Cheapside Court

Yes, there's a reason for the particular address.

The "punk" part of steampunk implies a sort of countercultural mindset where it comes to creating, and of that, I think of conjoined concepts - first, that objects are used and combined in unexpected/unconventional ways, and secondly that objects are scrounged and re-purposed or "up-cycled".


It occurs to me that perhaps I should have supplied a house number - Number 13, perhaps - since there's a lot of luck involved. Although I had secured a ceramic knob for my new walking stick, I wasn't *quite* satisfied with it; it's really too small for the scale. However a pair of old brass doorknobs presented themselves at the Baker Neighborhood yard sale on Saturday. Neither was it hard to take them home for $5 rather than the asking price of $7. That was luck!

This is especially nice, since my boy Evan also wants a walking stick. Being 11, he could certainly do with a smaller diameter dowel, and the correspondingly smaller knob will be just right for him. <sighs dramatically> Another trip to Lowes.

I was also gratified to find a number of vintage table linens - doilies and such at 10¢ - $1. For all that we spend such effort getting that vintage look with vast quantities of tea, these are naturally there. To me, they could use a good bleaching, or a good dunking in some Rit dye. Once treated, they are likely to be repurposed (well, not the linen table runner) into blouse inserts or hat treatments, or the lace trimmings for gloves.

The thrift store is of course your friend. The flounces on my new drawers are rescues from some lace curtains; we've rescued belts and bags from the ARC, doilies and handkerchiefs, and almost all my table linens that you see at my teas came from a thrift store somewhere. Lace table cloths and curtains are easily cut into clothing, although you want to make sure that the fibers are acceptable to you; some people have aversions to the feel or drape of synthetics, for instance. For Steampunk home décor, you'll be able to find almost anything with a little effort and some gas money.  

One of the reasons that we really appreciate yard sales in older neighborhoods is that the luck is good when looking for steamy stuffs. (They always have the best gardens, too.) We found lots of old and curious things in Baker last weekend. I covet that little purse-like thing that Sheila found, all brown and white and stripey. There were a number of old hats, and remember that ladies did not usually wear hats around the crown of one's head; a hat sat on top of the head for Victorians, and to some extent Edwardian ladies as well. So don't reject them because they seem too small. Many old gloves, although ladies' hand sizes seem to have increased somewhat in the last hundred years. Typewriters. Old radios. China. Photographs. Jewelry. Boxes. Crutches. The list goes on...

If you want to try yard sales, learn to haggle. Almost no one expects to get the price that they put on their grandmother's antique shoehorn. Offer 75% of the marked price; most people will go for it. I think I paid full price for my linens on Saturday, but that was my math error. It never hurts to pull out a $1 and a $20 for a $2 item. Nine times out of ten the owner will take the buck, rather than give up $18 of her change.

In other possibilities, I have intelligence that (for Denverites, at least), the Goodwill Outlet Store at I-225 and Mississippi is a treasure for scrounging bits and bobs. This is truly scrounging, however - bins and bins of detritus, and to call it assorted would be something of an understatement. It's broken, dirty, jumbled. But you can take what you want, like the guts out of an old radio, and it's sold by the pound. Take gloves. Really.

Although EBay seems to be the go-to site for many of the more iconic items, I would caution discretion. Many of the things that are described as "Victorian" are actually of later provence, and most are altogether reproductions. Caveat emptor. Things that seem to be insignificant can reliably date the object. Pin backs, for instance. You might like it anyway, but don't pay antique prices for something that isn't. No, you won't find lots of watch/clock gears at the Goodwill store, so look on EBay for those, but really - be careful out there.