Thrifty By Design

An easy peasy Father's Day DIY

2019-06-12T23:08:00.001-07:00

Here's a simple, no fuss DIY for restyling a dated necktie into a funky bow tie. It's the perfect gift for all the hip Dads out there!

First you'll need to find a necktie. I scored this one from my local Salvation Army Thrift Store for $5.

Place the necktie on a flat surface with the front facing down.

Pull the bottom of the necktie through the label or if you have one the keeper loop.

After you've pulled the bottom through the keeper loop then fold the other end of the tie over.

Fold the tie 2 more times layering the fabric ensuring the folds align with each other.

Take the top piece and pinch the middle part then fold the fabric in half lengthwise. Now wrap this piece around the middle of the fabric.

After you've wrapped the fabric then take the end and place it over then under the loop you created in the previous step. This will ensure the fabric will stay in place without any sewing.

Tighten the fabric to complete the bow tie. At this time you can pinch the sides to create folds in the fabric.

Your bow tie is complete!

Now you can use the end of the tie to wrap around your neck then loop it through the knot you just created. This will be the strap for your bow tie.

And tada - that's it! Here's to a very happy Father's Day for all the kewl Dads out there!

My latest Creative Expert features for SA Thrift Stores

2019-06-09T21:19:00.002-07:00

After a long hiatus I'm hoping to be back updating my blog, posting to Instagram and getting super duper crafty with my local peeps.

Here are my latest blog posts as a Creative Expert for the Salvation Army Thrift Stores Canada blog:

Stay tuned for more upcycling awesomeness!

Latest blog posts for the Salvation Army Thrift Store

2019-02-03T20:16:00.001-08:00

Here are my latest and greatest Creative Expert posts for the Salvation Army Thrift Store blog... Enjoy!

January 2019

December 2018

Stay tuned for upcoming posts! Also find me in the Salvation Army's print publication Faith & Friends. I love my partners-in-thrift at the Salvation Army!

Getting my crafty mojo back with a quick chair refresh

2019-02-02T08:09:00.000-08:00

I'm getting my crafty mojo back... January started with some fun blog posts for the Salvation Army Thrift Store blog and then this chair update. I found this lovely at Urban Repurpose. The wood needed to be refinished and the seat definitely needed to be reupholstered.

I decided to sand down the wood and add tung oil to it... The grain is gorgeous!

The seat was dingy and kind of ugly.

First up was removing the seat and then sanding and oiling the wood.

I found this gorgeous wool upholstery fabric at my local Salvation Army Thrift Store for $3.99. I also had a bit more of my FAV fabric find.

I went with my FAV fabric for the upholstery.

I love this fabric! And it looks great on the chair.

So so SO happy with the finished piece.

Next up is this lovely... The back rest is proving too difficult for me so I'm going to get a professional to do it.

It'll be the perfect partner for the other chair.

And I'm using my recent thrift find for the back rest. It's going to look awesome!

Here's to a crafty beginning to the new year!

Christmas in the Village

2018-12-17T21:45:00.000-08:00

Woot woot! I love crafting with my NVRC crew! These guys are da best.

Christmas in the Village included two crafty events. For the first event, we made cupcake filler tree ornaments.

Love seeing friends from previous workshops. I adore my crafty peeps!

Event number two, we upcycled wine corks into reindeer and snowman ornaments. So cute!

Love love LOVE working with North Vancouver Recreation & Culture. Here's to a very merry Xmas!

Christmas in Mexico Crafternoon

2018-12-10T21:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas got very festive with Guildford Library last December. The theme for the Crafternoon was Christmas in Mexico. We made piñata ornaments, God's eye crafts, homemade cards and more.

Here's one of the completed crafts with loads of sparkly stars...

Xmas cards were made...

We had about 20 participants who were so darn lovely. I love my Guildford Library peeps.

Xmas Crafternoon with NVCL

2018-12-06T19:30:00.000-08:00

Christmas was very crafty and festive last year with 4 upcycling workshops with 3 awesome partners-in-craft.

First up was my Crafternoon with North Vancouver City Library. We repurposed popsicle sticks into Xmas trees, wine corks into snowmen and then we got festive with pipe cleaners. This is one of my sample projects using an upcycled wine cork then a skewer, popsicle sticks, buttons and coloured Sharpies.

Here's one of my crafty peeps with her popsicle stick tree.

This project was very elaborate with a strings of pipe cleaners to add some extra Xmas vibes.

One of my long time participants popped in to make this rose.

We even decorated plates into Xmas scenes.

A few awesome completed projects...

A very sweet dude with his Xmas tree...

Happy Christmas!

