Do you shop in charity shops? Well, you should! I do and the stuff I find in them is amazing!
I remember when I was a child growing up, charity shops were all that popular. Any clothes I had were either hand-me-downs from older cousins or bought new because, as with any child, I out grew my clothes fast. I don't remember my Mam ever shopping in charity shops (she may correct me) and so I never spared a second thought to them.
Until, it became trendy! When I got into my late teens shopping in charity shops suddenly became trendy, cool, the done thing. It evoked words like, "thrifty", "vintage", "retro", "upcycle", "hipster?" (Ok that last one is kind of a joke but you get the idea).
Now, you can't keep me out of charity shops, I buy a lot of my clothes from them and all of my books. I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a brand, new book from a book shop. I actually prefer to buy my clothes in charity shops because I have quite a quirky style and I like to wear clothes that are different from others. This way, I know I won't see every second person passing me in the street wearing the same thing. Plus, it's charitable! I know that a least some of my money is going to a good cause.
There are some items that pop up regularly in charity shops. You are bound to see these in almost every charity shop you visit regardless whether it is Oxfam, Age UK, Barnardos or a Sue Ryder.
I have put together a few links to tutorials that you can do using these common charity shop finds.
Neck Ties
Kate over at Quilts by Kate has transformed a bag load of neck ties into this beautiful quilt. Although there are a lot of ties used in the project, if you picked up one of two every time you visited a charity shop you would have enough before you know it.
Tea Cups
Most charity shops hold an abundance of vintage style teacups are although they are lovely just as they are, there is only so much space in the average kitchen cabinet. Katie shows how to make this no-sew teacup pin cushion over on punkprojects.com.
Vintage Scarves
This might be my favourite tutorial in this list. Follow the tutorial over on e plus i. It looks like quite an easy tutorial but one that would have beautiful results.
Old Sweaters
This is an interesting one! Using an old sweater Mrs. Nato creates this gorgeous rose pillow. Follow her tutorial on fingerprintsonthefridge
Plastic Toys
. This is a very clever tutorial. Use plastic animals (or indeed any toy might work) to create this unique key hook. Head over to Creative Soul Spectrum where Amy will show you how.
Costume Jewellery
Wow! This mirror is a true work of art! I can only imagine the time and effort that went into creating this mirror. And good news, you can make one too. Head over to georgiapeachez and follow the tutorial for a great way to use costume jewellery.
There are a million more tutorials out there for a million different charity shop finds but I think that list is enough to be getting on with for now. I will probably do a sequel to this post in the future where I explore more tutorials on this topic.
I hope you enjoyed this post, let me know if you try any of these tutorials or if you have any charity shop tutorials of your own that you would like to share please leave a comment below or email me.
Have a beautiful + creative day
Ciara
xoxo
List of some charities in the U.K. + Rep. of Ireland:
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