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. :)

Recycling and Updates

I'm not what I would consider a 'green' person- as in recycling. But I do try to do my best when I can. A lot of folks see thrift store shopping as a form of recycling, which it is. There are lots of ways to recycle clothing and everyday objects. There are countless blogs and websites that will show you ideas of how to 'up-cycle' items. But in my home, the main area that we dedicate to recycling is in the kitchen. In our town we are fortunate enough to have a recycling pick up bin along with our trash pick up bin. When we were first married the recycle bin was a little brown box about the size of a Rubbermaid storage bin- not a lot would fit into it and we left it outside so we practically never really recycled. Shortly after, the town distributed big recycle bins- the same size as the trash bins and instructions on what could be recycled and what couldn't. My husband and I decided to really try to be better about recycling so we placed a small bin with handles in our kitchen next to the trash can to help us recycle- and we became hooked. You never realize what all can be recycled until you take the time to think about it before you throw something away. Our trash can needs to be taken out about once a week. Our recycling bin needs to be taken out about 4 times a week. To help reduce the town's carbon footprint, we don't take our trash bin out to the curb unless it is full which has become about once a month. A few weeks ago we added another bin for compost. We are making our garden bigger than it was last year and my husband decided to create a compost pile. So now, all of our food trash is thrown into the compost bin and it is taken out about every other day.

Our little compost can, trash can, and recycle bin.

With the recycling and compost we hardly have any trash. It isn't a lot, but it makes me feel good that I'm doing what I can to help our planet. It has also made me realize how much recycling can be done outside of the kitchen. Paper clothing price tags, shampoo bottles (with the acceptable codes), and detergent boxes can all be recycled. I'm not saying you need to run out and start doing this too, but for our family having a special container for recyclables helps. Be sure to check what items can and can't be placed in the bins. For example, in our town glass can't be placed in the bin, but it can be taken to the recycling center.

Now, another form of recycling or 'up-cycling.' I found this vintage window (and another) at a flea market for $13 apiece plus 20% off. I cleaned the border, sanded it down, cleaned the glass, and then my husband re-caulked the edges and added twine rope so I could hang pictures. I absolutely LOVE how it turned out!

On to another form of recycling- an update on some of my works in progress.

I finally finished my Arkansas Razorback football wreath. Now I just have to wait until football season rolls back around.

I also completed my egg wreath; I added some orange ribbon. Note: be sure to leave a little extra length of fishing line because the ribbon takes up a lot more space then you would think.

Here's hoping you stumble upon some great finds of your own and are able to do some recycling as well. : )

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. :)

Crafty Wreath at a Great Deal!

This blog post is a little off from my usual posts. I recently joined Pinterest. If you haven't heard of it, you have to check it out. People post tons of awesome ideas. I've found some great ideas that I've decided to try out. But being the thrifty gal that I am I wanted to make some of these crafty deals at a great price.
I found this post from a blogger. (You have to check out her blog-she has some great ideas.) She showed step-by-step how to make an awesome wreath (click on the link to visit her site for her detailed instructions). I wanted to make my own, but wanted to make it at a great price. Luckily, Hobby Lobby had everything I needed on sale. Here's how I made my wreath and how cheaply I was able to make it.
Here were the supplies I gathered. Instead of using material to wrap the wreath, I used ribbon (it's cheaper!). The ribbon was 50% off at Hobby Lobby, so I got the two spools of ribbon for only $3.99 (each spool was originally $3.99). I needed two kinds of pins- regular straight pins (50% off- originally $2.99) and floral pins- the kind with the pearls on the ends (50% off- originally$4.99). The wreath wasn't on sale, but the 10 inch straw wreath was $2.99 (the foam wreaths were about $4.99). The felt wasn't on sale either but four pieces were only a dollar (four for a dollar is a great deal.)

I started by pinning the ribbon in the back and then started wrapping it around the wreath. The ribbon I chose was 3 yards long, so I ended up using a whole roll and probably 1/3 of the second roll. Make sure you layer the ribbon so you don't have any straw showing through. I probably don't need to mention this, but make sure you leave the plastic on the wreath- and make sure you are careful when taking off the price sticker because it easily pulls the plastic off.

This is how far I got with 3 yards of ribbon. I think 4 yards probably would have gone all the way around.

Here is the wreath with all the ribbon attached. I folded over the ends of the ribbon so the edge didn't show- not that anyone probably would have noticed, but it made me feel better.


Next, I added the felt flowers (the blog link can show you exactly how to make them). I used 1 sheet of felt and used a small jar to trace around for my pattern circle. You can make them any size. I think with the smaller wreath, smaller flowers would look better.



Finally, I added the pearl pins. Like my husband said, "Less is more with the fancy ones."
I spent $11.98 in total to make this wreath- but I have enough pins left over for a lot more wreaths; 3 sheets of felt left over (for at least 3 more wreaths); and about 2 yards of ribbon left to use for another project.

All the local thrift stores were closed today because of the holiday, but tomorrow I'm going to be out and about looking at the craft section of the thrift stores. I've seen wreaths made out of just about everything. I'm hoping to find some yarn, material, ribbon, or felt to make some more wreaths.
Happy New Year! May this year you be blessed with some great finds! :)

Results Not Typical

It's been a while since I've posted- life has been busy.

I have found some awesome finds the past couple of months but some denim I have purchased takes the cake for great finds. At my local Salvation Army they have a rack dedicated to the more 'designer' brands. Well, this rack has blessed me with two pairs of Seven for All Mankind jeans and one pair of Citizens of Humanity jeans.
Now, some of you might not understand the excitement I felt when I found these jeans. I got all three pairs for $20 each- a steal! These brands of jeans retail for $180 to over $200 for a pair! No really- someone actually paid that much for them and then donated them to the Salvation Army.

Now, this is not typical- NOT typical at all. Out of all the times I have gone to thrift stores, all the trips I've made, throughout every different town- I've only seen one other pair- and the zipper was broken.

So, don't expect to find deals like this the next time you head out to a thrift store, but always look because you never know when something like this might pop up.

Have a Merry Christmas and get out and find your own great finds. :)