Thrift Store Blog Hop - REVEAL !

Hi everybody - welcome to my reveal post for the thrift store blog hop ! This has been a very enlightening hop for me. I used to go to thrift stores with my mother when I was younger, and from my memories, there was very little jewelry there. Turn out my memory was wrong, wrong, WRONG. Not only that, but the two thrift stores in my town are very, very cheap. (Sorry, guys !)

It was a good reminder for me that treasures are everywhere, and that you simply need to look for them !

We had a budget of 1.50$. This is what I started with...

(the necklace, not the star) and a pair of hoop earrings that I forgot to photograph that cost me 1$. I used one hoop, so .50. The necklace I got in a lot that cost me .50 as well, so well within budget !

Now, feel free to scroll to the end if you would prefer. I think I got a little carried away with the wip shots. XD;

Hmmm... What could be possibly done with those two objects ?

...A spider, perhaps ?

Well, that's a strange spider..

Oh, I get it now !

Ta-da. Easy pleasy. ;D

Gilders' paste make dirty fingers. ;P (I forgot to take a before photo-the leaves were bright green)

It's the FIIINAL COUNTTTTTDOWNNNN. (Awesome clasp by Lisa of MetalMeThis. It was raw copper, same process as the leaves to get the color on.)

This is where my brain said "screw this" to the inital plan I had and did it's own thing. I was initially planning to keep this part as-is then string the rest...

...This is what happened instead.

...So I had to think up a plan b. XD

And the end result...

Thanks for taking a look at my piece ! Be sure to visit everyone else, too !

Sarah - www.pookledo.blogspot.co.uk
Deb - http://greenshoot.blogspot.co.uk/
Kimberley - http://goddessesandbeads.blogspot.co.uk/
Skye - http://skyescreativechaos.blogspot.co.uk/
Ambra - http://chicandfrog.wordpress.com/
Beti - http://stringingfool.blogspot.com/
Emma - www.apolymerpenchant.com
Shelley - www.shelleygrahamturner.blogspot.com
Tammie -  http://ttedesigns.blogspot.co.uk/
Leah - http://beadyeyedbunny.blogspot.co.uk/
Denielle - www.somebeadsandotherthings.com
Keri Lee - http://www.pinklemonade.typepad.com 
Rochelle - acreativechelle.blogspot.com
Pam - http://pamelas-studio.blogspot.com/
Ingetraud - http://ingetraud.wordpress.com/
Audrey - http://esperianterra.blogspot.com/ <== You Are Here
Julie Anne - www.thepeacefulbead.com 
Sharyl - http://www.sharylsjewelry.blogspot.com
Micheladas - http://micheladasmusings.blogspot.com  
? -   http://thecreativeklutz.blogspot.co.uk/
Kala - http://maybejustperhaps.blogspot.co.uk/

Trift Store : Part 2 : Electric... boogaloo ?

I woke up to a computer who refused to boot.

This was rather unusual. There was a black out last night, and I figure windows might have been installing updates because my windows installation was hosed. Oh my.

Well, good thing a computer doesn't stay stubborn with me very long. Im already back in action, see ?

And while updates were installing, I went back to the thrift store, because you know... I could. XD

And I made out like a bandit.

Again.

By that I mean 1.50$ for this :

And this

And this...

And this...

And this...

It goes on and on my friend...

Dang, uh ? Well, I don 't think all of these will make an apparance to the thrift store blog hop, but, keep an eye out... Well, the last one im waiting to hear from B'Sue before I do ANYTHING to it, just to be safe.

Thrift Store Blog Hop - The Findings !

Because clearly im not involved in enough hops and challenges yet.

I've still got some room to breathe, so obviously not. ;p

Sarah of Pookledo came up with the idea as she was going through a thrift store for components... And invited us all to take part ! You can see her post about the blog hop here.

The rules are simple. You must use an item you buy at a charity shop/thrift store/garage sale. The item must be less than 1 euro/1.50 USD. You must take pictures of the before, during, and after.

Well... nothing stops me from showing the before early :P

It was last tuesday, Monday everything was closed due to a holiday. It was raining buckets. I was stuck at work on my bike so either way I was stuck, so I tried my luck.

By the time I got to the thrift store, I was good and soaked, to the lady's surprise. Aha. But it was on the way home anyway...

The thrift store here is mostly electronics... old clothing that can't be re-purposed to much of anything. To my surprise there was a tiny jewelry section through... Not much, mostly plastic pearl necklaces. There were some interesting things, through - I figured I would pick up what I liked and decide on one to use.

So how much did I pay for this hot mess ?

.50$. Notice the location of the point.

No, not 50 cents per piece.

50 CENTS FOR EVERYTHING. I think she was just eager for someone to buy this XD;

The star brooch is more than it looks, through... the back of it is very deeply covered in verdigris, which made me think. I set up to googleing, but was not able to find much until I asked B'Sue about it, and she was able to recognize the piece just from a photo. It's enammel over copper, made about 35-40 years ago. This was someone's craft project ! There were a lot more brooches in the same loose design idea... I might to back to pick them up. Not sure... Not sure if I will end up doing anything to the star, either. We will see ! The wood one I am going to use for sure, through.

But that is all I will say for now~ ;D