thrifting goodness

Making old things New

I bought two of these chairs at $5 a piece at Beehive Thrift in Northeast Philly.  They had some markings on them, names written most likely by the children who owned them.  I love wooden chairs, and I love wooden folding chairs even more.. so these were a steal.  I was going to sand them down and re-finish them with a nice wood stain… but instead I decided to go bold and paint them neon green, inspired by Lois’ freshly painted outdoor table and chairs.

I went to home depot and selected my color of choice.  I was instructed to get “paint and primer in one” exterior paint, because that would cover the best, and also hold up the best for people to sit on.  Normally paint is made for walls mainly, not for objects to sit on, so I was alittle worried that it would not hold very well.  Floor paint would be the best, but they only come in gallon sizes and I only needed alittle bucket.

I had to put on about 3 coats and then touch up different areas.  I admit, it’s not the best paint job, but I only had one sized brush and tried my best.

Then I decided to garnish them up a bit by adding cushions.  I bought these “denim” (not really denim, they just look denim) cushions from ikea for $5.99/piece.  I’m unsure if I’m going to keep them as they are, or cover them with a different fabric.  I had high hopes to cover them with neat vintage floral patterns, but I have yet to get my hands on any.

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Beehive Thrift

Last week I had a doctors apt in the northeast, and had about an hour to kill after having lunch with my mother. I decided to check out a thrift store I’d not been to yet. I had my doubts; being in the heart of northeast philadelphia, in not a great section of town = I really didn’t think they would have any sort of selection. I was surprised when I found baskets full of vintage kitchenware for really cheap prices! There were a lot more that I wanted to get (and might go back for) but didn’t see the logic in buying a bunch of outdated kitchen utensils. The things I did pick up, however, are very useful and will be added assets to our humble apartment. The small butter knives, I’ll admit, were not needed, and purely bought out of sheer want of the objects at hand. I think when it comes time for me to have a set of utensils of my own, I’d prefer them to be of this sort, not necessarily matching by any means, but of the like. why? because I want to.


.25 cents each


.25 cents


.75 cents


.50 cents


$1 each

I did rummage through the clothes for a minute, but the store was very small, and there was not much of anything really. A few things I picked up I thought were overpriced, but mostly I felt that most everything was very modestly priced. They have another store across the street with only furniture. I did not have the time to browse over there, but I will return to look I’m sure.

Circle Thirft, Super Thrift, Spring cleaning and decorating


artwork: $1.99, super thrift


shoes: $3, circle thrift


shoes: $3.99, super thrift


dragonfly metal hooks: $2/each, circle thrift, glass carafe: $1, super thrift


milk glass bowl: $1, circle thrift

Today I went to a couple thrift stores with Lois, and made off with some awesome shoes! New shoes are so unbelievably expensive, so I was pretty psyched when I found these two pairs. Everything else I got was decorative, which I normally don’t go for, but had a feeling of “springtime” in me; the kind of feeling that makes you want to start projects and make your house all nice.

So there you have it. I rearranged a corner of my very small room so that I have better access to the sewing machine and fabrics. I also made a bag of stuff to donate next time I go to the thrift store. Next I need to go through all the crap in the basement and figure out what I want to hold on to and what I want to get rid of. After that I have some bike projects, and I’m looking forward to a possible internship this summer. This year is looking good.

Not much, but a few great finds

Jenna and I went to a few thrift stores yesterday (Impact and New Life) in her search for work-appropriate clothes. I really didn’t need anything, but I went along for the sport of it.

The few things I did find, however, were amazing! I’ve been really wanting a huge thick flannel men’s shirt to make into a jacket for myself and found just that!

how awesome is that?! Today I went at it on the sewing machine and made it into a jacket. I’m not the greatest at sewing on the machine, but I made it work.

Unfortunately I have no picture of the finished product because you cant really see the difference on the hanger, and I can’t take a picture of myself wearing it with my giant camera (its just too hard and heavy).

I also scored this awesome locket to replace the last one I had. I love how simple and sleek it is. I will probably wear both of these items every day until spring.

more on the studio

my friend, meg of paper stampede made this paper mache bison head for our studio. i love it. the shelf underneath was found by my sister at a yard sale and she painted it white.

our closet

past clients/friends Diana and Ryan constructed this equipment closet for us last weekend. It’s amazing.

new additions to note are our shelves:

these are made from trash picked closet doors, and ikea shelf brackets.

our chalkboard wall, painted by cassidy and dustin

our showcase of wedding work

and custom molding around our front door, cut and installed by me!

