December 8, 2022 by princesshotflash

Mending

If you look up stitching or mending, you may notice the term slow stitching. For me, slow stitching is a mindful practice to keep my anxiety at bay and to create and learn something new.

This spring, I found an online workshop called Making Zen from https://www.zenstitching.ca/ with demonstrations of all different stitching techniques and processes. The workshop lit a fire in me, seeing what others were creating out of stitching and mending. I posted about the blanket stitch technique I used on my scrappy jeans trivet in Seams and Scraps.

I’ve recently started doing random stitching projects involving upcycling items being tossed out. They still had a lot of life in them. It would be my job to address the staining, broken zipper, hole, or tear to have another round of enjoyment by someone.

Aloha Shirt

I got this long sleeve aloha shirt from the 2 for a $1 bin. Its only real problem was a brownish stain on the front pocket area. I had an idea about using a running stitch technique in a lighter blue to disguise the staining.

Slouchy Hippy bag

I should have put this bag out to pasture. Broken zipper, tears, and staining on the inside, especially on the big pocket. I saw its potential to continue to carry things.

I decided to address the staining on the inside pocket. I didn’t have a real plan, but I knew I needed heavier coverage at the bottom, with most of the staining. I don’t know what this stitch is called, but I’ve used it with flowers and grass. I like adding other colors to give it more depth. It is still a work in progress.

I’m hoping the black snags with work into my stitch.

I’ll post more when I start working the outside, patching up the holes. Then I’ll tackle adding a working zipper back again. Stay tuned.

October 14, 2022 by princesshotflash

Thrifty Finds: Two Musubis

On a slow day at Kuakini Thrift Shop, I was scanning the shelves, and I came upon this Christmas ornament of two musubis sitting on the couch. It made me smile. So kawaii.

**Wouldn’t this look cute on your tree?**

Here are a few other items that I wanted to share.

Vintage wooden cutout Christmas tree–I love the graphic label on the packaging.
Two small ginger jars–I loved the color of the jars
Vintage sunglasses–I thought these were very on point with today’s fashion, very 70s
Japanese charms–A tiny wooden cow and a carved bead with a bear(?) on it.

These two flowers aren’t for sale. They were part of vintage Japanese hair ornaments that were falling apart—now used as decoration for the shop—each petal of the flower created with ribbon. I remember wanting long hair so I could wear these types of ornament in my hair.

I initially thought this would be a weekly feature, but I realized there wasn’t always something to show you in my thrifty finds. I’ll post when I find something interesting to share. These pieces may not be something I’ve purchased, but they are thrifty finds I thought others would like. Look out for more of my Thrifty Finds.

July 20, 2022 by princesshotflash

My Weekly Thrifty Finds

I thought I’d start a weekly posting of interesting finds from the thrift store. Lots of interesting things have been coming in lately.

The shop got a large donation of costume jewelry. There were over 200 pieces. Here are a few I thought it was interesting.

This sweater guard makes me want to wear a cardigan. Haha, I’m sitting in a tank top and shorts and sweating. And I’m writing about wearing a cardigan. I must really like this piece. I wonder how else it could be worn. I think the leaves could be turned into earrings, maybe.

A frog necklace. It weighed a ton. I don’t think I could wear it all day. The clock face was facing upside down. So if you pull it up to read the time, it would be right facing. Cute.

Did you know in Japanese folklore, frogs (Kaeru) bring you good fortune.

We also got a donation of incense and incense holders. The incense was from Japan, India, and Bhutan.

Incense from Japan in black lacqured box

The packaging on the inside was so bold and colorful. There was an inset with an illustration of a boat with Japanese written around it. I don’t know what was written.

This one was from Bhutan. The packaging was the complete opposite. Simple reed or grass wrapper with the ends sealed with paper. And black and white label with a line drawing incense urn. It looks like the label was hand stamped.

Just one more thing I wanted to share. Have you heard of these shrimp chips. My girlfriends and I got the crazies for these chips. Perfectly bite size, flavored with butter and garlic, so very addicting. It came back in stock at our local Costco. My friend who has been raving about it, also works at Costco, and sent out a text the other day asking if we wanted her to pick up a bag for us. Well, nine bags later, in the Starbucks parking lot, we picked up our bag. I ended up picking up five more bags on my weekly Costco run. One for our house, two for Auntie M, and two for Auntie J. If you can find it at your local Costco, give it a try. It’s worth it.

June 27, 2022 by princesshotflash

Quilts Galore

The hospital thrift shop I volunteer at has a donation of Hawaiian-style patchwork quilts. The hospital has a group of craft ladies that made up these patchwork quilts for use within the hospital. The hospital did not need the quilts, and the volunteer service group decided to sell them at the thrift shop. These quilts have become very popular with our clients. They are always asking for more.

It was my job to get the dimensions and price the quilts. I got to see them all and have taken a few pictures of my favorites.

**I love these for the use of all crazy patterns.**

Last week, as I sorted through another batch of quilts and asked the volunteer services manager about them and the group who made them. He told me it’s not a group but one lady that made all of the blankets. He said she would talk to him about how she would think about the placement of the prints and layout of the patterns for each quilt.

The volunteer service manager said she hasn’t brought in a quilt since covid started. I hope these aren’t the last of her quilts. They are so fun and inspiring to me. I want see more of her work.

April 14, 2021 by princesshotflash

Thrifty Finds

I volunteer at the Kuakini Hospital Thrift Store, as it reopen after being closed for about 8 months because of COVID. It so much fun being there looking all the fun thing that are donated to the shop. Here are few goodies that I found today as I straighten up the shelves in between customers