Make It Monday: Gold & Glitter Shoes

It's been a little over a month since my mother told me she needed my thrifty/crafty talents. I was given a task : find a pair of shoes that were gold and covered in gold glitter. Trying to find out what type of shoe she wanted was like pulling teeth, and I kept finding loads of sparkly shoes on my various trips to the 2 big thrift stores by me...

...but they were either a) the wrong color, b) not the right size, or c) had a super high and skinny heel.

Then I found these pale tan babies. I sent off a photo to my mom and told her that I could paint them and cover them in glitter. For $5 - it was about to go down!

I started by covering the heals in painters tape and filling the inside with newspaper. I pulled out my trusty gold spray paint (that I used here on a tiki jar and a stegosaurus).

They dried overnight and the following evening, I started putting glue on the shoes and covering them with glitter. I only did one shoe at first cause I wasn't sure how the glitter was going to hold up - and it was late in the evening, which is why the lighting is pretty terrible in some of these (apologies!)

We weren't really concerned with how well they were going to hold out - they were for a fundraiser dance and that would be the last time she ever wore them. I still didn't want glitter to go EVERYWHERE, so I clear coated them before packing them in a shoe box (that took up half of my suitcase).

We landed in New York and got out to my Mom's... and I was impressed with how well they held up to being tossed around.

These were a huge success and I look forward to painting more shoes in the future!!

Last Weeks Thrifty Thursday

I've basically been down for the count this week. I was working in my office on Sunday and suddenly my back went into a painful spasm and I've been suffering since. I did go to the Chiropractor twice this week and I'm healing a bit - but apparently, I'm all out of whack and have a long way to go.

Last Thursday, I realized that I hadn't been to the big thrift store in a while, so I decided to go on a whim. I tell you what, I've never been so giddy leaving a thrift store before.

My shopping methods are odd. Thrift store or not - I pick up items, walk around with them for a while and more things are picked up, some put down... I have a similar method even in online shopping! I had the wine rack from below in my hands at one point, some lace and some fabric - but none of it came home with me.

Here's a bunch of fun stuff that I did find that day:


1 // A Bull Terrier statue. Unfortunately his ear was broken. I love Bull Terriers and I love that his patch is on the same side as Snow's.
2 // An interesting dragon teapot.
3 // A polka dot teapot - how cute is this?!
4 // Some saddles?! That's really out of place for this area...

5 // Wine rack. I almost left with this. I immediately thought of the wine rack marker organizer from My Case Studies - I thought of bringing it home, painting it white and using it as an organizer myself.
6 // When I saw the faint image from this rolled up wall scroll, I knew immediately what the subject was. I opened it up and saw a wonderful Sailor Moon Wall Scroll. It ended up costing me $1.40. This was the best find ever! The scroll won't work well in the wall gallery I'm doing in my office, but I'm going to make my own frame (since it's cheaper!)

That's all for today. With my back in its current state, this may be the last thrift store trip for a while. >sad face<

Sickly Thrifty Thursday

Good morning. Apologies for the lack of posts this week. I've been caring for myself and Snow (who is healing wonderfully!). I've had a sore throat since coming back from grandma's and then came the stuffy nose and body aches. I think the rest of this came from either A) the sniffling children at my grandmother's house, or B) all the people at work who don't wash their hands after they use the bathroom - GROSS!! I'm at the front desk now, if an infection spreads, I'll be the first to get it!

As of this morning, I still have the stuffy nose and sore throat - but I had to come to work today. I have SOO much work to do, I hope I'll be able to concentrate on it. I'll just go back to eating my burnt croissant (ooooops) and Cranberry Apple juice (my favorite!).

I stayed home to take care of Snow yesterday and decided I needed some fresh air, so I went to the local Goodwill. It's a nice 15 minute walk from my house, so off I went. I found some pretty interesting stuff! And I didn't take pictures of anything that I actually bought! (FAIL)



1 // Desk lamp in the shape of a giant thumbtack.
2 // A beautiful violin! I've been wanting to learn forever!
3 // Pretty dresses!
4 // A vintage cat carrier.
5 // Pretty cool looking tv stand.
6 // Paper sorter (if I could have carried it home, it would have been mine!)
7 // Couch in really good condition.
8 // Ironing press
9 // Old sewing machine

So many things that I wanted... so many things NOT purchased. I really regret not grabbing that paper sorter.

