8 Last Minute Thrift Gifts plus SPECIAL printable tags!

For the fashionista: a vintage clutch and matching gloves won't miss. 
Add a current copy of Vogue, rolled and tied with a fancy velvet bow!

LAST MINUTE THRIFT GIFTS

AHHHHH!  There is only one more shopping day until Christmas. 
Are you in a pinch and out of ideas...or possibly, money?

Try these thrift gift ideas for a unique combo! Don't be afraid or embarrassed to tell the recipient of your gift about your statement in giving upcycled, vintage and thrifted gifts; not only is it eco-conscious, but it's also fun. Previously owned items have history and personality. Use that to your advantage and learn a little bit, if possible, about the item's history, or even more fun...make one up!

BONUS: I've included some gift tag printables for you below to make your gift even MORE special as a vintage or secondhand item! See this link and image below and click the pdf to print tags you can add to your packaging for that extra special touch. 

1. Give a sweater (or two). They are abundant at thrift stores everywhere, like this nice collection hanging at Lakeshore Rescue Mission thrift in Holland, MI on Riley street! Notice that several of the sweaters still have department store tags on them? If you like to mix and match new and old, pair a sweater with a coordinating necklace and earring set to complete your gift. If a PRETTY sweater isn't your thing, what about a HIDEOUS one? Everyone loves a good "ugly" sweater party...give your friend or family member a leg up on their ridiculous getup for a holiday soiree and gift them something goofy!

2. Give a nutcracker. I love vintage nutcrackers and pondering over their history; who owned them, where they were displayed, etc. It's especially fun when they are out of the ordinary, like this little golfing fellow above. Why not give a collection? At a dollar or two a piece (like these ones spotted at the Chicago drive location for LRMT), you can afford to toss a few extra into the box. Combine with some fresh holiday nut mix and it's a wrap!

3. Give some vintage glasses (and booze!) Find some interesting, one of a kind tumblers or any other kind of glass and pair with your gift recipient's favorite drink! 

4. Give holiday decor! I think anyone appreciates holiday decor as a gift but for those who are notorious displayers and decorators during the Christmas season, you really can't miss with secondhand additions to Christmas villages, interesting Santa Claus sculptures and vintage snow globes!

5. Give sentimentally! It's fun to take a trip down memory lane and try to find a secondhand gift associated with a loved one. For example: this Holly Hobbie plate reminds me so much of my grandmother. =) A dozen cookies on top with a note about a precious childhood reflection would have made this gift sweeter than any holiday treat! I regret not buying it while I was there...

6. Give a collection! I mentioned these pretty china dolls in my last blog about being proud to give thrifted gifts (see the article that Grand Haven Tribune posted about it here). Why not give a collection of vintage dolls for the price of one? If you have a friend who collects something special, such as red Avon glassware, it can be an exciting challenge to "hunt" for items to fit right in. Perhaps you even know a friend, or child, well enough to give them a head start on a collection they didn't even KNOW they wanted! (My son loves animals of all kinds, and I began to find him miniature vintage ceramic cats, which he was delighted with!)

7. Give goofy! I honestly think the "cheesy" ceramic above is an ashtray, and I'm not a smoker, but I'm drawn to this goofy item and I just love a bright bit of retro kitsch. "White elephant" items can really lighten someone's day, particularly if they double as something that is actually useful, despite its oddball appearance. If there is a back-story on an item and it becomes a conversation piece, that is even better!

8. Give it in a vintage suitcase! Make your treasure extra snazzy by packing it into a vintage suitcase! I've done this several times before and it is always a hit. If your intended giftee isn't the type for retro luggage, consider packing the gift in a special tin or a more contemporary purse, backpack or container that is also thrifted! (Yes, the collection above is my own, and I will be the first to admit that I'm a vintage suitcase hoarder!)

This last picture is just for fun... It would actually be a Christmas dream come true for me. This gorgeous antique stove was located at the Chicago Drive Lakeshore Rescue Mission Thrift. Besides the double ovens, the top left hand burner is actually a DOUBLE BOILER! So awesome. They just don't make 'em like that anymore. ;)

____________________________________________________________________

THRIFT GIFT TAGS!

I've created these one of a kind gift tags so that you can proudly label your vintage, secondhand and thrifted gifts with pride. Please feel free to share and print...click on the PDF below for a sheet of 9!

CLICK HERE FOR A FULL PAGE (9 Tags) COLOR PDF

Quote Board: PROJECT GIFT #1

I made this cute quote board for my friend Kerra from a recycled calendar! She was actually the one who bought me the adorable vintage pinup calendar plus a candle and had it delivered to my house for my birthday. So sweet! Well, the awesome Gil Elvgren illustrated calendar was seriously too fantastic to just toss out at the start of the New Year...so I couldn't wait to begin upcycling it. I'm sure you will see more of it around shortly! And who better deserved to get something cute from my first effort than the sweet gal who gave it to me? :)

I bought a vintage frame at a thrift store for $1. I then did some cutting and arranging.

Used my home printer to make this little design with personalization!

Used gold vintage wallpaper behind the polka dots and the pinup! Left some white space at the bottom to write with!

It's great to use picture frames as dry erase boards. They are a touch fancier, clean up much nicer with no staining, and you can put anything you like behind the frame--a family photo, neat picture, or a printed grid from your very own design/printer.

