Bargain thrift store clothing to use as crafting fabric

Our local St Vincent de Paul's has the 99 cents all clothing, back on for Sundays. this is a great opportunity to buy clothing for super cheap, of course, but also to find fabric for craft projects.

Daughter number 1 found this dress for daughter number 2 to try on. I saw this in her hands and the wheels in my mind began turning before I even knew if she'd like it on herself. When she put it back on the rack because it was too small, I snatched it up. The good items go quickly on Sundays.

You see, I loved the fabric for its crafting potential.

Possibilities --

• covering a hat box for storage, or
• covering a plain journal for one young woman I know, or
• a cute skirt for another young woman I know, or
• a cover for a cushion, or
• covering for a half-dozen DIY padded hangers, or
• 2 cloth napkins to put into a romantic picnic basket gift, along with enough leftover fabric to line said picnic basket, or
• fabric to add to a shabby chic quilt

The dress was 99 cents. I have close to 1 yard of usable fabric in this dress. 99 cents for a yard of crafting fabric is a pretty good deal. 

Rescuing disposable containers and knitting in color (not at all related)

This time of year, I begin saving those disposable containers that look like they have good gift presentation potential for fall birthdays and Christmas/New Years.

Here are two sizes of containers that I recently rescued. The larger ones had some bakery stuff from Costco in them. I rescued those from our church's monthly tea. I was thinking they might make nice boxes for "spa day" kits, with hand-knit spa cloths, some hand-crafted soaps, some bath tea and maybe a spa candle. I'm thinking I could nest all of the items in a bed of shredded pastel-colored paper (great use for used wrapping paper that may look too shabby for reuse).

The smaller containers are sized about right for some hand-formed truffles. Again, these might look nice nested on a bed of shredded paper.

Not for gifts, but rescued nonetheless. These next two plastic containers should be good for packing lunches. The smaller one on the left is just the right size for a handful of sunflower seeds and raisins. And the one on the right is a coffee jar. Remember when those were made of glass? Well, now they're plastic, which is good and bad. The bad, plastic doesn't look as pretty for kitchen storage. The good, plastic is lightweight and non-breakable, which makes it a great item for packing someone's lunchtime salad for a backpack.

As an avid coffee drinker who never bought into the Keurig equipment, I also acquire a fair number of coffee cans. Fred Meyer's cans now have silver lids. I can see these cans decked out in white, silver and blue gift wrap, and holding a homemade batch of some snacky giftables, like Teresa's candied popcorn.

And the unrelated bit . . .

After knitting several natural-colored spa cloths, my knitting life was beginning to feel like it was all too neutral. The knitting version of living in black and white. I switched over to my lavender-colored yarn, and not only did the knitting take on more beauty for my eyes, but I swear I could smell something perfumey, from time to time, while I knitted away. Funny how our brains can do that to us. Anyways, spa cloths look nice in colors, too.