Archive for thrifting

Nifty Thrifty: Bride of Thrift

August 16, 2011 nifty thrifty, owls, thrifting No comments
This week’s Nifty Thrifty is dedicated to thrifted versions of one of my favorite animals, owls! I’ve always loved owls and I’m so happy that they’re so popular. (Actually, are owls still popular or have we moved onto unicorns or squids or chupacabras now?) They’re incredibly interesting and occassionally hilarious birds and I can’t help but be amazed when I see one glide silently through the tress. There are several owls in our neighborhood, although we tend to hear them much more frequently than we see them. One of them has the funniest hoot, he always sounds so excited.
Since I don’t get to see them very much, I have to be content with inanimate versions. These little guys are currently hanging out on top of kitchen cabinets.
I assume this is meant to be painted as there’s no finish on it. I like it plain white though.
I think both of these would look cute painted a bright, solid color. A can of spray paint in a current color is a great way to update thrifted finds, and can also cover up any small imperfections. I am personally on the hunt for a large ceramic rhino to paint an obnoxious color. You have to have a dream, right?

I love this little pair, although they look super angry.

I also found this cute little childrens smock at the thrift store. It had some stains near the bottom, so I turned it into two little owl patches with some iron on fusible web.

Nifty Thrifty – Son of the Thrift

August 7, 2011 nifty thrifty, thrifting No comments
If you’re looking for home decor besides sheets and curtains, thrift stores are also lousy with assorted tableware and kitchenware.  Look no farther than the thrift store for a cheap way to get a lovely table setting or add some kitschy charm to the kitchen. I love the look of mismatched place settings using plates that are similar in color or tone.
Check out these gorgeous thrifted vintage table settings at Once Wed and Edyta Photography. There are also some lovely vintage tableware at this post on Want.
Here are some cute finds I’ve gotten at the local thrift shop.
You can turn sweet china cups like this into equally adorable pincushions. Measure the diamater of the cup and cut a cirlce of fabric with a diameter twice as long. (So if you’re cup measures 4 inches across, cut an 8 inch wide circle of fabric. Run a gathering stitch around the edge of the fabric and pull to gather. Stuff firmly before pulling the thread as tight as possible and tying off. Glue in place with hot glue or fabric glue and trim in desired.

You can also combine plates, cups, and other tableware to make lovely tiered serving trays or cake stands. Use it as the centerpiece of the table covered with candies, baked treats, or flowers. I’ve also used it as a way to store jewelry that is pretty and easily accessible.

I used three dishes and two cups to make this, but you can use any combination you like. Use one cup or short candlestick with a pretty plate for a cake stand, or use two plates and one cup for a shorter tiered display. To do, first decide how you would like your items arranged. Once you have a set up you like, wash and dry the plates throroughly. Try to avoid touching the plates or cups where they will be glued to avoid getting any oils from your fingers on them. Use a strong waterproof glue like E-6000 to attach them. Apply it to the edges of the cups, making sure to apply a generous amount to avoid any gaps between the plate and cup where water could seep in. View from multiple angles or measure from the edge of the plate to the cup to ensure that the cup is centered. Use a cotton swab to wipe away any excess glue. Once you have it all assembled, place a heavy book on top and leave it to set until the glue is cured.

Nifty Thrifty: The Return of the Thrift

July 30, 2011 fabric, nifty thrifty, sewing, thrifting No comments
It’s Nifty Thrifty time again! This week is all about thrifted textiles. Sheets, curtains, pillowcases, and fabric are plentiful and cheap at thrift stores. Check out some of the neat sheets and curtains I’ve gotten:


I love the polka dots on this coupled with the bright flowers. This is definitely getting made into a skirt or dress.

I’m not even sure what this is, there’s some weird ruffly bit around the edges. I love the color and pattern though.