A gang of wine cork snowmen with quite the hats on...

More trees...

And here's one of my superstar crafters with one of her projects...

These girls sure had fun!

Love this tree made by this cutie patootie.

More and more trees...

A tree and a sleigh out of popsicle sticks...

Loads of craftiness to share here...

A few more of my regulars being awesome...

Someone got to keep Jose's latest origami masterpiece...

And I got this awesome Xmas card from one of my most favourite crafters Alec. Yay me!

Thanks everyone for coming out! Love my NVCL peeps!

Spooky Halloween upcycling with NVCL

2018-10-29T19:13:00.000-07:00

We had one super spooky Crafternoon at North Vancouver City Library last October. We had 80+ participants making Halloween lanterns out of upcycled Mason jars. It was hectic but super fun!

Things got a bit nutty since we ran out of Mason jars and had to hit the Lions Gate Hospital Thrift Store to replenish our supplies.

Here are a couple of the lanterns with spiderwebs on them...

One of my regulars getting into the spirit of Halloween.

We used up all of the supplies... Glass jars, cardboard, beads...

I got to see a few of my long time participants which was super lovely!

And of course Jose the one and only craft renegade showed up.

Thanks to everyone who crafted with me... And big shout out to my helpers who scored more Mason jars since the event was so darn popular!

Upcycled Mason jar lantern

2018-10-26T09:02:00.000-07:00

I'm playing catch up on a bunch of blog posts. I'm a bit behind in sharing some of my latest DIYs, Crafternoons and other crafty awesomeness.

Here's a simple project I made for my Halloween Crafternoon with North Vancouver City Library in October. It's a Mason jar lantern.

First you'll need a Mason jar of any size. The circumference should be wide enough for a tea light.

Next you'll need orange tissue paper. Your first step is to tear small pieces of the tissue paper for decoupaging onto the Mason jar.

Use a sponge brush to coat the Mason jar with Mod Podge then add the pieces of tissue paper. Add another coat of Mod Podge on top of the tissue paper to smooth out the paper and to seal it to the Mason jar.

Keep adding tissue paper until the Mason jar is covered. Allow to dry.

Once dry, use a black Sharpie to add a jack-o'-lantern face.

Now you can insert your tea light. I used an LED tea light for my lantern.

This is a very simple DIY and it looks pretty darn spooky.

Gotta love easy peasy upcycling projects!

Culture Days Crafternoons with NVRC

2018-10-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

Back in September, I was part of a Culture Days Crafternoon with North Vancouver Recreation & Culture. I worked with my crafty peep Helen on combining projects. Helen was felting wool with participants and my project was to upcycle shower curtain rings into hangers for the completed wool pieces.

First up was gathering supplies... Tom at Urban Repurpose donated a ton of these shower curtain rings for the upcycling workshop.

I wrapped the rings with pipe cleaners and I was done with my sample...

Easy peasy funky hangers...

This is Helen... Aren't we total crafty cuties?

I had a second project refashioning donated cardboard boxes. We turned these into treasure chests using felts, stickers and a bit of bling.

Happy crafter with her treasure chest...

I also had circular boxes to restyle...

More completed projects...

Pom poms were a hit for these cutie patooties.

A sample felted wool project... So sweet!

Swanky duct tape and gems really worked for this project...

Thanks NVRC, Helen from Craft Naturally, Tom from Urban Repurpose and our workshop participants. It was a super fun day!

Rivers Day Event with CNV

2018-09-25T14:45:00.000-07:00

Last month the City of North Vancouver asked me to be part of their Rivers Day event at Lynnmouth Park. It was an afternoon of planting with tons of games, community displays, music and of course upcycling.

This dog was very suspicious of me and my crafty mojo.

And of course Tom from Urban Repurpose was there to spread the repurposing love.

Shideh from the North Vancouver City Library rode Spokes 'N' Words to the event. Spokes 'N' Words is a tricycle with a cabinet on the rear where users are able to check-in and check-out library books and materials, get a library card, participate in storytimes, and receive information about library programs and services.

Here's the team of volunteers who planted 1,000 native plants. Wow!

I was there to craft with volunteers... We made plantable DIY paper out of old newspapers and scrap paper.

I didn't have too many participants pop by but the ones who did were very happy crafters.

We used cookie cutters to make shapes then added seeds.

The event also included ceremonial tree planting... The kids were very happy to dig, get dirty then help plant the tree.

It was nice to reconnect with old coworkers from the City of North Vancouver!

This is how much was planted in the afternoon. Amazing!

Thanks for including me in the event Angela! And thanks to all my fellow community builders and paper makers... We made magic happen!

