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thrifty thursday: deconstructing

thrifty zipper and wood buttons

Awhile ago, back when it was cold and icy outside, I found a sweater with the most amazing wood buttons. The sweater was 99 cents. Where can you find six wood buttons for 99 cents? Plus, get a two-way zipper as part of the deal?

Some of my crafty friends had me convinced I should keep the sweater. I agree that it is cute, but it really doesn’t fit me well. It’s been in my closet long enough and has been relegated to the donation pile. Not before liberating the buttons and zipper, of course.

Don’t worry, the sweater is still very wearable. The buttons were just for decoration.

east campus garage sales alert: Last year a lot of you mentioned that you were interested in this big, wonderful, fabric-y, fiber-y, vintage-y garage sale weekend. It’s here! Maybe see you there?

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drop spindles handmade by my husband

handmade drop spindle

First off: No, I am not starting another hobby! I’ve been thinking of plying some of my lighter weight sweater yarn to make a worsted weight. I looked at a few drop spindles online, but it seemed like such a silly thing to spend money on when I didn’t even know if it would work.

I thought maybe I could make a DIY spindle to try it out and if I had good luck, maybe I’d buy one. On Saturday, I asked my husband if he would pick up a wooden door pull for me. I already had some dowels and hooks. When I showed him what I was planning to do he said, “Give me a few minutes,” and headed to the garage.

handmade drop spindle

Within 15 minutes I had two drop spindles — a top and a bottom whorl. He used a drill hole saw, which worked perfectly. Aren’t crafty husbands great? (I doubt he’d consider himself crafty, but I think he is!)

I played around with them a little bit over the weekend and I think plying the sweater yarn might actually work! I hope to do another post soon with examples.

project details: The inspiration for these came from the one Abby Franquemont uses in her Drop Spindle Basics video.

Here are the specs: My husband used a 2 1/8 inch hole saw with a 3/8 inch mandrel. That gave him a 2 inch circle that fit my 1/4 inch dowels. The original wood was a 1 x 3 x 6 inch piece of poplar. He smoothed the edges with a file and sandpaper. If you have any questions, put them in the comments and I’ll get him to reply.

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thrifty find: crochet blanket

handmade thrifted crochet blanket

I miss posting about my thrifty finds, but there aren’t as many during the winter months. Most of my great scores come from church and garage sales, which generally happen in the spring and summer. Last week I went to Goodwill’s 99 cent sale looking for clothing and never expected to come home with this handmade blanket. It matches our walls, couch and carpet perfectly. And it is so warm! Just in time for another snowstorm.

The wooden tray on the ottoman was also a thrifty find from a few months ago, still with the tag! We don’t have a coffee table in this room, so we use it to hold drinks (and popcorn!) when we snuggle in front of the television.

thrifting: Blanket cost $6. Kind of expensive for me, but it’s just so perfect. Tray was $2.

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thrifty finds: advent calendar

I’ve also been kicking it into high gear for the holidays. Unfortunately, that means it’s hard to show you work-in-progress pictures. I’ve knitted quite a few gifts over the past year and spent yesterday weaving in ends, soaking them in wool wash and blocking.

I’m also trying to play catch-up for Advent. Two summers ago I found this wooden L.L. Bean Advent calendar at Goodwill. I couldn’t help noticing how cute it was—especially for $4.99. Then the Goodwill lady told me everything in housewares was 50% off, so I bought it.

wooden advent calendar ll bean

It’s pretty much in mint condition except for a bit of double-sticky foam tape in a few boxes that needs to be removed. Here’s what it looks like when you open the little door.

wooden advent calendar l.l. bean

It came with a little bag of holiday trinkets. Most of them are ornaments with the strings removed. I guess they stuck them in the boxes with the sticky tape.

wooden advent calendar l.l. bean

I’m going to re-glue the thread loops and turn them back into ornaments. My daughter has a little tree in the kitchen and each day we’ll take an ornament out to decorate her tree. We even have a Joseph, Mary and little baby Jesus for December 25th!

wooden advent calendar l.l. bean

I know I am late getting started, so I’d really like to get it finished this weekend. It will be my second project using hot glue. Wish me luck!

thrifting: Sometimes I can’t believe the little gems I find at the thrift store. I think I even like it better than the one they sell now.

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two dollar deals!

The past few days I’ve been cleaning and straightening the house because my parents arrived last night for a nice, long visit. I am looking forward to some serious sewing time while they are here!

I did manage to get out a little bit and score some serious thrifty deals. Thursday, my daughter and I went to a garage sale looking for kid stuff. Instead we found a London Fog wool coat for my husband. I swear it is brand new. It was even his size, so no alterations needed. It was a mere $2. Can you believe it? I had to pinch myself. And he likes it!

london fog coat

Saturday afternoon I went out with an actual mission. I’m tired of having a door knob in all of my photos and decided I need some kind of wall shelf with pegs to hang my totes and refashion projects. I found this on sale for $2 at the first store I visited. I’m going to paint it white. Yay!

shelf

I still had some time to myself, so I went to a few more stores just to browse around. I’ve been looking for some pretty sheets to make some pajama bottoms and happened to stumble upon these bright and cheery flowers. These were also on sale for $2.

flower sheets

thrifting: Some days it feels like I never find anything at the thrift stores and I wonder why I even bother. Then I have jackpot days like this and it reminds me that the extra effort is worth it!