The 5th Blogiversary Vintage & Craft Giveaway

Just some of the loot up for grabs!

As some of you may have read from my last post, I celebrated my 5th blogiversary on October 5th. And it was delectable, thanks in large part to my sister's too-cute cake to celebrate the occasion.

And to continue the celebration as promised, this is the official giveaway. Using the Rafflecopter widget below, one lucky reader will win:

• A copy of American Junk by Mary Randolph Carter
• Two vintage framed Eden lithograph prints circa 1960
• Two sets of vintage buttons
• A small mystery bag of craft supplies
• A pair of handmade vintage inspired earrings 

First let me just say that this book is a must-have for any thrifter/flea marketer/antique hunter. The visuals will inspire you to think creatively with your decor and interior design. And it's just a fun little collection of enviable junk.  

I have a hardback copy and flip through it often enough that I came to think---Hey, I should give away a copy to a reader in my next giveaway. 

Button, button. Who's got the button? 

Aren't these vintage Le Chic buttons darling? 5 small aqua buttons, and three larger coral buttons...for your crafting pleasure.  

A burlap sack full of fun!

And lastly, a handmade pair of earrings based on a vintage envelope design---just adorable. Annnnddddd a small burlap bag of some of my favorite crafting supplies for you to make something special of your own. 

Wait. Let's take a closer look at those earrings. 

Aaaaaaaddorrrrable.

I love the faded text and discoloration. It's a tried and true vintage envelope, shrunk way way down using the magic of Grafix Shrink Film.

All of these fabulous items can be won with this easy-entry drawing. The contest will close on October 31st, with the lucky winner being announced November 1st. Good luck...and thank you for making these last five year of thrift-blogging a blast. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's What's Coming In October On Let's Go Thrifting!

Harvest time.

In just a few short days, I'll be basking the in the glory of my favorite month of the year. And while officially on the calendar Fall has arrived, it doesn't seem quite autumnal enough for me until the first of October.

And with that in mind, I've decided to publish a little teaser post all about the fun fall-themed things in store for this wonderful month. Because it might be 82 degrees here in Philadelphia today, but I know that delightfully crisp Fall air is creeping in. 

So what can you expect on Let's Go Thrifting this October? 

Craft projects!

Well you know I have plans for pumpkins. But I'm also thinking some paper crafts, Mod Podge miscellany, jewelry crafts... the works! I'm so glad that I saved 9 days of vacation time for just this occasion.

Adventures!

...And of course vintage photographs to add to the virtual gallery. But just look at this guy. He's having a good ol' time. And I will be too. It's not even October yet and I already have penciled the following into my calendar: a Japanese Flea Market at the Shofusu House, a trip to Styer's Orchard, a work outing to Terror Behind The Walls at Eastern State, the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire, and more!

Did I mention craft projects?

Yes, I'm mentioning craft projects twice. Because...why not?  I'm also excited to be featuring some tips and tricks from cosplay and artist extraordinaire, Angie S, on how to achieve the perfect costume, plucked right from the shelves of your local thrift store. 

This much and more is coming your way in October. Also...mark your calendars. Exciting things are in the works for October 5th...as I celebrate my 5th, and golden blogiversary.

Happy almost-October, thrifters!

How Thrifting Can Inspire Your Creativity

Thrift shopping means bargains for shoppers, funds for charities, and a second life for useful items that would otherwise meet their end in a landfill. As an alternative to standard retail shopping, thrift stores provide us shoppers with a potential treasure trove of fashion, housewares, entertainment, electronics, and more. 

But have you considered thrift stores to be fuel for your creativity? I, myself, am a sponge, constantly absorbing droplets of information and inspiration. And when I'm out thrifting, I'm just sucking up all the visual cues to creative projects in the making.  Maybe it's a worse for wear dresser that could be given fresh paint and a fresh purpose as a bar. Maybe it's a richly colored textile that inspires a photo shoot. The creative possibilities abound. 

