All that glitters is not Goals.

Would you believe that my goal for this new year...is to have less goals?

It's true. Rather than pencilling in an extensive myriad of lofty goals that are multifarious and unnattainable, I've decided that my number one goal will be to plan LESS, to expect LESS, and to appreciate MORE.

You see, I'm a roadrunner; an excitable artist that blows with the wind. Yet I juxtapose this fanatical nature with perfectionism. If there's one thing a "Jane of All Trades" can't afford to be, it's a perfectionist.

The multi-tasking and list making extends so far into my day that sometimes before bed my mind races with static like a ill-tuned radio, waiting for someone to reach over and tweak a knob back into the reality zone.

Therefore I think I need to pull the plug on the static for a while, and tune in to what really matters: peace, reflection, family. I'm not abandoning all of my projects...just bringing my expectations and goals into the realm of accessibility. I hope the other "over acheivers" out there can do the same for this new year.

Speaking of goals, I've fallen behind even in the last few days with continuing holiday celebrations, friends visiting, and crafting projects. I meant to post some great thrift treasures I found the other day at a special little "out of the way place" (and I shall) but speaking of glittering gold, I wanted to make sure to share with you the best recipe I've ever found for home made jewelery cleaner!

It was so amazing that it was (in fact) the reason I feel behind the other night in the first place. I got so excited by how well it worked that I ended up spending three hours cleaning all of my jewelry, haha! Even a quick dip in this solution immediately brightened up my brooches and vintage rhinestones, and all of my rings turned out fabulously with a little soak and scrub. Most impressive was a silver necklace that was literally BLACK with tarnish. I had tried other methods of cleaning it over the years without luck and was almost ready to give up. After a one hour soak with scrubbings in between, I'm glad to say it's back, and looking fabulous.

So here it is! The easiest home made jewelry cleaning solution EVER that works so well!

HOME MADE JEWELRY CLEANER

1 cup water
1 tbs dish soap
1 tbs baking soda
1 tbs salt

Heat water for approximately 2 minutes, then add other ingredients and stir. Soak jewlery for 10 minutes before cleaning/scrubbing.

I imagine this would keep quite well in a jar for a few days or even longer if it didn't become too dirty (depending on the state of the jewlery you are cleaning).

Have a great Friday! I hope to post one more outfit shot before the new year is reigned in.

Bless you and yours...and enjoy every minute of it.
Chantal

Casual Stripes

Just a little quickie post! I love stripes so much. For some reason, I'm drawn to navy and white stripes. LOVE them! Bought this adorable knit navy and white Jones of New York shirt at Hope's Outlet for $1.59! The grey cap was 99 cents. A little wash for both of them and they went right into the wardrobe as immediate favorites. Such a comfy and warm outfit. There's that little scarf again--it keeps showing up! LOL. :D

Have a great Wednesday. Stay comfy and warm!

PS--cute thrift trip treasures tomorrow and review of a special, secret, out of the way place that I just love!

One thing...

Hello everyone! Hope you've had a beautiful (and hopefully extended) holiday weekend! Today wasn't quite back to the grind for me because I came down with a little bug after Christmas. But I'm slowly feeling better and I'm sure by tomorrow I'll be at 100%.

THE OUTFIT: 100% thrifted for under $10. Vintage polyester dress (no tag inside) was from Hope's Outlet in Muskegon ($1.59) and the belt was too! Normally I'm not the hugest on bright florals but the '70s look and fun red color of this dress made it a hit with me. The bonus is that it hangs so nicely on curves if you are lucky enough to have them. :D The purse I thrifted long ago but I'm certain I paid no more than $2 for it. Candies peep toe camel heels were something I bought at Goodwill in Grand Haven for $3 last year, and the bracelets were little penny trinkets. The earrings are vintage Laurel Birch (my fave!) and I got them for 99 cents at Lakeshore Mission Thrift. Finally, the infinity scarf was a long piece of scrap jersey I bought at Hope's for .49 and then tied together. That brown/grey seems to go so well with everything!






