Starbucks plans to serve our hot drinks in a simple red cup, allowing us to “welcome all of our stories”.

Hmm. Not well-received news by some, this blank canvas devoid of offensive reindeer and scandalous snowmen.

 

IMHO, it’s a lovely minimalist nod to the season.  As long as coffee is in it, I don’t care what the cup looks like, do you?

 

 

So.  It’s your cup.  Buy a Sharpie, make your statement.

 

I took my Sharpie to the latest snail mail from my local tax collector.

Seems that she “discovered” my new business.  Pages and pages of forms due, penalty warnings, tax laws.

Ah, the finger-wag.

 

My latest lark is Etsy.  I opened Some Bit of Stuff and posted vintage pieces from my mother’s attic that I blogged about here on Throwback Thursdays. What fantabulous fun to chat with folks who are looking for exactly what I have, things that no one I know wants, even on freecycle.org or at Goodwill.  On Etsy, stuff that I cannot throw away (you have some, too, don’t you?) is suddenly valued, appreciated, and loved. My parents’ vintage wedding topper will grace a cake next spring, the bride using it to honor her grandparents.

Yes, I  sold it. Joyfully.

I went on to list other items, adding a link to Etsy on my #TBT posts.  I met a guy in upstate New York, thrilled to find a memory for his wife’s birthday ~  baby bottles from 1949.

Yes, I sold those, too.  And threw in a bunch of linen-paper Depression-era postcards of his hometown.

I made a few dollars, spent most of it in postage and mailing supplies. I was informed chop-chop that it’s all taxable. So are my chair, computer, fax, desk, and printer. What nonsense. The tax official spent more money to hunt me down discover my ‘business’ and pay the USPS than they will ever collect in taxes from me.

The Blog&Etsy lark was all of a piece with perfection, the complete package.  But then the tax man, er, woman, cometh.  The complexities of state and local tax law changed the equation dramatically.  Etsy and I parted ways.

My shop is archived there, though, the free-spirited Etsy family left the welcome mat out in hopes of my return.

 

Vintage gems and treasures, I have more.

If you see some bit of stuff you like, you know where to find me.

 

Toni 11/15/15