Valerean

Now that they've had a bath and dried, it's time to start altering these thrifted stuffed animals into Halloween decor. For the pig I thrifted a butterfly stuffy, from which I took the wings (the rest I'll recycle in another project. Chenille stems bent in half and sewn into the wings allowed me to bend them a little. I covered the wings' raw edges with scrap black binding and sewed them together. I also made a little mask to hide Mr. Pig's true identity. Here he is, all ready to trick-or-treat. All the elements are removable, so Mr. Pig can fly around to get treats on the big night and then go back to his regular life.

This is another "be careful what you thrift for" cautionary tale. After having so much fun repairing and upcycling the Vera Bradley lot back in June I decided just for fun to bid on another, much larger lot. The pics in this post show all the bags included, which appear to be twenty-five to thirty, and the auction listing noted that they all have wear and are being sold as a craft lot. Wishing but knowing based on past experience that I wouldn't win it, I put in a reasonable bid. Like all the very large lots I've bid on, I was expecting to lose it to someone willing to pay more. And then? I won it -- no challengers. This will be sixteen pounds of worn, damaged Vera Bradley bags. As you can see from the pics that's alot (I do see a pricetag on one of them, and not much wear in the pics, so I think I may find some gems, too.) Yet I bid believing firmly that I wouldn't win, so I kind of deserve to get it dropped in my lap. It's unexpe...

I've never tried to thrift toys before I went looking for some stuffies to alter, and for $10.67 I got four that were new or in new condition and a wee Halloween bow. The penguin and puppy still had their tags, and the butterfly and pig were in very clean shape. The puppy was a Valentine stuffy and still smelled of the chocolate scent added to it. I handwashed everything just to be on the safe side, and hung them to air-dry. Some words of caution about laundering thrifted stuffies: be sure the stuffing is of a washable variety (you can split a seam to have a look, and then sew it back up.) Remove all paper or tied-on tags and loose elements before laundering. Anything with wiring or electronics should not be immersed in water but instead spot cleaned. Hand wash the stuffies individually in the event the fabric dye bleeds. If you want to put them in your washing machine (I don't recommend this) you should put them in a pillowcase and pin it shut in the even...

After all the repairs and upcycles I did, my lot of Vera Bradley bags had two left, a big shoulder bag (Indigo Pop, 2012) and a duffel (still searching for the pattern name and release date), but these are in near-mint condition without any flaws. Since I think they're valuable I'll hang onto these until I can find good homes for them. I learned a lot working on this project. One: I love repairing and upcycling these bags. It's a new creative challenge every single time, and I often surprise myself with my solutions. I'm also astounded by how much these bags retail for new. This one purse was $70.00 when it came out in 2019, and the pattern is now retired, so in a few years it will probably be worth twice that. My favorite bag from the lot was the first one I worked on, and I'll tell you why: the previous owner really loved this bag, and repaired it at least once to keep using it. They taught me something new (use knit fabric for strap repair...

This gray floral purse in the retired pretty posies pattern from 2019 retailed new for $70.00. It has some slight overall fading, probably from laundering, but only one issue. The top edge of the big back pocket is showing wear, and will likely start to shred unless it's protected. I tried a couple of lace and ribbon ideas before I hit on one that worked and added some interest to the purse. A lace doily. :) For the front pocket I stitched on a quilted tag by 14carrot to add a bit of interest to the front. I think it came out neat.

This unsual drawstring purse came as part of my Vera Bradley bag lot, and a little research allowed me to discover it dates back to 2011, and the watercolor floral pattern is retired. These purses can still be bought used around $20.00 on places like Poshmark and eBay, so it's probably not very rare. I liked the colors and the design, so I'm going to repair it for myself. There aren't a lot of issues with this purse. One part of the drawstring came loose from the cinching strap, so that will have to be tucked back in. I found some edge wear on the bottom right. Also a bit on the bottom left. There are some soiling stains on the magnetic front pocket straps, and a bit of edge wear on both flaps. First I poked the loose drawstring through the cinching strap with my awl. Now the purse can be cinched closed again. For the edge wear and staining I debated on using either a complimentary fabric or some lace cut out appliques. Lace won. I se...

For my first Vera Bradley upcycle project I'll start with this much loved tote in the retired Minsk Plaid pattern from 2012. It arrived with signs that it was used for quite some time and even repaired by the previous owner, which made me very happy. I like to think that person liked to mend things like me rather than buy new -- or maybe it was a thrifter who found it before me. The solid black fabric on the handle straps was added to cover wear and tears, just as I repaired another Vera bag with the same problem back in April. To prevent the straps from becoming too thick from my planned repair I'll first remove the old repair. That was actually really hard to remove, it was applied so well with hundreds of tiny machine stitches -- took me about an hour with a seam ripper. With that removed, you can see what the person who repaired the bag before me tried to cover up -- a lot of strap wear. I went to my scrap bin in search of a black solid I could use to re...

The lot of Vera Bradkey bags that I thrifted to rehab just arrived; let's dig into the box and see what shape they're in, shall we? All the bags fit inside this roomy weekender, which is in very good condition with no tears or stains. These bags, which fit under airplane seats, retail anywhere from $60.00 to over $200.00. This big tote had/has some handle wear, and looked to be much loved by the original owner. Someone covered the worn handles with solid black fabric, just as I would have. :) A very pretty purse with an unusual drawstring type closure, also in very good condition. Three smaller bags -- the one on the left is an insulated lunch bag, and the other two are cosmetic/storage bags (the dark pink one is velvet.) Here's a nice purse in good condition. The original owner left a keychain with a fabric fish on it. Maybe they were a Pices! Finally here's a purse with tons of pockets in a very pretty print. Everything does have wha...

I've really enjoyed rehabbing the Vera Bradley bags I've thrifted in the past, and while I don't strictly need more, I thought I might try and thrift some in need of repair, that I could makeover, or in colors I like, as was the case with this one. I'm only willing to pay the minimum for them, however. If I'm lucky enough to win a big lot like this one, the ones I don't want to keep I will be donating to a church thrift store that helps families in our local community. Big lots tend to draw a lot of bids, so I probably won't get the larger ones. I do like that bag and matching wallet, however, so maybe that will come my way. Stay tuned to find out if I win any of them. Image credit: all the pics in this post came from the original auction listings on ShopGoodwill.com.

During the holidays I had this scrumptious little box of sugarfree coconut and white chocolate truffles to nibble on while everyone else was eating their sugary treats. After I finished the candy I saved the plastic box for an upcycle. There are four parts to the box, and the inside liners that held the truffles will make excellent little watercolor painting palettes. To rehab the box, I removed the stickers and the adhesive they left behind (GooGone works best) and then hand washed the container. It came out looking perfect, as if it were made of glass instead of plastic. Now I can store some of my prettiest embroidery threads in it. The next time you have a plastic container like this, upcycle yours into something pretty and useful. The planet will thank you. :)