Dressy, Colorful, Designer and Vintage Scarves

I’m excited with my new endeavor, launching Look Again! an online e-store  

We welcome you to Look Again at the treasure finds we have found and are making available to you. Our items will be primarily of the gently used variety. If it appeals to us, then there is a good chance it will appeal to you too!

Please do bookmark us so you can find your way back to the store
lookagain.ecrater.com/

Added some beautiful scarves to the store.  You’ll want to take a look!  (little play on words there, since name of the store is Look Again! )

Uses for designer and vintage scarves besides the usual fashion accessory; curtain valance, frame them, use as dresser scarves, use to make pillow slipcover, use in upcycle crafting/sewing, sew a few together to make table runner, make a tablescape by draping scarf from vintage purse with pair of glasses and place a thin column lamp placed in purse, What uses can you think of for scarves, vintage or otherwise?

Echo Black on White Striped Scarf

Offering this Echo designer scarf in a bold black and white stripe pattern, edged with an orange stripe finished with a larger red stripe. 100 % silk.

No tears or holes. There is a tiny run across part of the width in one place, but it is not obvious. I almost missed it in my examination of the scarf. Appears to be new or if used, has been very little use.

The Echo name in designer scarves has been around since 1923. In fact Echo claims that it was the first brand name ever printed on a scarf.

 

Charter Club Silk Tropical Floral Scarf

Offering a Charter Club designer scarf in vibrant colors in a tropical floral pattern edged in blue/green. The Charter Club logo is visible on the corner of the scarf. The tag indicates Charter Club, 100 % silk, made in Japan, with copyright icon - Macy's. Instructions indicate dry clean only.

The scarf appears to be new or if used, lightly used. There are no tears, holes or runs, the edges are rolled hem and beautifully stitched.
Scarf is rectangle measuring 35" by 18".

 

 

Vera Green Scarf

 

Vintage Vera! Offering this Vera scarf, likely from the 1970s based on large signature and no ladybug icon. All Vera designs are copyrighted. color green

Scarf is large square in size measuring 22 1/2" by 22 1/2 ". Green with green mountain pattern. The fabric feels like a chiffon, or sheer type fabric. There are no tears, holes or pulls. The rolled edges are in very good condition.

If you don't know the Vera name of designer scarves, a brief history. Vera Neumann, artist turned textile designer's scarves are known for their graphic, bold patterns (flowers, dots and geometrics) and Vera's signature in the corner. One way to tell the age of the scarf is by the size of the Vera signature - the smaller the signature, the older the scarf.  Also through the 1960s until the late 1960s, the ladybug icon shows up alongside the Vera signature.

The Vera signature gets larger; the ladybug icon makes a comeback in approximately 1973 with the larger Vera signature. Disappears again through the 1980s, and makes a comeback in present day scarves.

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Thrift Find – Pink Kimono

More thift find sharing.  I don’t think this kimono is vintage, but I liked the pattern and color.  For now I have it on hanger on closet door to please my eyes when I wake up in morning.  Later I thought I might use the fabric in a remake project.  Which reminds me that I need to snap some photos of the wonderful linens I found when I was thrifting with my mom in her town earlier this year. 

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Colorful Palette of Scarves

I can’t help it, in my thrifting, when I run across a colorful scarf that appeals to me I just have to add it to my collection.   I don’t wear them very frequently, mostly when I have reason to dress up, ie, going to town, meetings – that sort of thing.  After years of 8-5 employment and dressing for the office, I don’t regret that I don’t have to do the ‘morning routine’ each and every morning any more, but I do miss career dressing sometimes.  Scarves work well for career dress up.   

This is not the full collection, nor are all the scarves vintage, but I liked the color palette combination and it is cheerful to wake up to each morning.   I have about 3 more collections that are more vintage.  One includes a Japanese motif pink silk scarf that I just love. 

 

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Vintage Finds - Collectibles

Holidays are over and the 'Company's Coming' size dining room table not needed now, so shortened it and added lighter table dressing for that fresher summer look.



I think I got some pretty good thrift deals on these plates.

