I’m planning on wearing the dress for an upcoming island vacation, and the tie is going to my husband. I have included the price/item breakdown below vs MRSP.

Total savings $169.12

Total cost $ 12.45

Supplies needed

-Spool of ribbon 5/8″ or larger
-2 yards Organza
-Matching thread
-Iron
-Scissors
-Sewing Machine
-Spray bottle (optional)
-Serger (optional)

Step 1: Fold your ribbon in half. Spray the ribbon with water, and press with your iron. This will make your ribbon easier to attach to your shawl’s edges.

Step 2: Take your fabric and fold it in half length wise (see layout below). Carefully cut your short ends so that the layers match and are perpendicular to the long sides.

Step 3: With the fabric still folded together as pictured above, use a serger (or machine zig-zag stitch) to sew the fabric edges. Start with the long non-folded edge and work your way completely around.

Step 4: Take your pre-creased ribbon and carefully open it up and pin it so that that one half is on the front side of the shawl edge and the other is on the back. Make sure you have covered your zig-zag or serged stitching. Once all the edges are pinned with ribbon, stitch the ribbon to the fabric using a straight stitch.

You should now have a complete shawl

After

I just finished packing up my Reddit Gifts. I think they came out well considering I only spent $6.28.

For the vintage Pokemon wall art I removed the mats from the original image and carefully painted them black and white. While the mats dried I printed off some art prints I found on etsy, and glued them over the previous images using homemade decoupage

The mugs I cleaned and painted. Detailed instructions can be viewed here

I’m still trying to decide what to do with the shadow box. It needs a little TLC, but I’m thinking about keeping it for my office. Maybe a new project for the new year?

Supplies needed
● enamel (ceramic) paint
● ceramic mugs
● paint brushes
● paper
● tape

I already had some black folkart emamel paint,  so this was a SUPER cheap project for me. 

Start by printing out the symbols you plan to use on plain printer paper
I grabbed my images from here

Then carefully cut out your images, being sure to leave space surrounding the symbols.

Tape your stencils to you mug. Make sure you have washed and dried your mug prior to this step

Using your paint brush carefully fill in your image with paint.

Remove your stencil from the mug, and touch up any uneven areas

Place your mug(s) in the oven and bake according to your paint’s instructions. DO NOT pre-heat your oven; sudden temperature changes can damage your glasses

I got

The mugs and frames are for my up coming Reddit Gifts exchange. My match is really in to star wars and pokemon, so  both items will be used in related crafts. 

Total spent $9.87 (with my 10% military discount)

List of items you’ll need

• A Frame
• Wooden Letters I used 9.5″ ones but you should use ones that fit your frame
• Metallic Spray Paint (I used Rust-Oleum)
• Spray Paint for your Frame
• Glue
• 1/2 yard Fabric
• Scissors
• Screwdriver or butter knife depending on how your frame is setup

First I took my frame apart and removed the glass.

Next I cut out 4 pieces muslin to fit over the picture. 2 for each frame. You might only need 1 piece per frame if your fabric covers a little better. My original picture was glued to frame back and wasn’t coming off so to completely cover the image I needed 2 pieces.

Than I glue the two fabric pieces to the original picture. I put the mat and letter on top after it dried just to make sure everything looked ok.

Finally I painted the frame, matting, and letters using the spray paint. After everything was dry I glued the letters to the fabric and reassembled the frame.

Finished product

With the help of my thrifted treasures and Pinterest I was able to come up with this (please excuse the cords, I’m still working out a system).

Here’s the break down.

What I’m keeping

I couldn’t believe I scored this Banana Republic blazer for only 10 bucks. I just bought a brand new jacket from BR less then 2 months ago for $120. Other bonus this blazer was made in Italy, not China like the newer BR lines. My other big steal of the day was the blue Samsonite train case for only 25 cents. I’m in love with these cases. I use them for EVERYTHING nail polish, makeup, sewing supplies, you name it.

What I’m giving away

All the other items I’m giving away. The spice rack is going to become a nail polish holder for my Reddit Gifts Makeup/Nail Match, the Bat Basket will be part of my Halloween exchange gift, and the frame will be part of a Christmas gift to my in-laws.

Pretty good outing IMO.

Linking to Apron Thrift Girl’s Thrift Share Monday

First Stop Goodwill

This 1950′s cocktail shaker is just too cute. I’ve been needing to add one to my bar collection, but refuse to pay $10 for a plain jane steel one. With my discount, I picked up this item for only $3.60.  Looks like this shaker is selling for between $18 and $25 online, not too bad of a pick, in my opinion.

So after picking up some new lenses for my DSLR, realized that my current camera bag isn’t big enough for everything. Lucky for me, I found this little treasure hiding under some luggage. It’s really a diaper bag, but has lots of compartments, perfect for my camera/accessories. Thrifted this for only $2.70.

Talk about score! I found a French Connection top, a pair of J.Crew shorts, and a Brooks Brothers top for $4.49 each. The French Connection top is a little big, so I’ll need to alter it, but for $4.49 it’s still a steal.

Final stop Yard Sale

I picked up each one of these items for $1.  The handkerchiefs are by Alexander Julian; I looked up the brand on Amazon they wanted $26 for similar sets. My Husband needed a hole punch for work, so this was a deal at $1. New ones are around $25. The lamp, I really needed for my husband’s nightstand, bonus it closely matches the one I have on mine

When I first got married fine china wasn’t even listed on my registry; a 900 plus dollar gift was just too much to ask for, and I couldn’t count on enough people to get me all the required place settings. As a joke, my Husband (a commercial pilot at the time)  brought home some old TWA first class silverware and dinner plates, not knowing the collection he would start. I loved the idea of vintage airline china, and started collected pieces.

• 8 dinner plates $10.00
• 8 Salad plates $10.00
• 8 dessert plates $ 8.00
• 12 saucers $5.00
• 8 silverware sets $6.00
• 8 ramekins $5.00
• 12 coffee mugs $34.00
• 6 water glasses $58.00 (these are somewhat hard to find)
• 12 wine glasses $16.00
• 6 cordial glass $15.00
• 4 soup bowls $24.00