Three Thrift Store Finds Get Unexpected Makeovers!

by Angela, Blue i Style

I recently took part in a really fun challenge called Here's how it works... bloggers sign up on a list, and then each goes shopping at local thrift stores to purchase one or several items {with a max budget of $10-15} to mail to the person below them on the list {that's the SWAP part}. Each blogger is then challenged to come up with creative ways to repurpose whatever treasures she receives in the mail {that's the HOT part}.
Here's what I received in the mail...

three thrift store finds get unexpected makeovers, crafts, organizing, repurposing upcycling

A legal sized clip board, a scrap of blue coral fabric, and an old framed watercolor of a woman peeling apples. What would you have done with these items?

I'll show you how I upcycled each, and you can head to my blog (at the links below) for all the DIY details.

First, I turned the clipboard and the fabric into these gift giving pretties...

Let's start with the clipboard. Throughout the year, I am always picking up cute little items that would make good gifts for friends for birthdays, housewarmings, and the like. I also frequently purchase items for my boys to put away for birthdays and Christmas. I have a closet where I keep all these future gifts, but keeping track of them is a challenge.

To solve this problem, I decided to make the clipboard pretty and use it for a list of the gifts I have purchased and who they are intended for. To make it extra functional, I created a pocket at the bottom of the clipboard to hold gift receipts. The HOW TO on the clipboard/receipt pocket is on my blog at the link below.

Then I turned the scrap fabric into twine that can be used and reused to wrap up pretty presents. You'll never believe what I twisted in with the fabric to create the twine... plastic shopping bags!

Finally, I had to figure out what to do with the frame. I decided to use it to create some spooky Halloween decor, so I painted the frame and then started created a little something to put inside the frame...

Here's how the frame looks now... a pretty dramatic change, right?!

Stop by my blog (at the link below) for the details on each of these projects!

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3 comments

Hannah V on Oct 16, 2015
These are all so cool!

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Polly Zieper on Oct 16, 2015
LOVE the spooky frame!!!I also pick up things I find at good prices for gifts( but I just put them in a bin in my closet, for a birthday,Hanukkah, etc)the result: sometimes I forget what I bought or for whom, and sometimes little fingers find the loot before its time.Don't ask me why butI never though of keeping an inventory- duh! great idea, now I can hide the bin better and not be afraid of orgetting it, if I have an inventory sheet.thx!!

1 Reply
- Angela, Blue i Style on Oct 18, 2015
  @Polly Zieper So glad the idea could help you, Polly!
  
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