An easy way to decorate your home, yard, and outdoor space is with free items. With no cost and very little effort, you can have a comfortable, lovely home and garden. I’m always open to picking up free things because it’s easy and the price is right. My neighborhood is the best for picking up free stuff. This is what I found yesterday on a walk with my husband. We liked it, we didn’t take the chairs next to it, and he carried the pail home. See what I mean about easy?
Tips for Accumulating Found Treasures
- Be open to junk. Just because someone else doesn’t want it doesn’t mean it’s not right for you. Items can be re-used. They may just no longer have a need for the item.
- Be willing to visualize another purpose for an item. I probably won’t use this as a pail but it could be used as a planter or to carry firewood into our home.
- Share the love. If I don’t use something I’ve picked up, I just put it out front with a sign that says “Free” and it’s usually gone in a day. Or, I post on Craig’s List under the category “Free Stuff” and it’s gone in no time.
These sweet little blue flowers are free, also. They’re probably weeds but I like to think of them as part of our “eco-lawn” program.
Do you like to pick up free items? Do have to look at everything that has a sign that says free? What’s your best find?
Go Gingham related links:
A dining room table table-cloth for Flag Day – or another summer holiday
How to tutorial on the dining room table ping-pong
Want to learn to sew? Start here with easy cloth napkins
How to take apart a skirt – use your seam ripper on this project!
Sew your own homemade lunch sack
How to sew a Harry Potter cape complete with wand pocket
A reader’s question about saving old candles and what to do with them
Go Gingham 
Love the bucket ~ can’t wait to see the clever way you use it!
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Thanks, Darcy! I’m still patting myself on the back for not taking the chairs home, too. They were so cute but were little kid chairs. Alas, I no longer have a need for those.
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I’ve started collecting every single glass jar that we get: tobasco sauce, spaghetti, etc. I’ve even been known to post ads on Craigslist for empty baby food jars (which I actually need to do now). I use glass jars for my homemade body products which I give as gifts or use when teaching classes. They can easily (and inexpensively) be decorated and they’re free! I do the same with plastic containers, but I’m a little more picky just because I’m concerned about the BPA and plastic doesn’t last as long as the glass.
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