I’m sure you’ve heard of the saying, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure,” and lucky for us, we moved to a town with a garbage and recycling station {it’s paid for with property taxes whether you use it or not}. Plus, as an added bonus, next to the garbage and recycling drop off area there are two small sheds.
One shed is for people to donate their books and the other shed is for people in town to unload their unwanted treasures {no electronics, clothing or big items allowed!} to people in the community. {Our community even has it’s own clothing bank where you can donate your clothing and take home whatever you can use. I’ve been once so far and went home with a stack of warm clothes! But that’s another story for another day}. 😉
Some weeks there’s a boatload of good stuff to choose from and other weeks, not so much. Over the past 9 months we’ve been here I’ve come home with a pretty good assortment of things, most of which I’ve put to good use, but there have been a few things I’ve taken back.
Here is just a sampling of the items I’ve collected:
A beautiful tall vase {which I plan to fill with peonies this spring} and a glass mug.
An enormous BBQ spatula and a picture/banana/picture holder.
Rubbermaid totes, perfect for storing our recyclables in.
Small brownie pan, 2 frames which I plan to use for samplers, a wooded spoon to use when I’m dying wool and a stack of kids books.
More books, another vase, a wooden candlestick {for my pumpkin heads} and a vintage canning jar for selling flowers at my vegetable stand.
An owl lamp for the craft room, two smelly candles, and a kimchi kit {Have you made kimchi before, I’m excited to try it}.
A vintage set of Lincoln logs for the kids closet and 3 colored canning jars for flowers.
A glass frog and a a mug {I took the mug back}.
I SPY book for the kids closet and 3 vintage canning jars to display flowers in.
A primitive cupboard, big round basket and a chicken tureen {I took the chicken tureen back and have seen it come and go 3 TIMES over the past 2 months. HA!}.
2 pie tins, a Pampered Chef baking dish, 2 books, a clay pumpkin and 2 cinnamon spice candles.
2 baskets and a set of mini corn {I took both back} and a set of 6 nice stoneware mugs.
Books, magazines and a 3 tired wooden stand I had the HH make into a 2 tier stand that I used to display my homemade jam on at the vegetable stand this past summer.
A country table {I took it back} a Pottery Barn lamp, and a couple of Wall of Water plant protectors.
A cheese grater {I LOVE it!} a stack of kids books and a coffee mug {that has become the HH’s favorite}.
A green basket {I took it back} a silver vase and a mini blender for the craft room.
Canvas fabric, some type of pottery candle holder {I took it back} a wooden plate and a kid’s book.
And last but not least…. a giant wool rug, a Keurig machine {which I took back after we ran out of pods} and another picture frame for those samplers I’m going to make someday. 😉
I guess it’s true…. “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.”
Here’s to finding more treasures in 2019!
Have a great Wednesday everyone,
~Mavis
Lynn Y says
Hi Mavis!
I’m interested in knowing more about this kids’ closet you mention. I’ve been mulling around the idea myself of having a special closet for all my grandkids’ toys and books. I would be interested in knowing how you organize yours.
Thanks for all your sharing!
Mavis Butterfield says
I’ll try and take a picture and post it soon. 🙂 It’s just a small closet in our house filled with a train set, now Lincoln logs, a few puzzles/games and some kids books. Just enough stuff to occupy small kids if we have people over. The room that the closet is in {the front room} has the perfect coffee table for setting up a train set of playing puzzles on.
Lolly says
I used to have a designated area with kid toys….loooong before I had kiddo, and I’ll have one after my kids are gone, too. All my friends’ kids knew where it was, and they kept busy and had tons of fun while visiting….which meant their mama and I could chit chat as long as we wanted! My toys were kept in an old enamelware german canning pot with a lid. Some box or a couple drawers or ? could hold a few treasures. I think I kept cars, stuff they could play kitchen with, a few books, maybe a doll or two, and some larger legos? I always had sidewalk chalk for them to color with outside, too! And I often had homemade playdough + crayons and coloring pages.
