Thrifting: Yellow Petticoat and Turquoise Hat

Well, it's officially Fall. Wait - technically not until September 22nd. But, for me I deem it as fall. As soon as it hits September, people seem to get into fall mode. I mean, school starts, summer vacations end, and then it's time for fall petticoats and hats.

Well, it's still a little too warm for that in Michigan - but I'm looking forward to the temperature cooling down. This summer was so hot!

In celebration of fall approaching, I went to Goodwill and bought some attire to  match the season.

Turquoise Hat - only $3

Yellow Petticoat - only $7

The total cost of this outfit? Just $10. If I don't sound like a broken record yet, here I go! Thrift store shopping isn't only fun, but it saves you money and you still look great in what you wear!

Have fun this fall season looking for new clothes. :)

Crafting: Iron-on T-shirt Transfers

Last night my good friend, Em, came over to visit. I hadn't seen her in forever, so we decided to do something special - iron on t-shirt transfers to make cool graphic tees!

Our supplies

• Blank fitted t-shirt. We bought ours from Goodwill for under $5. Mine was gray and hers was red.
• Iron-on printer transfers. A set of 6 cost $7 at Meijer
• Scissors
• Free vector graphic from online. Make sure it is a free download that you can use any way at your discretion. 
• Iron
• Ironing Board
• Pillowcase

Step One - find a graphic you like and print

Emily and I searched online for free graphics. We both found ones that fit. Here's was an elephant and mine was a narwhal. :) We inserted the special paper into the printer and printed the designs to the width and height that best suited our t-shirts.

Step Two - Cut Out the Transfer

Through trial and error on Emilie's shirt -we found out that cutting as close to the outline of the graphic as possible was the best option. Otherwise the adhesive that sticks the design to the shirt will show up as a clear glaze in the places there is no design, making the shirt look less nice.

Step Three: Warm out the Iron

Make sure the iron is set to Cotton and NO steam. Let it warm up for about five minutes.

Step Four - Prep the pillowcase and t-shirt

Next, you will want to iron all the wrinkles out of the pillowcase. The pillowcase provides support and a barrier between the ironing board and the t-shirt. Once all the wrinkles are out of the pillowcase, set your t-shirt overtop of it to iron out its wrinkles too. 

Step Five - Carefully iron on your transfer

Place your transfer in the desired location on the shirt. Then iron from left to right for 20 seconds. Next, iron from top to bottom for 20 seconds. Repeat until enough time has passed according to how long you should iron your transfer.

1/4 or less of an 8.5 by 11 page = 45 seconds

1/2 of an 8.5 by 11 page = 90 seconds

Full page = 3 minutes

Step Five - Let the shirt Cool for 2 minutes

Once the ironing is done, move your shirt off the ironing board and onto a cool surface. We just moved ours to the floor. Wait for 2 minutes to let the transfer cool down.

Step Six - Peel off the paper

You'll want to peel off the backing to the transfer. be very careful not to peel the transfer off. What I did was try a couple different places to start peeling, once I saw the black ink was attaching to the shirt and not the back of the white paper, I started to peel faster.

Step 7 -Try on your new shirt
Put your new graphic tee on and enjoy!

Tips for washing

Wash your shirt inside out in cold water. Then, tumble dry on low.

Crafting: Two more metal earrings

My last crafting post explained how I made leaf earrings. Well, I also made two other kinds of silver earrings.

And, last night, I just put in an order for some brass and bronze earrings...I cannot wait to assemble them! I am getting well stocked for the craft show this november. Oh, yes, I entered my first craft show in DeWitt, MI (my home town). So exciting!

I used to be in the band there and every year they do a craft show fundraiser. I decided to buy a booth this year to support my fellow dewitt band members! The Craft show is Saturday, November 10th from 9a-3p. You can get more info at their Facebook.

Anyways, here are the other two sets of earrings I've made so far:

Thrifting: Yellow Summer Dress

This past Friday, I was on my way home from work and I saw many signs for garage sales. I decided to stop by a couple. I had such a fun time and found some clothes for really great deals.

If you haven't been garage sale-ing yet this year, please go! You never know what great finds are awaiting you! 

My favorite find was a yellow sun dress from forever 21 for $2.75. The people putting on this garage sale, told me their daughter had only worn it twice. To me, it looked brand new! 

I decided to wear it at my friend's wedding this past Saturday and loved it. It was nice to have a different dress to wear! (I'd been wearing the same blue one for the past year now...a change is always nice!)

Again, I encourage all of you to go out to some garage sales before they all end. It's always fun to see what kind of hidden treasures or trinkets you can find. :) Happy hunting!

