Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Do you believe in recycling? Are you a do-it-yourselfer? Would you like to be, but you don’t know where to start? Let me give you an idea or two.
Recently, I took a picture of a tabletop vignette of a shelf sitter I created. I grouped it with a milk glass vase of flowers, and one of my tea light holders, which I had crafted out of ceiling fan shades. That’s what got me thinking I need to head to the thrift store again so I could find more goodies.
What easily catches my eye at the thrift store or garage sale is glass. Just about any kind of glass. You can find really nice pieces at thrift stores, vintage stores, or garage sales! That’s what I look for, glass plates, vases, ashtrays, platters, etc. They all catch my eye.
I’ve made bird feeders, plate flowers, and votive candle holders. There is so much you can do with old glass! However, I recommend you do some research before you go into the thrift store, to make sure you have a plan for what you are buying. You don’t want to end up storing old glass that you’ll never use. That would be a waste of money and resources. Your best research is going to be on your computer. Pinterest is a great place to start. Just search for “upcycled glass DIY” and you will find quite a few websites that show you how to reimagine old glass. On Etsy, you can find everything from jewelry to plate flowers for inspiration. You can also just put that phrase into your search engine to find even more websites.
Another item I found and used from the thrift store is old sweaters. I once was obsessed with making pumpkins, using old sweaters. They had to be adult-sized, and they had to be light colored. Adult-sized because the children’s sizes did not offer enough material to work with. Light colored because I brought them home and immediately washed them in hot water. I didn’t particularly care if they shrank, but I did care about odors. The pumpkins turned out so cute! And to think, when I first had the impulse to make pumpkins using sweater material, I was going to purchase new material at Hobby Lobby. It was so expensive!
Don’t be discouraged if what you find is dirty. If it’s glass, it can be cleaned up so it’s shiny and beautiful again. If it’s a fabric item and you have a washer and dryer, you can certainly take care of that too, so long as there are no stains. Try to look past the grimy, greasy things. I suggest you either wear gloves or keep some kind of handy wipes in your vehicle so you can clean up after handling all that old stuff. You may have to kind of dig around to get to all the interesting stuff!
If you’re looking for a project that is kind of different, you might want to investigate repurposing ideas on Pinterest or other websites for inspiration. I wish you happy searching and happy thrifting!