Sewing Stool Makeover

I got this sewing stool at Goodwill for $8.

I was reluctant because the price seemed a little high but the hidden storage and the functionality won me over.

It's made by Burlington and similar stools are available for upwards of $50 on eBay (here and here).
It was covered in vinyl with a very "Spirit of '76" theme: cannons, eagles and whatnot.  Not to mention the shiny gold trim which must be the trademark of Burlington sewing stools:

I painted the legs and inside black.  I covered it with the lovely Perfect Pattern fabric.

In keeping with the sewing theme, I used tape measures for the trim.

I sewed a double pocket onto the inside of the lid like there had been on the original.

Another look:

before

after

before

after

before

after

I'm trying to be cool about it but the truth is, it's so cute it makes me want to squeal.


Linking to Reinvented's Trash to Treasure Tuesday

Painting Ceramic

Do you know how easy it is to paint ceramic?  Today I point you to House of Hepworths to see how simple it is to turn these:

Into these:

St. Vincent de Paul

This evening I went to St. Vincent de Paul in Ballwin, which you may recall is one of my favorites.  I got a bike which needs a little beautification for $13.50 and some other things I couldn't pass up, like a little pitcher for ten cents.  At first I thought I might paint it but looking at it in my home, I think it will just rock the blue and green.

Did you know that St. Vincent de Paul has a frequent shopper card?  I wish I had known it before!  When you spend $10 or more they will punch your card.  After 10 punches you get a $10 discount on your purchase of $10 or more.

St. Vincent de Paul is opening a new thrift store in Dellwood (about 5 miles northeast of UMSL) within the next month according to their website.  The address is 10052 West Florissant Ave, 63136.  I have updated the map:

View St. Vincent de Paul in a larger map

Rocking Chair Pincushion

This is my favorite find from Value Village's half off sale Wednesday.  I paid 40 cents for it.

I painted it black and covered the back cushion with Alexander Henry's Perfect Pattern fabric and the seat with a scrap of houndstooth.  Here it is in action!

 I am working on recovering a sewing stool in the Perfect Pattern fabric and will post pictures soon.  I love this fabric.

Garage Sale Tracker

I just found out about a site called Garage Sale Tracker from Thrifty Decor Chick.

You can advertise your garage sale or find a sale both free.  Or you can look for consignment shops and flea markets.  They also have an iPhone app!

My First T-shirt Pillow

I was inspired by the t-shirt ideas I posted the other day so I bought a couple of 99 cent shirts at Family Thrift to fiddle around with.  I started with this one:

After much sewing frustration (it was the machine's fault) (kind of) I came up with this:

The stuffing needs to be distributed a little more evenly, but I'm happy with it.  

Many people are apprehensive about sewing with knits and to them I say, "You should be!"  I'm kidding.  Just sew knits with a ballpoint needle instead of your standard everyday needle.  It really makes a difference.

Tomorrow is 1/2 Price Day at Value Village!

Tomorrow is the last Wednesday of the month and that means 50% off everything at Value Village! (except new furniture.)  They are open from 8am to 10pm at all four locations.


View Value Village STL in a larger map

Repurposing and Preserving T-shirts

Today I present some interesting ideas for reusing t-shirts (which can be found in abundance in thrift stores) as well as a few ways to preserve t-shirts as keepsakes.

Here is one idea for reusing which is to cut the t-shirt into strips to make yarn for knitting.




From Instructables, sewmargaretsew details how to make the "fastest recycled t-shirt tote bag" promising that  "With just two quick seams and some fast cutting---you are finished!"

On Etsy, lilblueboo has a tutorial pattern for sale to show you how to recycle t-shirts into an adorable dress.

 

For the t-shirts you would like to preserve, there are patterns for making quilts of them and there are plenty of people on Etsy such as prettythreads (whose quilt is shown below) who will make one for you.

 

I particularly like this style because of the way it is top-stitched.  Many of the other t-shirt quilts I have seen are merely blocks sewn together.  The meandering stitch used on the top of this one makes it look more like an old fashioned quilt. 