Crafting: Silver Leaf Earrings

My crafting excursions haven't stopped. Although this is the first blog post in a week or so. A few weeks ago I order some jewelry supplies from a shop on etsy. 

When I came home from my friend's wedding late last night, I opened up the mailbox and there was the package! :)

All I needed was a dangling earring part (in this case a silver leaf) and the dangling earring that hooks the leaf to the part that hangs from your ear. The silver leaf had a small hole at the top that fit perfectly into the metal loop.

Then, voilà! You have a pair of leaf earrings.

I mean, aren't they just so cute?

Feel free to check them out on my etsy too, if you wish. Thanks for reading and have you been up to any lately?

Crafting: Handmade Headbands

I recently purchased some lace and fake, little flowers on etsy. I thought it would be fun to make headbands out of them and attach the flowers to one side.

First, I made one out of turquoise lace, a white flower and white leaf. Also, I hand-stitched the ends of the lace together to form a complete headband. Also, hand-sewed the leaf and flower on as well.

The next headband I made from gray lace and attached a green and white flower on. I liked how it turned out, but the turquoise headband is definitely my favorite of the two!

Would you like one?

I have enough fabric to make 3 more turquoise headbands and 7 more gray ones, if anyone would like one -let me know! I'm only charging $5 a piece! 

Also, I mentioned etsy was where I got the supplies...and so I had to give you my tangent about how wonderful esty really is:

If you have not been to etsy yet, please do! That place is amazing. You can purchase handcrafted items or craft supplies from small businesses. Plus, you can set up your own personal shop! Now that I've started shopping there for craft items - I won't stop! If you look around enough, you find deals that are less expensive than buying in a physical store.

Thrifting: Latest Home Decor Finds

Normally, I thrift shop exclusively for clothes. However, I've become more interested in home decor lately. It's translated into the way I thrift shop. Of course this means I spend more time at stores digging through clothes and the home section. 

Fine by me. :)

My first find was a set of hand painted dishes - only $5. The painting was exquisite and colorful, I couldn't resist buying them. However, I wasn't sure if I wanted to use them as actual dishes. Since they were hand painted, who knew how they would turn out after being washed or run through the dishwasher. Instead, I decided to display one of them as wall decor in the kitchen.

But, I needed a ledge for it to rest on. Well, luckily, I found one at a local Goodwill for only $1.99. I absolutely loved how this idea turned out. Plus, What's it goes perfectly with the wall paint in the kitchen! 

The next find was a set of fake flowers and a vase. Total spent for both the vase and flowers was around $5. 

It goes perfectly in the room I'm trying to transform into a home office too. My desk faces this window, so I always see the sunlight and these flowers. It's good visual motivation to keep working!

Thanks for checking out my blog - Happy Friday!

Thrifting: Blue Trendy Dress

This is one of my favorite finds as of yet. I found this dress at Goodwill (my favorite thrift store!). It's blue and blue-gray with ruffles on the bottom. Perfect for summer! Or fall if you wear leggings with it.

This works perfect for my job at the photo studio -just unique enough to be worn, but still dressy. Also, when I walked in to work this past Tuesday, my boss was wearing pants in the same color. We matched; it was pretty amusing. 

I have already worn this dress twice, but am willing to part with it if anyone else loves it as much as I. Check out my etsy if you're interested or just want to see other finds. 

A little about myself

Well, it's my very first post. Never thought I'd start a blog like this, but decided it was time to start my own blog about thrifting and crafting adventures.

Why Thrifting?

Why not? There's something exhilarating about finding that gem amongst a big rack of clothing or shelves of home decor. Then, when you look down at the price tag and see how little it costs -that's when you decide thrifting is well worth the time and energy!

Over the past couple years, I have developed a strong admiration for thrift shopping. I was taught by a fellow, much more experienced and wise thrifter. In a way, she took my on as an apprentice without knowing it and I absorbed any knowledge she lent me about the ins and outs. Now, I barely buy anything unless it's at a local thrift store. 

Okay, I admit, I do go to the mall and other chain stores...but only when there are sales!

Why Crafting?

One other thing you should know about me is that I love learning new, crafty things. I'm not sure why but my hands always need something to do and my mind needs to be entertained by new tasks every couple of hours. Plus, creativity is something that's always sparked my interest.

That's where crafting can be a great resource to meet these needs! I have lots of hopes of what I'd like to do and a long list that will probably never get finished. But, I am starting somewhere.

The three things I am going to learn this year are:

1. Making handmade jewelry, particularly silver earrings
2. Making handmade headbands out of lace and fake flowers
3. Illustrating t-shirt designs and transferring and adhering it to the t-shirt

Thanks for reading! Get ready for another blog post this week -not sure whether it will be a thrift store find or a craft quite yet. :)