Work(s) in Progress

I don't know about you, but I almost always have at least 1 crafty work in progress. I started this project over a month ago. I mentioned in an earlier blog post that I was going to look at the local thrift stores to try and find materials to make some more wreaths. Well here is part of what I found. Side note: craft supplies were not as easy to come by at thrift stores as I thought they would be.

The wreath I found at a thrift store for $1.
The red glittery ribbon came from Wal-Mart. You can't even tell it is technically 'Christmas' ribbon- I purchased it at 50% off during the after Christmas sale.
The football ribbon I found at a thrift store- the whole roll wasn't there, but it ended up being the perfect amount plus it was only 50 cents.
The letter 'A' is from Hobby Lobby. It wasn't on sale, but it was only 99 cents to begin with.

My idea for this wreath came together slowly. I found the red ribbon, then the wreath, then the football ribbon, then it all sat in the floor. I pulled everything back out a few weeks later and came up with a plan- a Razorback football wreath of course! Since I do live in Northwest Arkansas -Home to the Arkansas Razorbacks-and we are all Razorback fans, I thought this would make a cute wreath. I then purchased the 'A' in honor of Arkansas.

I started out by wrapping the red ribbon around the wreath. I chose to leave some of the wreath exposed, mostly because I didn't have enough of the football ribbon. I hot glued the ribbon every so often on the back. Did you happen to notice all the red glitter on the counter? It was everywhere by the time I got done. :)

Next, I went back over the red ribbon with the football ribbon. I love the look of the two layers.

I started spray painting the 'A' white. Looking back, I should have just painted it. The spray painting is keeping me from being finished with this project.

When I do finally have the 'A' finished, I plan to glue it so it lays in the middle of the wreath. I think it is going to look cute once I have it finished.
Another work in progress I have going is this Easter garland. Another idea I found on Pinterest (click on the link to see the original). This project was SUPER easy. It seems like a good project for kids too. All I did was string some fishing line through plastic Easter eggs. Small issue to keep in mind, even though my eggs had the holes at the ends (like you need to complete this project), I had to use a nail to open up the holes because the plastic wasn't broken all the way through. I'm not finished yet because I'm still trying to find some ribbon to tie in between the eggs. Still fun and it's going to be cute!
Yet, another project in the works. Apparently, I should be working on these projects instead of blogging about them. :)

I got this awesome peace sign at a craft fair this past fall. Again, should have just painted this instead of spray painting.

Here is my plan, once I finally get it painted, hot glue beads all over it. It sounds really cute when I say it, and looks like it is going to be really cute in my head....but we'll just have to see how it turns out.

So, there are some works in progress. When those are finished I have some more waiting in the wings. Spring doesn't officially start until March 20, but I'm already ready for it. I have a wreath made, and a couple more waiting to be made. I think I'm so ready because I love spring colors- all the pastels! Can't wait. Just a tip when thrift store shopping for crafts- be prepared to not find much. I found a lot of patterns but not craft items (like ribbon, wreaths, buttons, etc) which disappointed me. Hopefully, people will start spring cleaning and be donating items to thrift store so they can replenish their shelves. :) Let that serve as a reminder also that if you have some spring cleaning to do, consider donating your items to a thrift store. :)

Happy Birthday to me!

My birthday was last week and I turned 25....geez, I feel old...I know I'm not, but I can't help feeling that way. : )
Ever since I was little my mom has always made a big deal out of birthdays so we don't just have a birthday, we have a birthday month. Fun, and cheesy, and even though I'm 25 and in my eyes 'officially' an adult and I now 'officially' a woman, I still think it's fun to celebrate all month long. So, on my actual birthday we had dinner and cake. See the picture below. My sister and I just got back from a trip to Florida and since I love the beach, my cake was beach themed (yes, I really did just turn 25, and have a beach themed cake!) I have a plan to re-use those cake decorations and turn them into a beach themed wreath. Couldn't be the thrifty gal I am if I didn't use them for something else. :)


This past weekend, as a part of my birthday month, my mom and I took a day trip over to Tulsa to shop at some thrift stores and eat lunch and then shop some more. There is a thrift store we go to in Tulsa called 'Value Thrift Store.' (I've blogged about it before.) I got my husband to go in with me once, and he stood next to me until he evaluated the store's shoppers and deemed them safe enough to leave me alone while he shopped the men's section. Needless to say, it's in a 'scarier' section of Tulsa, but I love it! The thrift store doesn't really organize anything, which just makes the hunt more fun. They organize by price, and the longer an item has been in the store, the cheaper it gets. I found some cute stuff for me, and some cute stuff I wish would have fit me. It's funny, the more you thrift store shop, the more you start to recognize the items that 'go together' and that were probably donated by the same person. Apparently some itty-bitty thing donated her old dresses from White House Black Market and Macy's, but if you weren't itty-bitty like she was, you could only look, swoon, and move on. However, I did find some great deals, pictured below, and I got a surprise when I went to check out- everything was 25% off!


The shoes are brand-new (still had the size sticker on the sole-never had been worn) Madden Girl flats for only $3.98! Madden Girl is the 'cheaper' brand of Steve Madden, supposedly 'wallet-friendly' even though the prices range from $50 to $150.
The top to the left was also brand-new- tag still attached. The yellow/black/white top in the middle is Calvin Klein (their tops are anywhere from $40 and up). The top on the right is BCBG MaxAzria and can usually run well over $100. The three tops were all right around $4 apiece.

Also, not pictured is the the Universal Studios mug I found for only 25 cents. Random- but let me explain. Like I mentioned my sister and I took a trip to Florida a couple weeks ago and went to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. In the grand tradition of amusement parks, souvenirs were on the expense side, so I was excited to find this mug randomly to not only commemorate my trip, but my thrifty side as well.

My mom and I had fun on our trip, visiting a couple Ross stores (found some cute Easter decorations), Micheal's, and Dollar Tree. Whoa- we are wild women after all! :) Never fails that we find great deals and have lots of fun while doing it. I got some materials to make an Easter wreath- that will have to wait until I get my glue gun back from my sister though.
So, happy birth-month to me and happy hunting for you. :)