DIY Thrifty Repurposed Jewelry Tray

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I love thrift store finds that find a new purpose and life.

I knew when I found this mancala board game tray that it would be great on a dresser to hold jewelry or other necessities.

Remember, I can be too anxious and forget before pictures. So this is the best that I could do, a “half” before picture.

I decided to spray paint it heirloom white.

Then I rubbed an antiquing glaze on.

I thought a few handles would make it look more tray-like. So, I pre-drilled holes for the handles since the end of the board was narrow and I didn’t want it to split. Then to accommodate the screws on the bottom of my board and prevent any surface scratching, I added a felt pad to each corner.

So pretty and so useful. I love having my most used jewelry and lip gloss organized and pretty right on top of my dresser.

I’m sharing here:

Skip to My Lou

Under the Table and Dreaming

Tip Junkie

Night Owl Crafting

Lil Luna

Adventures of a DIY Mom

House of Hepworths

Bear Rabbit Bear

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

My Re-Purposed Life

The Shabby Nest

Just a Little Creativity

Lolly Jane Boutique

Positively Splendid

Easy Thrifty Halloween Sign

I was determined to find another project at the thrift store the other day.

Why? I have no idea since I have a box full of things waiting to be repurposed.

My Halloween decorations had not found there way out of the box yet since I was still enjoying the arrival of fall!

So as I shopped at the Goodwill inspiration arrived….

Here is how to make a cute inexpensive Halloween sign.

(Please excuse the nails if the wall, to eager!)

Do you know what it is was in a prior life?

Yep, a plastic placemat. And 0.49 cents at that.

Then I set out looking for a frame.

Can you believe that someone got rid of this needlework?

I hope you heard the sarcasm!

I splurged more than I usually do on a thrift store frame and bought this one for $5, because it was a perfect fit (top to bottom, that is).

I have never done a tutorial and this is real basic probably missing some steps in the pictures, but here is what I did.

• Take the frame apart.

By the way, genealogy is another love of mine and I find old family pictures, bibles, and such very interesting.

So as I flipped this picture over, it told a story.

Apparently Eva Wilkins from Pittsburg, PA visited Colorado in 1973 and bought this for Ernie and Rosemary Vetter. I suppose this is the story as I found it in a Colorado Goodwill here locally and it was made by the artist in Boulder, Colorado.

Anywho! On to the transformation.

• Spray paint the frame.

These are some wonderful things that help with all my thrift store finds in realizing there full re-purposed potential.

• Clean the glass and placemat.

(who knows where they have been, ewwww!)

• Then cut placemat to fit.

I minimized my cutting by finding a frame that fit the placemat top to bottom, so I only have to cut an inch off of each side.

• Then put everything back together.

I didn’t put a back under the placemat because it changed the white letters and made them darker. I preferred the leaving it so that it could be more translucent if I ever wanted to hang in front of light source or window.

• To secure in frame, use a small nail on each side of the frame.

I nailed my mine right against the placemat on the inside of the frame you could also use nails and bend them over to secure it.

• Hot glue one strand of ribbon on the two top back corners of the frame.

• Tie sweet little bow.

Now this is temporary decor and up out the way of little hands so the picture is hung by a a wire that came on the back of the frame. It does not hang from the ribbon! There is a tiny nail for the ribbon to rest on and hey, the bow isn’t even attached it just rest on the nail :)

Super easy!

If you want to see other great creations from talented people check out the places I party:

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Power of Paint at Domestically-Speaking

Twice Owned Tuesday at Creating a House of Grace

Thifting for Treasures

Could not wait to post all of my great finds. This week was an adventure as I made it to my first estate sale and it was great!

First, let me start with what the little one got as Mister always says that little man gets the most.

I love the little monkey pajamas.

We have recently been wondering if they make thermal underwear for little ones. We thought they might come in handy for the late season hunt this year.

To my surprise, (at the thrift store) there was the cutest pair of green thermals and a brown thermal Henley that would be perfect for layering!!!!

And last by oh no not least in this picture is another cute little pair for Merrell shoes. Mister and I both have a pair and I am sure that eventually little man will want some to be like daddy. We these are hardly worn, in great condition, and a fraction of the cost of a new pair at $2.99!!!

I also found a bell CLOCHE (squealing with excitement), an old LANTERN (been searching for you for the little man’s room), a cute wooden duck, a potpourri bag full of putka pods (or little pumpkins), a glass canister, and a cute “Give Thanks” sign with beaded garland. Love them all!

Have you ever heard of Once Upon a Child?

