Stuff crafters will buy / Etsy Thread

[Jillyenator]

I didn't find a thread for this. Let's start a list of things crafters will buy for their crafting craftiness:

Anything with gears, lenses, pieces of clocks, leather bits and straps - very steampunk.

Rivets, anything early Industrial Age - dieselpunk.

Scrabble tiles, board game pieces. The game boards themselves. Old dart boards.

Typewriter keys. Keyboard keys.

Windows with wood frames.

Shutters are huge among the craft folk. They make all kinds of stuff from them.

Hinges, cabinet pulls, handles, hooks, doorknobs, cabinet hardware. I just saw some rusty hinges selling for $18 EACH in one vintage shop. Each. Not even for a set of hinges. And in a regular junk shop, hinges were going for at least a dollar each.

Corks. Esp ones made of actual cork, which is getting less common. But they all sell in bulk.

Even beer caps in good shape (unsquished). I found a resale mall where a person had put together little plastic buckets full of interesting bottle caps, $10 for small buckets, $20 for large ones. I don't know what people do with these, but I don't have to.

Household paint cans of all sizes, empty with dried paint in interesting colors, with lids.

Any old farm, garden, or kitchen implements. Old flathead screwdrivers with wood handles.

Buttons and other sewing notions. Thread spools, esp wood. Bobbins.

They also scavenge lace, embroidery patches and other interesting details on otherwise unrecyclable clothing.

Cigar boxes.

Silverplated anything, esp trays and serving pieces.

Old jewelry boxes.

Broken costume jewelry. All the parts get taken apart by these people and put into new items.

Old patches from clothes, esp name tags from gas station type shirts.

Casters.

Cast iron trivets, cast iron cookware.

Old bottles.

Metal 'industrial chic' furniture is big for use in artist studios.

Seashells



Pine cones, sycamore cones, magnolia 'cones', corkscrew willow branches, burlwood, yucca stalks, driftwood, cactus wood spines, kittenwillow branches, mesquite pods, etc.

Tiles, even broken tiles and broken dishes - they put the broken stuff in tumblers and spin them to make smooth stones for crafts and in gardening beds. Also they use broken stuff in mosaics, like for table tops or wall hangings, serving trays and plaques.

-------------------------
Edited to try to say kittenwillow branches, since it won't let me say *****willows.

[Sirscrapalot]

lol..at the edit.

Bar stools! Not your typical scrap but I know some of you guys do clean outs or take all kinds of things on picks up that may not be metal/electronic. One lady here I deal with local, paints them, an sells them.

The beer caps are a good one! I'm currently saving a bunch for the wife for some project she wants to do. I know bars an restaurants love them for making those cool table tops, or desk tops. Sure there a ton of uses for them.

An..anyone needs seashells..I got buckets of the ****able things. LOL.

Washers, spacers, an other things like that. Again my local lady uses them in craft projects.

Good thread, I'll add more later!

Sirscrapalot - Suzie sells seashells down by seashore

[Jillyenator]

Aluminum and tin cans that are vintage, either empty or full.

I found an unopened can of water from Anhouser Busch, donated for one of the hurricane disasters. Those are indeed sellable, esp for the various named hurricanes. Mine is from one of the big storms - i forget which offhand.

Metal spice containers, vintage or not. You can still get pepper in the metal ones, but not much else, I think.

Almost any metal food containers with logos on them - these are changing quickly over to plastic in most businesses.

Metal maple syrup containers in the shape of houses.

Aunt Jememima syrup glass bottles.

Metal bandaid containers. I think they are all vintage now.

Baby spoons. Salt spoons. Travel collectors spoons.

Metal tool boxes or tackle boxes.

Metal first aid containers, esp with the big Red Cross emblem on it.

Metal street signs or business signs of any kind.

Wooden business shingles.

License plates from anywhere. They go from $1 each for common ones to a LOT, for the rarer places.

Any tableware with celluloid or bakelite handles, or ivory or bone.

Pez containers, old or new.

Sturdy wooden picture frames always have value. Gilded plaster frames, even if falling apart.

Vintage mirrors.

Mid-century is a HUGE thing right now, in any category of housewares or furniture.

Legos, as someone mentioned elsewhere.

Even cardboard bar coasters from around the world.

[sledge]

Vote for a Sticky!
Thanks for this Jillyenator! Very useful information indeed!

[Jillyenator]

Thanks, Sledge and Sir. I like things organized in one spot for easy retrieval.

Also, wadarbr549 mentioned piano scrap: "sometimes the keys , pedals, and wood will bring good money on ebay..i have also resold some of the cast iron peg boards from the inside for good money, if they are ornate people will buy them"

[BurlyGuys]

Do you have any idea of how many pianos I have thrown whole into the landfill???

Thanks, Sledge and Sir. I like things organized in one spot for easy retrieval.

