The Thrift Shop Toss

Ever wonder what happens to those handmade gifts you make for people that may not appreciate or understand the effort you put into every project?

Curious as to what happened to that scarf or hat you gave to that friend or relative that doesn't have a clue about handmade items, or buys all their stuff from the mall?

Do you ponder the end fate of items you sell at a craft show, or put up for charity auctions?


Well, matey, here lay the doomed fate of ye treasured hand-crafted artifact....

Now, I am not dissing people that donate blankets or scarves to charities or thrift shops to help support the thrift shop or it's ultimate purpose.  If everyone in the United States could sit down once a month and make a square for a blanket to go to a Thrift Shop, Charity, or Organization, we could WARM UP AMERICA.  That's not what I am talking about here.

I'm talking about that scarf you made your best friend 3 years ago.  Or that hat that didn't fit just perfectly for that guy in the office, or the "I must buy everything handmade" lady that just spent $40 at your craft booth.

Remember those "Fun Fur" scarves everyone wore like 5 years ago?

Well, I found them.  All of them, in a pile, at the thrift shop, for $1.98 a piece.  Remember how much you paid for that Fun Fur yarn?  Yep, $4.00 a ball.  2-4 balls of that yarn for a scarf (depending on knit or crochet).  Remember how many hours you put into that scarf, or throwing that yarn across the room in frustration while learning how to work with it?

All those memories, all that work, (all that fur), thrown in a pile, for a $1.98, at a thrift shop.

Granted, some of it, like this belt thing:

Would best be thrown upon a bonfire and never spoken of ever again.  But, you know, someone put alot of work into that, and probably thought it was fabulous at the time.  But here it sits, unappreciated, in a second hand store.

So ask yourself, Do I make Heirlooms?, Things that will be cherished, or things that will be remembered and worn to shreds, things that make people appreciate the art of Handmade, or will I make something that will one day lay forgotten, next to a Coors Light Racing hat and a Spice Girls World Tour shirt?