-- a dozen Anchor Hocking Peach Lustre plates. While I'm not collecting these, I see the peach lustre pieces everywhere I find a collectible shop. This time, the price was just too good for me to pass up. I don't need more dishes, but hey, this is how collections get started, eh?






-- seven Homer Laughlin plates - rose edge design. This was at an estate sale, owner passed, and I am told these were her favorite dishes. They show years of use, wear and tear. But I am a nostalgia, vintage buff, and again price was too good to pass up...but I don't need dishes!!

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Handkerchiefs - my latest fun thing to do..

I don't have those lovely vintage type handkerchiefs, and am at the mercy of finding them at thrift stores, collectibles and such like. So I went and found some because I found a few fun ideas for how to use and wanted to give some of the projects a try.

In my painting/sewing room, the upstairs cupola, I used the handkerchiefs to create a window treatment. The view outside to peek views I have from the cuploa of Willapa Bay will inspire the paintings, while the breeze will softly blow the handkerchiefs, creating a lazy, billowy effect.





The back door, which leads out to a not so nice mud room, is an old fashioned French Door set up, that leaves a few things to be desired. For Summer look, I want to add handkerchief curtains. Can seam sew the handkerchiefs together, or hand sew the corners together, adding columns and rows of handkerchiefs. Can pin them together, ie safety pins. Can add lengths of string and clip on with cafe curtain clips, clothespins. Lots of different approaches. Right now I'm hand sewing the corners together and have one column on each window. Will add additional columns to fill the window spaces, depending on how many handkerchiefs I have available to use.

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An impromptu chair cover with matching covered pillow

Helpful hints from bloggers prompts me to try new ideas. This is a recycle, refashion idea. Using a pillow case that I picked up at thrift store, it becomes a chair cover with enough left over to cover a small pillow.

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Craftivism, what is it? Where did it come from? Who thought that one up?

Well, whewww, someone put it together – activism + craft = craftivism.  That works for me! 

 

Because it is possible to go beyond banners, email petitions and chants as ways of fighting for a cause you believe in. You could have a knit-in, papier-mache puppets, teach a crafty class for kids- all ways of turning that energy into a more positive, more useful, force. Atrocities are happening in our front yards and on our televisions and we need to find ways to react against what is happening without either giving up or exploding.

This is less about mass action or more about realizing what you can do to makes things around you better.

Read more - link here   -  Craftivism.com, created by Betsy Greer, who advanced ‘craftivism’ as a Masters thesis.    Now she’s talking, no, excuse me, now she’s crafting --- with a message!   

Gives me that elusive concept that I have been struggling with for over a year now.  How can I go from 5 years of intense and passionate activism to end the Iraq war to dabbling in exploration of hobby crafts – how are those two things congruent at all?   Looks like maybe there is a common thread, after all.  

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Projects; Reusing mis matched socks

How to Recycle Your Socks

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

You've just cleaned out your drawer, and in front of you is a huge pile of old, holey, mismatched socks. You're thinking about throwing them away, but that's just wasteful. Here are some great ways to recycle those socks - perhaps you never realized just how useful socks can be beyond wearing them!

Steps

1. Make a dust rag. Slip the sock on your hand. Dampen it with water or a furniture polish and clean away! Socks are good for furniture, window sills, computer screens, floor spills, handles, and blinds.
   
2. Polish your shoes. Old socks make great shoe polishers. You can also use them to shine the shoe after polishing.
   
3. Make a homemade hacky sack. A hacky sack is a small cloth ball filled with small beads or beans. Cut off about half the top part of a long sock and about three quarters for a short sock. Fill the sock with dried rice, dried peas, or beads. Sew the opening together in a ball shape.
   
4. Make a drink cozy. This requires a long sock. Cut the whole top of the sock off. Slide it over a bottle to keep the bottle cool (insulated). A shorter sock can be used for cups and cans.
   
5. Make a coin purse. You'll need an anklet-sized sock for this project. Use the whole sock and decorate this sock bag with sequins, beads, glitter, or any other decorative items you have about the house. Sew a strip of fabric onto the top for a handle, or a zipper across the opening.
   