That's all for today. Happy Thursday!

Make it Monday : Paint it Gold!

Gold spray paint is officially one of my new favorite things! I picked up some gold spray paint at Home Depot yesterday and immediately got to spraying this little Stegosaurus when I got home. All I need now is a Parasaurolophus to keep my little stego company! I can't wait until my office renovation is complete - cause I know exactly where these guys are going!

And because only spray painting one random object is just no fun, I scoured my office for something else to paint. Low and behold - this tiki jar that I got at Goodwill back in August. I loved it as soon as I saw it, knew the color was no good, but he was exactly what I needed to keep my knitting needles all together. Enter the spray paint...



And he's a whole new tiki! And I love him! Doesn't he look great with the stego? And a few little flowers?

Here's what they looked like before:


And after:

Thrifty Thursday : Purses

I visited Goodwill on Tuesday, and was looking for a bag to carry my new iPhone camera lenses. I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find two ADORABLE purses that are basically brand new.

These are hands down - my best thrift store finds to date! The tan bag is a little small, but it's so adorable - and I needed a tan bag. The mint one is the most perfect color ever, has the nicest striped lining and is pretty spacious. The interior is divided into two large compartments, with a couple little pockets, and an external pocket on the back!! I'm in love...









I've had a few people ask me about getting rid of the thrift store smell in bags. These bags, being brand new, didn't need as much work as some other bags - also remember, that it will always depend on the bag and on the materials it's made from. I tend to sniff bags while at the thrift store, looking like a crazy lady...



Cleaning & Getting the Thrift Store Smell out of Purses :

1) First and foremost, I vacuum out the insides - pockets and all. There's nothing worse than finding crumbs and other such gunk inside your 'new' bag.

2) After this, I always wipe down any bag I get with cleaning wipes - both inside and out. I'll then dampen a rag or paper towel with a bit of water to wipe down one more time.

3) Once everything has dried, I throw dryer sheets in every major compartment. And then I'll tie the bag up in a plastic bag with another dryer sheet or two. Then leave it - for a day at least, it really depends on the bag and the smell.

New Earring Holder

I completed this last month after my poor Earring Lantern became too full to hold anymore earrings. I'd been looking into large earring holders to buy, or for inspiration to build one of my own.

I went into the Thrift Store and was fortunate to find these two wall-hanging dvd shelves. This is exactly what I needed to see. For $2 a piece, I couldn't say no - no earring holder I could buy would come close to that price.

I spray painted them white and hung it up - simple!



I ventured into the same Thrift Store a few weeks ago and found a third one that matched exactly... but I didn't get it. These two are getting kinda full as it is... I don't think I need a third - just for it to be empty and tempting me to buy or make new earrings!

Only problem right now... is coming up with a place for my studs. For now, they're still hanging out on the Lantern.

Thrifty Thursday : Bird Necklace!

Made a quick trip to the thrift store last Thursday and spotted some chairs identical to the ones my grandma wanted. But there was no way I was getting all three of them on the bus with me!


I went back with Gadget on Saturday to pick the chairs up and saw the bird necklace by the door. I wanted it so bad... but didn't get it. It bothered me all day, so I went back and couldn't find it. As I was about to give up and leave, I spotted it in a different spot. Final price? $4. The other necklace was $6.


A fabric haul from the little Thrift store - $2 for the lot! I also got a large picture frame for $1 that day. (not pictured)


These are a collection of scarves I've been collecting.
The butterfly one I got about a month ago - each were about $1-$2.


ADORABLE shoes. $5.


These shoes were $9 but they were 50% off that day. Score.

Thrifty Thursday : Scales and Polka Dots

>gasp< I've visited a thrift store here and there the past couple weeks, but haven't bought anything. I've been looking to expand into new colors in my wardrobe and bag collection. I definitely want to add more solid colored dresses, so when I saw this coral colored dress, I had to have it. I also picked up this polka dot dress that is huge and super long, but I'm excited to take it in and shorten it. I also have plans for the ton of left over fabric from the bottom.

How gorgeous is this bag? I know for a fact that I have very little green in my wardrobe - I own... Uhhh... actually, I don't think I have any green. I have some dresses that have green in them... But I love this bag, and for $6, it is now mine. I was also a bit upset when I got home and realized that one bag that I bought was missing. I guess the lady left it behind the counter (I luckily didn't get charged for it either), but still. I loved that bag - it was a pretty black and white houndstooth purse. Oh well, guess I don't need anymore neutrals.