And for me, there are two specific and much sought-after sources of inspiration: Vintage photographs and skeleton keys. And I've grown to ask myself why I've been compelled to collect these relics. Both are tangible reminders of a bygone era. Both have an intimacy, a closeness that meant something special to the original owner. 

I've salvaged many vintage photographs from the thrift and made a gallery for others to enjoy them as well. But it just wasn't enough. Flipping through my photo album of found memories, I had a thought. I wanted to make them into something more. And so I did. 

Using the magic of Grafix Shrink Film and small novelty skeleton keys from AC Moore. I made a charm bracelet entirely inspired by my two beloved thrift-found collections. And in the coming days, I'll be posting a how-to guide for the process, and an exciting corporate sponsored giveaway from the Grafix company, so you too can create something special.

After a few days of seeing my vintage wares dangling from my wrist, I had another thought. And while it at first seemed impulsive, I knew it was something I wanted all along. But... that's for another post. So stay tuned for the big reveal of yet another thrift-inspired bit of creativity and an official giveaway announcement. 

How has thrift shopping inspired you?

Special Sunday Announcement: The My Memories Suite Giveaway!

    



Let’s Go Thrifting! is proud to announce its first sponsored giveaway. MyMemories.com the premier website provider of digital scrapbooking needs has offered its services…absolutely free for we privileged people of Let’s Go Thrifting!

I had the opportunity to download the My Memories Suite v2.0 software and take it for a test run. I was extremely impressed with the variety of features. Users can choose from designer templates themed for specific events and holidays, or create their own customized design. Beings that I try to hail myself as some kind of creative genius, I opted for the latter. Notice the tilt of the photos above, the sepia tone to that photo of my favorite camera and that little speech bubble I gave that asskickin' grandma? Those are all my personal touches in creating my own custom design.

While I enjoy the good ol’ fashioned cutting and pasting of the standard scrapbook, I’m all about convenience. And what’s more convenient than digitally creating something you can share with friends and family? Both Mac and PC compatible, My Memories Suite is rated #1 by Amazon and for good reason.

After downloading the My Memories Suite, I was pleasantly surprised with a clean interface that makes creating albums quite simple. Picking from the lovely digital inventory of paper backgrounds and photo layouts was tough, as there was a lot to choose from. You can even add neat little embellishments like ribbons, buttons and other assorted flare.

And you know what having a digital scrapbook means? You can add special features not available to the standard scrapbook, like video and multimedia. This is something I will definitely be having some fun with in the near future.

And of course you can add text, word art, various sized and spaced photos and everything else you need to create your perfect scrapbook album. You can even use the My Memories Suite to create your own templates for greeting cards, calendars, personalized photo albums, posters, tee shirt designs and more.

Once the My Memories Suite is downloaded and installed, you can even add additional paper backgrounds to your inventory. These digital paper packs come in a variety of designs and colors and are available to download right to your Suite, all priced to move and some even free!

MyMemories.com also has a whole team of designers crafting new and beautiful themed kits for download. These combo pack kits come with the background paper, design embellishments, monogram frames and more, all in perfectly complimentary high-resolution images. And if you're looking for some creative inspiration, or tips on how to best utilize all of the design features, the My Memories Blog is a valuable resource.

Heard enough awesome things about the My Memories Suite and want to win a copy of your own?

With a little bit of clicking around the web and commenting on here, you can have 6 entries to the giveaway.  

1. Visit the My Memories website and pick out your favorite Digital Scrapbooking Kit.  (1 Entry)
2. Become a fan of My Memories on Facebook.  (1 Entry)
3. Follow the My Memories Blog through Google Friend Connect. (1 Entry)
4. Tweet @LetsGoThrifting and @MyMemoriesSuite about your passion for scrapbooking. (1 Entry)
5. Post about the My Memories Suite Giveaway on your blog. ( 1 Entry)
6. Follow Let's Go Thrifting! through Google Friend Connect. (1 Entry)

Please follows these steps and leave separate comments on this post for each entry, with links to your blog re-post, favorite digital scrapbooking kit pick, etc, etc. This way I can guarantee all of your individual comments count toward extra entries when it's time to draw the winner. Also, if you do not have your contact information on your Google profile, I need a way to contact you if you're the winner. So please leave your name and email on the comment entries as well.

