My Second Hand Life

Garage Sale Goodies: Turning a Craftsman toolbox into a lunch...

spacedust — Sun, 28 Oct 2012 16:23:00 -0400

Garage Sale Goodies: Turning a Craftsman toolbox into a lunch box.

Found this little gem at a moving sale. Seller was very nice and extremely fair with prices. I came away with a double armload of tools for only $12. I would have gladly spent more (lots of good things to be had, from tool boxes to woodworking tools), but time and cash were both in short supply that day.

And, yes I will be converting this into a lunch box for myself (a TooLunchBox?), possibly as an Instructable.

Garage Sale Goodies: A bag of vintage Tinker-Toys for a quarter...

spacedust — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 16:09:00 -0400

Garage Sale Goodies: A bag of vintage Tinker-Toys for a quarter and an Underwood typewriter for a five spot! And the seller is trying to help me land a job! She even handed out free bags of marbles to my kids. Best garage sale… EVER!

Thrift Store Score: Managed to snag a near-mint multitester for...

spacedust — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:52:27 -0400

Thrift Store Score: Managed to snag a near-mint multitester for the paltry sum of $7! Read more about why I just had to buy this here.

Curb Catch: Walking the dog earlier this week, I managed to pull...

spacedust — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 21:14:57 -0400

Curb Catch: Walking the dog earlier this week, I managed to pull this from a neighbor’s clean-out pile. Looks like all it needs is a new switch and a shade.

The new blog is up!

spacedust — Mon, 21 May 2012 17:35:34 -0400

http://americanthriftocracy.blogspot.com/ Watch and enjoy!

Garage Sale Goodies: While some may not hassel the Hoff, I...

spacedust — Fri, 18 May 2012 12:03:05 -0400

Garage Sale Goodies: While some may not hassel the Hoff, I prefer vintage Syd Hoff. Can’t wait for bedtime reading tonight!

Garage Sale Goodies: How and Why Wonder Book of Ballet. My...

spacedust — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:50:55 -0400

Garage Sale Goodies: How and Why Wonder Book of Ballet. My daughter will love this!

Sometimes tumblr is not the answer

spacedust — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:12 -0400

I realize that I like Tumblr too much to completely abandon it (plus I was writing this in a fit of...

C-List Score: A vintage Smith-Corona “Cougar” model...

spacedust — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:41:37 -0400

C-List Score: A vintage Smith-Corona “Cougar” model portable typewriter. I’ve been wanting a vintage typewriter for some time and this one you can practically eat off of! And there’s a local typewriter collector who sells ribbons for it! Now all I need is a windowless cabin and a manifesto to write…

Moving on...

spacedust — Wed, 16 May 2012 00:55:58 -0400

I realize now that the ultimate goal of my blogging is no longer going to be satisfied by the use of...

Swiss chard. This one was colored in with a nub of an old...

spacedust — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:19:27 -0400

Swiss chard. This one was colored in with a nub of an old crayon. Not only does this give me a lot more color choices, the wax settles into the letter grooves better than the marker ink.

Wait, does this mean I actually have posted a completed project? Aw hell, now you’ll be expecting this every time!

After a little smash therapy… ...

spacedust — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:14:29 -0400

After a little smash therapy…

I noticed the letters were not popping out as much as I liked, so I colored them over with a permanent marker then wiped the excess clean. Then I had a better idea.

See where this is going now?

spacedust — Sun, 13 May 2012 15:02:19 -0400

See where this is going now?

Eight of the ten flattened spoons. One was awaiting its fate at...

spacedust — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:19:13 -0400

Eight of the ten flattened spoons. One was awaiting its fate at the anvil and one was crushed in a vise for testing. (Result? Needs more brutality.)

What’s to become of the squashed silverware? Stay tuned, loyal readers!

Please hammer, don’t hurt ‘em.

spacedust — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:11:01 -0400

Please hammer, don’t hurt ‘em.

Spoon, meet anvil. Anvil, spoon. Sure it’s overkill, but...

spacedust — Sat, 12 May 2012 16:02:53 -0400

Spoon, meet anvil. Anvil, spoon. Sure it’s overkill, but how many times in a day do you think “Gee this would be so much more awesome if I just used a little more… brutality.” If your answer was less than one time a day, it’s time to pursue another career.

Garage Sale Find: Ten mismatched spoons for a buck. But what...

spacedust — Sat, 12 May 2012 13:13:45 -0400

Garage Sale Find: Ten mismatched spoons for a buck. But what shall you do with said spoons, kind sir? Keep watching, young grasshopper…

Curb find: a cheap pine night stand with the worst varnish...

spacedust — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:07:36 -0400

Curb find: a cheap pine night stand with the worst varnish coating I have ever seen. Hoping to get this painted white and fix the too loose drawer. @ThriftDiving I hope you notice this!

Old School Blogging

spacedust — Fri, 11 May 2012 20:56:00 -0400

hile I realize that I want to be a great blogger, I’m usually not posting as much as I should...

More free finds. Too bad most of the property cards are missing.

spacedust — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:30:14 -0500

More free finds. Too bad most of the property cards are missing.