6. Make sock dolls. You can also make a sock monkey or a sock puppet. Fill the sock with beans or rice. Glue, sew, or draw on eyes, nose, and mouth. Cut up another old sock into strips and sew on for hair.
   
7. Keep a pet's paws warm. If you have an ailing animal that is suffering from the cold, old socks can be helpful in keeping their paws warm. If you are a wildlife rehabilitator, another great use for socks is as temporary pouches for baby animals in your temporary care, such as baby joeys, bats, or possums. Any creature that likes a springy and soft warm place to snuggle into will appreciate this and you will be able to hang the sock up if it is a strong old woolen type, to mimic mother animal's pouch.
   
8. Make muscle relaxing packs. Fill with rice or wheat and sew up the open end. Place in the microwave with a glass of water to heat for 1 minute. Hang around your neck or place on other sore muscles for instant relief. (Note: Always include the glass of water to provide moisture or the pack can catch on fire if it dries out too much after repeated use.)
   
9. Make a hard-to-reach cleaning stick. Get a ruler (the longer the better) and slip the sock over the end. Attach with an elastic band or staple. Use this to run underneath stoves, fridges, and other hard to reach places. The sock-covered ruler will return lots of fluff and dust and it is easy to wash the sock after each use.
   
10. Make horse bandages. Cut the foot off the end of a long sock and make a horse bandage. Smaller socks might be suitable for smaller animal bandages on dogs or cats (try children's socks).
    
11. Make garden soap holders. Gardening can be messy and dirty. Pop a soap bar into the bottom of an old sock and tie a knot around the soap part of the sock. Leave the long part of the sock for tying onto a faucet in the garden. It will be ready for you whenever you need to clean up outside after a gardening session.
    
12. Sew a quilt or a sock rug. You will need to find the instructions on how to do this (do an internet search) but it is possible to make quilts and rugs from old socks. This gives them extra utility for years to come and is especially neat for those socks with cute patterns or designs that you can't bear to part with.
    
13. Wash the car or bike. A sock over the hand and you have an instant cleaning cloth that is soft enough for the car body or bike frame. Use one for washing and one for buffing.
    
14. Make draft protectors. Fill a long sock (knee-high is good) with beans, rice, or other spare filling that you have around the house. Sew or tie up one end and you have an instant, rounded draft protector. If you want to enhance its appearance, add eyes, nose, mouth and maybe feelers or whiskers - whatever sort of animal that you can imagine.
    
15. Add a tennis ball. The purpose of adding a tennis ball to an old sock can be twofold:
    
    • Make a back and neck soother. Tie the tennis ball inside the end of a long sock. Taking the long end of the sock, toss the sock over your shoulder so that the ball lands on your back. Stand against a wall and lean against the sock and ball. Rub your back up and down against the ball that is squeezed into the wall and it will massage away aches and pains from sport, sitting too long at the computer or any other activities that may have caused back tension. Use a shorter sock for a neck massaging version.
      
    • Make a dog pull-toy. In the same way, place the tennis ball in the end of the sock and tie around it. Take the long end of the sock and tempt your dog to take it. If your dog is playful, a fun tug-of-war is likely to ensue. See Warnings below.
      
    
    
16. Make a sock jump rope. All you have to do is tie about 15 or so long socks in a line and you have a neat jump rope! It's also fun to use different colored socks!
    
17. Make a dog toy.
    
    • Take a dog's chew bone and put it in an old sock. You can bunch it into a ball and play fetch. The dog will have fun trying to get the bone out. See Warnings below.
      
    • Put an empty plastic water bottle in the sock, tie the end and give to dog. Many dogs seem to love crunching water bottles and the sock stops the plastic from decorating your yard.
      
    
    
18. Save them for moving day. Place valuable glasses, or knick knacks inside the sock sole and wrap the higher part around the bottom. This will give more protection. Add a tag on the outside of the sock, so you remember what is inside. Place in a moving box or inside one of your dresser drawers.
    
19. Make potpourri holders. Place potpourri inside and sew closed. Great in closets and dresser drawers. Gives off a gentle smell for months.
    