NVCL's 10 Year Anniversary Crafternoon

2018-09-18T22:29:00.000-07:00

Last month I partnered with the North Vancouver City Library to help celebrate their 10 year anniversary. We refashioned paper clips into funky pirate themed bookmarks.

I started by making samples using supplies I had on hand - buttons, magnetic letters, etc.

I made this basic bookmark using duct tape and a paperclip.

The workshop was meant to incorporate the overall pirate theme of the anniversary celebration but of course we had unicorns and more pop up in our projects.

It got a bit messy with the felts. This guy covered his hands using all of the Sharpie colours we had on hand.

We had artists of all ages making awesomeness like this cutie.

These two gave their best impersonation of pirates.

We had pirate themed art...

Not sure what this is... I think it's a fridge magnet using magnetic letters.

We had paperclip projects in the works...

Tada! So many awesome art projects...

The sheets of adhesive glitter are always a hit!

DIY button box by one of my craft superstars.

Lots of paperclip bookmark projects...

We even upcycled the staple boxes - everything has potential in the upcycling workshops!

Jose, our renegade crafter, made this sword and shield. He's always making magic happen in the Crafternoons.

And that's it - we had a ton of fun and made crafty goodness happen out of repurposed junk.

Big thanks as always to the North Vancouver City Library for hosting and to Urban Repurpose for donating supplies.

September is filled with tons of craftiness

2018-09-12T15:18:00.001-07:00

Yay for Crafternoons! It's been awhile since I've crafted with my peeps. I have 4 workshops this month with 3 awesome partners-in-craft: North Vancouver City Library, City of North Vancouver and North Vancouver Recreation & Culture.

Find me at any or all of the following free Crafternoons:

NVCL's 10 Year Anniversary Crafternoon
I'm partnering with the North Vancouver City Library on Saturday, September 15th to help celebrate their 10 year anniversary.
Rivers Day Event
I'm crafting with the City of North Vancouver for an upcycling booth as part of Rivers Day on Sunday, September 23rd from 12pm to 4pm.
Culture Days Crafternoon
I'm crafting with North Vancouver Recreation & Culture for two upcycling workshops as part of Culture Days on Saturday, September 29th from 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 4pm.

Visit my TBD website for all of my upcoming upcycling workshops.

5 ways thrifting can be inspiring

2018-09-11T21:45:00.001-07:00

Here's a recent post I wrote for the Salvation Army Thrift Store blog for National Thrift Shop Day. Enjoy!

How best to celebrate National Thrift Shop Day than to drop by your local Salvation Army Thrift Store to shop and/or donate items. For me, thrifting is fun and a great way to save money, reuse instead of buying new and to express my personal style. What do you find inspiring about buying secondhand?

Here are my 5 ways thrifting can be inspiring...

1. It's earth-friendly
Instead of buying new, scour your local Salvation Army Thrift Store for those one-of-a-kind pieces to add to your wardrobe. Or donate those items that you've outlived. Both are great ways to be earth friendly. Less stuff and rethinking what we have, want or need is a win-win.

2. Name brands for no name prices
You can always find name brand clothing or shoes at your local Salvation Army Thrift Store. Also high end home decor and furniture. There is nothing better than name brand finds for no name prices.

3. Refresh your look on a budget
I love switching up my wardrobe and being a bit adventurous in how I look. And you can do this on a budget easily. A funky dress for $10, a pair of dress shoes for $7 and even a blazer or jacket for $25. You can definitely create a new look on a shoestring investment.

4. Give back
The only way you'll keep finding kewl scores is if you donate quality items. It feels good to give back and know someone else will feel the thrill of the find because of what you donated.

5. Share your successes
I'm a big believer in getting the word out about thrifting - share your best scores and inspire your friends to join you on your thrifting adventures. The more the merrier! It's fun getting a gang together who enjoy the thrill of the hunt as much as you do.

That's my list - what about you? What do you love about thrifting? And how does thrifting inspire you?

Latest DIY with SA Thrift - a cutlery wind chime

2018-08-25T11:11:00.001-07:00

It's been awhile since I've posted and so much is going on. Here's my latest DIY for the Salvation Army Thrift Store blog - a cutlery wind chime. This is a super easy project and very low budget.

All you need is some random cutlery from your local thrift store...

Plus anything that could be used for hanging the cutlery from. I picked this up at the thrift store as well and it was perfect!

Supplies for the DIY include cutlery, galvanized wire, a makeshift hanger, fishing wire, beads and a chain or rope.

The wire is for wrapping around the cutlery to create hooks for the fishing wire.

The beads are for adding some sparkle and magic to your wind chime.