Love that place and I have to confess that there are several near me that I check out from time to time. Check out what I got below.

Four cute long sleeve onesies for the changing season.

(All are GAP and Old Navy!)

And two more cute little pajama sets.

(Old Navy)

If you haven’t heard of Once Upon a Child check it out here.

Finally, the ESTATE SALE! So excited for my first and definitely not last one. Look at all of my treasures.

Let’s take a little closer look at all the lovely loot.

Four vintage burlap sacks for $1.

A cute little yellow and white quilt for $5

Four vintage metal spiked flower frogs $1

And yes that it a little vintage ruler with all of the early Disney characters (probably wouldn’t have noticed, but the little man did and loved carrying it around).

Vintage packs of paper doilies, flour sacks, and cheesecloth.

A glass flower frog for $2. This will make a great present for my MIL from little man since she collects them.

A bag of old coins from different countries all from the 40’s and 50’s. This will make a great gift for my father from little man as he collects coins.

And on this side of the table… an old scrabble game with all the pieces, a bag full of vintage ribbons, two boxes of wooden thread spools, a small jar of buttons…

And some great old books… some with Christmas hymns, and German writing.

Some of it may not look like much, but just imagine all the crafting possibilities. I have ideas in mind for each thing and hope to share in the near future.

Happy Thrifting, Garaging, Salvaging or whatever is your true love!

Thrifting for Treasures – The Highs and Lows :(

I have always envied those bloggers that have thrift stores with a dollar day. In my neck of the woods, Goodwill have 50% of a certain color tag that changes every Thursday and an occasional weekend sale with 50% off everything and $0.99 denim. ARC has 50% off a certain color tag and a Saturday sale with 50% off all but the current week tag. There is still a profit to be made in re-sales on Ebay, but you just have to sell more items!

One day a few months ago I had a lady shopping in Goodwill verbalize her disappointment that they don’t have a dollar day like the Salvation Army does. I was quick to check with the Salvation Army and yes they confirmed that they have $1 clothing on Wednesday. I was excited and surprised that although it is certain color tags, it generally is everything that is not current week. Clearly this place is not picked over until Wednesday!!!

I can see my profits on Ebay going up already $$$$ :)

Here is some of the items that I found.

These Prana Size M (yoga wear) pants were $1 and sold for $8.00

J. Jill 100% Tencel Size M pants were $1 and sold for $6.99

Abercrombie & Fitch Navy Cargo Size 10 pants were $1 and sold for $6.99

Caribbean Joe Green Cargo to Capri Size 14 pants were $1 and sold for $6.99

J. Jill Aqua Cropped Size 14 pants were $1 and sold for $6.99

North Face Size S shirt was $1 and sold for $5.99

Chico’s (always a sure fire sale) was $1 and sold for $6.99

So in a days work this $7 investment made me $41.00

The so SAD part (yes, I might be screaming) is that on the usual Wednesday visit to my new love, I am surprised to not see the usual sign on the door to greet me with my treasure hunt colors :(

The sign stated that all clothing was 50% off!

What? Wait, what happened to dollar day?

As I found a few items and made my way to the cashier, I noticed a calendar of upcoming sales and notice that every Wednesday is 50% off day? I politely asked the cashier if Wednesday was going to now be 50% off and she stated, “yes, the day of the dollar is now gone.” She said it such a way as to imply that it is like everything else good that comes to an end.

So now I see my profits being eaten away a little more with cost!

My Red Friends at the Salvation Army

Now have me a little sad and blue!

Is there such a thing as FREE?

I have always heard that NOTHING is free in this world. Well, I think the lesson was that of responsibility for actions…cause there is such a thing as FREE.

I admit that I like to watch Oprah and always have. It is great that during the summer they air re-runs so that I can see a well liked show again or catch a show that I may have missed. Well, yesterday they aired a show about freegans. Who knew there was a name? Many people were interviewed from thrifty to dumpster divers. It was interesting! You can read more here about freeganism on Wikipedia. Basically it states that freegans believe that we consume too much and waste too much. TRASH! Got my attention, my kind of story. There are many main stream people including a physician and engineer that were interviewed that find the majority of there groceries from dumpsters. Sounds gross, doesn’t it?

Well actually the eye opening part is that perfectly good food is in the trash. I am not talking about eating what someone scrapped off of there plate into the trash can like you may do at home. Grocery stores and restaurants throw away perfectly good packaged foods that can be pulled from the garbage that are not unsafe. Of course they recommend washing fruit and vegetables at home before consuming, but entire packages of baked goods were thrown away because of “rules” and “it is easier”. (I suppose easier than sorting and marking down or donating to a shelter for good use?)

