Sunday, July 22, 2012

Dumpster Diving

Hey sweet friend!

You may be asking -  "Dumpster Diving!?"

I'm thinking your next question may be -"Like literally? Jumping into a dumpster?"
And - "Did you really do that?"

My answers: Right - Yep - You bet

Not sure what to ask next? Or if you even want to know?

Yea well, hubby pretty much just shook his head and chuckled. 

My mom was not sure what to say. I'm not sure if she was more curious or concerned about the fact that her sweet Debbie was diving into a dumpster.


So, I guess the next logical question is  - "But why??"

Well, you see friend, my plan to sell things on etsy includes blocks of wood. I'll paint or stain them first. Then add pretty paper or fabric. I want these pieces to be inspirational, so I'll add words and sayings. And finally,  they'll be fancied up with ribbon, flowers and maybe even some shiny jewels.

Great ideas! I can just picture them!






However, I didn't have any wood.


Again, like with my need of fabrics for my quilts and pillows, I prayed about it.

If God could supply one bag full of fabric than I was sure He could lead me to where and how to get wood scraps. Or maybe it was just a cute idea, but not practical or a good idea for me to make and sell.

At the time, there was a major renovation going on where I work. On my lunch hour I usually would walk around the building talking on my cell with hubby and checking out the progress on the building.

It was during one of these walks that I noticed  the side door of the dumpster was wide open.

I saw something in there that made me stop and turn back and look again.

There were pieces and pieces of wood!
Perfectly good wood scraps!
And they were just gonna be thrown away?!

I quickly said: "Bye! Gotta go! Call ya later!", to hubby. I found one of the construction dudes and asked if those pieces of wood could be mine.  He said "yes"!

Now all I needed was a way to get all these wood pieces down to the back parking lot and into my car.

Hmmm.....

You'll never believe it!

On the other side of the dumpster was an empty box. The kind that holds reams of computer paper. A clean, sturdy box and just the right size for the wood scraps.

Into the dumpster I went with box in hand. {Since the side door was open I walked right in and didn't need to actually dive in}





The next day I talked with the construction site manager. He agreed to pile up pieces of  scrap wood for the rest of the week in a designated spot.

No more dumpster diving. Yay!
{now hubby's not embarrassed and Mom's relieved}

By the end of the week I had over two boxes full of beautiful wood scraps sitting in my garage just waiting to be prettied up!

Now to get a saw and a sander. *wink*

I think I'll just pray about it and wait for the Lord to lead me.


BTW ~ Since this happened I've been busy creating quilts and pillows that I've given away. Also, I've been practicing and trying to figure out the best techniques to make my inspirational wood blocks. Life is busy and I try to balance my time and priorities. I'm definitely not getting my etsy shop up and running as quickly as I'd hoped. But, I'm not gonna stop dreaming! My goal is to have my "Grand Opening" the beginning of October 2012.

1 comment:

  1. I really know the Lord is giving you all these wonderful ideas and He is certainly providing all that you need. This is great inspiration for me since I now need my own construction materials to make my garage into an apartment and the back porch into an eating space and bedroom! But I know the Lord will direct me. It has taken over a year to even get these things started but I really see His timing is best. You will get your store up and going yet and you are blessing others along the way as well<3
    Love you friend,
    JoAnn

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