Donated by Audrey, found at yard sales

A few months ago I visited my sister in state college. She is a much more avid thrifter than I. Some of her finds and her home design has been featured on various sites including Design Sponge. Sometimes, she gives me some of these great finds of hers. Since we now have a nice big new studio, she sent me home with various items that would deem useful for our space. The above photos are some of the items, plus, she gave us an awesome end-table (pictured in previous post showing meeting area of our studio), and other bowls, lamps, etc.

Also, now that I’m in the big space, I’m able to take “proper” photographs of my finds. Behold the micro-studio! Soon, I will have a permanent table-top area in which to photograph small objects in. Yessssss.

Thanks Audrey for helping us out with awesome second hand items!

Cool kids toys

I absolutely loathe kid’s toys that light up, make noise, and are extremely obnoxious in both sight and sound. And its really hard to find anything that doesn’t do that, especially in thrift stores. However, I came across this adorable wind chime. Since I dont have any kids, i figured I’d probably give it away as a gift. But actually, I think I’ve grown quite fond of it, and don’t want to give it up.

Ok so I’m going to go ahead a write this…

The point of this blog is to show alternatives to spending excessively. This is not an ode to buying stuff.

Thrifting is a hobby of mine, yes. However, I keep it to a minimum of mostly buying only things that I need/can use/can get good use out of/are re-sell able/not to excess. Note the last phrase. “Not To Excess.”

I like to thrift because I dont have alot of money, and I am all for recycling. “One person’s trash is another one’s treasure” is very true to me. Why throw things away when you can give them away? Why buy new items when you can get the same (or similar) cheaper yet used? Landfills are horrible places, of which there are too many, of which they are too large. And by our excessive buying and throwing away of items, we only make it worse.

So I write this blog because I care, but also because I want to make it a little fun. I want to inspire others to see the good in thrift stores and the re-use of objects. By no means do I want to show off what I can buy, though, I am afraid that people may get the wrong idea anyway.

I believe in simple living. I believe that we shouldn’t waste our money on silly material items when there are so many unfortunate people out there with nothing. I believe that excessive spending is wrong, and that we are fed ideas of buying things we dont need from the media/advertising/etc, making us think that we need them. I think the fashion industry is super corrupt, and will never be a fashion photographer because I dont agree with selling products with bodies and sex. I believe that our culture, if it continues down this path, will never get out of this recession, and will never stop deluding ourselves with these ideas that we need to constantly buy to stay on top/in control/in fashion/content with our lives and how we made ourselves out to be.

Can we stop filling our lives with earthly treasures? Sure, I like a nice decorative item now and again, but really… learn to limit yourselves and say “enough.”

Frames, so cool!


$2


$2.50


$4


$2

Found these awesome frames at Impact Thrift today. Woo.

Ok so maybe I’ve already spoken about this.. but I’m going to say it again in case.  I love vintage frames.. not just as a collection, but for my business!  In the past I’ve spend hundreds of dollars (i’m not even kidding) on new semi-expensive frames for gallery shows/studio/selling of prints.. and what do I get time after time, but boring black frames.  For my senior project I spent $50 a frame for 20×24 boring black frames.  Oh and I bought 10 of them.  Good gracious.  I am so tired of the boring ones hanging around my studio, and I hate spending so much money on something that really isnt all that great.  So thus I turned to thrift stores.  Here’s the great thing about them:  they’re cheap!  I can get a variety of sizes from anywhere from 50 cents to $10, and I feel no guilt or shame.  And furthermore, they look cool!  I cant wait to move into my new studio and have a cluster wall of vintage frames hanging with awesome photos I’ve taken inside of them.  Oh and what else, I’m saving so much money by not buying the same old boring black frames.  Thank you thrift stores!

Tiny Frames

I was at the Rocket Cat today (local cafe) with my friend Lana enjoying breakfast. Upon leaving I ran into two other friends (Danielle and Marlee) who were heading over to Circle Thrift. I thought, “I definitely don’t need to spend any more money, but why not accompany my friends?” So off I went not expecting to find these awesome tiny frames (each under 5 inches)! As a photographer, this excites me, because I love to buy used vintage frames instead of using boring plain new ikea ones that everyone else uses. Now the question is, do I replace the images with my own photographs, or keep the awesome ones already inside them?

$2 each

$1.50 each

recycle, reuse… whats the other “r”?