Upcycled Candles From Other People's Junk

Have you ever wondered how to decorate cheap with candles. I've been successfully doing this for years with other people's junk that I upcycle. This is the in thing to do today. Glad it's become popular. These are two reclaimed Ball canning jars that can be hung with their own bail wires or set on the table.

These now white wall sconces started out as two goth black candle holders that with a quick spray painting in white made them two totally different holders. New life for less than five dollars. While out rummaging through another sale I found a number of tulip candle holders for fifty cents each and decided that these two pink ones would make these sconces perfect for my bedroom. I quickly attached them with E600 glue for a simple finish. Two wall sconces for just under six dollars.

One thing I like to do is go to the final day of church sales. This is the time that you can fill a bag for less than five dollars and what fits is yours for that price. I found these old metal objects that I am thinking are hand rail holders. Technical name I do not know, but my daughter and I used them in two different ways. She mounted hers to wood plaques that she purchased and I mounted mine to stained scrap wood. I attached votive glass and she just set the candle on the metal. Tastes differ, but for the seven wall sconces the price was well under $15. Can't beat that.

Santa is my favorite.

Santa is my favorite holiday character, but put him on an apron driving a train and it's just plain cute. I found this apron (of course an apron) at a thrift store just after Christmas this past year on one of our out of town thrift excursions and couldn't resist. It just seemed so playful and colorful and of course vintage. With a little tender love and care Santa is ready for use and is now listed for sale on butterflyplace.etsy.com. Santa is actually a large pocket on this apron. Even better to be useful and not just decorative.

Check this out! I was featured on Apron-iCity!

How excited was I to learn today that I had been featured on the Apron-iCity website. She feature my post on the Embroidered Aprons back in December. If you have a chance check out the website, for all things apron related. What a great day!

Happy New Year and a prosperous year full of thrifting.

I found a few new thrift items through the holiday week, but I'm saving them for a bit. I am listing items for sale on my etsy store, butterflyplace.etsy.com. Feel free to look and shop. I enjoy sitting out in the patio enclosure on those mild summer nights and I have even done some quilting at the large table out there. There isn't a lot of light so I am always trying to make what light I have work better for me. There is a very large picture window that connects to the family room, but light does not come through that window. While on one of my expeditions to the thrift stores I found this wicker mirror that needed to be repaired. It was less than four dollars and with about a days worth of repair and some new paint it looked fabulous. I hung it in the window and have been enjoying more natural light and the way it made the window look smaller so much that I can't wait for summer to come around again.

Winter Wonderland Thrift

With the holidays approaching faster than I could manage I decided not to do as much Christmas decorating this year and I jumped right into my January mode. Any one who really knows me knows that I decorate fresh for every month and January is blue and white snowflake theme.

Continuing on the thrift part of this blog I thought that I would blog my blue and white winter themed trays that I use on the kitchen wall to make it feel icy. These were part of a set of four, but at the thrift store there was not a complete set and the other seasonal trays of the set didn't appeal to me as well. I knew I would use these for sure. So I got wall plate hangers and here they are.

Vintage Pink Thrift Store Ornaments

It has always been a way of life for me to shop at thrift stores. Even when I travel out of town I try to find them. This find however was from a local thrift store. In an attempt to keep Christmas costs to a minimum, but at the same time be different than everyone else I chose a very cheap white Christmas tree that came complete with pastel lights. Well it seemed like we would have to put up with this frightful tree until....... I found some discounted ribbon, imitation poinsettia flowers of dark maroon and pink to match the ribbon and some off beat glittery who knows what and put it on the tree. Not perfect, but much better than I thought. It would do and fit the budget.

After the tree was up and we were ready to enjoy the holiday season my eldest daughter and I decided to visit some local thrift stores. As usual she went one way and I went the other. I got to a Christmas display and to my surprise was a box of vintage pink Christmas ornaments. Only twelve, but if applied to the front of the tree only she and I would know. Continuing on through the store I met up with my daughter who was so excited to show me that she had found two more boxes of the same ornaments and when I showed her my find we couldn't stop laughing. One box was minus three ornaments, but that was fine by us. Now we put the tree up either in the family room or in a Victorian decorated bedroom and just enjoy our economical and different Christmas tree.

