We decided to begin sifting through the boxes of old comic books in our closet and to start giving them new life this holiday season. It's fun watching an old item become a piece of pop art.
I've always loved digging through the racks at thrift stores. Partially, because I can't bring myself to pay high prices for new low-quality clothes -- and partially because I love looking for treasure.
Our new focus on working with comic books has given me an excuse to hunt for treasure. The Wonder Woman heels in the picture above are my first attempt at covering an entire shoe with comics. I'm pleased with how it turned out. The heels were an old vintage pair of heels that I found at a thrift shop. Maybe someone would have bought them -- or maybe they would have sat there for years. As a piece of canvas to work with -- they were irresistible to me. The vintage style was perfect for laying down some vintage Wonder Woman. Vintage Wonder Woman comics look so much better than the more modern comics.
After that, I was officially on a Wonder Woman kick. Last holiday season, comic book jewelry was a hit. However, I didn't make a wide selection last year. This year, I decided to make theme sets of 5 paper bead stretch bracelets. The first pack of Wonder Woman bracelets sold within a few hours of posting them to Ebay. Keep an eye out in the next few weeks because more theme packs will be rolling out. If you have a favorite comic book -- or have a friend you need a custom request for -- contact us and we'll make it for you. These packs of 5 comic theme bracelets are going to be listed on Etsy and Ebay for $15 a pack.
Another great thrift store find was a handful of red & pink or brown & pink wallets. I found them in almost new condition. The surface of the wallets was just screaming to be filled with comic book heroes. I decorated the first of the bunch with Supergirl.
Hopefully, I'll have time to roll out more of these wallets before the holidays. Anyhow, support upcycled gifts this holiday season. Why would you want to? We may be able to replicate a process - but never an item. This means the gift you give to your loved one is going to be one of a kind -- the only one in the world. Why support mass production -- it's destructive to the environment and our health to keep creating new stuff. There are thrift shops, garage sales and dumpster bins just full of stuff that can be given new life.
All the upcycled items (except the bracelets- but we have other bracelets) are available in our Etsy and Ebay shop. We also have some purses and clutches in the works that will be posted in the shops soon. Come visit us!
and Have an Upcycled Christmas this Season --
It seemed silly to buy new envelopes to ship upcycled goods out to customers. Once our envelopes ran out, we set off to work on an upcycled solution. At first, we tried shipping in leftover coffee bags from our morning coffee. It was smelly though -- and we weren't sure if customers would appreciate the smell. Is there anyone who doesn't like the smell of coffee? After some thought -- here's what we came up with...
Yes, that's right -- our food packaging from our own kitchen has become the solution to our shipping problem. We turned the boxes from our Morning Star veggie chicken meal inside out to reveal the cardboard inside. We weren't sure if the post office accepted shipping packaging with a lot of print on it. Once they were turned inside out we taped them together.