20. Make a cat toy. Pour Catnip into an old sock and tie it off. Cats love them. Just watch for holes.
    
21. Start a new trend. Wear two socks of different colors. Make sure that each color matches your outfit. It'd probably work well with Harajuku style. Art from the Middle Ages c. 1300's ("Les Tres Riches Heures de Duc du Berry--January) shows that royalty and the neighborhood landowner wore socks or stockings of different colors. They were actually very fashionable.
    
22. Make Fingerless gloves. Cut a hole in the heel and cut off the toe of the sock. Stick your thumb in the heel hole and your fingers out the toes. If you want you can tuck under the raw edges where you made the cuts or sew a simple hem.
    
23. Make a Rifle Rest Bag. Simply fill a tube sock with rice and tie off the open end. Use it to steady the fore-end of your rifle at the shooting range. Make several and put them under the fore-end and the stock to improve your accuracy.
    

Tips

• You don't have to use only these ideas - use your imagination as well!
  
• Always launder socks before using them in any of the projects.
  
• Always sew up any holes in old socks that are destined for any projects required filling. Obviously if you don't, the filling will pour straight out of the hole.
  

Warnings

• Using a sock as a dog chew toy poses two dangers: it might teach your dog that all socks are chew toys, so try to ensure that it does not look like a sock before you let your dog use it; and ingested socks can cause bowel blockage, a serious concern for your canine companion, so if the sock becomes damaged, you should take it back.
  
• 
  
• Young kids will probably need an adult to help with the ideas that involve sewing.
  
• Be careful when microwaving a sock containing rice, beans, or deer corn. Microwave it for no more than two minutes, and monitor it, as there is a remote chance that it may overheat and catch fire. To ensure that this doesn't happen, always place a mug full of water in the microwave along with the sock.
  

Things You'll Need

• Old socks
  
• Dried peas, rices or beads
  
• Yarn, markers, sequins, or other decorative items
  
• Needles and thread
  
• Large cardboard box to store your odd and old socks - to avoid the temptation to toss them away
  
• Potpourri
  
• Tennis ball
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Darn a Sock
  
• How to Make a Sock Monkey
  
• How to Make a Sock Doll
  
• How to Make a Rice Sock
  
• How to Make a Sock Cover for Your iPod
  
• How to Make a Christmas Stocking out of a Sock
  
• How to Make a Plant Hanger from a Sock
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Recycle Your Socks. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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Project; Making slippers from jean pockets

How to Make Jean Slippers

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Steps

1. Slide your feet into the back pockets of the jeans. The pockets should fit your feet comfortably. Cut the pockets off and trim any extra fabric from the inside.
   
2. Measure the length of the bottom of your foot and add 1 inch. Measure the width of your foot and add 1 inch. Using these measurements, draw a rectangle on tracing paper. Cut it out and round off the corners. This is your pattern for the soles of the slippers.
   
3. To make the soles, trace around the pattern twice onto the foam and four times onto some denim from the jeans. Cut these pieces out.
   
4. Sandwich a piece of foam between two pieces of denim. Pin the pieces together. Do the same with the other pieces.
   
5. Lay one pocket on each sole so the bottom of the pocket is at the top of the sole. Pin the pockets to the soles lining up the outside egdes as neatly as you can.
   
6. Sew around the outside edge of each slipper 1/2 inch form the edge. Remove the pins.
   
7. Using puffy paint draw squiggly lines on the bottom of of each slipper to make them nonslip. Allow to dry.
   

Things You'll Need

• Pair of Jeans
  
• Tracing paper
  
• 1/2 yard of 1/2 inch thick foam
  
• puffy fabric paint
  
• thread
  
• scissors
  
• pins
  
• measuring tape
  
• pencil
  

Related wikiHows

• How to Bleach Jeans
  
• How to Rip Your Own Jeans
  
• How to Make Distressed Jeans
  
• How to Clean Soft Ballet Slippers
  
• How to Give a Foot Massage
  

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Make Jean Slippers. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

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My daughter Bree's talented scrapbooking

I wanted to show a bit of my daughter's beautiful scrapbooks. The photos are of two miniatures she made for me and 'Dad' as 'remembrances' when she and the kids joined her husband at his newly assigned duty base. (He is military, returning Iraq veteran and currently in Iraq again in his second deployment).

