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June 27, 2013

V's Treasures; A True Winston Treasure



If there is one little secondhand slice of heaven here in Winston Salem, it is on Main Street, the quiet end.  A quaint house-turned-store is nestled in among the tall trees and homes there.  V's Treasures is a secondhand store that promotes everything vintage, salvaged, and repurposed. As I pulled up, the gates were wide open, the sign was out front, and the various objects propped on the sidewalk lured me right in.

Valerie, the store owner, is just as warm and kind as can be. The store is her second job, but I could tell in the short time speaking with her, it is her passion. We had a friendly chat about her 12-year-old store.  She gets the items she sells from everywhere- from home remodeling projects with "junk" leftover to donations. The yard and the inside of the house were filled with all kinds of unique items- mostly for the home, but there were also some yard decorations, kitchen items, and a great little jewelry store (more on that below).  I left with an overwhelming amount of project ideas swirling in my head. There is plenty to be repurposed there!

Here is a sampling of some of the pictures that I was able to take, just to give you a taste of it. But please realize these pictures don't do the store justice- it has a old-fashioned charm about it, which pictures just can't capture.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^^This globe may be my favorite item of the day.  If only I had a good space to do it justice....

 

Now, one of the best parts of the visit involved the new business partner that Valerie has brought in to make the store even sweeter.  She introduced me to a man named Ike, who buys and sells vintage jewelry, watches, and clocks.  He literally just joined the business this week and was setting up his amazing jewelry and other pieces in one of the rooms of the house while I was there.  I spent a ridiculous amount of time googly-eying the jewelry and scored a sweet pair of earrings (see below). He definitely has a good eye for vintage, quality jewelry and this was an unexpected find for the day!

 
 
 

You can visit Valerie's facebook page here.  

**thank you Valerie and Ike- your store is a treasure**




secondhand giving?

I'd like to pick your brain for a second.  If you were to receive a gift that was previously owned, and resold at a consignment shop, how would you feel about it? 
I recently found some things at consignment shops that I think to myself,  "____ would LOVE this". And of course if I know someone well enough, I'd be comfortable giving them a secondhand gift if it's a guarantee they'd like it.
However, because part of my reasoning for shopping secondhand is the environmental-stop-the-consumerism reason, I'm inching towards starting to do this for other people outside of my close knit crew.  But, truth be told, giving a secondhand gift makes me feel like a cheap-A.  And because giving in this way totally takes the return-ability power away from the receiver, I think I am still opposed to it.

What are your thoughts, though?
Is giving a secondhand gift a big no-no?


**happy thursday**



June 23, 2013

wedding season

It is definitely that time of year again that wedding weekends are the norm (and I truly love weddings!).
In honor of having started this blog and trying to be more creative, I decided to make some homemade gifts for the happy couples. Some of the most memorable things we got for our wedding were homemade and original.  One of my favorite wedding gifts is a set of four aluminum coasters that my cousin designed and created- he calls them the "Custom Custer Coasters".  I love them!

In lieu of my recent spray painting project, I decided to keep that train on the tracks and come up with some personalized tea towels.  Once again, I used a trusty old cereal box to cut my own stencils and basic fabric spray paint. Here are some samples:

 
 



**what are some of your favorite wedding gifts you've gotten or given?**




June 19, 2013

the aftermath


This past two weeks has been a bit of a whirlwind.  My grandma passed away unexpectedly two weeks ago (more on that later), which took us home to Lancaster for much needed time with family.  Then, we came home for two days of work and left again for Pennsylvania for a planned camping weekend, that actually lasted a few extra days for Project X (a term I will use to describe something that will be discussed in greater detail in the future).

Finally, we arrived back home yesterday and I have been trying to recover my sanity and keep my head above water.  And in spite of my feeble attempts to balance recent life, when I look back over the pictures and highlights of the past few weeks, they bring me such joy for the time out of routine and time with those that I love.  I feel so grateful for my family, friends, and great weekends.  

Here are the highlights, according to my iPhone:

 
 
 

 
 



**these pictures include time with my family, a weekend in Ohiopyle at a great beer festival, and a necessary and wonderful gals' date at a great wine bar in Winston, Silo**

**have a good week- more crafting to come**





June 11, 2013

burr...

BURR....it is so chilly out today, on this North Carolina June day, I wish I had a long sleeved shirt! (Clearly, this is a staged and incredibly sarcastic shot, and I think it's an embarrassing picture, but albeit, hilarious.) I recently saw a shirt in Francesca's, a guilty-pleasure boutique that I love, and wanted to recreate it, using secondhand material. It is a grey shirt, split in the back, with a long white shirt "tail"- sounds weird, I know, but I liked it.
So, I got a good start on the supplies at Mega Thrift (see below), and got started on the project.

 All in all, after a very frustrating afternoon, my project did not turn out quite like I wanted it too, but the lovechild of my ambition and my ruin turned into something pretty good, too. I expect this little creation to be useful for a warm day turned cool evening. 


**happy mistakes**