Tuesday, November 8, 2011

WIP Wed: Thrift Store Art Project


It's Wednesday, and once again, like I have for the last year, I'm linking up with Lee, at "Freshly Pieced" Blog for her linky party!  She's celebrating her one year WIP Wed anniversary today, and was kind enough to share the love and include me in her blog post today!!  How sweet!  Thanks!  Be sure to visit today, as she's also giving away some fun gifts! 

Several weeks ago, the local art center here in town asked if I might be willing to participate in a fun art challenge they were doing in conjunction with our local thrift store.  The challenge is to buy 5 dollars or less of "materials" from the thrift store, use that, plus anything from your "stash" to create something to display in their store window, on our Main Street.  Here's what I bought:
I'm afraid if you're not from around here, I'll have to explain what it is.  Each year, during the Pendleton Round-Up Rodeo, a group of people, "The Main Street Cowboys", host a huge music, carnival, shopping extravaganza on our Main Street.  They place these awesome green and purple benches all around town, and at all of the stages.  They even find their way to local soccer fields and along parade routes, and regularly make their appearances at other local events throughout the year.  So as soon as I saw this green suit, I knew what I wanted to do!
I fused some fusible fleece onto the back of some of my own purple fabric, as I'm afraid I couldn't find any purple shirts at the thrift store, except for T-shirts.  Cutting the letters out is a bit tedious, but I hope to have it done soon.  It's going to be a kids' "educational toy" that they can use the felt letters to stick to the bench and make up their own words on the bench!  I'm hoping to finish it up by next week.  Thanks, as always to Lee and everyone else for stopping by!

43 comments:

Susan said...

Mmmm! Interesting!

Marlene @ KISSed Quilts . com said...

Great choice of letter combinations in your photo! :-) So glad we've met through this online process.

Live a Colorful Life said...

that first picture is really fun!

Elizabeth Dackson said...

What a fun project!! :)

Quilt Genius said...

That is a great idea! Very ingenius.

Mary
http://www.quiltgenius.com

Leanne said...

Sounds like a fun project and an interesting challenge.

Debbie said...

What fun. Cool you are one of the original linky ladies! ;-)

A.J. Dub. (Amy) said...

LOL Love your note to Lee.
That project is so creative! (Of course) :)

Jennifer said...

looks like a great project!!

KristyLou said...

What a great idea. And I like your first picture. Too cute.

Heather D. said...

Very fun and interesting idea!

JuliePickles said...

That first picture totally made me giggle! I like that idea, any time I can make some kind of educational toy out of fabric I'm all for it. My daughter loves her quilted alphabet set!

Beth@IHaveANotion.com said...

Great IDEA!!!! Can't wait to see the finished piece and hear the reviews!

felicity said...

Cool idea! And your "hi lee" made me giggle. Happy WIP Wednesday anniversary! :)

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

great idea for your WiP

Foolish Feathers said...

What a clever idea to use material from things from the thrift store! I am interested in seeing what the letter will spell out!

Kerstin said...

It's great to see what can become of a thrift store find!

Chelsea said...

The town I used to live in had cowboy days, too. The first time I came across it was at my bank, setting up my business account. It was truly odd being helped by a guy in full cowboy gear, including fake pistols!

Christie describeHappy said...

That sounds like such a fun challenge to be a part of!! And I think the interactive benches are going to be a hit!

Rebecca said...

Cute, good luck with your challenge.

Dee said...

It will be interesting to see how your challenge goes! Enjoyed Lee's write up about you!

Pippa Parsons said...

sweet, good luck !

Anonymous said...

This looks like such fun!!

Susan said...

What a great idea for your re- purposing challenge. Can't wait to see how it looks. :)

Cokie K said...

Great idea. I am thinking of making a "design" board for my 6 year old grandson with letters and numbers. He loves to play on mine.

Marsha Cooper said...

sounds like such a cool challenge

Maggie said...

Very creative!

Ella said...

Yay for fabric recycling!

Melinda said...

I love recycling and upcycling! I turned a set of velvet curtains into a robe for me for a Harry Potter birthday party; then after it was over I used them again to make a "queenly" dress for a friend's daughter as a school project! Great job!

Unknown said...

That sounds like fun! I always love a good challenge! Good luck!

Rachel said...

What an interesting idea. I love shopping the thrift store for fabric.

Marci Girl said...

Very neat, great idea!

Kelli Fannin Quilts said...

So creative and fun. :o)

Anonymous said...

You are on the list of the first WIP-ers, and I decided to visit them all today (instead of getting my own stuff done, but, hey--I'm tired today). I loved looking through your blog and admire all that you get done with your projects.

I have to agree with you on your Halloween post--homemade costumes by our children are the best, and really fun to see them exercise their creativity, too.

I think your "bench" sounds like a great project, and wish I could be there to enjoy your town's party.

Happy Quilting!
Elizabeth E.
occasionalpiece.wordpress.com

Anonymous said...

Love your ingenuity and resourcefulness.. fabulous idea and it's taking shape nicely..!!

Brooke said...

What a fun idea.

Allison said...

great idea for celebrating some hometown pride :)

Cille said...

Fun idea - very creative. If the challenge is a compitition I hope you win :)

Annabella said...

Great idea - I love challenges like this!

Katy Cameron said...

What a cute idea for the kids

Lee said...

Well, hi there, Becky! LOL. Love your photo! And what a clever idea for the challenge. Good luck! Thanks for linking up to WIP Wednesday and for sharing your WIPs this week. : )

Al said...

What a great challenge!

Leila said...

Fun idea.