I remember visiting my mom’s older friends when we were kids….and we were supposed to not fight, stay occupied, not break anything, and let the adults talk forever….but without ANYTHING we COULD play with. It always ended badly, as we would whine and cause trouble….and mom would have to leave early….and we would be in trouble….all because the adults didn’t think through things well! I swear….some homemade playdough would’ve kept us busy and quiet for a good long while. Even pens and paper and tape….or a few of her pots and pans and spoons, even! We WERE pretty inventive with our playing, and it wouldn’t have taken much…. I will say that I kinda fell in love with This Old House back then, but as a kid I disliked Bob Vila….and Bob Ross. Lol! We had pbs to watch while waiting (impatiently)…..4 kids, locked up inside, with adult pbs….lol!
Julia says
We used to have a small free store in our neighborhood. I loved it! You could drop stuff off and take whatever you liked. It was a shed in a neighbors backyard and was unlocked 24/7. It became part of my waking route. But then folks just started dumping junk, broken furniture and stuff so it got shut down. We still have a monthly free store gathering at our local outdoor market (not during the winter) that is “open” for three hours one Sunday a month. It’s fun. Sometimes I don’t see anything I need/want but other times I comecaway lucky! I’ve gotten books, mixing bowls, in-line skates, clothes, fabric, brand new in the package underwater, decorations and lots more. Plus I’ve passed along lots of treasures from my house I no longer need.
Jennifer says
Your free recycling center is better than either Goodwill in my town. Now, we have a Habitat for Humanity Restore and we have bought several chairs there – got a really comfy, extraordinarily clean Queen Anne for $25 and 3 kitchen chairs for $5 each.
Teri says
You got some nice things. What is the kids closet?
Mavis Butterfield says
Just a small closet in our house filled with a train set, now Lincoln logs, a few puzzles/games and some kids books. Just enough stuff to occupy small kids if we have people over.
Kipper says
I remember being a kid and my parents and I visiting former neighbors. They were grandparents and had toys set aside for the grandkids and kid visitors to play with. Lincoln logs, Tinkertoys and a Viewmaster with lots of discs. The lady also had Look and McCall magazines and would give me the Betsy McCall pages. A kid cupboard is a great idea,
Jessica says
I am dying about using and returning the Keurig! My first thought was you had a pile of K cups from the boxes or hotel freebies your mom gives you!
Julie T says
the picture/banana/picture hanger looks like a mug hanger to me.
Lauralli says
or an ornament hanger 🙂
Tina says
That is what it is. Used to be on many kitchen counters in the 80s.
Connie says
You’re lucky to have such a great recycling center. I’m curious, why did you return the table, coffee mug and Keurig? They all seemed like great finds. When you go to the recycling center, you must feel like you’re treasure hunting. I wish we had one by us.
Mavis Butterfield says
I found a better mug, Ran out of Keurig pods, and the table didn’t fit in the space I had intended it for.
Cathy says
Our dump does the same and 9h e treasures I have found.
Lily says
Wow, I never imagined you could find so much cool stuff at the recycling center! But I’m confused – what is this glass frog thingy, and how do you use it?
Mavis Butterfield says
You put it at the bottom of a vase and stick flower stems in the holes. 🙂
Lily says
Thank you for the explanation, I never would have thought of that!
Brianna says
The chicken toureen! I bet it has now become a conversation subject on your way to the dump/recycling center. Our county dump has a free table and I put stuff on it all of the time. I don’t care if they throw it in the dumpster at the end of the day or it makes someone else happy, but I hope the later. I have been working on our house and I put tons of hardware from our house on the table among other things. I took out all the terrible DIYgarage storage the previous owners put in and had a flat of assorted hardware and put it on the table. A few days later I was over at my parents house and my dad was bragging about his free table find….a whole big box full of hardware, screws, etc. I asked to see it and guess what? It was the same box I put on the table. It made his day and my mom said he was occupied for 2 days “sorting” it all.
