Category: Re-Use Stuff

UCP Thrift Store – Pacific Beach

Fashion without limits for all people on a budget! I was thrilled when I stepped into the United Cerebral Palsy Thrift Store in the Pacific Beach neighborhood of San Diego.  Boots, jeans, cute shoes, jackets galore and awesome dresses.  They also had a decent selection of kitchenwares and miscellaneous household items.  Of course, this is one of those places where the fun is in the thrill of the hunt.

United Cerebral Palsy Thrift Store

1454 Garnet Avenue

San Diego, CA  92109

Phone: (858) 490-6400

www.ucpsd.org

Looking good and helping people is always a good combination.  United Cerebral Palsy is one of the largest and most efficient health charities in America.  Their affiliates in San Diego County spend approximately 85% of total income on community programs and services.

It’s a sure thing I will stop by this place again– there is plenty of selection and the store is clean and well-organized.  Happy Shopping!  Below are some photos I took of different  items I found while shopping at the UCP Thrift Store.

Computer & InkStore – Affordable Printer Ink Cartridges

Tired of paying ridiculous amounts of money for printer cartridges? (Personally, I was. This is why I had been putting of replacing my ink cartridges for so long!) While out and about last weekend I stumbled upon the Computer & InkStore on Garnet Avenue located in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego. This shop has been saving San Diegans money for over 8 years.

The Computer & InkStore refills your empty printer ink cartridges with less impact on the environment and at a fraction of the cost of buying new. All cartridges are filled while you wait and typically within 15 minutes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee for the life of the cartridge. All of it sounded too good to be true. However, I can tell you from personal experience my printer cartridges worked great when I got home. I got out of the shop for approximately $20 and within 20 minutes (this gave me time to browse some of the local shops nearby).

Computer & InkStore

1440 Garnet Avenue

San Diego, CA 92109

Phone: (858)412-3270

www.computerandinkstore.com

I found out this shop also does PC and Mac repair and maintance, virus and spyware removal, laptop screen replacement and data recovery/back-up and transfer. Free estimates are given for all repairs and there’s not a charge if it can’t be fixed. Best of all they repair the screens for the iPhone 4 product. This is great news to me as I’ve been known to turn into “butter fingers” and drop phones. Not a good trait when it comes to the expensive iPhone 4!

Here is a sample of pricing for services:

  • Broken Screen & LCD Repair on iPhone 4– $85
  • Home Button Repair on iPhone 4– $49
  • iPad 1&2 Glass Repair– $139
  • PC Tune-up– $25
  • Data Recovery, Back up & Transfer– $50

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Dumpster Diving- Patio Chairs From Trash to Treasure

Tonite I’m writing this post from the comfort of my “new” patio. Decorated courtesy of yet another quasi-dumpster diving adventure. You don’t always have to jump in the dumpster to find the good stuff. My patio chairs were found outside the trash bin which is much easier for me to navigate given that I’m 5 ft 4 inches on a good day.

My two chairs started off a rusty, metal mess. I initially wondered if they might be better off just staying in the trash?

I busted out some sandpaper and sanded off the worst of the rust. Then I whipped out the spray paint and voila– in a hot minute I was finished. Two perfectly fabulous chairs. Side note– this sounds like an easy project but I did experience a few minor mishaps painting due to semi-windy conditions and blowing newspapers. Thankfully there’s not a noticeable amount of paint specks on the patio though the floor is now a much deeper shade of gray in certain spots. Shshsh… don’t tell my apartment complex…

To complete the project I found a cheery red pillow at WalMart for $7 and a small table at Target for $15. Right now I’m using two rugs that are rejects from the kitchen years ago. I’m still in the market for a like-new rug and maybe a few more plants and candles. I’m determined to have a low cost and semi- upcycled/recycled/repurposed patio area. So far, so good. (Let the dumpster diving adventure continue!)

Cost of Project:

  • 2 Metal Chairs– FREE
  • 2 cans black satin spray paint (WalMart)– $5.00
  • 1 red pillow (WalMart)– $7.00
  • 1 small table (Target)– $15.00
  • Plants– FREE

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Fashion Finds – Goodwill Industries – Pacific Beach

Are you wondering what to wear to that 80’s theme party you just heard about? Need a dress for the office? Or maybe just shopping for some gently used kitchen wares? Have I got the place for you– the Goodwill store in the Pacific Beach area of San Diego was stocked with lots of amazing choices for all of the above. I even found some decent golf clubs. And some pretty wine glasses. And a new popcorn popper. The jeans selection was quite good too. There was a rack of jeans 75% off in front of the store and of course like anything else it’s the thrill of the hunt. There’s everything from the possibility of Paige jeans $7.99 to jeans from Old Navy for $2.50– best to be alert and be ready to search!