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Thrifting Finds!

I love the chase of 'thrifting'. Those splendid finds at thrift stores, vintage anything, and those quality made items at affordable prices just not so easily found in today's department stores. Along my years of thrifting, I've picked up items that I still treasure. What was more a budget necessity back in the day when I was a young wife and mother, has now become less of necessity and more one of my all time favorite 'hobbies'. Today though, with recycling, refashioning, green living, sustainable living, meaningful living, or just plain stretching the budget, thrifting has become popular in it's own right.

My recent 'thrifting' finds:



Above - a version of the 'Northern Exposure' cannisters with my friend the Moose keeping watch. I have always liked that old tv show 'Northern Exposure'. For a short time there was a decor motif that included Northern Exposure type symbols, ie, the Moose (one of my favorites!), the Northern evergreen trees, bears, rustic cabin decor, canoes, and such like. Decor and motifs seem to change quite rapidly now and no sooner does one get on board with the latest colors, schemes, styles and motifs and it changes. Pretty good strategy to keep consumers consuming, don't you think?



above and below - My growing hat collection - an array of assorted hats. For all occasions, gardening, casual wear, and even for those times when my Sweetie is 'Driving Miss Daisy' in our ancient 1984 Cadillac the size of a boat with something like 400 horsepower - inherited from my mother - and it still is roadworthy, oh and doesn't use any more gas mph than our other vehicle. One day Sweetie drove me over the Megler Bridge to Astoria, and I was wearing a hat I'd bought in Hawaii when visiting daughter there for her graduation. I commented that I felt like I was being chaueffered in this big car - and said I feel like 'Driving Miss Daisy'. That became one of those jokes between us.



Another find which is not that hard to find is colorful scarves (for crafting and decor) -- photos below -





I picked up a load of placemats at the thrift store - mostly to use in my crafting projects, but this set with the vintage pattern cherries (not vintage placemat set) was just perfect for my kitchen table as it is arranged now. I change the arrangements on my tables, kitchen and dining frequently. Not as frequently as some, but once I get tired of a 'look' then it's time for something new on the table.

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It's not your Grandmothers or even your Mother's crafting

It's been a time of retooling for me. Getting to that age for women that is the Big M word, and now that I'm in it, there, I'm startled by just how big a 'change' in life it really is. Wondering why more women don't talk about it, but that isn't quite the focus of this blog so I won't fill it up with all my thoughts and reflections - maybe that is another blog I might make. My attention is by necessity refocused then on some pro-active work towards making this change a bit more positive and upbeat while I continue to look in the mirror and no longer recognize who is looking back at me.

For weeks now, no more like several months, I've been fascinated by the amount of talent out there blogging about homemaking skills; crafting, needlework, sewing, beadwork, decorating and well the list goes on and on. But I'm particularly struck by how a new generation of young women have taken up the old arts and brought amazing new flair to their creations. I have long crocheted, but pretty basic kinds of afghans, baby blankets, hats, scarves. I have made a few afghans which is probably more king size bedspreads. It takes me 6 months working consistently to finish one. I put down the crochet hooks several years ago and now that I am picking them up again, I am fascinated to find how much the 'old crochet' has become the 'new crochet'.

There are amazing types of yarn out there now, and crochet projects have taken on a whole new life in the hands of the new generation. There is a yarn type for everything from elegant, to classic, to standard, to fun, to whimsical. New patterns being made, new ideas being tried and it's become an industry of it's own.

I remember how startled I was to watch the old fashioned scrapbooking become a new industry in the hands of the younger set. Quilting became it's own kind of industry with amazing fabrics. And now I am watching the transformation of another industry in needlecrafts, crocheting, knitting, felting, needlepoint. I'm wowed!

My daughter has become particularly talented in her scrapbooking. I think it kept her sane during her husband's first Iraq deployment and is keeping her sane now in his second Iraq deployment. I can well understand the need to be doing something with your hands to help calm the worries, and I was pleased she found a niche for that with scrapbooking. She has made some wonderous scrapbooks. I think I'll take a photo of one of the miniature scrapbooks she made for me and show it here.

