ThredUP - Join Get $10 Credit

ThredUP is an online consignment shop where you can buy or sell higher end name branded in new or nearly new condition kids clothing (12 months and up) and accessories.   However, I do see they are in Beta testing to add a women's section.

They currently have a promotion where you can get a $10 credit for joining  here and also give a get a $10 credit by sharing a link if someone joins and makes a purchase.

I don't have any little kiddos in my life but bought these for a donation to Samaritan's Purse   (For more info on Samaritan's Purse click here).  

I purchased the above brand new with tags pair of Kid Memory shoes, and still have .01 cent credit.  The site indicated I saved 41% of the retail value.   Currently they have a shipping promotion for $2.99 for the first item, .99 each additional item and orders over $50.00 are free.   They also have a 30 day return policy.

I received a free pre-paid shipping bag with my order to load up and send in items .  It is a very large bag; I am showing it taped to my bathroom door and it is almost half as long and an about 6 inches shy on each side of covering the top of the door.

Brands they will take:  Oiliy, Mini Boden, Tea Collection, Hanna Andersson, Guess, Ralph Lauren, Janie &                                     Jack, Baby Lulu and Baby Nay

Brands they don't want:  Faded Glory, Garaminals, George, Sonoma, Athletics Works, Kids Connection,
                                      Koala Kids and Walmart

They even have a calculator where you can enter the item, size and brand and it will give you and estimate of what it is worth.

If you want to share your scores via Facebook you can click on your order and it generates a picture of what you bought and how much you have saved.

I am very happy with my purchase and based on this positive transaction I can recommend ThredUP
if you are in the market to score some great deals on higher end kid's clothing without the higher end price tag.

Chart of Shoe Types

Source: glittermamawishes.wordpress.com via Sassy on Pinterest

If you have ever had to try to explain what a mule, Mary Jane, T-Strap or a kitten heel to a fella in your life and either their eyes glass over of the give you a "what the"  puzzled face  Glittermamawishes posted a nifty little visual that you can show them so they won't be wondering why you want to go around walking on a kitten.

PROJECT {DOLLAR STORE} ACCESSORY CHALLENGE - #2

Sorry for the late posting - had this done on Friday but not able to post it until today.

This week's PROJECT {DOLLAR STORE} ACCESSORY CHALLENGE - #2 was picking out a piece of jewelry and decorate a pair of shoes and create one other accessory to go with it to accessorize a little black dress.

I chose to decorate a pair of shoes that I already had and make a bracelet to go with it.  My total out of pocket for this challenge was around $2.50, which is for sparkly bead trimming ($1.99 @ 50% off) and scrapbooking diamond shaped rhinestones ($2.99 @ 50% off) both purchased at Hobby Lobby and I still have plenty left over.  The remaining items were from my stash and the round clear rhinestones were from a package of mixed rhinestone from the dollar store.

SHOES
The shoes started out a pair of sandals with a strap in the back and I used an X-acto knife to cut the back strap off on each side as close as I could and to make it look more blended colored the area that was cut with a black sharpie.

I next taped off the shoes with masking tape except for the very bottom of the heel and then spray painted it gold to tie in with the gold in the necklace and to give them a more expensive look.

For the glue on the shoes I used Amazing Goop as I have used it in other shoe projects and it has held up very well, but any strong clear glue would do.

I glued two small rhinestones on the side of each shoe with a diamond rhinestone in the middle.  On the back of each shoe I glued a larger rectangle.

I used one square of felt to line the inside of the sandals, first by outlining the shape of the shoe and then by trimming to fit before gluing down.


 The picture on the left is the shoes before and the center and right sides are the after. 

BRACELET

I started with a 1 liter Diet Coke bottle and used masking tape to mark off where I wanted to cut, used an X-acto knife to cut the strip, then wrapped the strip in black ribbon fastening on the inside with hot glue.

I glue a strip of the shiny beads down the center and then glued a dab of glue on the inside of the bracelet and then wrapped diagonally the shiny clear bead string and glued at the end.  I did the same with the gold cord and wrapped it in the opposite direction to create "X"s.

