Searching for that one-of-a-kind gift… maybe a Barbie voodoo doll, a candelabrum made from a wooden barrel stave or a tot-sized rocking chair refinished in polka dots? Your shopping fantasy could come true on Nov. 15 when SWAP’s Trash-To-Treasures Auction and Sale returns to Woodmen Hall.
Not your ordinary benefit auction, Trash-To-Treasures features finds from people’s attics, garages and the Take-It-Or-Leave-It – cleverly refurbished or reconfigured into fun and beautiful objects. Like SWAP’s popular Trashion-Fashion Show, the event does double duty, raising funds for the Lopez Island Dump while promoting the values of recycling, repurposing and reuse in an entertaining way. “You might call it an auction with an attitude,” explains Sarah Eppenbach, who chairs the nonprofit that supports the dump. “It’s a little edgy.”
Sale items range from household furnishings and décor to artwork, apparel, gifts and accessories – all created by Lopezians with a flair for seeing potential in items given up as worn or superfluous. Good examples would be the trio of brightly painted indoor/outdoor wooden benches repurposed from discarded bedsteads by Tom and Debbie Collins, or an exquisite evening bag sewn from silk neckties by Mary Grace Lartz.
Almost without exception, the offerings will be hand crafted on Lopez and totally unique.
“With the degree of creativity on Lopez, we never know what might come in the door, even at the last minute,” says Eppenbach. “Last year when we arrived at the hall to set up we found that Rita O’Boyle had dropped off a hat rack she created out of a floor lamp and other bits and pieces, complete with a variety of hand-sewn hats.” As a nod to the start of the holiday season, the organizers invited several Lopez artists to contribute tabletop holiday décor created, naturally, from recyclables or repurposed treasures.
A sampling of additional items up for grabs: jewelry crafted from found objects, recycled calligraphy hangings, terrariums made from salvaged glass containers and the plastic bottle “chandeliers” and colorful “umbrellas” that wowed the audience at this year’s Trashion-Fashion Show. The auction will include a few Lopez adventures (such as a half-day sail for six aboard a 42-foot schooner, with organic gourmet lunch) and services (such as two-hours of professional housecleaning). There’s even a refurbished Toyota Corolla. Trash-To-Treasures starts at 5:30 p.m. with a no-host bar and chili and cornbread supper available by donation. Chief Jim Ghiglione will wield the gavel during the live auction portion. Other items will be priced to sell on the spot. Look for a partial list of items at www.lopezsolidwaste.org/SWAP.
