Got Bark?

The last several days I've been feverishly photographing and listing items for the Etsy shops, trying to catch up with the backlog stash of vintage trash-or-treasure that's been piling up on my kitchen table during this peak yard sale season.

On the back burner, my mind has been turning around an idea for a possible new "product". I've been thinking of it since we took down the towering douglas fir tree in our yard earlier this summer. (You can read about it here: http://redletterdaybags.blogspot.com/2013/05/farewell-to-old-friend.html .)

As we've been splitting and chopping firewood, we've amassed several bushels of thick, heavy bark. Normally we'd just use it for kindling. But the more I study it, it seems to me it would be ideal for making bird houses, "fairy house" yard ornaments, or even as additions to terrariums and cages for small pets. I'm not a woodworking artisan or craftsman, myself. But someone out there surely can think of a good use for this unique natural resource.

Meanwhile, I have come up with one fun use: this stuff makes great photo props!

www.etsy.com/listing/157474449/vtg-raccoon-salt-or-pepper-shaker

 

www.etsy.com/listing/157702311/ooak-douglas-fir-heavy-bark-chunk-wood

Last night I decided to list this giant bark curlicue just to see if it might generate any interest. So far, all is quiet. But I have hopes. 

Maybe I'm nuts, but I've seen graveyard dirt, rusty nails, ordinary rocks, old shingles, and tangled wire for sale on Etsy--and, apparently, selling on Etsy, so can I really be completely out there in la-la land? What can I lose except time and my 20 cent listing fee? Nothing ventured, nothing gained!