Sad Sack

Several months ago, Friend and I had went to a local antique auction in the neighboring town. Nothing really interested me until a large box of old, dusty burlap sacks came up for bid. I had the winning bid and became the proud owner of 25 vintage burlap sacks. After sitting around a few weeks gathering more dust, I had come up with the idea that I would make market bags and art pieces out of half of them and take them to the flea market to sell. I thought it was a good idea but no one wanted to buy any. I put the bags up on eBay and still no bites. The market bag that I am giving away for the gift card guessing contest is one that we had made. Mom and I were beginning to wonder if the bags weren't cursed or something. The only burlap pieces I sold was the plain, boring sacks that hadn't been altered in any way. I think I sold about 3 of them. Anyhow, all of that background info brings me back to this past weekend. The month of January in the North Georgia Mountains has been cloudy, cold, icy and snowy, as has most of the Eastern United States. Definitely, not what we're used to. So, when temps in the mid 60s was forecast under sunny skies, you could bet that a lot of folks were going to try and get rid of their cabin fever. And what better way to do that than to go walk around the flea market and buy some junk. I decided that I would throw some stuff into the car and see if I could sell something. At the last minute, I grabbed up the remaining plain burlap sacks, roughly 12, I believe and threw them in too. The flea market that I normally sell at hasn't opened up for the year yet, but there is a new one that I have been wanting to check out a few miles down the road. I set my wares out next to a nice lady that was excited to be there. Her daughter, son-in-law, and three kids had been staying with them along with a husband that drank, five dogs, three cats and a pot-bellied pig. Her drunkard husband had gotten into a fight with the daughter and said if they didn't start bringing in some money soon, they might have to butcher and eat the pot-bellied pig which they called Fluffy. Needless to say, this made everybody mad and no one was talking, so the lady got the hell (her words) out of there and came to the flea market. About 10 o'clock or so, somebody must have opened the gate because that place filled up fast. You would have thought I was giving away money the way folks was swarming around my table. And best of all, they were actually buying. As usual, no one was paying attention to the burlap sacks until a guy walked over that was dressed in boots, bib overalls and a John Deere hat. "Where'd ya get them sacks at?" he asked. "These are find to in this good of shape." "I got 'em at an auction," I said, and proceeded to tell him what I wanted for them. "Sounds fair. I'll take all of them." "You will!" I was so surprised you could have pushed me over with one finger. "What are you going to do with them?" "Oh, we use 'em to kill hogs." Oh. Oh. My. Oh. My. Goodness. I really didn't need to know that. "Well, okay. You have a nice day," I replied. About that time, a small group of people walked up to my new friend's table which turned out to be her family. After a short discussion, she walked over and asked if I had any more burlap sacks. "Nope, I might have one more at home. What'd you need one for?" I asked. After a few moments, and with a look of resignation, she said one word: "Fluffy."

Revised Contest Post

Well, it seems like I have stumped the readers of MA Fat Woman. Only one brave reader tried to venture a guess of what gift cards I received for Christmas. I gave you a very good clue that one of the cards was from a new place that opened up in my town last August. To give you another clue, almost every county seat in America probably has one. Easy, if you ask me. To also encourage audience participation, I am going to remove the Longhorn and Home Depot answers so you will only have to guess 5 out of 8 which should help. 1. Amazon 2. EBay 3. Walmart 4. Kohl's 5. iTunes 6. Starbucks 7. Sears 8. Visa Leave your guesses in the comment section and the winner will receive the handmade burlap bag that we made last fall. The contest is open to international readers and family as well so give it your best shot. The winner will be announced in a few weeks! Happy Guessing!

New Uses For Burlap Sacks

Awhile back I mentioned that I had purchased a bunch of vintage burlap sacks at an auction. Mom and I decided that we would try our hand at making market bags, laundry bags, grocery bags and even diaper bags. Blue and white polka dot lining Yellow flower lining with heavy yellow canvas for handles Back of the blue polka dot bag The bags are even reversible. Mom is pretty handy with a needle and I'm really good at holding things, so we make a good team. She does most of the work and I hold them up for her to admire. The linings in the bags are vintage too, made from material that I got at another auction last year. The bags are over 20 inches in length and close to 18 inches wide; they hold a lot. Anyhow, if you're interested in purchasing one just leave me a comment. Christmas is just around the corner and I'm sure you know someone that is interested in vintage, recycled goods~

Burlap Sacks

Friend and I went to an auction the other day in a neighboring town. We didn't realize that we would be spending five hours there; they had a lot of stuff to sell. Anyhow, I've mentioned before that I like to go antiquing, go to yard sales and even sell junk at the flea market. Something that really caught my eye was a table and wall filled with old tools and junk. Of course, all of the men there were totally interested in it too and when it came time to start selling off the tools they all crowded around and wouldn't let me see what was being auctioned. They were doing what is called a choice deal; if you win the bid you get to pick out anything you want for that price and others can do the same. The first winning bid was for twenty dollars; the next was for fifteen and the prices continued to drop until there wasn't much stuff left. When I was able to see what was being sold the only thing left was a big box of burlap sacks. I asked the fella standing there what the price was down to and he said $2.50, so I bought them. I guess there are about 25 sacks in the box and they look and smell like they have been stuck away in the back of a stable for a really long time. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them; they do remind me of growing up on the farm back on Cherry Fork Road. We used burlap sacks in the garden, stored corn for the cattle and they held tobacco plants that were pulled and then set out in the fields with the tobacco setter. I got to looking on eBay and somebody had one sack just like the one below listed for sale for twenty bucks. Can you believe that? ...If you want to give me fifty bucks for one of those sacks I'll throw the shipping in for free!