Cut The Crap! Shop at Thrift Stores!

So, in my quest to cut the crap, I’m not sure I’m actually cutting the crap in my house.  I did do something cool recently, though, to keep crap out of the landfill.  I propagated some plants and re-potted them in pots I bought from thrift store.  I also bought some used children’s books and a few home décor items… all from the thrift store.  Not only did I get some great items for a fraction of the cost, but these items are getting a second (or maybe third?) life at my house.  It’s a win win. 

Let me start with my plants.  I have a huge spider plant that I affectionately call Big Mama.  This plant has survived several “murder” attempts, and we’ve given countless of her “babies” to friends and family.  She continues to make babies, though, and I have to do SOMETHING with them. 

I went to Walmart to look at cheap pots.  All of the “cheap” pots  were just that.  Cheap.  The inexpensive ones were plastic or terrible plaster things.  The nicer pots were obviously more pricey.  This was the case everywhere I went: Home Depot, Lowes, Target, etc.  I found a few cute pots, but really didn’t want to spend a lot since I had about 10 (you read that right. 10.) baby plants to transplant.  So I went to my favorite thrift store and found these. 

I repotted them this weekend and so far everything is looking great!  I’ll post more pictures of the happy little plants soon… and THEN I’ll have to go buy some additional pots because Big Mama has even MORE babies coming!  Does anyone want a plant?  Hahaha!

If you’ve read my previous blog posts, you know I love books.  My entire family loves books.  So when I saw these, I jumped at the chance to buy them.  Who can resist when they are less than $2?  My daughter had so much fun picking books that from now on I’m going to bring her with me to the thrift store.  She can pick up as many books as $10 will buy!  Why not?  We should always encourage reading!  AND when we’re done with these gently used books, they’ll go right back to the thrift store so another child can enjoy them. 

That brings me to the home décor… I bought a tray and a jewelry box.  I thought the tray would be perfect for Christmas cookies during holiday get-togethers, AND it only cost $4!  Can’t beat that!  It’s in perfect condition, too. 

Here’s the jewelry box.  It’s beaded and has a small mirror and tray inside.  This, too, was only $4!  It looks great with the colors in my bedroom, and I needed an extra place to stash my growing jewelry collection.  LOVE IT.

I’m sold on the merits of thrift-store shopping.  J  You can find unique items at low prices and keep said items out of the trash heap.  Why buy everything new when you don’t have to? 

More Electronics Recycling! Hardware Art!

How’s this for cutting the crap?  Make use of old, outdated computer hardware by repurposing it as abstract art!  WHY NOT?  This will keep tons of silicon crap out of our landfills and provide some interesting conversation pieces.  This particular piece is an old IBM server hard drive circa 1990!  It stands on its own and reminds me of an aerial map of some metropolis we never knew about.  It also weighs about 5 pounds.  The owner tells me that it is still functional (what!), but is so outdated that nothing we have today will run on it.  Still.  This looks really cool and could even be used as a bookend.     

Just on a whim, I decided to see what other folks were doing with old computer crap they had lying around.  I googled it, and here are some of the interesting things that showed up. 

Theo Kamecke made this striking box from circuit boards.  It’s not only beautiful, but functional. Click the link to see his other stuff.  This guy is amazing.  You can also read a cool article in MaximumPC about other amazing pieces of art.     

Pretty cool stuff, right? I especially like the take on insects.  VERY imaginative.