My Thrift Store Ribbon Find

I found a roll of satin-type wire-edged ribbon at The Discovery Shop for only two bucks (Costco brand, normally priced about $6) with barely any gone off of the roll. I cut them to about 1-1/2” wide so they’d go through my Xyron sticker maker (thank you, Dawn!) and used them on the backs of some envelopes for a few cards I made. It's very pretty up close and personal.

I used this same ribbon to doll up a package I wrapped with plain brown craft paper. I am so getting my two-bucks worth!

Thrift Shops = Mini Vacations

I don't get to my favorite thrift store often enough, but when I do, this little book section becomes a black hole of time. It doesn't look like much, but I have found some pretty nifty reads here.

There used to be two small rooms set back in a hallway, away from all the other stuff. And other people. One held clothes, bedding, purses and shoes (and a couple of bins of pretty grodie-lookin' used makeup and lotions), the other was dedicated to books, magazines, records and tapes.

Then one day I walked in and all the walls were gone. POOF. I was vewy, vewy sad. I spent many hours in the middle of that tiny room, perched on an old stool, drinking in that old book smell, building a stack or two to bring home with me.

I still enjoy going there, the owners are genuinely good people, and the prices are certainly always right. But I still wish I could get lost in the quiet of that little room down the hall where nothing else mattered for just a little while.

What to do with those sample books?

I come across these fabric sample books ALL THE TIME, and every time I do I think, "Banners, bags and pillows, oh, my!"

I have accumulate quite a few of these and only made one thing, a little bag with a handle (I'm embarrassed to post a picture). Wait, I lied. I did try a small rug once, but that was a disaster. I think the best idea for these large fabric swatches came from a woman who was shopping at my favorite thrift store. I spotted her with a couple of them and simply had to know what she had in store for them, so I asked.

She told me she was an activity director at a nursing home and likes to use the pieces to make those nifty banners everyone seems to be hanging these days. It touched my heart when she went on to explain how she puts them to use. Besides using them to spruce up the residents' rooms or to decorate for parties, there are times when the residents need to stay in their rooms temporarily, while the hallways are being mopped or vacuumed, for instance. Some of them don't have all of their mental faculties, and it doesn't take much to get them turned around to where they should be, so the banners are placed across the doorways (with tape so they easily fall away and not hurt anyone). When the resident sees the "barrier," they stop in their tracks and go back the other way. Clever.

This particular sample book measures 10" x 11", which seems perfect for banners. There is usually cardboard adhered to one side, but it can be sewn through and act as a stabilizer of sorts. Then there's the sometimes difficult task of taking the book apart. But with names such as Red Pepper, Coral Sea, Sunglow and Buttercup, it's well worth the effort!