Vintage Holiday Thrift

Sometimes you just happen to look on the top of a shelf at a thrift store and find a vintage holiday treasure. Mine was this box of unused vintage 40's or 50's Norcross Inc. children's Christmas cards. Are you old enough to remember the red velvet on cards? Well these are that kind of card and they just are so cute. I fell in love with them as soon as I saw them. The box was in mint condition and although there were originally 16 cards in the box there are only 10 now. I hope you find the pictures as cute and innocent as I did. Times surely have changed.

Apron Sewing Thrift

The trend today has gone back to giving things a new use or just using what is already available. I have lived this life for as long as I can remember and when I look around my house I see that most of what I have in it has been renewed.

I was going to start a new blog with my up cycled items listed on it to show what I have done to use old things or bring new things back to life, but this is what the Craft Zone has literally become. Most of the fabric I own and items in the studio are what other people have not used and given or I have purchased so I decided to just keep everything to one blog. I am trying to create a network of blogs and blog friends so feel free to share my blog with your friends and maybe get an idea or two of your own.

Some years ago I was given (yes, given) boxes of sewing materials from an estate. So much that a lot was donated, made into something new for charities, put to use or became something special to me. In the boxes were two hand embroidered apron fronts. The condition of these aprons was excellent so I went to work to make them come alive. I added neck and back ties and lined them and they have hung in all of my kitchens for as long as I can remember. Textile crafts are my love, but I also enjoy being in my kitchen. Aprons are something that combines both of my loves.

Autumn Thrift

I have seen so many people who have blogged about their thrift habits that I thought that through the year as I see my thrift store items and up cycled items used in my home that I would start to post them on my blog. I have so many that I could build a blog just for this purpose, but I will keep them short and do them on the Craft Zone.
These pictures of Thanksgiving blessings was a Hallmark punch out book. I found it at the thrift store (1.49) and just fell in love with the pictures. I didn't want to punch them out so I removed the rusty staples, found some autumn colored paper and some matching frames at a yard sale and put them to use in my autumn decorating. This was several years ago and I can't tell you how much they put me in the mood for turkey and pumpkin pie every Thanksgiving.

Dolly is finished.

I am happy to say that Dolly is finished and returned to her owner. I had so much fun working on it and making it a completed quilt. I know this will be loved and I know my love went into making it, and will always fill another heart with joy.

Dolly is rescued.

For the past few weeks I have been spending a little time here and there restoring a quilt rescued from a church sale by a co worker. I have jokingly named her Dolly. This is because she reminds me of the kind of quilt that Dolly Parton would have had as a child in her cabin. Dolly tells of how her siblings slept together in one bed and under home made quilts made of scraps and this quilt fits that description perfectly.

I am not the first person to try and restore this quilt. My co worker was giving it a great effort and as I was working I saw evidence of someone else trying to repair it. The fabrics in this quilt are very delicate at this point, almost to the point of being shop worn. Some are of such a lose weave that they unravel with the slightest touch. If you look the only way I could mark seams that needed repair was with painters tape, but as I worked more and more seams needed securing. I have worked hard not to make this my Pandora's box and I believe I have been quite successful. I have begun to tie it and make it a quilt with that rural country scrap look. I know it will be loved. This is going to be a Christmas gift and I am going to feel good about someone loving it.

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Rescued Love

In my adventures to local thrift stores I have been blessed to find many items that I can up cycle into something new, but on a couple of my last outings I found items that I felt needed to be rescued. I guess it's mostly because I know the work that went into these items and some how can't fathom why they ended up in a thrift store, but some where out there they were loved once and are now loved again.

The valentine themed afghan is done in a crochet stitch (I know how to do this with a long hooked needle, but I don't know the exact name of the stitch) and made of the softest yarns. I just wanted to hug it because I know it was meant to send love. It is four foot square and just enough to cover on a cold February evening. I rescued this for the small price of $4.99. It will make a great addition to my holiday decorations.

