The Uniform Project

This lady, Sheena, vowed to wear a little black dress for an entire year and only wear accessories that were hand made or donated to her. She ended up with 365 amazing and very different outfits. She has a website and ended up with donations totaling over $100,000 for the education of underprivileged kids in India! This is such a great idea that is not only economically friendly, but also incorporating her love of fashion, and helping kids in need. Her website is http://www.theuniformproject.com/ and I encourage everyone to take a look and get inspired.

XOXO Anna Lynne

New Shoes

I love when I find a great pair of shoes that fit and I love it even better if I find them at a good price. I went to Goodwill once and found a pair of black glitter Toms for twenty dollars when they were first really popular, and they fit perfectly! I always rush over to the shoe section to see if they have anything in my size. Goodwill gets a lot of stuff from Target, so if you see a really nice new pair of shoes, chances are they're from Target and they have them in several sizes and colors. These shoes below are some of the shoes I've collected from thrift stores over the past two years and none of these were more then ten dollars. So if you need a pair of shoes for a special occasion or you're just feeling a little down and the only thing in the world that will cheer you up is new shoes, then you should try the shoe section at your local thrift shop.

XOXO Anna Lynne

Chair Makeover

So if you guys remember this ugly chair from a while back that I said would be featured later on, well here it is. 

I bought this chair from a thrift store for 5 dollars because I thought it was cool and retro. I then went back and bought a matching one, so I got 2 ugly chairs for 10 dollars. That's a pretty good deal. It was in really nice shape but I hated the color and fabric so I decided to reupholster it. I had never done this before so I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had 2 huge rolls of material, one gray fake leather and the other grey upholstery fabric, that I had bought from a thrift store for 10 dollars each last year. I also had a roll of teal fabric that I had bought from the clearance fabric from Walmart for two dollars.

I didn't really know what I was doing so I started by unscrewing all the screws from the bottom. My tip here would be to take pictures of where the screws go to refer to when you're putting it back together. I didn't do this and ended up with two extra screws when I was done. Then I spray painted the metal part silver. Later, I took all the fabric off. I used this fabric as a template to trace around for my new pieces. Then I observed how it was sewn together in the first place and tried to copy it the best I could. I then put the fabric back on, stapled the bottom, and screwed the metal piece back on. It didn't come out perfect, I would never let a professional upholsterer sit on it, but I think it came out pretty good for my first piece of reupholstered furniture.

This isn't meant for a tutorial but more for an inspiration. It's so easy to find decent pieces of furniture at thrift shops, you just sometimes have to look deeper and see the potential. My sewing skills are barely average and my patience is almost non-existent, yet with a little perseverance I managed to create a beautiful piece of furniture.

I love this chair now. I looks good at my sewing desk and it inspires me to be more creative and to think outside the box. Once I get the other chair I bought finished, I think the pair would look wonderful sitting at a dining room table.

Photography by my beautiful sister Allie Joy

XOXO Anna Lynne

I'm gonna pop some tags...

Tyler Ward and Lindsey Stirling - Thrift Shop

This boy. This boy! I love this boy and I love this cover of Macklemore's Thrift Shop. Not only is it incredible, but it also teaches a good lesson. 

XOXO Anna Lynne

Refashioned Shoes

Refashioned Shoes

I had an old pair of gray boots that fit so perfectly but I wore them so much that I eventually wore them out so I bought a new pair and the old pair eventually just ended up in the back of the closet. Instead of throwing them out I decided to refashion them and there is no better way to refashion anything than glitter.

This project was so easy and only took about a half an hour. The heel of the shoe had an arched shape piece of material so I put a little Mod Podge on it and then sprinkled glitter. I did this all over the heel of the shoe until it was covered. I made sure to do it in little sections at a time to make sure the Mod Podge didn't dry out before I got glitter on it. I used my finger to push down on it to make sure the glitter stayed. I then let it dry for a couple minutes. When it was dry I gently rubbed it to get any excess glitter off. Then I went over it with Mod Podge again to ensure that it stayed.

This project was so easy, just a little messy, but I'm used to having glitter all over my hands. I wear these boots everywhere now, to school, work, shopping, etc. The glitter does come off a little bit, but for the most part it stays on pretty well and they look amazing.

Pictures by my awesome sister Allie Joy

XOXO Anna Lynne

DIY Shoes

DIY Shoes

So these shoes didn't come from a thrift store, they are just a plain white pair of canvas shoes from Walmart for $6.00. You may have some in your closet that you don't wear anymore or you can easily find some old ones at a thrift store for a cheap price. I then bought some fabric paint in the craft section at Walmart. You can buy a set of multiple colors or you can keep it simple and buy one or two individual colors. I bought several colors because I plan on doing some more shoes in the future. I decided to go all out and express my love for Doctor Who. I painted the shoes just like I would paint on a canvas and then when it was dry I went over it in sharpie to get the black detailed lines. You can go all out on this project like I did, or you can keep it simple with just one color or do a cool tribal pattern that expresses your unique sense of style. This is such a cheap and easy way to revamp your old shoes.