 DIYIdeas has a tutorial to teach you how to make a scarf from t-shirts and a pillow.

 

Hmm...looking at this scarf, I'm thinking that a few of these sewn together would make an interesting throw.  See the scarf video here.

This is super easy to do.  See the video tutorial here.

Can This Piece Be Saved?

Things aren't always as bad as they look.  Admittedly, this piece had seen better days before it was rescued (from a dumpster!)

from Design*Sponge

As noted on Design*Sponge, Andrea simply cleaned up the rust, then used spray paint to turn it into something delightful!

Don't you love it with that rug?

White Slipcovers

Sounds crazy, doesn't it?  White furniture + kids + pets?  Last week I posted about this chair

and the whimsical fabric I thought it needed.  Today I was meeting with a dear friend to learn about slipcovering and since I still hadn't picked a crazy fabric for the chair, and because I have read what The Nester and her friend Pink and Polka Dot have written about the joys of white slipcovers, I decided to go with a white twill for now.  Once the cover started taking shape on the chair, I fell in love with it. We cut the skirt of the chair off which gives it a much different look.   The cover is not quite finished but I will post pictures soon!

The Sharing Shop

I'm so excited today to give you some information about The Sharing Shop!  Read my interview with Founder and Director Jennifer Little, then go become a fan on facebook and spread the word.  (While you're there, become a fan of Thrifty Tickle as well!)


What is the Sharing Shop?
The Sharing Shop is a non-profit resale shop that benefits children in foster care and state adoptive children as well as the foster and kinship families that care for them. We sell publicly donated new or used items at extremely reasonable prices.

What about your location and hours?
The Sharing Shop is located at 140 Four Seasons Center, Chesterfield, MO 63017 (SW corner of Olive and 141). We are open Monday through Thursday 10-6, Friday and Saturday 10-8 and Sunday from 12-4.

View The Sharing Shop in a larger map

Tell us why you started the shop and about your passion for helping foster children.
I started The Sharing Shop because I saw a need to provide nice clothing, shoes and accessories for children in foster care at low prices or free. Being a foster parent for the last 5 years, I've had 39 children. Thirty-nine children that walked into my home with only the clothes on their back and sometimes those clothes and shoes had to go right into the trash because of their condition. When the child arrived at about 6pm, I had to run out to WalMart, Goodwill or somewhere else to at least get clothing and necessary items for the next few days. The state provides limited funds for clothing and although it helps, it's nice to be able to buy the children a variety of outfits instead of just 5 or so. We also have helped foster and biological families to get needed beds and furniture to prepare for the arrival of a child.
We just want to help and since I'm awful at asking for monetary donations I thought a resale shop where the public supports through donations of goods and also shopping would be a great way to be self supportive! We need you to shop and support The Sharing Shop with donations so we can continue our work.

I have been struck by the politeness and eagerness of your young helpers. Are they employees or volunteers?
The Sharing Shop has 2 full time and 2 part time employees and about 5 volunteers at any given time. We can always use volunteers! If you have a few hours a week to work with us, we need you! No amount of time is too small, we just need to see you each week or every other week!

How does The Sharing Shop support foster children?
There are two major ways we support foster children. First, children with their foster parents or caseworker initially shop at The Sharing Shop at no cost to the child, family or state and foster and state-adopted families receive a continual discount for future Sharing Shop purchases. The second way we support foster children is by funding The Sharing Wishes program. This program provides financial support to pay for extracurricular activities such as Christmas and Birthday presents, mini foster family vacations, camps, lessons, equipment rental or purchase, participation and uniform fees, graduation packages for high school seniors, and much more.

Your prices are very reasonable but you also offer some promotions such as a customer appreciation card. What's going on right now?
We are currently having a progressive sale on clothing and shoes. Purchase $15 of clothing and/or shoes and save 10%, $25 or more save 20%, $35 or more save 30% or purchase $50 or more in clothing and/or shoes and save 40% on your clothing/shoe purchase.
As you mentioned, we do have a customer appreciation card which you can pick up at the register. For every $10 you spend we will punch your card. After you collect 10 punches you will get 10% off your next purchase.

