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Dumpster Diving Divas
Our Goodwill every month allows a dumpster dive behind the store of all the stuff that didn't sell. This was my first foray into the world of an endorsed dumpster dive and it was entertaining.
Score 1: Office Chair with ugly upholstery but in excellent working order (I re-upholstered in less than an hour and a half) to replace my ugly uncomfortable office chair in the sewing area. Score 2: Lots and lots of great mens shirts and ties. The ties were all silk and are fantastic for upholstering dollhouse furniture. Score 3: A deck prism from an old sailboat. I was stunned, these things cost dearly in the boat consignment shops. Makes a great weight! Score 4: old patterns, including cute aprons and kitchen aid mixer cover. Score 5: a box of fabric, porcelain doll heads, feet, hands, feathers, and other crafty stuff. Usually I just dumpster dive at the marina where my boat is. Lots of wealthy people there and they throw tons of great stuff away. Including sails which make DARLING tote bags, duffels, and messengers. After a race we did a competitor threw away his sail he tore, and I dove in and turned it into a summer sun shade for the hammock. |
Wow, you sound very creative. What kind of machine do you use for sewing with sails?
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Sounds like great fun! What kind of fabric was in your box of fabric you found?
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Marina dumpster diving -- now that is a new one to me! It is fun to be resourceful.
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Great score!
Those ties would work up into a crazy quilt too. |
The fabric included about 2 yards of a heavy diaper flannel in dark blue, some kids prints most likely cotton by the feel and wrinkleability, yard and a half of cotton on a sunset print that will be shared with my swap buddy, and about 4 yards of a hawaiian brown on white print of lovely hula dancers and flowers. Im guesing the reason it was gifted to the goodwill is because the wahines are topless. Lol. Hubby said he claims it for a pareo, saying its the prettiest fabric ever. Definitely sharing some with swap buddy....
I sew old dacron and light sails on pretty much anything. No worse than denim. But say a storm jib or the new laminates with kevlar, carbon fiber or other aramids well then I drag the old industrial machine from the loft. The laminates need extra oomph and a wider stitch sewing through mylar/epoxy/fiber sandwiches. oooo ties in a crazy quilt. Good idea, DH has boxes of his dads ties ( older styles, prints, stained) i always wondered What to do with them. the wealthier the marina the better, i scored nice acrylic glasses and dishware with non skid bottoms last week. Not a scratch on them. the lady on J dock hired designers to redo her interior. I guess they were from her. |
I have never been on a approved dumpster dive. I have done a couple of clandestine dives when I was younger. Sounds like you got some great stuff! It amazes me what people throw away nowadays.
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You sound like my kind of gal!! Good for you! I have friends that would be appalled at that behavior... haha! Sound slike a fabulous adventure to me! Were there a lot of people "diving"? When I was in Maine over the summer, I saw lots of shops selling backs made from sails and I loved them...and was wondering where I would get my hands on a sail....so, now I know.... I'll be looking for a marina this summer! haha! Thanks for sharing! I enjoyed your post...and your enthusiasm!!
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Originally Posted by Trippgal
(Post 6501800)
Our Goodwill every month allows a dumpster dive behind the store of all the stuff that didn't sell. This was my first foray into the world of an endorsed dumpster dive and it was entertaining.
Score 1: Office Chair with ugly upholstery but in excellent working order (I re-upholstered in less than an hour and a half) to replace my ugly uncomfortable office chair in the sewing area. Score 2: Lots and lots of great mens shirts and ties. The ties were all silk and are fantastic for upholstering dollhouse furniture. Score 3: A deck prism from an old sailboat. I was stunned, these things cost dearly in the boat consignment shops. Makes a great weight! Score 4: old patterns, including cute aprons and kitchen aid mixer cover. Score 5: a box of fabric, porcelain doll heads, feet, hands, feathers, and other crafty stuff. Usually I just dumpster dive at the marina where my boat is. Lots of wealthy people there and they throw tons of great stuff away. Including sails which make DARLING tote bags, duffels, and messengers. After a race we did a competitor threw away his sail he tore, and I dove in and turned it into a summer sun shade for the hammock. Wonder why they don't just reduce the price a lot and leave stuff in the store? |
Wow, great score!!!
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Oooh, an authorized dumpster dive. How much fun that sounds.
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When my oldedr DD lived in Virginia, the local landfill had a building filled with "too good to throw away" stuff. It was only open ever so often, but you could walk in and take anything, as much as you want. Too bad other landfills don't do that same.
My younger DD, SIL and some friends do the midnight side walk sales. Folks put stuff out and half way expect someone to take it. |
I've been on a few unsanctioned dumpster dives. Sometimes you can get some pretty good stuff. Other times there's good reasons why those treasures are there. It's gone both ways for me. Our Goodwill has a dumpster for scrap metal and it looks like they use a compactor for the rest. I haven't looked in the scrap metal dumpster.
