Bottle Cap Art

This project, like many of my projects, was born out of necessity. Necessity to get rid of a piece of art that had seen better days.

I had framed a sprig of rosemary...not thinking that eventually it would dry out and all I would be left with was a twig...yeah, pretty in it's own right, but I could do better. 

Luckily, I hoard a couple of things. Bottle caps are one of those things. A couple of years ago I made THESE awesome coasters using bottle caps and since then I've continued to collect caps with the hopes that one day I'd make more (ps -- if I hit 100 followers by April 15th, I will hold a giveaway for a set of those marvelous things). But there are more caps than I need for more coasters, so I came up with another use.

Here is the new piece of coaster art: (sorry for the poor photos. I'm using my iphone because I forgot my camera at work and there's no way in hell I'm entering the school over spring break to retrieve it -- pretty sure that's against the law or something)

It was originally this:

All I did was rummage through my cap collection.

Organize the caps within the matte and hot glue them down.

Re-hang and boom, done.

 

If you like the "S", check out that project HERE

I dig it.

<3 dani

Goodwill is Good to Me

Whenever I tell people I get most of my things from thrift stores, I usually get this response: "I don't know how you do it. I never find anything."

Here are some tricks for those of you who are serious about becoming a savvy thrift shopper:

Turn it into a hobby. This way you're making frequent, yet brief visits to the local shops. You begin to notice trends this way.

Find out when they get major shipments and when those things make it to the floor. This may sound obsessive, but you just might have to be obsessive to get the good stuff.

Think outside of the box. If you find something that is 90% perfect, try to figure out a way to make it work. Sometimes a little paint can make it awesome.

Know your brands. If you're shopping for clothes, know how the fabrics of your favorite brands feel. I can usually make it through a 30ft aisle in 3-6 minutes. Swear. I just touch and go. Sometimes a piece trips me up and I have to check the tag, but I'm generally spot on. So if you know what color, texture and style you're looking for, you cut your searching time significatly.

Have a plan. I never go into a thrift store without my list. We're always looking for something, right? You'd hate to forget exactly what that something is and just pass it by. This'll help you avoid any repressed hoarder tendencies too ;-)

Last week, I visited one of several thrift stores I frequent looking for jeans. Of course I brought my 'need/want' list with me. Good thing too. I didn't find any jeans, but I did find some brown boots. I had to think a little bit outside of the box, but hot damn these are cute now.

The after:

The Before:

The flowers are so not me. I'm a less is more kinda girl and those decals are just too much. While at the store, I tried to confirm that their removal would be easy. Once I did that, those babies came home with me. Sure, that's a little risky, but for under $10, I couldn't pass it up.

I hope you have as much luck as I do thrifting.

<3 dani