Having A Merry Little Christmas With Grafix Shrink Film

I was recently contacted by a representative from the Grafix company about an opportunity to experiment with some new products in the plastic film line. As some of you may recall, Grafix was kind enough to sponsor a previous craft project and product giveaway in which I made a lovely vintage inspired charm bracelet. So as you might imagine, I was pretty excited to give these shrink films a test run.

For those who may not recall the magic of shrink film from their youth, or never had the pleasure of playing with little bits of plastic, let me give you a quick refresher. These sheets of plastic can be printed, painted, drawn on, and cut to your heart's desire. You then bake these bad boys in the oven, or heat them using an embossing gun (my preferred method). They then harden and shrink down to 20% of their original size. It's such a simple concept, yet so much fun to execute. Being a fan of vintage photographs and ephemera, I tend to use scanned images of advertisements/snapshots/post cards/books as inspiration for jewelry and other craft projects. 

So when I received the new metallic shrink film (3 sheets of gold and 3 sheets of silver), I knew just how I was going to use them.

I wanted to utilize an 1800s children's book from my collection as an inspiration for a seasonally themed pair of earrings. I found this piece of sheet music for a song called The Winter Rose in the book. I loved the lyrics and the drawing. And while it obviously cannot be perfectly recreated with an inkjet printer and shrunken plastic, the results are pretty amazing. 

And in addition to this golden little piece of vintage sheet music, I decided to make a style upgrade to my little Charlie Brown Christmas tree. Two years ago, rather than shell out the money for a standard size tree we opted for a small $5 table tree that I dressed up in vintage gift box ornaments and garland. But with golden shrink film at my disposal, I decided to spruce up the little guy. (SPRUCE up! Gotta love a good tree pun). And all it took was a handful of stars and some hot glue to make it happen. Adorable! 

Before   

After 

And so, thanks to the generosity of Grafix, I have created not one, but two fun holiday craft projects.  And if you're looking to get crafty this holiday season, here are the  supplies I used and already had in my home office:

• a scanner and ink jet printer
• scissors 
• an embossing gun (or oven, if you prefer)
• a hot glue gun
• earring posts and backings
• acrylic sealant spray (optional)
• and Grafix Shrink Film, of course! 

I can't wait to dream up more craft projects using both the metallic and colored shrink film. Thank you Grafix for the opportunity for this product review. It certainly will be a merry little Christmas with this shrink film. 

I know. Again with the puns.

But in all seriousness, I'd like to wish everyone a healthy and happy holiday season. Go thrifting, get crafty, and enjoy your time with family and friends. 

XOXO Jackie Jardine

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Thrift Shopping My Way Through The Holiday Season

This holiday season, I had a very particular problem--how was I going to keep our beloved rescue Beagle, Bernie, from snatching ornaments from our Christmas tree?  All of November, I wracked my brain for ideas on how to Bernie-proof the tree. I needed something functional and sturdy, without being an eyesore. And while I was thrift shopping the weekend after Thanksgiving, I found just what I needed.

I didn't expect a secondhand solution to come my way. But fortunately for me, a trip to Good Stuff Thrift of Fairless Hills, PA yielded this beautiful vintage fire screen. It guards the tree, and in my opinion, may even add a little nostalgic flair to it. 

To think that I almost passed it by. But after stepping back to let a crowd of thrifters pass, I gave it a second look and sent a picture to my Dad to see if he thought it was too big for the job. He thought it was a perfect find...and a total bargain for $10. I gave it a thorough clean and polish. And now I consider it the crowning achievement of my holiday thrift haul. 

My entryway table, which is usually a catchall for mail, keys, cups of coffee and whatever else I have my hands filled with...is looking especially festive. And though it's not entirely secondhand, I do love the various shades of metal we have here. The worn looking galvanized metal star bucket, the mercury glass bottle, the golden bowl of fruit. 

When it comes to decorating, I love featuring a mix of colors and textures. 

Even our key bowl is spruced up with $1 golden grapes.

Maybe it was because I started early, or maybe it's because I went often. But between my crafty Christmas up-cycle featured in the last blog post, and the gorgeous fire screen...I feel that the Ghost of Christmas Past paid me a little visit...or at least the Ghost of donor's Christmas Past. 

Stay tuned for one more crafty Christmas post prior to the big day...featuring lovely pieces of ephemera and Grafix Shrink Film.  In the mean time, I'd like to know:

From decor to gift-giving, has thrift shopping helped you this holiday season?

How I'm Getting Crafty This Christmas...With Just $10

This piece of holiday decor just has...a little TOO MUCH Christmas going on. 

A few weeks ago I hit up a few thrift stores in hopes of finding some fun fashion, and maybe a few pieces of thriftspiration for the upcoming holiday season. And for under $20 total, I came home with a few bags of decor and more. A few of those finds are saved for upcoming posts. but this particular piece is something I can feature in all of its merry detail. 

Overall I like the shape, or what I can see of it under the heavy-handed application of faux poinsettias. The candles though...a little dated. And all together...it's a little...much. Okay, a lot of much. It's just too much. 

But the key to thrifting for anything, whether it's fashion, furniture, or even holiday decor...is to see the item beyond its current state. 

Look at any secondhand item with an open mind. See it not just for what it is, but for what it COULD be. 

The first thing I had in mind was to swap out these dated trumpeting angels with something simpler. To me, the shiny brass of the tree is elegant enough that it doesn't need two gigantic glass candles flanking its sides. It's time to tone down the Christmas and to bring this holiday castaway into the 21st century. 

After a quick trip to Michael's Craft Store for some supplies to make my creative Christmas vision a reality, I busted out the hot glue gun. That's all it took...a hot glue gun, scissors, and just a bit of burlap. 

Simple. Modern. 

And there it is! My too-much Christmas decoration, modernized and re-imagined. Two white taper candles (cut down a few inches to not dwarf the tree) and a garland of faux pine needles from Michael's...a total of about $6. 

After cutting the candles to size, I glued them to a small square of burlap, and glued both to the candle holsters. I also used a tiny glob of hot glue to hold the ring of garland in a circle around the base of the tree. That's it! I love, love, love how the garland is light enough to not overpower the piece like the poinsettias had been. Because the base of the tree is actually very pretty. 

$4 for the Goodwill rescue piece and $6 for the supplies (with garland to spare)...this $10...and ten minute up-cycle is a Christmas miracle! 

There's so much holiday spirit at Let's Go Thrifting headquarters that I can't even squeeze it into a single blog post. So stay tuned for more ho-ho-ho-liday thrifting magic...AND for a special crafting post featuring Grafix Shrink Film! 

How are you getting crafty this Christmas?