I haven't talked about it too much thus far on the blog, but sometimes I have a difficult find clothes that fit just right.I'm a bit heavier than I would like, but I am in an awkward size range right now. I've been losing weight, which is great, but my upper section is still quite large. Not only am I wide up top, but I do have a large chest - which stinks when finding adorable dresses. If it weren't for the "girls," I'd be able to fit into a large no problem. But most of the time, these cute dresses that I find are made for girls with no chest whatsoever. >sigh< Oh well, I make due with what I find until I can drop some more weight.

SPEAKING of which, I've lost 22 lbs. Woot!

Happy Thursday!!

Thrifty Thursday : Games Not Included

I went thrifting last weekend because Gadget wasn't home at all and I needed to get out of the house. The Goodwill is only a 15-20 minute walk from my house, so it was great exercise too. A few days later, I popped on into the big store and picked up a few other items. I was nervous when I walked up to the register, cause I knew I had a lot of stuff.

What's great about the big thrift shop is the daily deals. Everything in the store has a colored label - Blue, Pink, Green, Yellow & White. Every day, one of the colors is marked down - and its at random. Well, the other day, THREE of the colors were marked off 50%. I didn't pay attention to it initially, so when my price came up a lot less than expected, I wasn't going to complain.





1 // Boots! Wonderful, wonderful boots - in my size (And Goodwill had marked them a 12... they're only a 9½). BRAND NEW! There were no scratches on the bottom at all. These boots are by Bakers, so I knew they were originally pretty pricey. Looked it up - $80 new. I paid $8.

2 // Boots #2. I can't believe I scored 2 pairs of boots in the same store - both fitting my feet. These are actually marked as a full size below what I normally wear, but they fit perfectly.

3 // These wedges. Marked for $8, but was a 50% off color. WOO! (Original price is $66)

4 // Little jewelry box. I needed a little box for my rings.

5 // Tripod. Extends pretty high. Missing the shoe however. Marked for $9.99 and I couldn't say no (I NEED a tripod) but was 50% off.

6 // These baskets (games not included). $0.96 each. I went to Goodwill looking for baskets/bins to hide non-PS3 games so my entertainment system doesn't look too cluttered.

7 // Denim jacket

8 // Yellow jacket

9 // Flower dress. I have since removed the silly string-ties (will use for something later, of course) and the shoulder pads. I love this dress. I've already worn it - sadly, shrank it a little, but it fits nicely. The pattern is great too.

10 // I love this cardigan. It's WAY too big... silly big really. But I'm going to take it in. I couldn't say no to that Yacht Club embroidery. Especially with the anchor!! ?

Funny story about the dress. I found a similar dress (red with yellow flowers) that I liked, but it was HUGE. I grabbed it and kept looking. I found another dress that I liked, kinda similar, would've needed more work than the first, so I carried them both for a while. Then I found this one... and I put the others back. I fell in love with this dress when I saw it, and knew it needed minimal work.

Thrifty Thursday : Less is More!

I didn't go hog-wild with the thrifting this week.  I only visited the big thrift shop and the Goodwill - once each.  There wasn't a whole lot of stuff that I haven't already seen... but there were a few good finds:





1 // These wonderful boat shoes.  I wish I had more of them in more colors.  I am in love.  ($7)

2// Lion Belt.  The belt is WAY too small, it's an XS or something.  Doesn't mean I can't have the awesome belt buckle.  Can use the belt for some other DIY too... ($4)

3 // Great sleeveless purple dress.  I need some more solid color dresses.  This was perfect! ($8)

4 // Gorgeous scarf.  Just because... ($3)

I'm probably not going to go thrift shopping during the next week or so.  I've got something big I've gotta save up for now.



Do you guys see things at thrift stores that you know you can't fit, but buy it anyway because you can see potential?

Thrifty Thursday : ...Another Store?

It's been a crazy week. I was talking to a local friend - that's lived in the area for a number of years - about my new love of thrift shopping. She's terrible... and by terrible, I mean a lovely person & a very bad influence. She mentioned that there is ANOTHER thrift shop... on the same bus route as all the other ones.

