3 Great Beginner Tips For Upcycle Crafts

Reduce, Reuse, UPCYCLE!!

A passion of mine for a while has been upcycling. I’ve always been a thrifty gal and pride myself on my ability to see the beauty through the piles of “old junk” at the thrift stores, garage sales, consignment stores… you name it! 

This hidden talent surfaced when I started looking in thrift stores for unique pieces to spruce up my own home. I’m a huge lover of all things vintage and shabby chic, and thrift stores are the perfect place to find the items that compliment my vintage-y home décor. 

However, not everything is in perfect condition in thrift stores, actually, most items need a little TLC. So that’s where my hidden talent comes in! All you need to remake most thrift store finds is a bit of paint, paper, mod podge, fabric, buttons, candy wrappers, magazines, anything! Just let your imagination run with it! 

Here are some of my favorite tips for scoring the best thrift store finds:

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Dig! 

I know, the stuff is dirty and it smells like a mixture between a wet dog and you grandma’s closet in there. Still, you just have to grit your teeth and pick through all the junk to find that one gem. I always drag my fiancé along to help me dig!

Patience - You never know what you will find!

2. Don’t Get Discouraged!

A lot of the time you will walk into a thrift store and walk right back out with nothing. It happens! In fact it happened to me the other day when I scoured the thrift store and found nothing worthy of my time. Sometimes all you find is a pile of junk. When this happens it’s easy to start picking up sub-par items that you don’t really need. This brings me to my next tip…

3. Don’t Just Buy to Buy!

When you are shopping in a thrift store it easy to lose sight of what is a quality piece and what belongs in the trash. Look for solid pieces, if it’s glass, double check for any scratches or chips. If you are questioning the quality of something, it probably isn’t worth it. Don’t be afraid to put the item back and save your cash for another day.

Upcycling and thrift store hunting can be so much fun if you do it right! Just make sure you grab a friend with a different taste as you so you don’t end up fighting over that pristine vintage teacup! And don’t forget to have FUN!

Here are some of my favorite upcycled pieces used to decorate my own home and to sell in my Etsy shop. And don’t worry, there will be plenty more to come! 

  

Meet Our Guest Blogger Cass from CassTheCrafter:

I'm a college student at Fredonia State in Western NY. I've been crafting my whole life, but I just recently started selling my items. My goal for CasstheCrafter is to fill it with only high quality and unique handmade home decor items and gifts. I also strive to keep CassCrafts affordable and available to struggling college students like me! Many thanks to Cass from CassTheCrafter for having shared her passion with us - Reduce And Reuse By Upcycling : https://www.etsy.com/shop/CasstheCrafter Spread some SPST love and support your fellow Teammies :-)