The picture on the left side is the before...it was part of a 1 liter plastic bottle of Diet Coke.  

Be sure to check out other creations by Project Dollar Store Accessory Challenge 2 here.

Happy crafting!

Miu Miu Inspired Rhinestone Embellished Flats

This is for Day 18 of the 30 Days of Creativity www.30daysofcreativity.com and the theme today is "Feet". I had seen the tutorial for these over at Chic Steals where she showed her version of the $745 shoes Miu Miu was selling that she made for $15 and I decide to spiff up and old scuffed pair of shoes except I left off the smaller rhinestones because I didn't have any on hand. This is what they looked like before:

For the picture tutorial on how to DIY these visit Chic Steals. Happy Crafting!

Rue La La - $20 Credit For New Members Through 10/25/10

Rue La La is another of the growing number of sites that you join by invitation by another member where designer duds and upscale items are available at a deep discounts for only 2 days.

They are currently offering a $20 credit  if you join by 10/25/10 and is good through 12/31/10.  Here is my invite link if you are interested http://www.ruelala.com/invite/kmom14

The upside is it is possible to get a deal.  I lucked out and found this pair of PUMA Men's "Benny SN" Leather Sneakers that are available in my son's size and will order if he approves that he likes them.  They  were originally $60 on sale for $35.00; shipping on these is $9.95, so with the $20 credit it will cost around $25 before taxes.

However, things like this Michael Kors dress that had been on sale for $39.00 is sold out already.

As was the pink Cuisinart popcorn popper that was on sale for $25 from by Shop For Good to support breast cancer research.

They do have this ring on sale for $25 but shipping on this too the same as the shoes - $9.95 so after the $20 credit would run around $15 and would help a good cause.












There are other brands such Calvin Klein, A.B.S., Aigle, Brics (duffles and luggage) Nourison, Northwest Getaways (vacation packages), LaSirena Winery (wines), to name a few.  Depending on what your interests and budget may be, it is worth a look.

Revamped Shoes

 

Give new life to an old pair of shoes.

These are my "errand running" shoes that I wear all of the time and unfortunately there was a hole on one of the sides of the shoes but other than that there are in good condition, so I decided to revamp them.

Items used:

• 1 pair old shoes
• Amazing Goop Glue
• 1 yd grommet tape
• 1 broken zipper (off a zip up hoodie)
• 2 decorative stones
• clothespins
• Scissors
• Scrap of material

First I cleaned the shoes then used a small scrap of denim and glued it on the inside of the shoe to repair the hole in the side.  I next glued the grommet tape, starting at the back of the shoe around each shoe then secured it with clothespins to hold in in place while it dried.

For the decoration on the top of the shoe I removed a broken zipper from a hoodie.  

I had the decorative stones left over from another project (I got them at Dollar Tree for $1 for a bag) and applied glue around the circumference, teeth side up, and glued the zipper to it wrapping and gluing until I came to the end.  Once it was dry I glued it each to the top of each shoe.

Blue Bottomed Shoes

The inspiration for these shoes was the faux Christian Louboutin's by Sarah D. at Cut Out and Keep. http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/faux_christian_louboutin_s My goal was not to make them look designer, just to up the funk factor a bit and cover up the ugly .99 price that was on the bottom of each shoe. Here is the hideous before picture. I just used blue acrylic paint that I got from JoAnn Fabric's for 50 cents and painted the bottom of each shoe with several coats, then used Krylon Clear Acrylic to seal the bottom of the shoes.