Photography by my majestic sister Allie Joy

XOXO Anna Lynne

Alex G

Thrift Shop by Alex G

This is one of my favorite covers of Macklemore's song Thrift Shop by Alex G. I love the message of this song and I adore Alex's version. 

xoxo Anna Lynne

Good Karma

Good Karma

Last week I visited my favorite thrift shop, Good Karma, and asked the owner Cherie Anderson her thoughts on why thrift shopping is important.

(This sweater was from a thrift shop as my ugly Christmas sweater for work.)

Why are thrift shops important?

Thrift shops are important, number one because they provide affordable shopping for those who don’t have a lot of extra money and second of all, it keeps things out of our landfills. It encourages people to recycle, up cycle, and reuse.

What kind of impact do they have on our future?

Huge. Huge. I think we are a throwaway society coming out of many generations of wasteful people and the more popularity that thrift stores gain, the more we save our earth.

How much of what is given to you do you accept and put into the store?

 I would say 95%.

And what do you do with the stuff you can’t sell?

The stuff that I can’t sell? I do take a lot of items that aren’t necessarily sellable, I mean shelf ready, but they’re artist ready. So we have networked with a lot of up cycled artists and I’ve got people, for example, if I have chipped glassware I save it for schools, for artists to use as mosaics, to break and use for mosaics. So the list goes on and on and on. We try to keep it alive and not let it go to the landfill. Clothing that we aren’t real… they aren’t in our genre we donate to other thrift stores that I know are, or to other organizations.

What would you tell people who don’t thrift shop?

People who don’t thrift shop don’t know what they’re missing. I think it’s a plethora of hidden treasures out there and people would be surprised…here’s the bottom line, if you find something in a thrift store for example a blender, okay, and it’s still working after five years, it’s probably pretty  good quality. If you buy a pair of jeans that the zipper still works and the bottom hasn’t fallen off and the pockets haven’t come unsewn and the seams aren’t busting, it’s good quality. If you like spending money and supporting the big corporations then shop at the mall, but you can get a pair of Abercrombie jeans at Good Karma for two dollars and fifty cents or you can go to the mall and pay eighty-five dollars. It’s just up to you. Support your community. Teach your kids, teach your kids. That’s most important.

Thank you Cherie for taking the time to do this interview and Allison Joy for taking all the wonderful pictures.

Good Karma is located at 1120 Tucker Rd Hood River, OR 97031. If you're ever in the area you should drop in or check them out on Facebook. 

This trip to the store only cost me around $22.00 and I got a couple of craft supplies, clothes, books, a bag and a chair which will hopefully be featured in an upcoming project.

xoxo Anna Lynne

Stripped Bag

Stripped Bag

This stripped bag I designed took only about a half an hour. I got the bag at a local thrift store for $1.50 along with the other bag in my previous blog. All I used was acrylic paint, masking tape, and clear spray paint which were materials I already had. I used a ruler and a pencil and I marked every inch. I then took masking tape to mark off the lines. Next I used a blue acrylic craft paint to paint my stripes. When it was dry, I took off the masking tape and wiped up any excess paint. Lastly I took it outside to spray it with clear spray paint so the paint would stay. It was so simple and quick and it only cost me $1.50. It is so important to look for potential in things you already have or things that are going to be thrown away because with a few minutes of your time it might end up being your new favorite accessory.

xoxo Anna Lynne

Galaxy Bag

Galaxy Bag

I found this purse at a thrift store the other day for $1.50. 

There isn't anything really special about it, in fact a friend told me it looked like an old ladies purse, but it reminded me of Carries purse from The Carrie Diaries and I was instantly inspired. In this show a young girl, Carrie, wanted to wear her recently deceased mother’s purse to school as a reminder of her, but her younger sister had taken it and spilt fingernail polish on it. Carrie was initially upset but decided to roll with it and splash fingernail polish all over it and personalize it with her name. Her bag was an instant hit and caught the eye of a prominent fashion magazine and the first few episodes center around this bag.

            Instead of using fingernail polish, like Carrie, I decided to use acrylic paint and a galaxy print. I can’t show you exactly how to paint it because there was a lot of trial and error. I started with the darkest color of paint and I painted some little blotches on the bag and spread it out with a triangle face sponge. I then kept layering on lighter colors of blues and purples until I was satisfied. 

After that was dry I used white paint to scatter stars across this mini universe.

            I could have stopped there and been pleased with the final product but I decided to take it a bit further. I used a Prismacolor metallic silver pen to write the word ‘wanderlust,’ which means a strong desire or impulse to travel about, across the back of the bag. I finished it by taking the bag outside and spraying a thin coat of clear spray paint on it.This took the bag over the top and now I am beyond happy with how this purse turned out.

            This project only took about an hour to do and didn't require me to buy anything except for the $1.50 bag. For me it is perfect for shopping or school but as music festival season approaches this bag would be perfect and easy to do for those wanderers out there who wish to attend.

xoxo Anna Lynne