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Saturday, July 31, 2021

Thrift store DIY project

Searching for thrift store DIY project?  We have a thrift store DIY project to share with you for Christmas decorating.  


Thrift store DIY projects can be fun to create.  This thrift store craft ideas was really easy, and will outlast Christmas decor long after Christmas is all put away.


White tree on cake pedestal


Is Christmas slightly on your mind?  If not, when do you begin thinking about Christmas?  Please do not say Christmas Eve!  Please, please, please!  I begin thinking about the following year right after Christmas.  

Crazy?  Yes, that is me, crazy Xmas lover!  The reason?  I am all about the after Christmas sales!  What can I find for the lowest prices possible?  How can I make over pieces that I see?  I am always thinking about make overs, that never stops!  


Christmas around here can get pretty overwhelming. We make sure we  have a tree in nearly every room.  We even have a little tree for the bathroom downstairs.  We are thinking about one for the bath upstairs too this year.  I mean, I have a make up table that I could see perfectly perched on... time will tell.


I decided for the very last day of July, I would get with the program and show you a Christmas craft.  I have many of these glass trees.  I bought them for our wedding and then did not use them.  Imagine that... but during this time in our lives, we discovered thrift stores! 


Can I just tell you how amazing that was, how a whole new world was opened up to me, and how much I love searching for awesome finds there?  We did not know what we were missing out on until planning our wedding.  


There were $.99 vases, and glass trees, and Christmas decorations, and decorative glassware, and silver candlesticks... the lists went on and on and on!  I scooped up as much as I could with a Christmas wedding on my mind and seeing those lovely lit up glass trees everywhere! 


It amazes me what people donate to the thrift store, don't get me wrong, one man's trash, is another man's treasure!  For me and my eclectic tastes, it fits me just fine so keep donating away, we thank you!  




Above: Wood round you can find at Walmart for $.97. I occasionally add them to our grocery orders whenever I think I may have a project for them.  At that price, you can pick up several and figure it out as you go.  




Epsom salt can be found at your local dollar store.  Do you see our little glass tree and decorative scrolls, wonder what is on the agenda for today? 
 








Which brings me to the here and now.  We found this small glass tree at a thrift store for $.99.  I have been wanting to try this craft for a while now, so I decided to just do it!  Friday night seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to work on a craft after a very long week at work.  YUCK!

I covered the glass in Mod Podge and then rolled the top of the tree in Epson salt.  The bottom half was a little more difficult.  I covered it in Mod Podge and then sprinkled Epson salt all over the bottom.  When I sprinkled, it clumped up a bit in some areas. Rolling is definitely easier than sprinkling. 













The rest I made up as I went.  I had a left over round wood circle similar to the spackled wood pieces I made for our wall going up our stairs and decided this was a good project for this piece.  


I had purchased a decorative mold a while back and made the decorative scroll pieces by mixing up plaster and putting it in the mold.  I kept looking at them wondering what project they would be used for and decided this seemed to fit the vision I had going on in my head.


I painted the wood round piece white by whirling the paint around the wood in circles hoping it may create a pattern in the paint.  Then I pushed it off to the side to let it dry and I could think while I worked on the next part of this project.  


I decided to add some Epsom salt to the round piece.  Then I painted the decorative pieces white and sprinkled more Epsom salt on top of them and the wood round piece.


I kept trying to decide if I was going to keep the scrolls or not.  I really liked them, especially after I painted them white and removed the gold I had painted on them before.  



I added my twinkle lights to the inside of the tree and placed it on the wood round and thought, hm.. this looks pretty cute.  Oh, I did hot glue the scrolls to the wood, but I decided not to hot glue the tree down.  I did not want a mishap later on down the road to happen.  




I brought out my small Jadeite cake plate and put the piece on top of it and thought it was not half bad.  I never know if these nutty ideas I come up with will work or not, I just jump in with both feet and say ahh shucks... let's see what happens.  I will share it with you regardless.  We all learn from making mistakes and you can learn from mine too.  




We turned off the lights and said oh how we love things that light up!  We are such kids around here.  




At first I was not happy with the clumps of snow on the tree, and my husband said well, that is real life, snow does clump up on trees when it falls.  I sat back and looked at it again and saw it in a new light.  Good thing he knows how to ground me.  😉




I am forever the perfectionist who thinks everything has to be perfect all the time and he says life isn't perfect.  Don't I know it too?  When I craft, I want it to be perfect though.  




I left my flowers around the base, they are really Christmas ornaments anyway atop our silver thrifted tray.  




Well, what do you think?  Do you have a glass cookie or candy jar laying around you can add Epsom salt to and put twinkle lights in?  It is really a very simple craft and may get you in the mood for the upcoming holiday season!  I know I am looking forward to it, are you? 


Glass tree covered in epsom salt on cake stand

So much better in natural light the following morning you just do not get that when you craft at night. 

The tree was $.99, Epsom salt $1.00, wood round $.97, the scrolls I made from a mold, everything I already had on hand just laying around waiting to come together for this Christmas in July post.  Do you plan to work on a craft or project this weekend?  Share them in our Facebook Group called Decorating that was recently created.  We love to see the projects you work on too!  

Would you like to comment?

  1. Oh, I love this. I've never used epsom salts in crafting. It looks fabulous. Off to pin the idea. PS. Love your profile picture. So nice to see you!

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  2. Thank you Kim! I had not crafted with Epsom salt before either, but it was easy enough.

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  3. Such a fun project Cara! I love the tree on that gorgeous jadite stand too!

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    1. Thank you Cindy, it helped me wind down after a long week at work. I love using creativity to alleviate stress.

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