More Thrift ,Than You Can Poke A Stick At

My thrift shop hunting is now honed for the seasonal change. Winter is on it's way and it always seems to sneak up quickly, even though promised myself for months to pick up those much needed items before it hits.

Left to right: Cot Sheet Set $3, Cot Sheet set $3, Crocheted Blanket $4.50

Miss 22/12 is in her 'Big Girl' toddler bed now, and has been since she was around 18 months old. I can tell you that she has loved every minute of it. I came across these gorgeous little cot sheet sets, one cotton, the other flannelet. Oh, and this crocheted blanket which is to die for! 

Left to right: 2 flat single sheets $6, Doily $1, Double Quilt Cover $5

This is my 'preemptive quilting shop', well, that's what I call it. Where I peruse the linen section of local thrift shops to find material for my 'next' quilting project, and I should probably mention that I never really know what my 'next' project is - it just seems 'falls' together somehow. [shrugs]

White Cardigan $2.00  ::  'Guess' dress $2.00  ::  Lace leggings - pre-loved gift from a good friend of mine :)

GUESS made toddler clothes, who would have thunk it? 

GUESS Denim dress with black flocked floral print - super cute

Nothing like a hand-made gift! {even if I do say do myself}

Argh! {Secret Santa} strikes again! The fabulous girls in our {D.I.G} got together and decided for some insane reason to do one this year. Tell me, why do I always say yes? Be honest, seriously, what pray-tell can you buy someone for $10, err that isn't... TOTAL SHIT!?

I was lucky enough to pick up a decent S.S. present for {D.I.G Mum} by buying a gift pack and separating the items, but I wanted to do something for her girls too!


So after having one of those internal arguments inside my head {I know I'm not the only one that does that} I decided that it was my mission to make "2nd hand", "re-purposed" and "re-cycled" gifts COOL and TRENDY!!  


 {gift for daughter number 1}

"faded florals" quilted carry bag - "I this myself! :P"

This 'faded florals' quilted carry bag was an idea I nicked from {Australian Homespun - Bag Boutique Magazine}. Sorry, I did search high and low but found no decent links. 

I re-purposed two old dresses, a skirt, a pillowcase and some scrap quilting material I had left over. In reality this carry bag was intended to be larger according to the pattern but I was making this for a little girl, so I thought this size was better. 

I also did a few things differently to the original bag pattern, like:

• I free-hand stippled the bag and straps. 
• I used thicker wadding instead of batting as that was what I had on hand.

All up it cost me 0.70c and {a lot of love} to make this bag. 


I think the little bag is gorgeous, but I'm biased... ;) [just so long as she doesn't look too closely at what a dodgy job I did!]




 {gift for daughter number 2}

Re-purposed skirt and made a gorgeous little dress, for a gorgeous little girl!

I  just Re-purposed a Just Jeans skirt to make this dress. Very simple principles, similar to the {pillowcase dress}. Just hope it's not too big/small for her!

Aww look a fancy schmancy artistic view of the dress ribbons ;)

{gift for daughter number 3}

Re-purposed a pillowcase to make a pretty little top, for a pretty little girl...

I made two gifts for {daughter number 3}. Firstly a {pillowcase dress} top, yes a top. I think the dresses are cute, but for younger toddlers I find them a pain-in-the-arse. The little tops look so cute with a pair of little white shorts and some sandles. ♡

Secondly I also made {daughter number 3} a little {Itty bitty dolly's quilt and pillowcase} out of scrap material I had left over. 

So cute, they should be illegal!

Well in the end all that matters is some special little girls feel extra special that "Mrs. Claus" hand-made them a gift each...

{Rock-a-bye-Baby}

This may be a tad tasteless to some, some even get a bit tetchy about the subject *smirks*. Neither-the-less I decided this year to give the kids some second-hand and hand-made gifts for Christmas, along with their 'normal' gifts. 

Second-hand gifts aren't 'below us', I think sometimes they make the perfect gift, if you find just the right thing.  *This subject will undoubtedly continue, be warned!

For {Christmas} I spotted this gorgeous cradle while out OP shopping, cost about $9 - $10 from recollection. Thought this would be perfect for Miss. 18/12 since we have a baby doll wrapped up, waiting for her under the Christmas tree. 

love, love, love!  You're all jealous, right? :P

Then I thought... must. make. itty. bitty. dolly's. quilt! Why? Because Dolly wants to sleep in style too and quite frankly anything miniature is always {super~cute!}...

It's itty bitty!

This is the tutorial which I followed *roughly* to make {Dolly's itty bitty quilt and pillowcase}.Used 2 old pillowcases, 1 top, 1 dress and 1 skirt to re-purpose.

• Cradle $10 

Itty Bitty Dolly Quilt and Pillowcase:

• Material $0 {HIA}

 HIA = Had It Already