Creative Uses for Thrift Store Findsby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 18 Jan 2007 10:27 AM Shopping the thrift stores is a great way to find plenty of bargains for the things you need, such as baby clothes, toys and household items, but did you know that there is a treasure trove of things that can be used in creative ways to save even more? Sometimes thrift store finds that cost as little as a dime can be used as a substitute or an improvement for something you may normally buy new. We've all heard of shabby chic, but there is nothing shabby about the following ideas. Scarves are plentiful at my local thrift stores. I can find them for as little as a nickel a piece in some cases. I love using scarves in place of ribbons to wrap presents. They jazz up any package, especially when you are using plain paper (butcher wrap makes great inexpensive gift wrap!). As a bonus, your gift recipient gets an extra present. All of those mismatched tea cups can make cute planters for seedlings and small plants. You can line them up along your windowsill for a pretty decorative accent (they are great for growing kitchen herbs), or put a few together in a basket for a nice gift. Silicone muffin pans and tins are just great for craft molds. I've used them extensively to make fun kids soaps for home and for gifts. Simply melt clear glycerin soap in the microwave and pour into a muffin tin cup or a small loaf pan. insert small toys and let cool. Regular metal muffin tins can be used to store beads and other small craft items. Thrifts stores are loaded with sheets, quilts and blankets. Why not put all of that material to good use? For a quarter, you can have plenty of material for crafting and sewing. Flannel sheets are perfect for turning into kids pajamas. Scraps can be turned into a rag rug. In earlier blogs, I shared some ideas for reusing things such as towels, baby blankets, jeans, t-shirts and socks. If you don't have enough of these items at home to reuse, you can pick these things up for pennies at a thrift store. Related Articles: Save More at The Thrift Store (1) Save More at The Thrift Store (2) Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments  Erika Lutz (309) 20 Jan 2007 08:43 PMThat is a really great idea about using the random but cute tea cups as planters. I will seriously use that idea! I love thrifting! Thanks for the great ideas!  Mary Ann Romans (26876) 21 Jan 2007 05:26 AMThanks for reading! For Christmas, I used some large christmassy mugs from the thrift store to hold little pine seedlings. It was really cute. Community Tags creative, reuse, recycling, thrift store, Tips, thrifty Discuss this article
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