Find the full DIY at Garden DIY: How to make a cutlery wind chime. Stay tuned for more Creative Expert DIYs, tips and tricks, etc.

More DIYs with the Salvation Army

2018-07-17T22:44:00.000-07:00

Not only am I writing DIYs plus sharing thrifting tips and tricks for the Salvation Army Thrift Store blog - I am now writing for the Salvation Army's publication Faith and Friends. Faith and Friends is a monthly outreach magazine focused on 'inspiration for living'. You can find copies of it in your local Salvation Army Thrift Store.

The Faith and Friends publication features a DIY in each issue like this one - an easy DIY shamrock shirt. TBD will be contributing DIYs once every couple of months. I've already submitted my first feature!

Stay tuned - I'll let you know once it's out. Thanks to Salvation Army for both of these awesome opportunities! It's been so great working with you!

A couple of crafty dates with NVRC

2018-07-17T06:31:00.000-07:00

Last week I had a couple of awesome crafty dates with North Vancouver Recreation and Culture (NVRC). I love working with NVRC!

First I crafted at Lynn Valley Village and then crafted in Civic Plaza. Each project was about making some sort of musical instrument out of repurposed materials. Each night was pretty busy and the kids were super stoked about getting crafty. Just like this cutie patootie who really got into it and made 3 paper plate shakers.

Sample 1 was an upcycled cardboard rainbow cymbal... I added bells as the noise maker. We offered this craft as well as the option to make paper plate shakers using dried beans.

Sample 2 was restyling wooden dowels into magical noise makers. I used a screw-in eyelet for the bells then wrapped the dowels in pipe cleaners and added some ribbon.

Thankfully I had some wire hanging around to tie up the bells.

I'll be crafting with NVRC again later this month. Hope to see you there! Join me Wednesday, July 25th from 6pm to 8pm in Lynn Valley Village.

Urban Repurpose has moved and is open

2018-07-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

Yahoo! The lovely peeps at Urban Repurpose are back up and running. They reopened on Wednesday in their new location at 440 Brooksbank Avenue in North Vancouver.

The space is very different and seems even bigger than their original location.

Tom definitely got creative with how to display items like these chairs hanging from the walls...

And all of the paintings and mirrors.

I'm so happy they've reopened and bonus - it's on my route home from work. I can pop in and buy a chair like this or a table like the one I have on hold. I scooped up this chair since good finds don't stick around long at Urban Repurpose!

Be sure to drop by the new space, browse, buy and/or donate at 440 Brooksbank Avenue.

Join the North Vancouver Thingery!

2018-07-13T11:21:00.001-07:00

North Vancouver is getting their very own Thingery! Sign up to be a member of this awesome initiative. I'm signing up! I'm also part of the working group helping bring this lending library of things to the heart of lower Lonsdale.

What is a Thingery?

A Thingery is a community owned lending library of things in a modified shipping container. The containers are self-service, so members can check things in and out at their convenience. A Thingery's inventory is community sourced; meaning that what goes into the container depends on what neighbours donate to it and what they collectively purchase. Potential inventory types include: recreation equipment, kids toys, woodworking tools, event and entertainment equipment, household appliances and musical instruments.
The mission of The Thingery is to support the development and ongoing operations of neighbourhood Thingeries.

Their vision is that every community, no matter its size, has access to a Thingery that provides its members with the equipment they need to pursue their passions.

Why Become a Member?

Access to great equipment
When you join a Thingery you will get access to hundreds of pieces of equipment including recreation equipment, power tools, event and entertainment equipment and more. No need to worry about maintaining them either, we take care of that too.
Save money
By joining a Thingery you get access to the all the equipment you need for a fraction of the cost of what it would be to purchase or rent.
Lower your ecological footprint
A large percentage of each Thingery's inventory will be donated by local community members. By using a Thingery you lower your ecological footprint through extending the life of existing materials and also preventing the manufacturing of new equipment.
It's a co-op
Each Thingery is a non-profit co-operative. That means as a member, you're also an owner. You have a say in how it's run and the equipment it carries.

Join today! A Thingery membership is only $64.50 (regular $79) and includes a co-operative membership (for life!) at $50 and the annual maintenance fee of $14.50/year (regularly $29/year). What a steal of a deal!

DIY Canada Day party trays

2018-07-06T22:23:00.003-07:00

My latest blog post for the Salvation Army Thrift Store went up last week. It was a Canada Day themed project using secondhand finds. One was jazzing up this plastic tray with a touch of red and white...

The other DIY repurposed a wood frame into a party tray...

Here they are together - each was super simple and super cheap!

Find the full DIYs on the Salvation Army Thrift Store blog. Happy Canada Day - hope you enjoyed celebrating with family and friends!

