Yes, I do actually wear this stuff!

I've received some questions regarding the clothes that I buy at thrift stores- mainly from my sister who is still a thrift store skeptic, although she is coming around. After telling her about the amazing bags full of clothes I bought this weekend at our local thrift stores, she asked the question that most wonder about thrift store shoppers- do you actually wear these clothes? The answer is a big, huge, giant YES!
Of course I actually wear the cute clothes that I buy at thrift stores! Of course, I do wash everything first, or use fabric spray on the new-with-tags finds or any tricky fabrics. So many of my outfits I wear have at least one item that came from a thrift store or at least got on sale/clearance.
For an example, check out what I wore to church this morning.
The dress I bought this weekend at the Salvation Army- the tags were still attached! It was a splurge- more than I normally spend on one item at $12 but it was worth it! The denim jacket is from another thrift store and was $4. The shoes I purchased at Ross on clearance in December for $8.99. Even the bracelet I wore had been 50% off and was only $1.80.
So, totally cute, church appropriate outfit- from thrift store finds and the clearance rack for under $27! Yes, I do rock the great finds I stumble upon at thrift stores! :)

Vintage Framed Prints

I've always had the thought in the back of my mind that I was born in the wrong generation. I have a love for almost all things vintage and old. It is uncommon for my generation, with all the advancements in technology and growing up with such flashing entertainment, to truly love or appreciate vintage items. I'm an exception and love it. I love going to flea markets and always look for vintage items at thrift stores.
A couple months ago I ran into a gold mine at a local thrift store and spent about thirty minutes in one spot because of what I found. Some one (who probably owned a booth at a flea market) had generously donated some awesome vintage magazine ads and Life Magazines. I would have probably bought them all - $1.50 for the prints and $5.00 for the magazines was an awesome deal. But I narrowed it down to 11 prints. Now these are just too awesome to have sitting around so I decided to frame them and display them in my house as art. But of course, I didn't just go out and buy the picture frames- I found those at a thrift store too. All they needed was a little cleaning and a little paint. A few didn't even have backing- but the poster board the prints came with did the job.

I need a few more frames but here are the first round of completed frames with the prints inserted. There are a few toiletry ads that I am going to place in my bathrooms; won't that be fun?

One of my favorites was this guy! He is going to look great in my kitchen!

Now to actually hang them. I try to be as handy as my husband and hang pictures but I'm not that coordinated with hammering nails and always end up making at least three holes in the wall before I get it right. My husband found these 'incredible hooks' and man, are they incredible! You might have seen them advertised on TV before. All you do this push the hook into the wall and turn it, and then hang up your picture. They are awesome.
Look at this picture- both items are the hooks for hanging up pictures- different brands- but same thing. The one of the left came with 10 hooks, the one of the right came with 20 hooks. Which one do you think was cheaper?

If you guessed the package that came with 20 hooks you are correct! The package with only 10 hooks came from Wal-Mart and cost $5.97. The package that included 20 came from Deals (a store closely related to $1 shops or Dollar Trees- but they also carry higher priced items) and they were only $1!
To tally up my awesome art project we have:
$1.50 for the print
$1 for the frame
$0 for the paint and paintbrushes that we already had
$.05 for the hook to hang it
That brings us to: $2.55.
Awesome, I know. :)