All of this made me thinking about the recent find that I have had as well as the challenge that it had created for me.

Can I feed my baby for free?

Now wait, I am not talking about dumpster diving for my child. I also am not talking about breastfeeding that is much more acceptable. I am talking about formula for my child that is free and not from any type of assistance program.

Just wanted to get some of the misconceptions out of the way :)

For the love of CRAIG……Craigslist that is!

My baby is eating free. I am not needy, but thrifty and the formula companies always send out samples.

Many people who get these samples though do not have needs for them and list them for free. Of course, I will only use formula that is unopened and originally packaged.

Look what I have for FREE

That is cutting $21 from the grocery bill every week, for several weeks. Together retail this formulas would cost $66. Can you believe that they are sending out full size samples?

They also come with the can for lactose intolerant or sensitive fussy formula. I take those as part of the package deal and then relist them for free to pass the help along.

Everyone that I have received the formula from states that they don’t have a need for it and that if not taken would become TRASH!!!

As I stated before, I am going to challenge myself to see if from now until we are done with formula in the next few months how much $$ I can save by rescuing another’s trash to feed the baby.

Best of eBay Week 3

Okay, so I took several (many) weeks off as the summer was starting because of family vacations and change of routine. But enough is enough and it is time to get back to what I love. Finding trash that someone will pay cash for. It still is unbelievable the quality items at the thrift store that can be resold.

Let’s take a look at some of the recent success on eBay.

J. Jill is not a brand that I was familiar with previously, but my bloggie friends at My Dear Trash have mentioned it many times. So why not try it? These 100% linen J. Jill tan capri pants size 12 were purchased for $3.99.

They were relisted a second week and sold for $8.99!

BCBG Max azaria is a similar story and after the success I heard others have had, I was thrilled to find this perfect condition shirt at the Goodwill that I visited in Colorado Springs. Yes, I love to visit thrift stores when I go somewhere else. So exciting to see what they have and how they are set up. I purchased this BCBG shirt for $4.99.

It sold the first week listed for $9.80!

Athletic wear was a first time venture for me these past few weeks and these orange Nike capri pants were purchased for $2.50 ($4.99 with 50% off).

They sold the second week listed for $8.99!

This teal North Face shirt was purchased for $1.75 ($3.49 with 50% off).

It sold the first week listed for $6.99!

Chico’s….Chico’s….Chico’s

Oh, for the love of Chico’s!!! This brand is one that always does well for me. I have found in the past that Chico’s pants size 2 (large) and 3 (x-large) have a following due to what I have heard is a great fit.

Well, this time I wondered if shirts would have the same success. The following four shirts are some of what I found and sold.

Collectively these four shirts cost me $7.75 and they all sold the first week listed collectively for $34.24!

View Full Album

Now here is the following that I am talking about.

I wasn’t going to pass these size 3 (x-large) Chico’s Platinum denim capri pants up even though they weren’t 50% off and I had to pay $5.99 for them.

They sold the second week listed for $20.50!

Can’t wait to find more Chico’s!

Best of eBay Week 2

Well another week and some great sells.

Can I just say, that with 20 items sold the first week, the shipping went really well! It is so easy to print postage on line and use the FREE postal service packaging supplies. Then you can have the mailman pick them up at my door or just walk in the post office and drop them off. Wow, so EASY!

Here is the “Best of this weeks” highlights.

Chico’s XL Size 3 pants have done well both weeks for me. There are some ladies out there that just love them. These khaki capris were:

Purchased for $4.99

Sold for $19.81

Talbots Tropical Sleeveless dress Size 4

Purchased for $4.99

Sold for $16.75

J. Jill sleeveless linen dress Size XL

Purchased for $4.99

Sold for $8.99

Tommy Hilfiger denim shorts Size 16W

Purchased for $3.99

Sold for $9.49

Marsh Landing Khaki Overall dress Size XL

Purchased for $2.50

Sold for $5.99

I know that it doesn’t always sound like much, but you list many items. Your profit covers your costs. If something doesn’t sale, you relist. So these are some of my highlights and what might seem like a little on these few items adds up to $60.00+ It is so much fun hunting down bargains and then seeing how many people are watching an item. You can almost always tell when the bidding is going to become hurried on an item. You know what I am talking about. People are trying to snipe things at the last minute to be the highest bidder. Then at the end of the day, you see your profit for doing something fun, relaxing, and useful for the environment. Oh, I forgot at the end of the day you have to prepare some packages. I better get packing! Can’t wait to see what next week brings.