Thrift Store Love-Handbags and Glad Rags

There was a lot of good fabric to choose from today. I only wish that I sewed more... 

...and to satisfy the container obsession I got a Gucci portfolio and the Portable Pub by Londonaire... it totes your booze!!

In some ways it feels like this a little too personal but I couldn't help getting this composition book with a lovely poem about Ian oh Ian...

The shelf from my last thrift store visit is now occupied with various kitsch. For a temporary addition I cut up some of the leftover programs M and I had from our wedding to fill a couple of spaces but they are no longer there. As M says "we don't want to go around tootin' our own horn."

Thrift Store Love- Nature

These are some of the things I couldn't pass up at the ARC yesterday. I have been getting the urge to plant some herb seeds and I want to use this tiny little bird to start a plant. I didn't realize it at the time but most of the stuff I got is nature themed. Spring is in the air! The Colorado snow globe is for an upcoming swap and as usual I cannot resist a tray.

Thrift Store Love- Deer

Unintentionally I have started a collection of kitschy deer. Here are the latest I found. It is one big deer with two little ones chained to it... hard to tell from the pictures. I really like the worn parts of the deer, it gives them the old/loved look that I can't get enough of.

I edited these photos with picnik through flickr. I love all of the editing enhancements and the collage option is so aswesome and easy to use. Check out more photos and another collage I made here.

DIY Digest- Upcycled Boxes

I created these boxes to use for the swap-bot swaps I send and the idea behind them is they are 99% recycled and they are completely reuseable.

I've used previously shipped boxes and covered them with old magazine pages. The old Life, Ladies Home Journal, and Holiday magazines have nice big pages so you only need to use two-three. I like to use boxes that have a front and side flaps for the top so the picture doesn't have to be cut, you just tape around the sides.

For this box I used some vintage contact paper that I found in a thrift store and lined the inside.

To finish them off and make them durable enough to reuse I used laminating paper and clear packing tape to cover the whole box. The laminating materials are the only that are new.

I have used adhesive paper for the to and from lables because they are easy to remove and I have also used a grease pencil to address the package and taped over it so it can easily be removed when ready for re-shipment.