Etsy Trashion asks...

The Esty Trashion Street Team asks its members:
"What is the best place to find items to reuse in your crafts?"

http://bayousalvage.etsy.com/ says “the best place to find stuff is in other people's garbage piles & dumpsters. i have a kit with special tools,gloves and disinfectant spray. good junk is only a hop,skip & a junkpile away...”

http://trashionmode.etsy.com/ says...”My latest hot spot for freebies is the discardpile outside of the library. We also have a recycling facility that lets metake things. I just got a huge box of soda can pull tabs that I'm trying tofigure out how to use and a big stack of disposable aluminum trays that I'mthinking of using to create pendants similar to the soldered type. I mighttry the clear plastic from containers instead of the glass slides. I'llprobably have to add some heavy recycled beads just to add some weight.”

http://reneedesigns.etsy.com/ says the majority of the materials I use are delivered right to my front door as junk mail, magazines and newspapers. Everyone hates getting junk mail but I don't anymore now I know that it can be turned into something really cool. The rest I may find on the street orin thrift stores.”

http://sweetyprize.etsy.com/ says "Where do I not find supplies? I find them roadside in boxes, as I take a walk, at the flea market, and when my mom says 'You want this? I am going to throw it out.'" “

http://bemyshark.etsy.com/ says, “railroad tracks and abandoned buildings are ripe with trashionfodder...it's enough to make me miss Detroit..”

http://donnapool.etsy.com says
I check all the junk mail that comes to my house and all the newspaper ads in the Sunday papers. I check old catalogs and magazines. Now and then I'll check flea markets, used book stores and antique malls for vintage magazines that are likely to have ads I can recycle into my buttons, etc. I also get scraps for my soft toys from old clothes my family is ready to throw out.


http://kae1crafts.etsy.com says “In answer to this question, I have a variety of sources that I use starting with my own discards, closets, junk mail and found treasures in the street and on the beach. Then I accept "donations" from friends and family, prowl and buy at yard sales (especially from their 'Free' box) and from thrift stores. I usually have far more items and ideas that I have time or energy to complete. The Trashion concept has heightened my awareness of what I am throwing in the trash and making me question: Can I make something from this or is it REALLY trash? Even my supply store is filled with used patterns, books and supplies.”


http://Stitchblade.etsy.com says "I find a lot of my materials at thrift stores. There is one locally that sells random garbage bags full for 50 cents a piece. I have also gotten items from Freecycle.org and friends as well as within my own home."

http://sclibertine.etsy.com/ says, “This will sound silly, but everywhere! Generally thrift stores and their dumpsters, and freecycle. The dumpster by my Publix often has random bits, too. I've gotten quite a few things, from three boxes of yarn to horrible Christmas decorations to antique sewing supplies. It's fun, there is honestly no telling what people are looking to get rid of! Piles on the side of the road are a MAGNET to me! I have to stop and look for treasures."

http://jen1kanobi.etsy.com says "my day job; we get items shipped in all kinds of materials that would otherwise end up as waste, it just so happens to be a photolab, so i also score all kinds of scrap matt board, perfect for hard cover journals... my second favorite place to find things is my own family trash, we have excellent recycling in Ann Arbor, but they do not take freezer boxes, which turn out to make wonderful paper beads!"

http://reduxdesigns.etsy.com/ says "most of my jewelry is made from things Ifind in my jewelry box or button stash - reusing what I already have.I've also had good luck at a garage sales and thrift stores. Forclothes, thrift stores are the best, especially where you can buy bythe pound. I dig in and look for fabric and trim rather than at theitems."

http://haptotrope.etsy.com/ says, “There is a place here called "Buck-A-Pound" whereyou literally sit in a pile of all manners of textiles and dig through it.At times I'll close my eyes and feel around me and pull out only the bestfeeling fibers. I'll choose softness, luxury, or texture as my first lineof choice even before color and cut... Sometimes some things even comefrom the trash -- because Boston is a wealthy city with a lot ofturn-over, many people simply but their second hand items on the curb forpeople to take...its so common that we euphemistically donate perfectlygood and beautiful things to "Our Lady of the Curb" and go "Curb shopping" “

http://www.tomatedepingles.etsy.com says "thrift shops! i spend a lotof time in thrift shops, so much so i know all the clercks names, andthey put aside stuff for me to buy! they receive a lot of brokenjewelry, for example, and would normaly throw them out, but they keepthem for me and i use them to create new jewelry out of the salvagedpieces!"

Check out the blog updates and member's profiles for more great insight into these creative minds!