Craft Thrifting and Card Tutorial
Welcome to the Blog today, Friends.
I’ve been on the lookout for crafting supplies whenever I go thrifting lately, and this week I found some really wonderful treasures! There’s something especially satisfying about finding craft materials at a thrift store and then giving them a new life in a creative project.
When I bring home new craft supplies, I try to incorporate them into my craft room right away rather than letting them accumulate in piles. Keeping a clean, organized space to work in is one of my goals. Of course, that doesn’t always happen as quickly as I’d like, but I’m working on it!
It took me a couple of days to clear enough time to sit down and actually begin playing with some of my new finds. Today, I’m excited to share a card I made using several of the things I discovered while thrifting. I hope you’ll enjoy seeing how these little treasures came together and perhaps it will give you a few ideas for your own thrifted crafting finds.
So, let’s get started!
I started with this coordinated collection of papers from my newly thrifted finds. As you can see, there are several different patterns—a solid, a pretty floral, a check, and a more whimsical random pattern. They all share the same lovely light purple color, which makes them easy to mix and match while still creating a cohesive look.
I love finding collections like this while thrifting because they give you so many possibilities for creating cards and other paper crafts. Having several coordinating patterns means you can layer them together without worrying about whether the colors work. It makes the design process much easier and, of course, a lot of fun!.
You can see the two stacks of paper I found in the photo above. There was actually quite a bit more in the collection, including some additional papers that weren’t going to work for my projects. Rather than letting those go to waste, I eventually donated them to the ReCraft Center where another crafter can hopefully put them to good use.
The paper had been packed into a large tub that was taped shut, so it was definitely an all-or-nothing purchase. I decided to take a chance and bring the whole thing home—and I’m so glad I did! It took me a few hours to sort through everything and organize the papers into color families. Once I had everything spread out, I could really see what a wonderful collection I had found.
I especially loved discovering all the different shades within each color family. The designer papers were sorted by their dominant colors as well, which makes it so much easier to mix and match papers when I’m ready to start a project. Having everything organized this way means I can quickly find coordinating colors and patterns without having to dig through a box every time I want to make a card.
And here’s the best part—both of these stacks of paper cost just $11.00! That’s about what you might expect to pay for a single pad of good-quality scrapbook paper. There was actually another pad of double-sided paper included in the collection that isn’t shown in the photograph, making the bargain even better.
I was especially excited about the find because all of the paper is cardstock weight, making it perfect for card making and other paper crafts. It just goes to show that you never know what you might discover when you’re willing to take a chance on a sealed box at the thrift store!
My next find at the same thrift store was an assortment of paper punches. If you’ve priced these online, you know that the larger punches can easily sell for $20–$30 each, so I was very interested when I spotted this collection.
As I looked through the selections, I started choosing a few to put in my cart. The prices were incredibly reasonable: the large punches were $1.75 each, the medium punches were $0.75, and the smaller ones were just $0.50. With 14 punches in all, I was already pretty excited about the savings.
And then it got even better! I had a 15% off coupon, which brought my total for all 14 punches to under $10.00. That works out to approximately $0.61 per punch. Now that’s what I call a thrift store bargain!
I was absolutely thrilled with this find. Paper punches are such handy tools for card making, and having a variety of shapes and sizes gives me lots of options when creating embellishments and decorative details. It’s another great example of why I always take a little time to browse the craft section when I’m thrifting—you just never know what useful treasures might be waiting there!
To make the card from these very pretty papers I used my paper cutter to cut to the following dimensions found in the instructions by Sharon at TX Stampin’
1. Colored Cardstock – 4 ¼” x 11”
a. 4” x 3 ¼”
b. 2 ¾” x 2 ¾”
c. Scrap
2. Designer Series Paper – 4” x 5 ¼”
a. Different Design Designer Series Paper – 3 ¾” x 3”
b. Different Design Designer Series Paper – 2 ½” x 2 ½”
3. Basic White – 4” x 5 ¼”, Scrap
4. Stamps
5. Ink
6. Adhesive (including Dimensionals)
7. Embellishments
8. Paper Snips, Paper Trimmer
I added an additionalDesigner Series Paper – 4″ x 5 1/4″ for the inside left panel of the card.
You can see in this photo how the designer paper is matted on plain cardstock. I used adhesive to mount the designer paper.
Here you can see how the three matted pieces of designer paper are layered on the front of the card. I started with the checked designer paper, attaching it to the front of the base card and leaving an even border around the edges. This creates a nice frame for the layers that will be added on top.
Next, the middle piece, which is matted with the pretty floral paper, is positioned about an inch down from the top of the card. I centered it carefully so that the borders are equal on three sides. This gives the card a balanced look while still leaving plenty of room for the final embellishment.
Finally, the smallest matted piece is added toward the bottom of the card. It sits about an inch above the bottom edge and is centered with the matted piece directly above it. I love building a card this way, adding each layer one at a time and making sure the spacing is just right. The different patterns and sizes create dimension and interest while keeping the overall design simple and pleasing to the eye.
The smallest layer is fixed to the flowered layer with dimensionals to give the paper a three-dimensional look.
Finally, I added the sentiment to the card. For this particular design, I used a die-cut sentiment that says Thinking of You. A stamped sentiment would work just as beautifully if you don’t have the die, so this is an easy step to adapt to the supplies you have on hand.
Once all of the layers were assembled and securely attached to the card front, I added a few pretty purple stars as the finishing embellishment. They bring just a little extra sparkle to the design and tie in beautifully with the soft purple tones throughout the card.
I love how these small details can take a card from simply finished to something that feels really special. And the best part is that so much of what went into this card came from those wonderful thrifted finds!
On the inside of the card, I adhered another piece of the coordinating designer paper to the left side. On the right side, I added a piece of plain white cardstock, creating a clean space for a handwritten message. I stamped Have a Happy Day in a pretty purple ink that coordinates with the papers and adds a sweet finishing touch.
To tie the inside of the card to the front, I cut out several of the flowers from the floral designer paper and attached them to the inside. I love this little detail! Repeating an element from the front of the card on the inside makes the entire design feel connected and gives the card a beautifully finished look. I was really happy with how this card turned out.
If you’d like to make this card yourself, you can find the PDF instructions here. The PDF was put together and the card designed by Sharon of T X Stamping’. Feel free to choose your own color combinations and substitute papers and embellishments from your own stash. That’s one of the wonderful things about card making—you can take a basic design and make it completely your own.
Thanks so much for joining me today as I shared this fun thrift store find and showed you how I used some of those treasures to create a handmade card. I hope it has inspired you to take another look at the craft supplies you find while thrifting. You never know what creative possibilities might be hiding in that next bargain bin!
Happy crafting, friends!