ONE THING I'LL DO TODAY: I included this because it was a fun little idea I had to help preserve my sanity. See, I'm a type A personality who dabbles in everything and expects to be perfect at it all. So often, I heap my plate so full that I drop everything and crash out. I thought this might be a neat idea to help keep things in perspective; if I can just choose ONE special thing a day in a few different categories, maybe I can feel productive and satisfied at being cross-curricular. Let me know if you try it! I bought this picture frame at Dollar Tree for $1 and used a permanent marker on the glass for the categories. I then wrote in the blanks with dry erase so I had a form I could write into and erase everyday. I hot glued an old silver jewelry chain to the back and installed a fancy hook on my vanity so it can hang in my bedroom and I can write on it in the morning. The flower I made and hot glued (more of those "scatter" jewels, a fake flower, and upcycled "hounds tooth" petals!).

Have a great day...don't overwork yourself!

Merry Christmas! Congrats to the winners!

A very merry Christmas and happy holidays to all my readers! Blessings to all regardless of how you do or don't celebrate.

Congrats to my two cozy winners, "Crafty Little Monsters" and "HSmith"! I've sent out emails for addresses and will ship this coming week.

Thanks again for reading and your support. Have a beautiful and peaceful day!

Chantal

Upon a Cozy Giveaway's Eve...

It's here! The eve of my first giveaway on Thrift Trick. I'm sure more will come!

It's those darn cute mug warmers! And guess what? They are both handmade by yours truly from upcycled and thrifted fabrics and adorned with vintage buttons!

They fit a standard mug or travel mugs too. Aren't they just adorable? They are stuffed with poly-fill so the insulated wrap should help hold in the heat, especially from ceramic mugs.

FREE FOR YOU!

How do you win these? Oh yeah! Too simple! Just subscribe to my blog with feedburner by clicking this link and remember: activate! Only active subscriptions will be entered.

OR, become a fan on my Facebook page and share it! Then you are also entered. Make sure you let me know you've done this by commenting on the page! I'll see you. :)

I'll draw two names tomorrow morning for Christmas and announce on FB, as well as emailing. After I've collected addresses I'll ship out this week!

Thanks so much for reading the blog. May all the blessings and joy of the holiday season be yours!

Chantal

Who needs lunch on a lunchbreak?

Who needs a lunchbreak...When you can thrift instead? I KNOW, I'm a liar! I said I was done until Christmas! But seriously...WHO GAVE THIS AWAY??? It was $1.99.

...and then it went right into my sewing room.

Along with these Houndstooth Jones of New York bell bottom trousers. They are in my size and we'll see what they look like on but I actually bought them to make a DIY skirt with. :D

This yellow sweater vest is going to be transformed into something cute.

All of these fantastic vintage clip ons with rhinestones were .49 a piece! I have ring blanks and I'm going to be making statement rings with them. So fantastic.

Two little cuffs; two dollars. Isn't the bow festive and cute for Christmas?

Just a little costume jewelry piece but it was only 99 cents!

The Christmas Sweater Party Issue

The lovely hostess and dog of the hour.

My band, Chantron! We played the party. From the left: Mikey, Trav, yours truly, Kate, Jimmy, and Eric.

Sarge busted out his cute sweater AND the scarf I made him!

Here's a cute idea as a sub for a Christmas sweater if you're heading out to any sweater parties over the next week or so and want to be comfy--pajamas!

Of course we both chose to rock the vests! Mine was denim and embroidered with Christmas trees and festivities, hahah. I actually LIKE Jenna's and I've told her this before!

No one can resist this dog!

Silver bells! And gold ones. And striped ones. And ones that are dangling from crocheted bows.

Overjoyed and filled with the holiday musings of Christmas beards past!

Rocking the snowman

I'm totally jealous of this awesome Christmas Marushka! :) Super cute. Perfect for it's owner, though!

Do you have a ridiculous Christmas sweater? I'd love to see it on my Facebook or Twitter! Hook me up!

Also, for local cats--just a little tip--still seeing plenty of Christmas sweaters out and about at local thrift stores. Rescue Mission Thrift in North Muskegon, MI (new store that just opened up) has a ton right now!

Purple Volume

Purple: it isn't always my first choice! And sometimes it seems a little garish to me. I probably was dancing finely on that line with the textured tights and sparkly blue nails with black accents. Purple and black IS a little "Halloween"...but I actually really liked this combo. The dress (a no-name polyster vintage form the late 70's) is something that I really dig. I picked this up at Hope's Outlet in Grand Haven, MI for $1.59. If I was feeling really daring I might even pair it with some leopard print flats and beret. :D

Mug Cozy Giveaway!

*****

MUG COZY GIVEAWAY!!!