Live and Local crafting with NVRC

2018-07-05T20:59:00.002-07:00

July is all about Thrifty by Design and North Vancouver Recreation and Culture (NVRC). We're gearing up for NVRC's Live and Local Culture Series. So stoked - I've missed my NVRC peeps!!

Join me for one of the upcoming events in Lynn Valley Village and Civic Plaza:

Live and Local Culture Series 2018
I'm crafting with North Vancouver Recreation and Culture in Lynn Valley Village on Wednesday, July 11th from 6pm to 8pm.

Live and Local Culture Series 2018
I'm crafting with North Vancouver Recreation and Culture in Civic Plaza on Thursday, July 12th from 6pm to 8pm.

Live and Local Culture Series 2018
I'm crafting with North Vancouver Recreation and Culture in Lynn Valley Village on Wednesday, July 25th from 6pm to 8pm.

Here's to making upcycling awesomeness happen with a few of my FAV crafty peeps!

Big love to Vancouver Foundation and their NSG program

2018-05-18T11:43:00.003-07:00

And the love affair continues... This week I picked up my 2018 Neighbourhood Small Grants check. Yup! More Crafternoons with North Vancouver City Library thanks to Vancouver Foundation's Neighbourhood Small Grants program. You guys are da bomb.

Stay tuned for more upcycling, community building awesomeness thanks to Vancouver Foundation. Let's get crafty!

Mother's Day with Lupii Cafe

2018-05-13T12:01:00.002-07:00

Last weekend was my second Crafting with Crap event. I partnered with Lupii Cafe for a Mother's Day Crafternoon. It was a small group where we kicked upcycling butt!

Here are a few of the participants. They even used the boxes we had to package up their Mom's Day gifts.

One very happy crafter with her gift all wrapped up so Mom didn't see it.

Such a cutie! Here he is with his restyled glass container filled with DIY bath salts.

A few of our completed projects...

Here's another swanky wrapping job using a cardboard box and some pink mesh.

Big thanks to the workshop participants and to Lupii Cafe for hosting. Here's to more Crafting with Crap awesomeness!

Earth Day Crafternoon awesomeness with Urban Repurpose

2018-05-12T21:17:00.005-07:00

A couple of weeks ago was my inaugural Crafting with Crap event. Yay! And it was with my awesome peeps at Urban Repurpose. Love those guys! Here we are getting set up with my super duper helper Susan.

Mark from Urban Repurpose helped gather kewl stuff to use as decoration for our reclaimed wood planters. Look at the spread!

So many nifty things to choose from!

We even had some flowers and succulents available. I brought a couple of new succulents and a few from my own stash to share. We were set!

Here's one of the planters in progress... What a great face!

Another project in progress...

I loved seeing how different the projects were!

We had a bunch of happy upcyclers and reusers.

My friend Heather - I used to craft with Heather and her daughter a few years back.

Here are Heather's projects. She made a reclaimed wood planter and an upcycled metal bed spring planter.

Works in progress...

Here's Susan's planter...

A couple of our participants sharing their projects.

This trio was so much fun!

This guy turned his planter into a birdhouse. Pretty darn awesome!

Big thanks to everyone who joined us for our Crafting with Crap / Urban Repurpose Earth Day Crafternoon. So much gratitude to Mark, Tom and the other peeps from Urban Repurpose. You guys are da bomb!

Earth Day Crafternoon with NVCL

2018-05-05T08:15:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I hosted my first Earth Day Crafternoon. We had 60+ participants for our upcycling event at the North Vancouver City Library. We painted rocks and tile samples using Sharpies and paints.

Here are some sample projects using upcycled tiles that were kindly donated by Tom at Urban Repurpose.

I brought a whole box of tiles thinking I would have too many but they were a hit and quickly my stash was gone.

Here's the dude of the Crafternoon. So many swanky crafty projects so he had to make his very own man purse out of bits of cardboard.

A couple of my crafty peeps.

This girl was more excited about helping me clean up than crafting!

One of my favourite partners-in-craft...

He upcycled a couple of tiles but mainly focused on this project using empty paint containers, duct tape and an egg carton.

Even the tile box was used... We had tons of upcycling awesomeness happen!

Rocks painted with letters to spell 'happy'.

This is how everyone should feel about getting crafty and making stuff!

Mother-daughter craft dates are da bomb.

This kewl dude was super chill about getting his photo taken with his projects.

Another super keen helper - this little guy helped put all of the chairs away.

And another great upcycling workshop with North Vancouver City Library has come to an end. Thanks everyone for joining me for a very fabulous event! Here's to next time!