In her Easter bonnet

I just LOVE shopping at thrift stores!!!  We have one that's recently opened and it appears that business is booming.  I've certainly tried to do my fair share...lol!  Yesterday I felt the urge to go visit them to see what was new. I hadn't been in a while and they've already expanded within their space - holy moly!  On a previous trip I landed a book about Queen Bess that I'm going to alter for my niece, Bess, some jewelry parts, craft items including wood eggs, trays for inky messes, etc. 

Here's a gander at what I scored yesterday for less than $3.00: miscellaneous sewing items (vintage snaps, hooks & eyes, googly eyes, trims, seam binding), about 100 silk leaves, 6 different styles of silk flowers (12-18 flowers per style), 25 1/2" wood blocks, 100+ 3 1/2" craft picks, and 50 7" upholstery/drapery fabric squares.

So how does this play into an Easter bonnet?  Look and see...how many items can you spot that are from my thrift store shopping extravaganza?

The background is a fabric square, flowers I dyed with Spun Sugar Distress Ink, leaves and the wood eggs.  This 5"x7" framed piece is being entered into the Simon Says Stamp & Show challenge featuring hats.  If you haven't checked out the design team artwork and the other entries, you're really in for a treat - wow!

The memo pin marks the Easter finery from 1960.  I'm the oldest, on the right.  Mom made our outfits and I remember how much I loved that dress...loaded with butterflies and the fabric was kind of shiny.  It's hard to see our hats but they were edged with plenty of lace and flowers. 

I framed the photo using cardstock from a Sizzix pad - found on clearance (yes!) and cut using an old red die by Sizzix.  I did add the pink frame as a mat since the frame's opening was just a bit larger than I needed.

The butterflies were punched out of some pansy vellum (Martha Stewart punches); their bodies are a TH game spinner and mini safety pin.  That's also a MS bunny punch using white cardstock and white flocking.  The 1/2 wood eggs were pressed into the Sailboat Blue and Purple Twilight ink pads and the Raspberry Paint Dabber then quickly wiped dry.  I spelled out 'Easter' on white cardstock using Hero Arts Vintage Alphabet stamps and Nick Bantok's Chartreuse Leaf ink that were punched out, edged with Antique Linen Distress Ink then glued to the blocks.

So if you haven't had a chance to support your local thrift stores or garage sales lately, do so asap!  You just never know what you're going to find...but you do need to keep an open mind.  Happy shopping!