I was part of the summer staff at a camp this summer (which is, incidentally, the reason i've been extremely inactive), and when we're off-duty there's an outdoor area with several decrepit couches that most people hang out in. What better an area than that, i thought, to set up a take something leave something box? It's high traffic, and a group of people that appreciates quirkiness.

To set it up initially I bought a nice sealable box, and then spent about $20 on random stuff in a thrift store, ranging from the nice to the quirky. I also threw in some spare stuff that I had around. I also decorated the lid of the box to label it. The pictures below show how it started out.

It got a certain amount of use, although not as much as I would have liked. The lid stayed off way too much, which meant everything got super dirty and messed up. However, it did get some use. A book came and went, I put in some spare food I had and that got traded out quickly, some random toys went in at some point, all around worthwhile I think.

I took it with me when I left camp, and plan to set it up in my dorm lounge at school. Don't know what I'll use to seed it this time, but we'll see...