Goodwill Industries

1430 Garnet Avenue

San Diego, CA 92109

Phone: (858)274-4960

Even more awesome, military, students and senior citizens get a 10% discount (with ID). The staff was friendly and helpful and the store was basically well-laid out and organized. It was an easy place to shop. Whether you’re looking for a wacky puffy vest or some “Hollywood hip” wear for a theme party– the Goodwill is a wonderful place to shop. Check out some of the items I found….

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Easy T-Shirt Transformation

This t-shirt is so cute I just had to share. I’m re-blogging from Thing-a-Day 2012.

Easy way to modify a t-shirt into something more fun. Cheers and make it a good weekend!

kittns's avatarThing-a-Day Forever

Here’s a simple solution to modify a T-shirt when the sleeves are rather large therefore revealing lingerie.

With the pencil, mark every 2 cm along the seam and then make small cuts. Pull the ribbon through the holes with the help of a safety pin. Tie in a bow.

Optional: decorate with buttons or use a contrasting ribbon. Or both!

PS. Pink for a new lovely weekend!

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From Trash to Treasure

I write a lot about dumpster diving. But what about the stuff you can find parked out in the alley near the dumpsters? Imagine my excitement when I spotted a cute little barrel type container sitting all lonely in the alley. Guess it didn’t make the cut for the dumpster! Lucky day for me.

Location of this “find”–  somewhere in San Diego.

After a quick dusting the barrel looked great. It will be perfect on my patio as a plant holder.

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Dumpster Diving – University City – San Diego

My motto– if you’re planning to dumpster dive– do it with dignity. I’m not a big fan of physically diving into dumpsters. Mostly out of fear.

I prefer to walk by and if there is something interesting laying out front of the dumpster or perched within easy reach then I grab the item and give it a visual scan. Personally, the item needs to be in good condition and something I can put to immediate use or else I leave it.

Here is a cute table I found recently in the UTC area near Nobel Drive and Lebon Drive. It was set out front of the dumpster within easy reach. Very cute table. The only thing I had to do was dust it off and replace the drawer pull. The cost of drawer pull was $2.75 at Cost Plus World Market. Again, a really simple fix and now I have a cute table in my entryway!

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Make a Thrifty Fashion Statement With A Duct Tape Dress

Could a duct tape dress really be considered a “trend”? I like to think of duct tape style as innovative and inexpensive fashion.  A good way to be creative on a budget. For sure no one at the party will be wearing the same thing.

Duct tapes are being used for dresses, wallets, caps, purses, ties, etc. When it comes to creativity, there is no boundary. The biggest advantage of duct tape is that it is affordable and easy to find. Obviously, you can “waste” as much material as you want. Make a dress, try a pattern– and if you don’t like the outcome, scrap it. Best of all– duct tape is available in a variety of colors and shades. That gives you all the choice you want. Here is how to make a duct tape dress:
Materials Needed:

Six rolls of duct tape

Scissors, Measuring tape

Steps to Make a Duct Tape Dress:

First of all, decide the color of your dress and get the duct tapes.

Sketch the dress design. It can be body fitting or can have frills and flares.Take your measurements accurately. You can take help from a friend while doing so.Make a sheet of duct tape to be used as a fabric to cut the dress. For this, place a long strip of duct tape, sticky side up. Place another same length strip overlapping the previous one by about one inch. Do this until the sheet is large enough to cut a pattern piece.

For covering the sticky side, you can either use another similar sheet of duct tape by placing both the sticky sides together, or you can use a fabric. The fabric is preferable and should be thin. While sticking it to the duct tape sheet, make sure that there are no creases on the fabric.

Now cut the sheet according to your pattern keeping at least 2 inch margin on all sides. You may have to fold the sheet to cut the skirt or the bodice. Here, it is important to keep in mind the direction of the duct tape before you cut the pattern piece. It is preferable to keep the running same for the skirt and the bodice.  For sticking the pieces together, remove the inner lining about 2/3rd inch at the joint and stick the two pieces. Cover it up with a strip of tape from above and fold the tape at the sides.

