Make-Up

A few weeks ago I took home a small plastic bag with textiles to sell at kilo price at the recycling center. Found various empty medicine or vitamine pots on the bottom. Good for the plastic recycling. Plus one full pot of vitamine/energy pills, not expired, that I'm using up. I don't really believe in it, but it looked trustworthy so a least it won't harm.

And further there was this small lot of make-up.

I understand the attraction of cosmetics to women, as I have been a victim of it in the past. But not for that long and never did I have to throw away anything totally untouched like these. As I see at least three foundation powders I wonder why you'd buy the new box before even touching the old one... I would have used up the blusher and eye-shadow to the last grain in my time! Shimmer sheets didn't exist back then so I have no clue what they are good for but the plastic wrap is unsealed.

The boxes seem old and were dusty and I just wiped them off lightly. Since not selling on the markets anymore these went to thrift shop today and I didn't care to do more work. Powders don't decay and I'm sure priced at €1 each they'll be gone soon.

Today I made a very nice sale on a piece of electrical equipment that I picked up yesterday. But as I still have to ship it and wait for customer satisfaction I'll show it later on.

Planters and Plant Boxes Part 2

My garden needs some work, but so far outdoor temperatures have not been constant so it's a challenge to get really started. Now not really in short of a lot of good pots, coming home two days ago from work around 8.30 pm, still light, I found these next to the underground dumpsters a few streets away. And all packed up in a large thin plastic bag with handles, so easy to transport home on my bike (though having to push it, walking).

But in the mean time I sowed more vegetables than past years and I don't know yet where all the little sprouts coming up in my indoor grow boxes shall go. So it is nice to have a bit more stock to choose from.

The tin bowls will make great bird and bee baths, replacing messy and smaller plastic ones that are less suitable for the purpose.

This weekend promises very agreeable weather and I'm off Saturday. That and the 'new' stuff should get me going.

And sure my mint plant could use a replacement. It came up spontaneously a few years ago and has thrived since in the same pot. But I'm thinking about giving it the larger grey one left side in the picture, so it will thrive more.

If you're curious about part 1 curb found planters read it here. 

Tea Cozies Part 2

Today I felt very lucky because I sold one of my old hand crafted pieces.

A week ago I met a lady at the thrift shop who was asking for a tea cozy. The model that fits over the pot and that you could put on your head as well, haha. The fun is nine out of ten guys that ever looked at my creations wanted to put it on their head. Coming to the point she needed it for a sketch to put on as a hat. Not finding anything anywhere she came to the shop. Well in ten years I've seen maybe two coming in. So I told her about my old hobby and promised to look at home at what I still had. Not really sure. To my surprise I found this one in the first corner I tried, including the pot but without the lid. Can't remember but likely broken at a market or transporting back from one. She came back today and was thrilled! I asked €5 and she offered €7,50. 

I stuck €1 on the pot and left it for the shop to sell.

Not much for my work, (imagine, I used to sell little flowers like this €2,50 a piece as brooches or hair clips) but on the other hand an item 15 years old is financially written off. And the thing is this was really made from unraveled curb found knitwear. 

Then when walking the lady out and wishing her success with the show I spotted the shop/volunteer coordinator and wanted to show him my item. What did he say? 'I want to see how that looks on my head!'

Now read more about my tea cozies here: https://trashcollector.blogspot.com/2010/01/tea-pots-and-tea-cozies.html

How I loved to design and make them. But it's just not a product people want. Sold one on Etsy, custom made. Soooo long ago. The model 'pagode' that I talk about in the post sold to my brother. Photo so old it's not in my laptop. Hopefully maybe still on a diskette. If I find it will show later. This one here I found in an old file called 'sold'. Just can't remember when or where!            

And then to my surprise I found this one. Same model, made for same pot, same material but with a knitted bow. Where did it go? I can't remember. But if file says sold it must have been sold.

Watches

Looking for the old party hats photo's from my last post I stumbled upon these watches that I never showed before. A find from 2016 but I remember it well. In clear day light a young expat leaving the country unplanned (I guess) to go home or move on left some very nice stuff on the curb. I know because while loooking at the music books (that I did post about before) he came back to bring more. One thing I remember was an electric screwdriver, but I let a neighbour also looking have it.

However it's not so easy to sell watches. On the Dutch 'Ebay' you have to pay for the listing and you need to know enough about them. I managed once on anoher selling site where it is without costs, but I think that one came from giveaway shop. Among these I decided in the end only the gold plated Casio would be worth trying (as the silver coloured is incomplete). But I never did. Through the years I sent the other four to the thrift shop. The Casio somehow collected dirt while lying around and when I finally cleaned it the gold plate was slightly damaged. And so that one went to thrift shop as well somewhere last year. Sure fire I made someone very happy.

King's Day Hats

I must have found these somewhere 2016.  In the colours of our Dutch flag, red, white and blue, but with the orange brim they are a typical thing to wear on the national celabration, King's Day. I photographed them in december to sell for the celbration in 2017. Without success. Yet I sold one on a market once, but forgot when or where. It can't have been on the free market on the day itself as shifting a few days earlier after Queens Day April 30since 2013, it had always been too cold for me and my friend to go for it. Sure thing is I got no more than €0,50.

With the day coming up this Saturday I dug up the remaining three and brought them to the thrift shop. Happy to make place. Though from moving around and storage their condition has slightly deteriorated, I saw one regular customer falling for their specialty. It's real straw, hand made, vintage and nothing like Chinese cheap plastic that is sold commercially. He happily walked out with two paying €1 each.

Now I'm going to post a Facebook message for the shop hoping the last one will go tomorrow. If not so be it. But the the sale made my day today.

Aeschynanthus Mona Lisa

Somewhere last summer looking for new vegetable pots I picked up one with a dried out plant from in front of the door just for that. Next day at closer look the pot wasn't that useful but the plant wasn't so dead yet. With two tiny green leaves in between the dry branches I poured some water in and left it in the yard where it was. To my surprise it started to grow quickly. In autumn I took it in in and by then it had grown by at least six centimeters. The munching away from the first growing leave by some insect didn't hurt aparently. Without further care to my surprise a couple of weeks ago I found something red sprouting from the center. Never in my lifetime I managed to grow or regrow flowers on a succulent!

About time to find out more. Lucky the name is on the pot! It turns out Aeschynanthus Mona Lisa does not want too much light, so just perfectly placed by my back window in my groundfloor apartment.

This is how the flowers, now on my plant still in development, in the end will look like.

Later on I will have to give it a bigger pot and fresh earth, but for now I must leave it alone untill it gets stronger. I'll add some soil on top, give plant feed and remove the dry branches. And then hopefully it will become like this: an abuntlantly growing hanging plant.

Electronic Or Electrical Waste

Two bags full of old electrical appliances or e-waste, by experience I guess up to 15 kilo's, ready to go to recycle shop. Will make me only around €1,50, but with added bonus points, to redeem later for cash. Seems like a lot of work for peanuts, but it's not that bad. There are a possibly working tuner and milk warmer, but I don't even take the trouble of testing, then making product photo's and waiting for an unsure sale. The amount was collected in just four days, not that I find that much all the time, but it takes me ten minutes to walk the bags hanging from my bike handlebars to the shop and it's a sure fire direct payment for 80 % real trash: two broken chease sandwhich makers, a printer, an out of date dvd-player and two ancient keyboards. And I just picked this up on the way to or coming back from groceries.

With the other things they take, plastic and textiles I manage to get up to €15 a month. That adds up to other things, better than I did sometimes in the past just relying on selling usable trashed goods.