Rodney |
Originally Posted by GrannieAnnie
(Post 6502307)
Wonder why they don't just reduce the price a lot and leave stuff in the store?
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You are bringing back memories. My husband and I used to have an antique shop. We would trash pick, find things on the side of the road and dumpster dive. We had so much fun finding the stuff that it was hard to sell some of it afterwards. Good for you! Remember that famous saying, one man's junk is another man's treasure!
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Dh and I purchased a dresser with no back and part of a drawer missing. Got the owner to sell it to us for $20. Imagine our surprise on the way down the drive when in a pile we found the rest of the dresser. DH put it all back together. We call it Humpty Dumpster. Then he added a curio hutch to it with glass shelves. We are often asked if it's an antique. It is in 2 pieces. He stained it to match. I love it. That was about 18 years ago. Anything new in this house is appliances and technology. Anything we want to use no more or doesn't work goes to the curb and vanishes usually in about 30 minutes average time.
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So my DH crawls in with me at the marina, and after seeing how much his quilt cost to make encourages the goodwill and thrift shop finds. But he was mortified driving through the neighborhood and seeing me rescue a rocking chair from a "take it" pile at the community center. It isnt like we are a candidate for hoarders, the house isnt surrounded with tomorrow projects, I just feel that sometimes new isnt always necessary. I guess I learned that from my parents.
Has anyone else encountered a less than thrilled spouse with repurposing and recycling? |
Originally Posted by Trippgal
(Post 6502612)
So my DH crawls in with me at the marina, and after seeing how much his quilt cost to make encourages the goodwill and thrift shop finds. But he was mortified driving through the neighborhood and seeing me rescue a rocking chair from a "take it" pile at the community center. It isnt like we are a candidate for hoarders, the house isnt surrounded with tomorrow projects, I just feel that sometimes new isnt always necessary. I guess I learned that from my parents.
Has anyone else encountered a less than thrilled spouse with repurposing and recycling? |
Originally Posted by GrannieAnnie
(Post 6502633)
Hubby hates anything that didn't come from Home Depot or Sears or Lowes. Tough titty!
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*** I just found a pattern for a purse/bag made from silk ties.
*** I hope to try this one soon (I have accumulated a few). *** I have been know to dumpser dive, but our GW has a store in Greenville that sells by the pound & they never throw anything away. *** ALWAY TAKE HOME ONLY WHAT YOU CAN WASH OR CLEAN REMEMBER SOME PEOPLE THOUGH AWAY ITEMS THAT HAVE *** BEDBUGS ***. |
My DH knows that if he isn't careful I will cheerfully bring home anything to repurpose (and that includes wandering pets and neighbors). We love to refurnish furniture together, and I am starting to get him enthused over my old sewing machine adventures. Many quilts have been made from my thrift store finds, as well as most of the shelves and tables in my sewing room. My raised garden beds were once the deck railings , the pergola was a neighbors' pier, the brick walkways were leftovers from another neighbors construction project, etc... You really look at purchases differently once you realize how much can be done to repurpose instead.
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That is wonderful. My kind of person to hang out with, never been dumpster diving, but would go if given a chance.
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Thats awesome! If you want to get rid of the diaper flannel pm me, being disabled my lil dog uses puppy pads, I make my own n they would work great!!
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Here the Goodwill has a "discount " store. Anything that don't sell in their stores is sent there and put in bins. All soft goods ( anything fabric) is sold by the pound. Everything else is dirt cheap. I like to plow the bins.
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Originally Posted by TwinRiverFarm
(Post 6503259)
My DH knows that if he isn't careful I will cheerfully bring home anything to repurpose (and that includes wandering pets and neighbors). We love to refurnish furniture together, and I am starting to get him enthused over my old sewing machine adventures. Many quilts have been made from my thrift store finds, as well as most of the shelves and tables in my sewing room. My raised garden beds were once the deck railings , the pergola was a neighbors' pier, the brick walkways were leftovers from another neighbors construction project, etc... You really look at purchases differently once you realize how much can be done to repurpose instead.
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Love to repurpose fabrics and all kinds of other stuff. Made denim cowboy boots that were Christmas stockings for all my neighbors one year. Have been on a quest to use all my scraps in string quilts, (working on number 5 now). Have a great pile of denim, flannel, men's ties, etc. for future use or sharing with friends. Always looking for ways to keep stuff out of the landfills.
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I never heard of Goodwill offering Dumpster Dives. I'll have to contact them. Hmm, I wonder about the Salvation Army shops? They usually have better stuff.