I think these are curtains, there are ruffles on one edge but they’re made out of what feels like lightweight canvas. I love the pattern though, it’s all gnomes and woodland creatures. I think this will make great totes and pillows.
Ha ha, remember those things that were around before mp3 players? Yeah, me neither.
If you sew, thrifted sheets are a great source of super cheap fabric. A flat sheet offers close to five yards for less than $5. Using pre-made items also give you the advantage of having finished edges, which means less time finishing seams or making hems. My ingenuity is a direct result of my laziness and hatred of hemming. I seriously hate hemming.
I’ve made several small quilts using squares cut from thrifted sheets. The white and yellow floral above is from a thrifted sheet.
The creamy orange stripe, yellow tulips, and larger scale floral on the quilt above are all thrifted. The larger scale floral was a pillowcase and one of my favorite finds; I love the grey background with the springy oranges and greens. I’ve used it to make a fabric belt too.

If you’re so inclined, you can make your own fabric belt. even if you’re not inclined, do it anyway. It’s super duper easy. You can check out the tutorial I posted here.
My skirts is made of curtains, it’s like Sound of Music up in here. I seriously love these curtains and their amazing ugly 70-ness. I have a serious soft spot for horrible seventies things. I may have scared my friend by freaking out about avocado green flocked wallpaper in a random furniture store in Gastonia, NC. (If you’ve never been to Gastonia, first of all, congratulations. Also going there is like time travel but not in a good way. But there’s an gigantamous fabric store and kitschy mini golf, so it’s pretty much worth it.)
You can also use thrifted sheets and curtains as what they were intended to be, if you want to be all boring and stuff. The curtains in my craft room are thrifted and I love the bright colors and florals. Fellow Crown Town Handmade member Amanda offers cute sets with coordinating pillowcases and sheets. You can check out the sets at Verabelle’s Attic. I love the look of coordinating but not matching linens, it’s a much more interesting and personalized look.
That’s it for this week. I’ll probably post again next Saturday or something.

Nifty Thrifty: The Thriftening

July 23, 2011 clothes, nifty thrifty, thrifting 3 comments
Anyone who knows me even a little, or just looks at my Flickr account, can tell I am a big fan of thrifting. It seems it’s gaining in popularity, what with vintage fashion experiencing a surge in popularity and also everyone being poor. Prepare for hipsterness; I did it before it was cool. My childhood Saturday mornings, my parents and I would head to the big AmVets thrift store in downtown Fresno. I think the building has since been torn down for baseball stadium parking, which is lame because it was an awesome old building full of little nooks and cranies and hilarious crap. My mom and I would take turns suggesting hideous sweaters to each other and giggling while my dad looked for random junk and the most embarrassing pants he could find. He had a thing for knock off Zumba pants with geckos and chili peppers.  Now you know where I get my fabulous fashion sense. Oh, yeah. 
Since thrifting holds a special place in my cheap little heart and Saturday is my traditional thrifting day, every Saturday is Nifty Thrifty! I’ll be showcasing my recent finds and older acquisitions, as well as cool stuff other people have thrifted. I’ll also be including tips for thrifting, projects for thrifted goods, and probably some other stuff. Yay stuff!
The first installment of Nifty Thrifty is going to be dedicated to some of my favorite thrifted clothing. Clothing is most of what I thrift, and I have to say it has totally spoiled me when I shop in real stores. I was seriously debating buying a $30 dress at Target. THIRTY WHOLE DOLLARS I CAN GET LIKE 20 SKIRTS FOR THAT. But it was super cute and the last one, so I’ll deal.
This outfit is all thrifted and has some of my favorite pieces. I got the summery little dress last year, but the denim vest is a more recent acquisition that I’m predicting will get massive amounts of wear. Want to know why?
Check out the sweet rainbow studs; it’s like hardcore adorable. I’m pretty sure this is a little kids vest and I don’t care. It’s all soft and stretchy and broken in, which is another good thing about thrifted clothes. Also, it makes my boyfriend roll his eyes which I enjoy because we basically live to annoy each other. We’re mature.
Speaking of vests, I made this one sort of. I was having trouble finding a vest I liked, and then I remembered vests are just blazers with no sleeves. So I thrfited a blazer and cut off the sleeves. If you want to make a blazer into a vest, cut the sleeves off about an inch below the shoulder seam. Fold a double 1/2″ seam and sew. Magic!
These are some more of my favorites. The dress is super cutesy and fun to pair with less girly things like wide belts, black tights, and boots. Here’s a better view of the top of the dress. I also wear the crap out of this giant scarf when it’s chilly because it’s basically like wearing a small blanket around your neck, except you look slighly less crazy.
It seems I’m developing a proclivity for clothing with big birds on it. Two of my all time favorite finds are the owly skirt and the peacock dress. The owl on the owly skirt is a pocket, and skirts with pockets are automatic win. It also has little built in shorts from lining material so I don’t flash people when I fall over. Which is often.