To make the hem, remove an inch of backing fabric and fold in the edges. For the top edges of the bodice, fold strips of tape around it to cover the raw edges.  To finish it, you can either stick a zipper or a stick-on Velcro.

A few things should be kept in mind while making a duct tape dress. Since the tape does not allow air to pass through, keeping a margin is very important. It is better to use a thin cotton fabric lining since it absorbs the sweat and is more comfortable.

Now get ready to strut your stuff in that trendy duct tape dress!

Local & Worldwide Thrifting Resources

  Local and worldwide thrifting resources:

Freecycle is a grassroots world wide organization that helps people exchange used items at no cost. You can locate a group in your community and join, then participate by offering items or find items you can use. Freecyclers help each other by exchanging goods and they help the planet by keeping stuff out of landfills.  I am part of the local San Diego Freecycle Network and they definitely have a lot to offer.  Tonite I received emails “advertising” free TV’s, baby clothes and gift wrap.
Charity Shops managed by Goodwill, the Salvation Army and schools, churches or synagogues offer bargains on clothing, books, housewares and furniture plus your purchase helps fund humanitarian programs sponsored by the organization running the shop. Goodwill Industries also has an online auction service similar to E-bay called www.shopgoodwill.com.
Flea Markets are everywhere!  You can find them in small towns, in city parking lots, in large arenas and inside warehouse buildings.
Resale Shops offer used goods for sale like a regular store. Some shops take items on consignment from the owner; others buy and sell used merchandise of all sorts from consumers or other resellers.
Auctions offer all sorts of opportunities for buying and selling used goods. You can find local auction listings in any community newspaper or merchandising flyer. Most auction advertisements list the type of items to be offered at the sale.  Some flea markets also have an on site auction house or area for auction sales.

Online Auctions (E-bay plus many more) offer a huge range of items in a database. You can search through categories by keyword or simply browse until you find what you like, then you can bid on and pay for your winning bid selection using your computer. You can also sell what you don’t need. Be sure to check out the terms and conditions of each service prior to signing up or making a purchase. Shipping terms should be evaluated if you live far from the seller.
Tag Sales ( yard sales) are one of the most interesting places to find junk-tiques. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.

Make Your Own Laundry Soap…and Save Money

Now that you’ve saved all kinds of money shopping at thrift stores and recycling your things– why not go the extra mile and try making your own laundry soap? It’s really quite easy and cost effective– coming in at just pennies a load.  I found a ton of “recipes” out there for laundry soap– both the liquid type and powdered type. Personally, I prefer the powdered variety for homemade soap.

 

Here are a few tips before getting started:

  • For the bar soaps required in the recipes, you could try Ivory soap, Sunlight bar soap or Kirk’s Hardwater Castile. Don’t use heavily perfumed soaps.
  • Washing Soda and Borax can normally be found in the laundry and cleaning aisles.
  • Some people with really hard water or well water may have to adjust the ingredients if the clothes look dingy.
  • Some of the recipes call for large amounts of water. Check with a local restaurant to see if they have any empty large pails from deep fryer oil–that’s how many restaurants buy the oil. See if you can have one or two of the pails after they’ve emptied it–just wash them out really well before using. They’re big, heavy plastic and very sturdy when stirring the soap and hot water.

Liquid Laundry Soap Recipe:

Hot water; 1/2 cup Washing Soda; 1/2 cup Borax; 1/3 bar Soap (grated)

  • In a large pot, heat 3 pints of water. Add the grated bar soap and stir until melted. Then add the washing soda and borax. Stir until powder is dissolved, then remove from heat.
  • In a 2 gallon clean pail, pour 1 quart of hot water and add the heated soap mixture. Top pail with cold water and stir well.
  • Use 1/2 cup per load, stirring soap before each use (will gel).

You can add between 10 to 15 drops of essential oil (per 2 gallons) to your homemade detergent. Add once the soap has cooled to room temperature. Stir well and cover.  Essential oil ideas: lavender, rosemary, tea tree oil.

Powdered Laundry Soap Recipe:

12 cups Borax; 8 cups Baking Soda; 8 cups Washing Soda; 8 cups Bar soap (grated)

  • Mix all ingredients well and store in a sealed tub.
  • Use 1/8 cup of powder per full load.