My DH picks up stuff left out for the trash, usually lawn chairs for our bonfire. But once he found a perfectly good preformed pond, and a friend gave me one HER DH found, so I have two beautiful small lily ponds, because I love gardening even more than I love quilting. |
great idea! score for you ! I am wondering if I should kick myself now for not looking to see if our JoAnn's tossed anything worth diving for when they "remodeled" the store. I swear they have less fabric now and more junk. The fabric is mostly thinner and inferior. There is another JoAnn's about 30 minutes away and the fabrics are good quality, not thin and so much more since the store is twice the size. makes it worth the trip. We live near a lake, a reservoir, and are an hour from Lake Erie so, maybe I can find a welcoming dumpster in the spring!
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Houston has a heavy trash day for each neighborhood every other month (the alternate months it is tree/yard waste). It is so much fun to drive through neighborhoods and see what people have put out - many thrift stores/antique stores/people/etc. have regular routes and schedules to check what is availabe. We have often laughed and said by the time the city trucks come around a good portion of the "stuff" has already been removed from the curbs and that is good news for everyone.
My best score: my nephew and great nephew found a brand new cat play tower - people had moved out of the house and left it on the curb. Boy , have my 2 girls really loved it and it saved me about $200! |
Wow..I never heard of Goodwill throwing their stuff away...Here in Charleston we have the Goodwill pound store where everything that does not sell in the stores goes to the pound store. Everything except big stuff is sold for 1.19 a pound. The only thing I hate is having to dig through everything since it is all piled into large carts. My girlfriend and I have got a lot of great stuff there...
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WOW, a marina dumpster dive, not your every day thing to encounter.
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reusables
Originally Posted by MaryAnnMc
(Post 6504239)
I never heard of Goodwill offering Dumpster Dives. I'll have to contact them. Hmm, I wonder about the Salvation Army shops? They usually have better stuff.
My DH picks up stuff left out for the trash, usually lawn chairs for our bonfire. But once he found a perfectly good preformed pond, and a friend gave me one HER DH found, so I have two beautiful small lily ponds, because I love gardening even more than I love quilting. |
I'm reading this thread and a few things have come to mind:
When you talk about bedbugs in used furniture, I think about The Big Bang Theory episode where Penny found a chair on the curb and there was some kind of creature in it! I wondered if our Goodwill has those authorized dumpster Dives. And kudos to those that do to keep stuff out of the landfills and to the people that thrive on repurposing. Men's ties can be used for lots of things. Pinterest has bunches- some are really ugly, but all are creative. My favorite is the flowers made from them and the quilts of course. |
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> Speaking of dumpster diving,,, be careful! About 10 years ago I would dumpster after work to get small boxes for mailing. When you do this lean over the edge on your stomach not your RIBS as I cracked one doing it!
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> |
Thursday a dear friend found a Viking / Husqvarna 6030 model with foot. She called me to come and service/explain it use. Had a bobbin. Haven't had time to look it up as I had to go to Dr today for a lingering cough.
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Well, since you live near a marina you don't live near me. I'm landlocked in Tennessee. Was sure hoping to learn at your feet. :)
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The GW closest to me is real proud of what they sell...to expensive for what they have. Pay another $1 or 2 & you can get it brand new.
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I did that also. I had thrown away a big stack on quilting magazine into our dumpster and when my sis found out about it she suggested we get them back out, she wanted them. I leaned over and my foot slipped off of whatever I had stood on, I cracked a couple ribs.
Originally Posted by Phyllis nm
(Post 6505261)
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:View>Normal</w:View> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:SnapToGridInCell/> <w:WrapTextWithPunct/> <w:UseAsianBreakRules/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> </w:Compatibility> <w:BrowserLevel>MicrosoftInternetExplorer4</w:BrowserLevel> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--> Speaking of dumpster diving,,, be careful! About 10 years ago I would dumpster after work to get small boxes for mailing. When you do this lean over the edge on your stomach not your RIBS as I cracked one doing it!
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="156"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} </style> <![endif]--> |
Our Goodwill is very expensive also. My daughter new a friend that was dumpster diving and thought she found a fur coat and it was in a box. It was a dead dog. How can people be so curl with their animals who pass?
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Originally Posted by JanieH
(Post 6504569)
Houston has a heavy trash day for each neighborhood every other month (the alternate months it is tree/yard waste). It is so much fun to drive through neighborhoods and see what people have put out - many thrift stores/antique stores/people/etc. have regular routes and schedules to check what is availabe. We have often laughed and said by the time the city trucks come around a good portion of the "stuff" has already been removed from the curbs and that is good news for everyone.
My best score: my nephew and great nephew found a brand new cat play tower - people had moved out of the house and left it on the curb. Boy , have my 2 girls really loved it and it saved me about $200! |
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