I am really excited to give one lucky reader a code for a free copy of the My Memories Suite software, so please send in your entries and tell all of your crafty friends too!

The Let's Go Thrifting! My Memories Suite Giveaway will end Saturday October 1st and the winner will be announced and contacted Sunday October 2nd.

Good luck to all of my crafty thrifters out there!

The Thrifted Life: A Lovely Surprise

Being involved in the virtual thrift community certainly has its benefits. I’ve learned helpful re-sellers tips, got answers to technical questions and shared mutual thrifted finds with bloggers all over the world. Occasionally I am even rewarded with lovely little surprises like this.

Routinely checking my inbox last week I found an email from Lynda of the innovative blog Something Created Everyday. She had just announced the giveaway winner for her blog’s 300 follower milestone. And as it turns out, I had won her previous milestone giveaway when I was on blog hiatus and never even realized to claim my prize!

Kudos to Lynda for realizing my absence during the previous giveaway and for shipping me this lovely handmade felt tote and vintage buttons. I love the lace detail and adorably crafted felt flower. It is the perfect size for holding craft projects that I hope to begin very soon. Of course I’m not nearly as skilled. And I can’t seem to get my sewing machine functional, a minor setback for the time being.

I still have a lot to learn when it comes to crafting, but I’m glad there are ladies like Lynda out there, who regularly shares her thrifted finds and crafty creations for other to appreciate and be inspired by.

Congratulations on the milestone achievement, Lynda!

The Totally 80’s Halloween Cartoon Craftacular!

The crisp air that begs for thrifted argyle sweaters. The horror movie marathons and mountains of miniature candy bars. Fall is my favorite time of year and my annual Halloween party is the highlight of the social calendar.

Now, I don't encourage guests spending big bucks on store-bought costumes. Instead, I encourage thrifty ideas and craft projects. Something like this, for instance.



Straight from the 80’s, it’s Rainbow Brite. Finding this DIY child's costume pattern, among other awesome miscellany to be documented later, was the start to a great day. And scoring this spectacular crafty find for a mere quarter got me thinking about the level of ambition I have reserved for that special night when you get to be someone else…someone who gets free candy.

And that someone I wanted to be for as long as I could remember was none other than Rainbow Brite. And while this thrift score is truly outrageous (Yeah, that was a Jem reference), last year I got my wish.




























That’s right. At 25 years old, I was Rainbow Brite. And it was a heavy workload for a novice crafter. The final product was an estimated 20+ hours of cutting, sewing, gluing and stuffing by hand. My boyfriend and blog co-creator (pictured above) did a lot of the labor too, with both of us working up until the Halloween afternoon just hours before our big bash.

Dan was so involved with the process, in fact, he almost didn’t have time for his own costume. But lo and behold, one day before the party we decided, “Hey, why not stick with the 80’s cartoon theme?”

And so it was. With tattered punk clothes from the nearest Goodwill, a purple mohawk
(yes, a real one), matching shades, chains and a string of ammo…Dan transformed…



…into Bebop, one of the airhead villains of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon!  It should be noted that Dan did have a plastic gun that never make it into the picture. He also fashioned a large metal ring for his nose. But it was too uncomfortable to wear all night.

In the end, our 80’s inspired crafted cartoon costumes were a big hit at the party, and a personal triumph, I think.
This year we have also opted for a DIY couples' costume, something a little more contemporary. But I can’t say anything else until after the big night. Don’t want to ruin the surprise!

Now who else out there has thrifted ‘n’ crafted themselves something special this Halloween?