How To Upcycle Thrift Shop Finds Into Trendy Home Decor: Part Two!

Thrift Shop Hot! What to look for right now...

In my previous post, "How To Upcycle Thrift Shop Finds Into Trendy Home Decor"  I shared some great tips for upcycling common thrift shop finds into swanky home decor and crafts, including silver plated serving trays, vintage scarves, maps and globes, picture frames, and old cashmere sweaters. 

(If you haven't read that article, you can play catch-up by reading it here!)

Now I'm going to share with you some MORE items commonly found at thrift shops that are perfect for upcycling into fun home decor and crafts. Again, these items are great because not only are they inexpensive, but they are very much in style as current home decor. Check it out! 

What should you be looking for right now?

1)  Vintage Pie Tins & Cake Pans
I always see lots of old pie tins (aka pie plates) and pie pans when I go thrifting, and they're usually inexpensively priced from about $1 each. The neat thing about old pie tins is that you can sometimes find ones with bottoms that are embossed with vintage advertising.  

What to do with them?

Hang a collection of them on a wall as you would china plates, making a display that works well in a kitchen.
(Click here for more wall-display grouping ideas)
Or, collect a few and construct a tiered organizer or pedistal server using thrift shop found candle sticks in between. These are great for displaying items and for chic organization! Check out the photos below for inspiration.

Vintage pie tin

Make a vintage inspired kitchen wall display with vintage pie tins (via BHG)

Three tiered kitchen organizer (above and below) by Kaytie Yost via Etsy

Pie plate pedestals by Sweet Girl Expressions

Pie tin mirrors 

2)  T-Shirts

Usually there are so many t-shirts at the thrift shops I visit that the shops organize them by color instead of by size. Why are they a great deal? T-shirts are abundant at thrift shops and also cost next to nothing. They come in a wide range of colors and patterns, so they are great for repurposing and upcycling into all sorts of things.

What to do with them?
T-shirts can be quickly and easily repurposed into many different items; shopping bags, quilts, and they can even be used to cover throw pillows. My favorite thing to do with them is to restructure them into entirely new shirts. I love to do this with my old concert shirts and have made quite a few for myself!

Craft an easy to make recycled t-shirt tote bag

Make an awesome recycled t-shirt rug 

No-sew t-shirt hula hoop rug 

DIY instructions for old t-shirt bibs from A Little Tipsy

Pillow made from an old t-shirt (tutorial)

This quilt was made from old children's clothes - click for tutorial

3)  Vintage Framed Art

I always make a point to flip through the wall art at thrift shops. As I always say, you never know what you might find! As well as looking for unusual and unique frames, I'm always on the lookout for interesting artwork too. Some things to look for that make great collections are vintage framed needlepoints, old paint by numbers art (see the first two images below), as well as original amateur art paintings and "sofa art" (that's mass produced paintings that are created for the furniture industry.

What to do with them?
Display a unique collection as a gallery wall in your home, or, if you're the artsy type, try your hand at creating an altered thrift shop painting by adding an interesting or unexpected element to an already existing scene. See below. 

Paint by numbers collection 

Altered thrift store art by Coy Powers

(Click here for lots more gallery wall ideas!)

4)  Vintage Costume Jewelry

Vintage enamel flower pins, brooches, old clip on earrings - you get the picture. These vintage treasures are abundant at thrift shops, flea markets and estate sales, and the great part is that you can often find them for sale by the bagful for just a few dollars. 

What to do with them?
Not only are these great to wear as-is, they're also perfect for upcycling into new items for yourself, your family, and your home. Check out the photos below for a few examples of how some creative folks turned old costume jewelry into unique accessories.

Create a vintage brooch bridal bouquet

Brooch bouquet with locket by Amanda Jane Heer via Etsy

Create a necklace with vintage brooches and ribbon. DIY instructions from Martha Stewart

DIY Fridge magnets made from old jewelry from Country Living

Create a brooch bouquet topiary

Frame made with vintage costume jewelry by Kat Smith via Etsy

(Click here to see lots more ideas for what to do with vintage costume jewelry!)

5)  Old Books & Outdated Encyclopedias
Just like road maps, encyclopedias become outdated and are replaced with new, up to date versions. Thrift shops are the best place to find old obsolete encyclopedias, dictionaries, and the like.

What to do with them?
Use the pages for decoupage projects, or create some wonderful book page art by drawing or painting directly onto the page. Or, run the pages directly through your computer printer to create some unique personalized art (think black & white family photos printed on the old pages as shown below).

Computer printed art on old book page by Prrint via Etsy (above and below)

Coasters made from vintage encyclopedia pages by The Painted Lily via Etsy

(Check out my previous post Bookish for lots of ideas of things you can make with old books and pages!)

What do you think?
What's your favorite way to repurpose thrift shop finds?

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I hope you enjoyed this post! 

Please leave a comment below! 