Dresses with giant peacocks on them are totally versatile



Then, of course, there is the peacock dress. My cost per wear, even after having to translant the peacock to a new dress, is probably below $1 at this point. If I had to describe my style in one word, that word would be “peacockdress”. Because I am a cheater. But also because I love this dress like chocolate cupcakes and adorable piglets and I am going to cry when this poor peacock is too beat up to wear anymore. I might make a montage video with sad music too, we’ll see.

Up a Three, Four the Fun of It

November 16, 2010 30 for 30, skirts, thrifting One comment
Wednesday I got to escape from my work polos for an extra day due to a class. However, I had to take the rapid transit home and it was really hard not to ride the two extra stops to the thrift store. Like, REALLY hard.
I’ve been thrift shopping for as long as I can remember. Nearly every Saturday my parents and I would go downtown to our favorite thrift store. My mom and I would call over the aisles to each other, treasures in hand. My dad would wander off to a dusty corner to thumb through books or find embarrassing pants. (He had a penchant for Zoomba-esque pants for much of my childhood.) Saturday morning is just “thrifting time” in my brain.
Speaking of thrifting, both these skirts are thrifted finds.
I frequently have to alter skirts because of my pear shape. The plaid skirt got totally overhauled, it was mid-calf length with a stretched out elastic waistband. It was like the icky sweatpants of skirts, but there was potential that icky sweatpants generally lack. I took off about 8″ from the bottom and used the extra fabric to make a more fitted waistband. Much better, right?

Nifty Thrifty

September 14, 2009 thrifting 4 comments

I know there are lots of people who dislike thrift stores. They’re often smelly, full of weird and dirty things, and who wants to think about where some of these items have been? Personally though, I LOVE them. Saturday morning was thrift shopping time for as far back as I can remember. I think it’s the possibilities that are so exciting. The hidden corners of old stores, what treasure might be hiding in the bins and racks. Things that you can’t find anywhere else. I think I’ve mentioned before I have an odd love of truly ugly 70′s things, thrift stores are the only place to find this stuff.

Even if you don’t find something you like, isn’t it fun to go with someone and show each other the crazy things that can be found there? I know my mom and I were constantly calling each other over the aisle only to hold up some ghastly thing and giggle.

So if you couldn’t tell what this was leading to, I had a very successful thrift store excursion.


This little guy was about $2. I have such an owl thing lately. I’m trying to decide how I want to paint him. He might look neat painted all one bright color, like turquoise or green or red?

I have had excellent luck with sheets at this store. Every time I go I’ve found at least one I like. It’s awesome being able to get close to six yards of fabric for just a few dollars. This one has that blue and red combo I love.

E.T. sheets, can you believe it? I saw the little part with the spaceship first and immediately adored the little pink and brown mushrooms around it before I even realized what it was.


And He-Man sheets! Bats said he had these as a kid. The design on this is huge, the whole thing only repeats on the sheet three times. I want a pillow with Skeletor I think…

I also grabbed these cute plates. I found two of the second one and it was only 40 cents for all three of them. I like having plates and jars to hold things, and I think the the ones with the yellow borders would be sweet under small potted plants.