Retro Warhol '60's Inspired Shoes

I made this for the "Picture This" challenge entry at Craftster.org. http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=311893.0 I wanted to dress up thrift store sandals (.99 cents marked down 50%) into something retro-kitschy cool, yet somewhat personalized, and came up with this project to use a photo of my son and turn it into a Warholian collage then put it on some fashion accessories in different forms. Total cost for this project was under $2 out-of-pocket. Items used for project:

• Sandals
• Photo collage (see below-.19 cents each through Snapfish developed at Walgreens)
• 1/8 inch black ribbon (.50 cents a roll, Walmart)
• Amazing Goop Glue (on hand, but to buy new is about $3)
• Packing tape (on hand, but to buy new is $1 at Walmart of the Dollar store)
• Black Gloss fabric paint (on hand, but to buy new less than $1 at most craft stores)

Here is link on how I made the photo for the project using free software from Picnik.com:

http://craftsandcreationswithkathy.blogspot.com/2009/07/warholian-photo-collage-part-2.html

I then used packing tape over the top of the entire photo to seal and protect it.

I then cut the pictures into strip and put the glue good on the back. I used my finger to smooth it, but it got real messy, I would recommend using a popsicle stick or maybe a Q-tip. I took one strip and put it flush against the outside edge, then angled it over to the other side - it went over the edge a bit on the other side, on one end, but I trimmed it off. Smooth is down and hold the edges in place until is it sticks without the edges lifting up (about 2-3 mins). Do the same with the other piece. Put a small line of glue on the top edge of the photo, starting with the outside edge and all the way across, then attach the ribbon, pressing into place as you go and cut off when you get to the other edge. Repeat for the bottom of the photo, then repeat the entire sequence for the other shoe.

I then put a small line of blue around the bottom edge of the sandal and glued down the ribbon all of the way around. I then used black gloss fabrib paint and went around all of the edges of the shoe to outline it.

Nautical Bejeweled Shoes

I bought the overly white shoes when Steve & Barry's were going out of business a few months ago for around $3 and they have been sitting my closet as well, they are just too darn white and too darn plain.

After making a Nautical Bejewled top and having leftover stones, I decided to jazz up the shoes to somewhat match the top and the end result cost me less than $4 total.

Items used:

• White canvas shoes
• 2 1/2 yds for white rope cording (.37 yd at Walmart)
• 8 decorative stones
• Amazing Goop glue
• Hot glue gun and glue sticks
• Tape
• Clothepins

I arranged 3 stones on top of the shoes and glued down with Amazing Goop glue. To help keep the stones from sliding, I attached clothes pins on either side of the two stones on the top of the shoe.

I glued 1 stone on the heel of each shoe and held it in place with a clothespin while it dried.

Cut the rope into 45 inch lengths and tape off each end with tape to keep the rope from unravelling. Center the length of rope and tie a knot in the center and loop around the stone at the toe of the shoe. Tie knots around the other two stones and take it to the back of the shoe and tie a knot around the stone in back.

Pull of the knot and use a hot glue gun to glue around the stone then push the knot back down over the stone to glue it into place. Repeat with all stones until completed. I also pushed the rope on the side up a bit and ran a thin line of glue on each side then pushed the rope back down and glued it to each side.

Christian Louboutin Copy Cat Shoes

This inspiration was from Sarah D.'s posting at CO+K awhile back http://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/faux_christian_louboutin_s This is a pair of dress heels that I bought at thrift store for $2 and while the tops looked great, the bottoms were scruffy and the thrift store had written the price on the bottom and I was not able to scrub it off, so I decided to give this a try and it turned out very well. Sorry, but I didn't take pictures of the process as I was not sure how they were going to turn out. Items used:

• Acrylic Cherry Red paint
• Sponge Paintbrush
• Clear Coat Spray Acrylic
• Masking tape (optional)

I would suggest using masking tape all around the area near the sole of the shoe before you begin painting as it will prevent you from getting paint on the shoe - I didn't and although I as able to wipe off the red acrylic paint because it was still wet with no problem, when I applied the clear coat spray, it over sprayed and it caused the vinyl on the side to bubble up a bit, but fortunately, it is not too noticeable.
You paint the bottom of the shoes with the red acrylic paint with a sponge paintbrush - I used 6 coats and allowed the coats to dry throughly between coats. I then sprayed on the clear acrylic paint as a sealant and to give it shine.