You are doing a great service with this shop! How can we support you?

• Donate your items.
• Shop with us.
• Become a regular volunteer.
• We need a sorting/storage warehouse. If you know of a location we can get either very cheap or even donated please contact me:  JLittle@thesharingshop.org
• Join us on facebook and tell your friends!

Grandfather Happiness

I'm not sure what this picture has to do with being a Grand Father.  Would it be more appropriate to say Happiness is ...being limber?...being flexible?...being double-jointed?  That's quite a move that boy is busting.

From Family Thrift on Lemay Ferry.  I'm just posting a link to the google map because it says the website may harm your computer.  Yikes.

Old Records

If there is one thing you can certainly find in abundance in thrift stores, it's old records.  Once my 5-year-old held one up and said, "What's this?"  When I told him it was a record, his eyes lit up and he asked, "Is it the kind of record you get a lot of money for breaking?"

Here are a couple of ways to re-purpose old 33s:

letter holder from Pink of Perfection

purse from Craftster

The Big Reveal/Tiny Birdhouse

As promised I have pictures of the tiny birdhouse that I decorated for my mom for Mother's Day.  We had an excellent visit (as always) and she was surprised to see how small the birdhouse was but I think she likes that it's so tiny and cute.

Here's the blurry before picture:

I painted it black, then decorated it with some bathing beauties on the sides, using Mod Podge, of course:

 

and then printed the "tweet" in my favorite typewriter font onto a scrap of striped paper.  I cut the bird shape out of the paper that I used for the roof, using one of the dots for the eye.

Sharing Shop Chairs

The Sharing Shop is a great little resale (thrift) shop in Chesterfield at the southwest corner of Olive and 141. I will have more information on this wonderful shop coming up soon!
I got a pair of these chairs (and also the one on the left side of this picture) at The Sharing Shop and incidentally am just now embarking on lessons in slipcovering.

I think such an unusual style of chair merits equally unusual fabric so I'm thinking of something by Alexander Henry, specifically Zanzabelle Zanzibar in pink

or Noguchi in black and white

I know they're kind of crazy but I think that's just what the chairs need.  What do you think?

The Lowly Toilet Paper Roll

I love finding creative ways to reuse things.  Recently I've been wondering what to do with cardboard toilet paper rolls.  Thinking about reusing them conjured up images of puppets with construction paper glued to them.  Not what I have in mind.

This is more like it!

from Tali at Growing Up Creative/Eco Kids Craft.  

It looks so elegant, doesn't it? 

Click here to go to her tutorial.

I like the fact that you can paint it to match your decor as Audra at Simpsonized Crafts...and then some! did

Here is an idea from Unclutterer.

Apartment Therapy took that idea and prettied it up 

with a scrap of wrapping paper.

Mother Earth News suggests making them into biodegradable seed-starter pots.  

(Composting them is another option.  Apparently worms love 'em!) 

One more idea: my son brought home a poster-sized map he had made at school.  The teacher had rolled it up and slid an empty toilet paper roll over it to keep it contained.  It was a revelation to me.  I know that sounds silly, but sometimes it's the little things, you know?  It makes it so much easier to keep stuff rolled up! No more rubber bands!  And it's aesthetically pleasing.  I've already implemented it at home. 

Seal-a-Meal

Here is another vintage item in the box, found at the same St. Vincent de Paul as the Executive Dumbells.  I hadn't realized that Seal-a-Meal had been around so long.

For your viewing pleasure, here's a Seal-a Meal commercial from 1984.

Funky Chicken

Emboldened by my success with the 80 cent bird, I tackled an aproned chicken. (Not literally). 

She was badly in need of a makeover...

...badly.

Time to work a miracle with the ol' scrapbooking paper.

Ah...that's better!

I think this funky chicken may be ready for my funky kitchen.

 

Yes, indeed.