My older daughter has made a transformation for her entire family in taking them vegan and learning to find the food products, cook them and develop a pantry and a whole new repetoire of recipes and approaches to eating healthy food. Over the years, I have attempted modifications, and have been proud of my efforts, but daughter has gone the full gamut and has become what I consider to be an expert in the art of vegan. It's more than just eating in a certain way, it's a way of life and living with food and products that are free of animals or animal products or animal testing or animal abuse.

My son took himself on a serious regimen of transformation several years ago, dropping a lot of weight and becoming a tall, thin man, inclined towards athletic sports of basketball, soccer, skiing, snow boarding, and several other adventursome activities and sports.

I'm thrilled to see the directions my now grown children are taking their lives and believe me it's not quite the same world at all as the one of their mother, as the one of their grandmother. My two oldest granddaughters are now sixteen years old and are the newer generation. I love seeing the fresh new approaches the young and younger generation bring to the table.

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Paper Art Greeting Cards I received

My step-daughter is amazing in keeping faith with acknowledging every occasion. She has a large family and never misses anyone's birthday, anniversary, congratulations, holiday or whatever else there is to celebrate. I don't know where she finds them, but over the last couple years she has sent me the most adorable greeting cards. I place them around places in my kitchen because the cards make me smile, make me feel happy.

Thought I'd show off her artsy taste. Here are three of the cards she has sent me.

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Crochet Market Bag, one for baby too!

I made a wee little market type bag using baby yarn, a bit of a diaper type bag for extra diapers, bibs, a bottle, an extra outfit, maybe. Should tuck nicely into Mom's purse.








And then I made another adult size market bag but not for marketing, to hang on my bedpost as a place to tuck away my nightclothes.

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16th Grandchild and another crocheted baby blanket

Another new grandchild and the family continues to grow. This is our 16th grandchild, and to welcome him, I got busy crocheting a baby blanket.






Close up view

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Christmas in February - finally got my handcrafted gifts into the mail

I'm late (as usual) getting Christmas and Birthday gifts out to my kids and grandchildren. There is my son, who also has a birthday two days before Christmas; my two grandddaughters who were born in a set 2 months apart and turned Sweet 16 this year in November and in December; my two daughters and my two sets of two grandchildren in age sets of 7-8 yrs old and 2-3 yrs old.

Well, I did get the gifts to my husband, mother and step-daughter timely - before Christmas. But the delay in getting out the gifts to my kids and grandchildren took me into February. I really had wanted to do some homemade craft type gifts this year along with purchased gifts. It took me a bit to get all the handcrafts done and I finally got all the gifts wrapped, packaged up and into the mail by this week, Feb 10. My daughter's birthday Feb 13, and the packages for her family arrived today - just in time for her birthday. Woo Hoo.

Slideshow below of the completed crafted projects I made to include in their gift boxes this year.

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Holiday Canister from plastic coffee containers

Click on photo link above to get to Folgers link for 'how to' and downloadable prints to decorate your holiday canister.

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Let's Talk About Thrift Stores

I do and don't like to shop at Thrift Stores. I love thrift store shopping when I have extra money to spend and encounter those thrift stores that are clean, well merchandised, and prices are affordable, and I feel like I have purchasing power. I don't like thrift store shopping as much when I have fewer choices and absolutely have only XX dollars to spend and I'm not in the 'mood' for gently used anything. Usually when I'm in those kind of moods, it's dark anyway and I'm more in memory of childhood days when sometimes it was 'hand-me-downs', and not much other choices. So, it's a frame of mind for me.

Over the years, from teen, to young parent, to middle aged parent of almost adult kids, to grandmother, my identity, self esteem, and needs have changed. In my teens, having cool, new clothes of the 1960's made a major difference to how I felt about myself. As a young wife and mother having fun clothes was important to me as I assumed my new identity as wife and mother. As a working wife and mother, career woman of the 1970's and 1980's, having a professional wardrobe was important to my sense of identity. Making sure my children had new home, new clothes, new toys, plenty of groceries was important to my sense of being a successful parent.

