in the garage...and it all happens the same week.

Gaaah! My lack of math skills cost me at the estate sale.

The offspring has always wanted to airbrush paintings and t-shirts. Airbrushes and compressors are pricey, but their popularity is waning quickly. When I saw the estate sale I was at had two air compressors, I felt I'd be safe waiting for the second day of the sale, when things would go half price. That also gave me a chance to research the choices, so I knew exactly what I wanted when I went back.

Both compressors and all the accessories were still there the second day, so I picked up what I wanted and asked if they would take $100 for the lot, which they did. But. I had added incorrectly! I ended up just getting the box of jars for "free"...which I thought they should have thrown in no matter what. I wanted to knock another 20% off the 1/2 off cost since that's what I figured was fair price for equipment that was not in demand, and may or may not last very long. But, I added wrong in my head. I hate me!

Worse yet, there was a third day of the sale when things were 75% off! Gaaaahhh! I paid sooo much more than I should have. Still not sure if the third day was added on at the last minute or if I somehow messed up and didn't notice there was going to be a third day. I'm not going to look it up. I couldn't stand to know if it was me messing up. On the bright side, the offspring is thrilled to have some airbrushing equipment.

"Not new" take out containers.

This is not an original idea. Mother Earth News suggested bringing your own take out containers to the restaurant. What a brilliant idea! "Reduce/reuse" is always better than "recycle." Those styrofoam containers are leaky and take up too much room in the fridge. I'm going to put some Tupperware-type containers in the car now so I'll have them the next time we eat out. As I also learned from the article, plastics are not that cost effective to recycle, so best to try to avoid using disposable plastics. Wonder if the deli people would pack stuff in a bring-your-own container? All they'd have to do is zero out their scale before weighing. (Could be health concerns, I suppose.) Good news is, most other stuff (glass, paper, metal) is recycled at a considerable cost/energy/waste savings over making new.

Hating on ink jet printer companies just a little bit

It is sooo nearly impossible to get refillable inkjet cartridges these days. They are programmed to fool your computer into thinking they are still empty after you refill them. Plus, they suggest the ink level is low waaaayyy too soon. My current Kodak printer (bought because the ink was cheaper) told me my ink levels were low a couple months ago. Since then, I've printed out over 40 4x6 photos for my Christmas cards and many pages of print materials. While I don't bother even trying to refill cartridges anymore (because of problems stated earlier), I do get the refurbished ink cartridges from a mailorder company and they have been working great for me at a considerable cost savings. Still, makes me mad when companies purposefully thwart their customer's efforts to economize/ecologize. (I know that's not a word, but it probably should be.)

Organization is a key skill for going "not new"...unfortunately, I'm lacking.

Haven't had to buy much lately. (I did purchase a gift...my first I'll be giving that's "not new," but I haven't given it yet, so info will have to wait for another post.) I did decide to keep the $25 Chefman blender as I've been to several other sales and thirft stores and haven't found what I wanted, plus, I happened to wander into Ollie's again and they don't have any more available, so that sealed the deal.
My problem now is trying to organize stuff I feel I should keep on hand. For instance, I have a broken phone charger for my car. The wire on that thing could make a handy tie for a plant...it is strong, yet the rubber coating would protect the plant. But, how am I going to keep things from getting crazy if I start holding onto stupid little things like that? Sigh. I saved it because I felt I had a good place for it, but I am worried about becoming a pack rat (I already have those tendencies).

It is amazing how often I'm forced to buy "new."

It's just short of 2 months since I decided to spend a year buying nothing "new." In that short time, there have been 3 birthdays (gifts and cards), a death (card and flowers), a broken thermostat, toaster and blender and now, the pegs (plastic) holding up two of the shelves in my kitchen cabinets have failed. Pretty sure from perusing the odds and ends at the thrift stores that I'm not going to find those there and it's definitely not worth the time and gas to try (especially since it is 5 degrees F today). I was at least lucky enough to find some on clearance at Lowe's ($5 as opposed to $8). I'm having company in from out of town this week, so it was not something I wanted to put off.
If you're curious and too tired to look through my posts, I replaced the toaster with a $1 used toaster from an estate sale (after a week or two). The thermostat was replaced with a new one (though, I did first try to find one at a re-use shop) and I'm still hoping to find a used Ninja blender somewhere, someday.