I'm giving away two of these adorable hand made mug cozies on Christmas morning! Fabric will not be Christmas so you can use it year round! :) There are two ways to enter:

1) Share my Facebook page on your Facebook page. You will need to first like my page to do this, so go to http://www.Facebook.com/ThriftTrick. Then you can share my page on yours, and let me know that you've done so by commenting on the giveaway thread. I will then enter you in the drawing!

2)Subscribe via email to my feed! If you are subscribed already, then you are already entered in the giveaway!

I will be choosing winners on Christmas morning. Mug cozies will be shipped out the following week!

Thrift Review: Lakeshore Rescue Mission Thrift, Grand Haven, MI

Lakeshore Rescue Mission Thrift

(616) 604-0267

1015 S Beacon Blvd

Grand Haven, MI 49417

Map it!

Today I'm reviewing Lakeshore Rescue Mission Thrift in Grand Haven, MI! I gave this store a rating of 4/5. Honestly, the only reason why I gave this store only 4/5 is because they have quite a small collection of clothes and shoes, and I feel that those items are somewhat overpriced. However, the wonderful thing about any Mission Thrift store is that you KNOW the proceeds are going to some wonderful purposes. The local Rescue Missions in both Grand Haven/Holland (Holland branch website here) and Muskegon are amazing places with amazing people supporting our community's needs.

They have a nice, clean store and a lovely collection of Christmas items--including trees and any other decoration you could possibly hope for!

This store carries moderately priced new furniture and also used furniture as well. The table shown above was a dark wood with four matching chairs and priced at $125, new, which was very reasonable! They day I arrived, furniture was on sale--at %20 off I believe! The newer furniture is always very nice!

You can't really see the detail in this interesting rubbing because the pictures were taken with my ipod while out and about...but I like the Mission Thrift because I can usually find interesting art there. I bought a Marushka canvas (without the frame) for $1 here! The day I arrived to review the store, there was a 1/2 sale on artwork, wallhangings, green tag clothing and also long gowns. Good stuff--I love sales!

There was a great selection of purses and jewelry at this store. Another plus is a very clean selection of toys. When my son was a baby, I was very particular about toys I thrifted, and this was one of the locations I loved the most, because staff really takes care to put out toys that are clean and in great condition. Thank you for that, Mission Thrift. Most thrift stores do not like dealing with toys, and I can imagine why!

Overall, I think this is a nice little store and I scored some awesome items while I was there: a cute vintage suitcase to fit my laptop for $3, an original Otagiri owl mug for $2, and some other neat finds that you can check out here: $17.50 (not all items pictured are from Lakeshore Rescue Mission thrift, though).

Let me tell you one more thing I love about this store: the staff. Everytime I go to this store, the same woman is working. I wish I could tell you her name but I'd bet a million dollars if you go, you'll see her. She is the sweetest thing. Not only does she take the utmost care in wrapping and packing up items, calculating discounts and considering each item, but as she packed up my vintage suitcase she noticed a zipper didn't work and discounted it further. Music to a thrifty gal's ears.

Check them out!
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QUICK OVERVIEW:

-Ample parking

-Clean and well lit

-Not the best place to clothes shop due to lack of surplus/selection

-Nice purses, jewelry and housewares

-Reasonable prices on furniture used and new

-Nice and clean toy selection

-Very friendly and helpful staff

-Great purpose for proceeds

It's a Plaid World!

It's a plaid, plaid world!
I love this outfit. SO much fun. So festive! But, you don't have to wait for Christmas time to rock plaid! As you can see from the picture above, I took this thrifted vintage Cathy Daniels plaid blazer (I bought this at Hope's Outlet in Grand Haven, MI for $1.59!) and paired it with dark skinny jeans, a purple vintage rhinestone brooch, the snakeskin Micheal Kors belt (all thrifted items, ofcourse) and red Nine West Platform heels. I did red and gold nails plus a fun cocktail ring with this outfit, along with a dark blue vintage clutch. My favorite part was the fun purple eyeshadow. I dig the way it worked! Very fun and colorful, yet "put together". I'll apologize ahead of time for the "flash"-y photgraphy and lovely (kidding) background of my back porch coat rack, haha! However it was late evening and I was headed out for a performance with my solo acoustic act(Ida's Rope). I didn't want to miss an opportunity to catalog a favorite outfit with you all...so I compromised the photo quality a little in this post. Have fun--get out there and pick up some plaid at your local thrift store!