DIY Ideas for Items You Can Find in ANY Thrift Store!

Hey hey! How has your week been going so far? We’ve had a whirlwind of activity over here, putting the finishing touches on our house as we get ready to list it as well as having guests visit (hi mom and dad!) and hosting a DIY workshop at Savers Thrift in Willow Grove last weekend to wrap up our fun partnership. I wanted to pop in and share the two projects we made this weekend (plus a few others) since they can be made with objects you can find at ANY thrift store!

At the workshop we turned t-shirts into no-sew totes and books into pennant banners. The entire DIY workshop was a blast and I met such fun people. I always get nervous when I have to step out from behind the computer because I’m an introvert but I shouldn’t have worried because we genuinely had a blast! Lots of kids turned out and I crafted with them while giving their moms a minute to shop in peace, which as a former teacher is a blessing I was happy to give having been there myself. 🙂

As mentioned, I offered two projects. One was fairly simple: a book page pennant banner (we got the tutorial over at Creative Green Living). Books are something you can find at ANY thrift store, which is why it works so well. One family had each child make a flag for one combined pennant, and others made banners with sayings such as ‘welcome’ (to display in their living rooms) and LOVE (for anywhere, but particularly cute for Valentine’s Day).

The other project was also a hit, we turned t-shirts into 10 minute no-sew tote bags using this tutorial from Mommypotomus! This was a harder project than the pennants but more people wanted to do it because who can’t use another tote bag? And they came out so cute. We started with t-shirts:

and turned them into market totes!

The store gave us bunches of fun shirts with various designs (the sports teams went quickly).

The last step in making the shirts was tough because it involved tying the fringe several times, but everyone did it with flying colors– even the kids.

It was especially gratifying to watch people use their new totes to cart home their treasures. It was also interesting to be a fly on the wall and listen to members from the community rave about the new store. Plus it was torture for me to stand there and not shop for five hours. I ended up buying one of the books from the project bin, ha! But it was a new bestseller I’d been wanting to read and I snagged it for $2.

If you liked those DIY ideas, here’s a few other thrift store upcycled projects to try:

Market Totes (the quick sew version)

Gold Dotted Servingware

Gilded Thrift Store Mirror

Faux Bois Tray (perfect for Mother’s Day):

Speaking of thrift stores, I have two loads of donations to drop off… which is one of my favorite things about the upcycling process. My ‘trash’ is another’s treasure, as someone else’s cast-offs turned into ‘new to us’ items as well. Huge thanks to Savers Thrift in Willow Grove for being such gracious hosts and welcome to Pennsylvania!