The quilt of red white and blue is a bit faded, but is about twin size. It is a log cabin quilt pattern and I know the time that was spent making this quilt. It is tied and this method gives it that primitive look. I also rescued this for the small price of $4.99 and it will also make a great addition to my holiday decorating.

For those of you who know me well know that I decorate every month with a different theme if the time is there to do it. I enjoy life to the fullest and up cycled and rescued items make the love all the better.

Getting down to business. New listings on Etsy.

As promised to myself I am getting down to business. I have rebuilt my Etsy store and have added some of the new items that I have been creating. These new Boho (Bohemian style) bags have been easy and so much fun to make. They show a lot of promise. I am having a great time making and creating.

Messy Craft Room

Okay so I didn't wait until tomorrow to post the pictures of my messy craft room. A lot of crafting and work has been going on here. It's time to get serious about being creative. No matter how tired I am I need to get my act together. I intend to be back tomorrow.

Where oh where have I been?

Okay so not blogging has become a bad thing and I think I am back. It's not like I haven't been busy.

It was a bountiful summer and fall for fruits and vegetables and even though this is a craft blog preserving food is a craft. Many hours were spent on my days off making jams and baking and making sure the food did not go to waste. The picture of the full pantry is mind boggling to say the least. I have given plenty of it to others also. Believe it or not the universe has replaced with empty jars one for one every jar that I have given away. Thanks to estate sales and good eyes I will be ready if more comes next year. So for all of those blessings of food that were given I have been blessed to be able to share and enjoy as well.

Another project was the road side dresser. This story can be followed on the blog TheThriftGift.blogspot.com. Working a little bit at a time on Sundays and after work this beat up old dresser was transformed into a utility piece for the sun room. It is the perfect height for using my electric grill and I couldn't be happier with the results. It makes a wonderful addition and was quite the craft project. I hope you take the time to look. You will find a link to The Thrift Gift under blogs that I follow.

I got a lot of gardening done this year and can't wait to see how things turn out in the spring with all the new perennials. I gave away plants and received new ones plus used coupons to get new plants at work. I did a lot of recycling and crafty things there also. There was so much stuff in this yard and once it was all in one place it all fell into it's own new home.

I have a lot of good intentions for the following days and weeks so I hope you all will keep in touch with me and follow my blog. Until we share time again have a great day and stay well.

Scrap Quilt

This scrap quilt was started by a friend at our Valentine's day fun day. So many strips became so many blocks and finally a quilt of beauty. This has been exciting to see go together and we can't wait for the finished product. The owner of this quilt is diving head on into her nursing exams and I know as soon as she can it will be complete and we wish her luck on passing her state exams and becoming the wonderful RN that we know she can be.

Stamping Up Fun Day April 25, 2010

To all of you who know about our crazy fun days and to those of you who haven't attended one yet let me tell you about the next one.
I will be hosting a Stamping Up party and when I say party I mean party. This event as usual is free and there is absolutely no obligation to purchase anything. The demonstrator will be teaching us how to use rubber stamps to make greeting cards. All materials will be provided and all that you have to do is bring your sense of humor and gift of gab. The date for this event is Sunday April 25, 2010 and there are no reservations required although I would like to know if you are coming to make sure I have enough seats. You may contact me for further information at this blog site. Please feel free to bring a friend and have a fun afternoon with us.
As for party, most of the time we have so much fun and food that it turns into a great party. Catching up with fellow crafters and doing fun things together is was has inspired us to do many of the projects that you see on this blog and we all agree to share our knowledge with each other.
I hope to see a lot of you there. It will be a great afternoon and I wouldn't want you to miss it.

Little accomplishments are the most rewarding.

I have promised myself to spend as much time as I can working on building my Etsy store. I have finished a few more items and listed them, but my mind is forever working ten steps ahead of what I'm working on. True crafter I think.

I finished this darling child's apron today on my day off and couldn't wait to show it off. Its made from a vintage 1951 pattern and the Hello Kitty is also vintage. Adding the eyelet lace finished it and with a little updated altering I was able to make it in a couple of hours. The first one is always the hardest.

You can see my other accomplishments on my Etsy store at Butterflyplace.etsy.com. Enjoy!