Also, wadarbr549 mentioned piano scrap: "sometimes the keys , pedals, and wood will bring good money on ebay..i have also resold some of the cast iron peg boards from the inside for good money, if they are ornate people will buy them"

[Sirscrapalot]

To keep the fun going...

Old Oil Cans

Old Posters of any kind, advertisements etc. Artsy folks collect odd things..what can I say.

Old toys, tin, or really anything old pre 80s, an even some 80s, reckon this more for collectors then crafters..but I saw Pez! (hiding his pez collection from Jilly. Wife gets me some every year, I like the candy..the holders are just a by product that I save..lol)

Old tools, woodworkers(they count as crafty right?) do like the older things, for some projects. A good hand drill, saw, etc.

I'll think up more, but Jilly is doing awesome on her own! lol.

An I second the sticky.

Sirscrapalot - Crafting a list~!

[hobo finds]

To keep the fun going...

Old Oil Cans

Old Posters of any kind, advertisements etc. Artsy folks collect odd things..what can I say.


Old toys, tin, or really anything old pre 80s, an even some 80s, reckon this more for collectors then crafters..but I saw Pez! (hiding his pez collection from Jilly. Wife gets me some every year, I like the candy..the holders are just a by product that I save..lol)

Old tools, woodworkers(they count as crafty right?) do like the older things, for some projects. A good hand drill, saw, etc.

I'll think up more, but Jilly is doing awesome on her own! lol.

An I second the sticky.

Sirscrapalot - Crafting a list~!

When I was a kid my favorite poster was "Study Hard" LOL

http://autoculture.org/?p=3446

[smashing]

When I was a kid my favorite poster was "Study Hard" LOL

WORKING HARD « Autoculture

Holy cow! That was my favorite too! The store wouldn't sell it to me so I tricked my grandma into getting it for me! I forgot just how hot it was lol

[bigburtchino]

Just a little heads up on sheet music, Jill had posted earlier about using for crafts. Sheet music is highly collectable, especially early rock country 60's & 70's. Also even older turn of the century 1900's in good shape some pretty good cash. I would be very reluctant in cutting up sheet music! I found two boxes last year, nicely sealed and labeled, I hadn't even bothered to open them. My mom was over one day at my warehouse, looking for things and she found those two boxes of sheet music. She opened them, and started asking me do you know what you have here? Obviously I didn't, most of it was 1890's to 1910 almost in mint condition. My mom had a friend that has been in the music business his whole life. Him and my mom sold most of them. Kept the most valuable, had them framed, my mom's last year mother's day present. They made a couple of thousand dollars! Don't cut these up or glue them on anything without doing some research.

[scrapping4ever]

Gears, bearings both sell

[IAscrapper]

Great thread I wouldnt have thought some of this stuff would sell on etsy and I got almost all these items.

[kustomcomposites]

lol i was just thinking the same thing, wish i had better internet, its spotty at best, so finding places to sell to other than local yards is more than hair pulling....

[Mick]

Copper "anything". Wire. Sheet. Windings. Degaussing cable.

[Sirscrapalot]

How did I leave that one out, specially when I got a wife crafts with it at times...Good one Mick!

An not can you just sell this stuff on Etsy, but also eBay, local, CL, anywhere crafty folks will look for supplies.

Jilly just earned herself full access to the cooler.

Sirscrapalot - Giving out beverages like their going out of style.

[Jillyenator]

How did I leave that one out, specially when I got a wife crafts with it at times...Good one Mick!

An not can you just sell this stuff on Etsy, but also eBay, local, CL, anywhere crafty folks will look for supplies.

Jilly just earned herself full access to the cooler.

Sirscrapalot - Giving out beverages like their going out of style.

Awesome! I need access to beers tonite. Snow pisses me off. I can't see what's on the curb, and I don't like getting wet.

[Sirscrapalot]

An your post is now a sticky!

Thank you Mick, or whoever our secret stick-er is...

Sirscrapalot - The beat goes on, as does the list.

[Mick]

An your post is now a sticky!

Thank you Mick, or whoever our secret stick-er is...

Sirscrapalot - The beat goes on, as does the list.

You're welcome,

The Masked Sticker

[DWJ]

Valve handles, I believe a member on here was recently looking to purchase for this exact reason. Also, wing nuts. Especially larger brass ones, if you're going to demo any old wall hung plumbing fixtures might be worth saving those suckers for resale!

[Jillyenator]

Weeee! I made a sticky thread! Proud of meself.

In relation to the wooden stools that Sir mentioned, crafters also like to paint nightstands, wooden kitchen chairs of any kind, terra-cotta flower pots and light-switch panels.

They get out their hot guns for lamp shades too. And vases, even the ugly ones.

My MIL is one of those uber-crafters. If you sit still long enough, she will hot glue and decoupage you to death. These are downright dangerous people.