So I decided to check them out.
(This one is also next to a HomeGoods - which is also bad news for me.)

Their houseware and furniture sections were by far better than any of the other places. Again, bus riding makes buying any of that stuff difficult. But clothing wise, they had a pretty good selection. My only gripe was that this place was small, cramped and poorly lit.

But I did walk away with a couple things:





1 // An adorable plaid bag. ($4)
2 // A light plaid skirt. The colors are much more subtle than what it looks like in the photo. It's a 2 sizes too large, but that can be remedied. ($3)
3 // Dark skirt ($5)
4 // Vest - Way too big, but I have plans... ($2)
5 // Cute tank ($2)
6 // Striped Cardigan from Torrid - Way too big - going to alter. ($3)



And because one store wasn't enough to visit, I stopped by the big thrift store - only grabbed a couple of things though:

1 // Long, button-down dress. Because of my chest size, it's a lot shorter than I would have hoped, but again, I have plans. ($5)
2 // My trip offered up no shoes in the store, but when I went to pay for the dress, I saw these behind the counter. I thought they were being held for someone - nope. However, the price was $14... but they do a color tag half-off sale each day, and these babies met the criteria. ($7)

You find anything good at a thrift store this week?

Thrifty Thursday : A New Store

Happy Thursday everyone!

Time for my 2nd Thrifty Thursday.  This week I went back to the big thrift store and found a couple gems.  I foresee this becoming trouble for my wallet.

1 // A great little orange and white striped dress.  I walked around the store with this for a while and ended up putting it back - just because the price was a little steep for a thrifted item.  But with the tags still on it, the $20 price tag wasn't soo bad in my head when I got to the register and I ran back to get it.  I knew I'd be upset that I didn't have it.  Come on now, it's orange!!

2 // Black and grey cardigan.  I love this piece.  The fabric is lovely.  And for $3, the price was great.

3 // Off-white and blue striped cardigan.  This one is a lot heavier than the black one, but I was in love instantly - I love stripes.  $5

4 // How adorable are these shoes!?  $8

And my biggest problem this week?  Finding another thrift store on the same bus route.  It's MUCH smaller!  They had some great pyrex pieces, but I didn't want to take the chance of them breaking on the bus ride.  But they had a wonderful hidden room in the back with all sorts of sewing stuff - buttons and patterns, and some great pieces of fabric.

Both of these bits of fabric are pretty big - big enough to make some cool stuff out of.  The top piece was only $1.50, and the bottom piece was $2.  Can't go wrong with that.  I will definitely be going back to that little place again.



Thanks for visiting! See you all tomorrow!

Thrifty Thursday : New Obsession

Surfing the internet, you can find tons of blogs where these people find wonderful things in thrift stores.  I've always wanted to explore some and see what treasures I could find.  Sadly, our last apartment was the first time I'd ever lived near one - I found a few things that I wanted, but I went with no cash.  Sadly, that was my last trip to that thrift store.

We moved last month, and I knew of one big thrift store in the area because a local friend donates stuff every month.  When I learned that my bus goes right past there, I went one afternoon after work.  There's also a Goodwill retail store even closer - so I went the next day.  I found some wonders, and I will start sharing my weekly finds here on my blog.




The top 3 are from Goodwill :
1 // A great teal polka-dotted cardigan.  I need to rip out the shoulder pads, and want to find new buttons that actually match.  The current buttons have a blue ring that are no where near the same color as the teal.  ($5)

2 // A cute little sundress.  I need to fix the one strap as it looks like the previous owner sewed it in and now it's off center from the other strap.  Not a big deal.  ($7)

3 // I was looking for a dress with some cute little sleeves and here we are.  I need to bring the bottom hem up quite a bit - it's far too long.  ($6)

The rest are from the larger thrift store, which is now my favorite place to go!
4 // Loafers.  ($7)

5 // Green Blazer.  Sides need to be brought in juuuust a tad.  ($4)

6 // White cardigan with yellow polka dots.  ($3)

7 // Mid-length skirt.  ($4)

8 // This was my treasure!  This ladies and gents is a saddle stapler.  It's brand new and they retail for $100+ ... I paid $3!!


Needless to say, I'm going to have a hard time staying out of thrift stores after that saddle stapler.

Did you go thrift shopping this week? Find anything fun?