All in all, it's a great (and quick) DIY project that is super fun to give away if you have beautiful, deserving friends. I'm lucky to have an abundant supply of those!

Naturally, the final step was to pack it up in some cute brown paper and vintage fabric ribbon. Voila!

MEGA THRIFT GIFT GUIDE: 2011!

Thrift a gift! What about a tea set? For me, the fun of putting it together is selecting pieces that go together well but aren't from a matching set. Two cute teacups and saucers, a platter and a vintage tin make an adorable gift! Make it even more deluxe by selecting a complimenting cream and sugar set, vintage silverware, or a teapot! By the way...this platter, teacups and tin cost me a total of 6 dollars. I would LOVE to receive something like this as a holiday gift!








Vintage tin, ceramic or pot (or any other fun vintage item) as a planter! What a cute idea. I've done this before in my home but it didn't occur to me as a great gift idea until I rediscovered it after stumbling upon this super cute blog: Thriftcore. Click the link to see her ADORABLE owl themed planter and wrap.

Thrift gifting is SO much fun if you choose a theme. For these planters I wanted a kitchen theme, so I chose a teapot and a reproduction kitchen themed tin and filled them both with basil. Pair something like this with a thrifted cookbook and you have an adorable gift for someone you know who loves to cook!


I personalized this simple glass canister (which I thrifted for .49 this week) with a monogram for my best friend who was recently married. It stands for her new last name...I thought it was a fun way to celebrate her new last name and her first Christmas with her new husband! :) There are some basic directions below, but as you can see, I just filled the canister with interesting dead foliage I spray painted silver! The monogram was also spray painted, and I added a few beads for an accent, and a blue ribbon. There is also a top to this canister and I will include that in my gift in case they'd like to use the canister for something else.



I found this vintage wood ornament in the original plastic packaging. It was so cool--a tassel Santa? Heck yeah! I put my son's initial on the Santa and plan to hang it on the tree "from Santa" on Christmas morning. :)

I'm proud of the little pattern I made for these adorable mug warmers. YES--those are jingle bell accents. Pretty cute, right? And they are actually lined with polyster fiber fill, so they are insulated! The crocheted loops button around the side and it simply wraps around the mug. I made these from recycled Christmas napkins that I thrifted for 99 cents! I got four of them for that price and you'll see other projects below that I used for them!


Upcycled Christmas placemat/napkin pillows! These were just too darn easy. I'll attach a few pillow tutorials below for you to follow along with. I added accents like a big jingle bell, and a letter monogram for the person it is going to! :) Don't they look cute stacked, with ribbon tied around them?



It's the upcycled tshirt scarf again! So easy...such a great gift to give, particularly for those who are eco-conscious OR just plain fashionable. :) See the Upcycled Tshirt Scarf blog for directions!



Thrifted bowl: .49. Rocks=free! Yes, all I did was find some rocks outside, spray paint them and paint on a few snowflakes, and put a tealight candle in the middle. This 10 minute DIY decoration is so cute. You could monogram the rocks with someone's name or initials, or decorate them in some other personalized way for a special gift!



This cute vintage silverware set was a family gift. As you can see below, it was in bad shape on the outside (wood laminate that was scuffed and scraped). All I did was spray bomb it silver--but look what a difference it made! I am keeping this set and I think I may monogram my own initial on the lid. :)
___________________________________




Here is the silverware before...pretty much an eyesore on the outside, despite how cute the entire set was!



Here's the canister I found. As luck would have it, a brown paper bag fit perfectly over the whole thing and became my stencil for spraypainting the silver! I hand painted the black accents around the letters and hot glued bead ornaments on. There are a number of ways you could do this: spray paint, fabric paint, acrylic. You could hand paint it on, or use a stencil as I did! FYI, if you do use spray paint, a magic eraser and a pencil eraser clean up softened lines or overspray excellently from glass!


I love sewing. Especially when you can pick up fabric for such inexpensive prices at thrift stores. The plus about using placemats and napkins is that they are so ready to be transformed into little pillows, neckwarmers, clutches and everything else. The stiff hemmed cotton is ready to go! All I needed to do was wash and press it and sew. It only took a few hours to do all of these projects! I plan on doing some quilted ornaments and more mugwarmers this week. I'm giving away Christmas mug warmers to some of my lucky subscribers! :)

15 great pillow tutorials from TipJunkie


As you can see, thrift gifting and handmade isn't so hard after all, and you don't need to spend a million dollars to make cute things. Besides the thrift items I listed, my supply cost was simply a few dollars for spray paint and three dollars for pillow fiber fill! You can get these items at any Super Store.

Try it out...what kind of interesting thrift theme combos can you think of to gift this year? What might be cool to personalize? How about:

--Mugs
--Soup toureens
--Old picture frames (I've re-primed canvas to paint personalized snowmen and other Christmas Decor before)
--Interesting planters (think tins, mugs, baskets, vintage shoes, toys, etc.) Pair with a matching book/item for a fun gift! Example: mug planter with peppermint herb plant, pair with coffee table book; Vintage shoe planter with a neat succulent, pair with a Vogue magazine; Child's toy planter with ivy, pair with a child's book.

Keep the creativity coming for Christmas! I look forward to hearing your ideas and comments, feel free to comment on my facebook page at Thrift Trick or email me at ThriftTrick@gmail.com!