Which is your favorite? 

Have a great week!

Laura

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Article copyright ©Laura Beth Love 2020 and may not be republished in print or other media without express written permission from the author. For any link corrections please leave correct info in comment area.

Originally published July 3, 2012, refreshed and updated for relevancy

How To Upcycle Thrift Shop Finds Into Trendy Home Decor

Thrift Shop Hot! What to look for right now....

In my last post I shared some tips for shopping thrift shops. Now I'm going to share with you some items commonly found at thrift shops that are great for upcycling into swanky home decor and crafts. These items are great because not only are they inexpensive, but they are very much in style as current home decor. Check it out! 

What should you be looking for right now?

1)  Silver-plated Serving Trays
I always see lots of silver-plated trays and platters when I go thrifting, and they're usually inexpensively priced from about $1 to $5 each. The neat thing about these trays is that they come in different shapes and sizes, and some have pretty engraving or ornate edging on them. 
What to do with them? Hang them on a wall as you would china plates, making a display that works well not only in a dining room but throughout the home. (Click here for more wall-display grouping ideas)

Pretty wall display

image via Apartment Therapy

Photo by Blayne Beecham 

Wreath made from silver platters image from Bees Knees Bungalow

2)  Vintage Scarves
Sometimes sold by the bag-full, vintage scarves are abundant at thrift shops and also cost next to nothing. They come in a wide range of colors and patterns, so they are great for repurposing and upcycling. Vintage hankies are great for repurposing too, but they can be a bit more difficult to find than scarves. 
What to do with them? Frame them as art, sew them together to create a unique curtain, or use them to cover throw pillows.
(Click here for even more ideas on how to use scarves and vintage hankies.)

Curtain made from vintage scarvesvintageisforlovers.com

Upcycled skirt by Flowerpie via Etsy

 Children's dresses made from silk scarves by Nixie (above and below)

Scarf curtain

Framed scarf

Pillows made from large Hermes scarves

3)  Picture Frames
I always check out the picture frames at thrift shops. Pay no attention to the colors, you can always paint them. As a matter of fact, I just painted a group of 6 frames black for a photo grouping for my family room. Once painted, they're brand new! The thing that's great about buying frames at thrift shops is that you can find a variety of unusual shaped and sized frames, which are great not just for photos, but also for framing  artwork.
What else to do with them? Replace the glass with mirror, cork board, or paint with chalkboard paint. Get the glue gun and cover them with twigs, sea shells,rocks, or any type of small found objects, or decoupage them with fabric or paper. Or, use them as-is to create a gallery wall of unique variety.

painted frames by MandolinGoose via Etsy (above and below)

Wall display of frames by Simply sadie jane

Chalkboard frames (above and below) by Shugabeelane via Etsy

*Check out my other blog post, Creative Uses For Chalkboard Paint for more chalkboard ideas and a recipe for how to make your own chalkboard paint!


           
Chalkboard paint comes in both brush-on and spray forms!

Twig covered frames

4)  Globes & Maps
Just like road maps, globes become outdated and are replaced with new, up to date versions. I don't see tons of them at thrift shops but I do come across them from time to time. 
What to do with them? Use old maps for decoupage projects, and old globes can be upcycled into pendant lamps.
Check out my previous post on upcycling globes  for a myriad of globe ideas. 
Also check out this post on upcycling maps and atlases for even more ideas!

Vintage globe lamps

Chandelier made from vintage atlas pages

Vintage globe clock

Dresser decoupaged with maps

Mod Podge decoupage medium for decoupaging maps and any type of paper

5)  Old sweaters
With a price average of $1 to $5 a pop, the men's cashmere sweater section in a thrift shop is a goldmine! Not only are these great to wear as-is, but these once pricey luxury pieces are perfect for upcycling into new items for yourself, your family, and your home.
What to do with them? Use them to cover throw pillows, or try your hand at fashioning some new accessories from them like the ones pictured below.

Upcycled cashmere baby blanket by Thismommamakesstuff

Yes, those are upcycled cashmere undies - perfect for keeping your tush toasty on cold winter nights!

Upcycled cashmere sweater pillow by mmwolters via Etsy

 Upcycled sweater pillow with DIY from Going a little coastal

Awesome & stylish upcycled cashmere sweater hoodie dress by darrylbalack via Etsy

Upcycled fingerless gloves by Flowerpie via Etsy

Rose pillow from an old sweater (above and below)

What do you think?
What's your favorite way to repurpose thrift shop finds?

Pin this post

There's more! Click here to read Part Two of this article!

I hope you enjoyed this post! 

Please leave a comment below! 

Which is your favorite? 

Have a great week!

Laura

Join me on: 

Instagram
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
 Pinterest

Check out my new jewelry instruction books and DVDs!

Article copyright ©Laura Beth Love 2020 and may not be republished in print or other media without express written permission from the author. For any link corrections please leave correct info in comment area.