One Man's Trash, That's Another Man's Come Up

Young House Love Thrift Store Challenge

My daughter, Mallory from Our First Nest, told me about the Thrift Store Challenge at Young House Love.  I enjoy a good thrift store, so I couldn't resist a thrift store challenge.  And hey, the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis rap, Thrift Store, is pretty catchy.

Thrift store shopping isn't a new thing to A REAL RETIRED HOUSEWIFE OF FLORIDA.  I have been addicted to thrift stores for quite a while (in fact longer than some of your have been able to read this!).  Before moving to Florida, I lived within walking distance of my favorite thrift store, The Village Discount Outlet. 

Oh the treasures I have found at thrift stores!  I buy items for myself and to sell on eBay.  Just last week, a fellow passenger on my flight from Ohio to Florida stopped me to ask if I had knitted the sweater I was wearing and to tell me how much she like it.  It took all of my control to simply say "No, I didn't knit it and thank you".  What I really wanted to say was, "I bought it at a thrift store.  Isn't it unbelievable that someone would give this away!".



I look for items for my home.  I could give a while house tour (and maybe I will) on my thrift store decorating.  I found a Don Drumm sun burst platter to fit in with my Don Drumm bathroom accessories.

And of course my big Florida thrift store find...the vintage wood lamp that was featured in my blog, I Just Had To Have It...Now What?

I also buy craft supplies at thrift stores.  I like to repurpose/enhance/bejewel items.  I put pieces together and mosaic with broken ceramics, I silver leaf anything and everything, and I faux paint.

My current craft obsession is enhancing vintage twisted wire trees.  The left is before, the right is after.

My best scores come from items I buy to resell on eBay.  I like to keep a balance in PayPal to cover my online impulse purchases.  My niche market is vintage curlers (the ones with wax cores...ladies like them because they hold heat longer for better curls), Scrabble tiles, vintage kitchen appliances and unique household items.

Now to the challenge.  Last weekend I was in Ohio to share in the wedding planning with Mallory.  I spent Saturday morning with my other daughter Michelle.  After breakfast, Chelle made the mistake of asking me what I would like to do.  Of course, it was visit some of my favorite thrift stores and see if I was up to the Young House Love challenge.

STEP #1.  Go to a thrift shop with -- just as the chorus of the song says -- "$20 in your pocket" and take a picture.

Step #2.  Spend that $20 any way you'd like and photograph your spoils.

So many things, so little time.  I was able to spread my $20 between something for to eBay, a Medi-Rub foot massager for $10.  New it sells for $185 on Amazon.  I am hoping for $50 to $75 on eBay.

With the remaining $10, I bought these lovely cups, saucers and plates by Villeroy and Boch.  I have several matching serving pieces of this New Wave pattern.

And for $1, I picked up a Scrabble game, complete with a note pad and pencil. That totals $21, but I couldn't stop.

Step #3.  Find one item (or more) referenced in the song and snap a pic.

After my thrift store adventures, I realized I couldn't fit any of these items into my carry-on bag.  UGH!  My friend, Jan Turnbull, came to the rescue and gave me a piece of luggage.  So my $20 challenge cost me an additional $20 to add a check-in bag to my Alligent flight.  It was worth it.

Now I can't get that rap out of my mind!

So Many Beads...So Little Time

My point is, life is about balance.

The good and the bad.  The highs and the lows.

The pina and the colada

 

Ellen DeGeneres

 

I am A REAL RETIRED HOUSEWIFE OF FLORIDA with a balanced life...golf, thrift store adventures and crafting.  I try to do each in moderation...HA HA.

 

I shared a couple of my craft passions...paper beads and silver leafing.  Here is another, beads.  Not so much "beading", like in making jewelry.  Just collecting beads.  My bead collection is one of the few craft supplies that I brought everything with me from Ohio.  At first I thought that was because beads are small.  But when I looked at my collection, I realized the beads may be small, but the volume is huge.

 



 

I came up with a project that would use up a good amount of beads, a wall hanging.  I bought a capriz shell wall hanging while Brian and I were in Tarpon Springs.  It was the perfect base to "enhance" with beads.
 

 

 

The first step was to create the large beads on a wire.  I used combinations of all sorts of beads.  I even used some of my own creation, the pottery geodes.

 

 

It was fun putting together bead combinations for the larger beads.

 

 

Then I made the jump rings to connect the large beads into strings.  Here is a quick and easy lesson on making jump rings.  See all my time watching The Carol Duval show was not in vain.

 

 

 

 

 

The final step was to make a long string of small beads for an accent.  I used Beadalon's Spin-N-Bead to string the see beads...what a time saver.

 

 

I am not sure of this project is "the good and the bad" or "the highs and the lows" or "the pina and the colada".  I would like to say that I made a dent in my bead collection, but I didn't.  Still, so many beads...so little time.