Anytime we take a piece of clothing apart, to repurpose it, we salvage all the buttons, zippers, and trim. As a result, we are left with quite a collection of buttons. We wanted to see what would happen if we glued some of these buttons onto a sponge stamp (any flat surface will work) and print on fabric.
The result was beautiful. An interesting pattern. . .
. . .that we turned into this beautiful tote.
Because Melany and I sew a lot, we have many empty thread spools lying around. (We have used them in a past post). This time we wanted to see what would happen if we put a little paint on one side.
The result is this cool wagon wheel type design.
From that piece of fabric, we made a artist/tool roll.
We have always liked printing on fabric (Melany more than me). We print on our reusable produce bags using leaves, stamps or stencils. This time we wanted to use found objects to use to print on fabric. The results were fun, fabulous and interesting.
In our first project, we used some old corks, a grommet and a pencil eraser.
We created the large circles using the cork, then went around the cork with a grommet and finally a pencil eraser in the middle.
Here is the result.
The best part of painting fabric is what you can create with that fabric.
We made a fun pencil case.
Our final thrift store find was this drawer organizer for silverware. Honestly, it was nice, but it looked to large to fit in any kitchen drawer we had.
We decided to decoupage some Pokemon characters and use it as a shelf for Colin’s various small trinkets and Pokemon paraphernalia.
Here is a storage container “re-thought”. Â While at Thrift World we saw this great storage bin.
It was in great shape and was probably used to store media or books at one time.  Maybe it was the size and shape of the bin, or the fact that it was made of  black leather, but when I looked at it I saw great potential for a backseat organizer.  Children can reek havoc on a backseat of a car.  Our backseat collects all kinds of interesting things.  This bin is great for holding books, snacks, movies etc. all in one place.
Our family recently  went on a seven hour car ride Wisconsin and it was really nice to put this bin in the back seat between Anna and Lauren.  They had activities and snacks within reach which saved mom from turning around every 5 minutes.
We found this interesting table cloth.
It was a bit worn and had some holes and a few stains.
We decided to use it to make a kitschy apron.
We were able to cut around the holes and added pockets to cover up sme of the stains.
And, we are left with a bunch more fabric for future projects.
Yet another funky thrift store find, we both liked this magnet board. We just weren’t thrilled with the color or the condition. It was a little beat up looking.
We put 2 coats of chalkboard paint (our new favorite thing!), and added a ribbon on the back.
Now, not only is it a magnet board, but also a chalkboard. (And don’t our earring magnets look good?)
Fun thrift store fact: we spent just under $10 for all seven of our finds. Some thrift stores will have 50 percent off days or will make deals with you. Yet another reason why thrift stores are awesome.
This embroidery hoop was not marked with a price, so we took it up to the cashier and the clerk said 50 cents (so cheap!). Little did she realize that it is not just an embroidery hoop. It is also a. . .
Picture frame! Don’t the apples look good enough to eat in that frame?
By the way, the painting (painted by Carol) is a pattern from friend of citymade and artist Mary Gibilisco. Check out her art and products here at Kingslan & Gibilisco Decorative Art.
For our second thrift store find we chose these funky earrings. Â We really liked them for some reason but they are a little “over the top” for either of us to wear. Â Maybe we are just not hipster enough.
What we could see them as was MAGNETS. Â We just took off the top of the earrings and hot glued a magnet on. Â Ahh, much better!
To some repurposing geeks like us, a thrift store can be a real gold mine. Â A store full of used items just waiting for a second life. Â We rescued seven items from thrift stores this week and repurposed them, of course.
We chose downtown south Omaha for our location. Â Here is a shot of us driving down the main street. There are at least four thrift stores within two blocks. Â We love this area of town, it is always so lively and full of culture. Â Also, one of our favorite mexican restaurants, Tijuana Taqueria, is on this street.
We started at this Thrift World and found five of our seven items right away.
Our first project was taking this tote bag, which was cute and in fine shape, (but we have plenty of tote bags) and turning it into…
this very useful lunch bag.
We loved the original colors and stripes on this bag and didn’t want to lose the “feel” of it. Â By cutting up the tote bag and using a lunch bag pattern we were well on our way to a finished product. Â We were able to use the original handles for a lunch bag handle and we finished it up with some pink bias tape and a little velcro.
Carol thinks it needs a coordinating sandwich wrap.
