Goodwill Hunting

So being that today is a rainy day in Seattle, I decided to run over to the Goodwill.

When I was growing up we spent a lot of time at thrift stores. I was always surprised that my mom never named one of her kids "Good" "Will" or "Salvation Army" since she spent the majority of her life in a thrift stores. Most of our clothes were either thrifted or home made, and it was hard to tell which was worse. The home made ones were bad because the pattern sizes were all of the kids sizes in one pattern. So take 4 girls, one pattern and we looked like the flippin' Von Trapp family in their drape outfits. This went on for years and I have the school photos to prove it, there I am in my little jumper dress in some horrible brown color with giant flowers on it. Year after year, same jumper, different fabric but all equally horrible in color.

And barrettes. Stupid crooked barrettes and jumpers. I shudder in remembrance.

The thrift stores at least offered one great thing, it was not handmade. Sure it was used but at least you had a fighting chance of not looking like your siblings. You could have some personal style and the ability to not wear a jumper. When I got older, I got a job and that ended the clothing fiasco. Though I do have to say my mom made my Senior Prom dress and it was (and still is) one of the most beautiful dresses ever.

Now I wish for handmade things and I shop at thrift stores, everything comes full circle I guess. For crafting purposes you cannot beat the thrift stores. Today I spent $75.00 dollars and carried out 4 full bags and some loose items. All items that will be re purposed and used in new ways.

Books, picture frames, sheet music, candlesticks, various paper pieces, the list goes on. With some imagination, paint, and time, new items will be made. The thrift stores have a wide variety of stuff, some weird, some good. They get big lots of plastic stuff, dog bowls, utensils, colanders, that sort of stuff. But if you hunt around you can find the good items. And everyone loves a good hunt.

Revamping old Letter Trays

So since yesterday I did where women create, today I thought I would show you what women create.

I love to remake things. To take something that was broken, old, or out of date and rework it into something new. Some things just need to be spruced up and they can go on their merry way being in use again.

These are letter trays that were used (and still are) on desks in offices. I find these all the time at the Goodwill. I like the wood ones but I also own a few metal ones. With the metal ones, a quick coat of spray paint for metal and they can be any color you want. The wood ones you could paint as well.
I like to go a different route and jazz them up. I use one to hold magazines and the other ones hold papers that I need in the home office. Anything goes when you are creating. Don't be afraid to be bold.

The letter trays were purchased for .99 a piece and everything else I already owned. Paper scraps, paint, letter decals, stickers.

The green set was a two piece set that I bought a few months ago. First I took off the hardware and set it aside. Then I sanded, primed and painted the trays green. I also changed the color of the hardware from brass to chrome because I can't stand brass, but you don't have to do that.
Then the fun part, the theme! The theme was travel and I had some wrapping paper that was a map of Paris and a map of London. So I cut to size and decoupaged the paper to the inside of the paper tray. One note about decoupaging, when you lay down the item you are decoupaging, put a layer of decoupage medium on top fairly quickly. Then you will need to push down the air bubbles and have it lay flat. If you allow the bottom layer to dry before you have covered the top, it is very difficult to get the air bubbles out. Just a helpful hint. Then I took some rub on letters and created the words. Added some stickers on the inside and some accents on the sides. Put another coat of decoupage medium over the whole thing and assembled it back into a double decker letter tray. Easy!

The pink tray was done the same way. Only I used paper scraps and did the inside sides as well.

My favorite is the Nancy Drew letter tray. I sanded, primed and painted the tray white. I had a old Nancy Drew book that was falling apart and had some pages missing.

I have to say that I would never want to destroy a antique book for a project like this. I am a big believer in books staying intact. It breaks my heart when I see books dismantled and the pictures removed and sold. That being said, you can find reprints of older books at the Goodwill, garage sales that will be perfect to use in crafts.

Since this book was not an antique and was in pieces, I thought it was fine to use. I removed the pictures that were in the book and set them aside for the time being. I trimmed the paper and laid out the pattern I wanted. Then it was the trusty decoupage and a paint brush. I covered the entire tray with pages. I sanded between each coat of the decoupage because I wanted a smoother surface.

Then I moved on to the pictures. I hand-tinted them and used a sealer to hold the color. Then I took an exacto knife and removed all the excess paper around the picture. I wanted the words to show through. I decoupaged them on top of the pages. I cut out the title of the book and also added that. I finished the project with rub on letters that say Nancy Drew and A Clue on each side. Sealed it all with a couple of coats of decoupage medium and then a coat of clear sealer.

So there ya go! Some easy projects that will make doing paperwork almost fun. You can make any theme and color that appeals to you. There is no wrong way to do a craft project.

If you need any help, just contact me. If you have done some craft projects of your own, lets see! I love to look at other peoples creativity.