But in the 1980's something happened. Brand name labels became the 'have to have' among kids and with the brand names came gradually escalating prices until ridiculous prices was the operating word. Tennis, running, basketball shoes jumped to over $100.00 a pair and kept climbing. And that was rather my own personal 'wake up call' and when I put my foot down, explaining to my children, by my logic, that this brand name label clothing was a marketing device and nothing more. I wasn't going to buy into it.

Not so easy for them, because part of their forming identities was tied to what the kids at school were wearing and having whatever was the newest, coolest marketing product. Things like Cabbage Patch dolls began the trend towards 'must have at all costs' toys that parents needed to get for their children. Where was this mentality coming from, I wondered, while I didn't purchase Cabbage Patch dolls at outrageous prices? Well I did purchase some of the trendy toys of that era for my children, but only in what I considered to be an 'acceptable and affordable' range by my standards.

Fast forward through the 1990s to the present, and the trend of buying the newest, latest products is a firmly entrenched mentality among families today. I shudder at the challenges my children, now adults with children of their own face in their efforts to satisfy the perceived wants and needs of their children. If I were faced with some of those financial challenges now, I would have to consciously work to stay above the fray.

But now I sound like my own grandparents sounded to my ears when I was a lot younger. So I've reached 'that age'. Even so, I have growing concerns for my adult children and my grandchildren because I sense strongly the lifestyle we enjoyed when I was raising them is more elusive as they raise their own children.

I began frequenting thrift stores for the fun of finding those very special finds --- cut crystal, unique bags, vintage tablecloths and napkins, yard ornaments, occasional kitchenware. But I didn't 'have to' shop thrift stores, so it was a fun way to spend an afternoon and I was spelunking, looking for those great finds. And then I tried my hand at looking for certain collectibles and antiques in thrift stores and the best of the best thrift stores were when we lived in a city that had wealth that was measured only by more wealth. I found some of the best quality of whatever I was looking for in the thrift stores that dotted that city. It was my ideal of shopping manna.

When we moved from the city to a more rural setting, in region known to have a shrunken economic baseline, so did the availability shrink in the shrunken towns that comprised the region. The spelunking changed and took on a different element, but was still fun, because I could ocassionally find authentic antiques at thrift store prices, and collectibles not yet priced at collectible prices. When we made the decision to go from two incomes - his and mine to one income - his - we felt proud of our decision, made the shifts to tighten our belts, and I earnestly began to look at reviving all the dollar saving hints and tips I'd learned growing up as a child in an economically-challenged family.

I wanted to see if I could do with our household what some of the Depression-era people did to creatively stretch a dollar, recycle, re-use, re-fashion, and remake. It wasn't easy to find reading material on such things, and I wished I could have been in the tutelage of some of the elderly who knew how to do what I did not and could teach me. I realized that I had grown accustomed to the ease of consumerism, and began to contemplate ideas like what if.......

-- what if the economy implodes and we have no choice but to revive some of the older skills?

-- what if we couldn't drive cars any and everywhere because gas cost too much and global warming was a concern?

-- what if and the what if's went on in my mind

And perhaps it could be called an intuitive sense of changing times because as a society, a nation, we seemed to have reached a point of needing to reconsider lifestyles permitted to evolve at the hands of marketing devices.

I'm most encouraged though by the creativity I am seeing among the young families and especially the young women of today as they try to manage their lives and lifestyles on a shrinking dollar. I see a revival of a need to find creative ways to re-use, re-make, re-fashion, re-cycle, and I see young families finding ways to do more with a bit less and keeping a good spirit while doing so. For some it seems to be an effort to restore or return to a prescribed faith-based lifestyle that puts women in their homes with their families. For some it is a flair for the artistic in finding new ways to create clothing, fashion, home decor, gifting. For some it is the challenge forced upon them.

And the thrift store takes on a new prominence in the modern era. Or so it seems to me. So let's talk about thrift stores.

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Project; ruffled skirt using pantyhose nylons for ruffles

What a fun idea from Craft Chi - Ruffled pantyhose added to a skirt makes it kicky fun. Instructions at her website.

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Mesmerizing Image - How a bobbin works

How a bobbin catches thread in sewing machines from Candace at Crafty Daisies

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