When I was a teenager, I had grand plans that involved collecting snippets of vintage jacquard ribbon (and non-vintage, if pretty enough) to decorate “all the things”, such as handbags, headbands, and t-shirts. But I quickly found out that the gorgeous ribbon I coveted so much was expensive…and my plans fizzled out. Fast forward a couple of decades, and I’m back at it with an alternative (and thrifty) plan: What if I used some ribbon belts from the thrift store to embellish different accessories?Read more ›
Baking Pan Storage in a Kitchen Caddy
August 8, 2018 · By · 22 Comments
Magazine holders are a pretty common sight at thrift stores, aren’t they? I’ve certainly seen my fair share of them, and have even repurposed a few of them before. Upcycling another one wasn’t a priority for me, but this particular one couldn’t be passed up. Large, sturdy, and ripe for a makeover, it seemed destined to become a kitchen caddy.Read more ›
Sand Collection Display in a Vintage Spice Rack
August 2, 2018 · By · 28 Comments
There I was in Goodwill, crawling through the housewares when I paused to check an alert on my phone. A friend’s photo of a gorgeous sunset on the beach popped up, and when I went back to thrift shelf scanning, there it was. A vintage spice rack that someone else had painted purple, using it to house her button collection. But with the beach photo still burning a hole in my mind and the spice rack in front of me, I had an idea. To create a sand collection display in the old spice rack!Read more ›
30+ Ideas for Upcycled Picture Frames
July 29, 2018 · By · 2 Comments
Few things in life are certain, but this one is: step into any thrift store in any town, and you will find a plethora of picture frames. Why so many end up donated to thrifts, I’ll never know. But the good news is that there are tons of ideas for upcycled picture frames out there.Read more ›
French Farmhouse Decor from the Thrift Store
July 25, 2018 · By · 70 Comments
I wanted to take a quick detour from my normal upcycling and repurposing projects for a slightly different kind of blog post. Today, I wanted to dive into thrift store decor a little deeper, because shopping secondhand is near and dear to me. In fact, it’s the foundation of everything I do here on my blog. Think of this as a “Shop the Look” kind of post, but not with fashion. Instead, we’re going work on a “Thrift the Look” home decor vignette using a magazine photo as inspiration. And the theme of this Thrift the Look post is French Farmhouse Decor. Read more ›
Wren Birdhouse from a Wooden Tissue Box
July 19, 2018 · By · 25 Comments
This wooden tissue box was one of the last things I snapped up at a favorite thrift store before it closed. It was sturdy and well-made, but I didn’t have a project idea right away. After a while, though, I wondered if I could tweak it and use it as a wren birdhouse for the backyard.Read more ›
Making a First Aid Cabinet for the Garage
July 11, 2018 · By · 18 Comments
Ok- so, in the interest of full disclosure, I fully intended this project to be my Product Test Drive post for this month. BUT, things didn’t exactly go as planned. So, I’m putting that product “on ice”…which has a double meaning. Why? Because my plans for this wooden medicine cabinet were to transform it into a first aid cabinet for the garageRead more ›
DIY Wine Bottle Cooler for Happy Hour at Home
July 5, 2018 · By · 24 Comments
This is one of those ideas of mine that *almost* doesn’t warrant a blog post because it’s so dang simple. BUT, I’ve learned that even when I have a simple project idea, I should always publish it here on the blog. So, here we go with an Igloo cooler that I found at Habitat ReStore. And my plan was to upcycle it into a wine bottle cooler.Read more ›
Decorative Thumb Tacks with Flower Cabochons and Non Toxic Glue
June 28, 2018 · By · 16 Comments
I’ll spare you from the endless details, but this Product Test Drive post was complicated and convoluted from start to finish. It all started out with my DIY cork board project; people were interested in the decorative thumb tacks that I paired it with.Read more ›
Patriotic Sign on a Repurposed Cabinet Door
June 21, 2018 · By · 26 Comments
Every year, I always try and come up with one good patriotic project to post around July 4th. Sometimes the ideas come easily, but this year I struggled to think up even one upcycling idea in red, white, and blue! That is, until I found a bright red cabinet door at Habitat ReStore. I decided that it would be perfect for ! And I would pull inspiration from the American propaganda posters that were so popular during World War II to do so!Read more ›