Mavis Butterfield says
That is hilarious!!!
Jenny says
You could have kept the keurig and bought a $10 reusable “pod” on Amazon! Washable pod to use regular coffee in! I have had one for years.
MEM says
First of all, I LOVE the latest photo of Gladys Kravitz! Lucy gets more beautiful every day!
My town in a suburb West of Boston has trash and recycling pick up so no town dump to visit :-(. However, the town my daughter’s boyfriend lives in DOES have a town dump. Their freecycle center is only open from like May to October. Still, my daughter did pick up an 8′ x 10′ hooked area rug still in the wrapping from being cleaned. Excellent score! That town keeps the used books at a separate site and many are musty or moldy.
Shari Harniss says
Yes, I’ve made kimchi. It was pretty good. Not as good as our local Korean restaurant, of course.
There are several sites that have great recipes that aren’t terribly complicated. The simpler, the better.
Love to know if you give it a whirl!
Mimi says
Great free stuff!
I made kimchi once and was unpleasantly surprised at how the whole house smelled like kimchi. It tasted good but we soon got tired of it and I threw it out.
From now on I’ll leave it to the pros and will buy it in small quantities. You’ve been warned. 🙂
Trish says
I am super jealous of this! I wish our dump would do this! such a great idea rather than put it in a landfill or money going in Mr goodwill’s pocket.
I admin our local buy nothing group which is a similar idea of sharing with your community but I love the idea of a central area for all.
I wonder is they have to go through it often to get rid of undesirable items?
I can’t wait to hear about the clothing situation you have there; I would be in heaven!
Trish says
I am super jealous of this! I wish our dump would do this! such a great idea rather than put it in a landfill or money going in Mr goodwill’s pocket.
I admin our local buy nothing group which is a similar idea of sharing with your community but I love the idea of a central area for all.
I wonder if they have to go through it often to get rid of undesirable items?
I can’t wait to hear about the clothing situation you have there; I would be in heaven!
Linda says
I always had a trunk with the kids toys, books, coloring books, crayons (in a sturdy container that zipped), safe for play beads, dress up clothes, etc., in my closet for the grandkids. I think a good part of the fun was rummaging around to see what was in there (our grandkids don’t live in this town.) Toys left behind were put in the trunk until they were picked up, with the exception of a precious “Bedtime Bunny” which had to be delivered.
We are now at the point where the youngest is 11 and the next one up is 16, so a while back I emptied the trunk and distributed the “stuff.” Now we are waiting for great grandkids to need a kid’s closet. (Don’t hurry, we can wait
Jenny Young says
So now I just have more questions!
-What is the kid’s closet?
-Why do you need a mini blender in your craft room?
Very cool finds.
Andrea says
I adore the resourcefulness of your town! Seems you and the HH have found the utopia of like-minded folks. Happy New Year to you Mavis and so looking forward to another year of your great daily posts about Lucy, gardening, and saving money, time & energy (and more)!
Kara says
I’m curious about the blender in the craft room too!
Jennifer G says
Fascinating what people clear out & love that you have the opportunity to shop for free. Are you planning to do a post on your mom’s “free” Christmas gifts? I always enjoy seeing what she gets.
Candy C. says
Or the banana/photo holder could be used to hang your favorite mugs next to your coffee station
Jamie says
I just love this idea! I wish we had something like it near us. I feel like it would be ruined in our area though – to much junk. There must be someone who monitors it or keeps it neat?
Mary Ann says
You might want to reconsider making Kimchi at home. When we moved back to CA from MA in 2000 we temporarily lived in an apartment complex in Garden Grove very near the Korean district. Our apartment was upstairs from a Korean family. The smell of Kimchi came up into OUR apartment so strongly that it would make me literally feel nauseous. And it wouldn’t go away quickly.