Thriftiness

The office where I work uses Character First as a way to build integrity, teamwork and to boost employee morale.  Each month we study a different character trait.  This month the study was on thriftiness.  Of course, this is one of my favorites!  I love to be creative and re-use and re-purpose and thrift stores are a great resource for items to re-purpose.  As a way to kick start ideas among our co-workers and to promote the trait of thriftiness, another co-worker and I hit the thrift stores and our own stashes to come up with various plates and candle holders to re-purpose into something new.   (Of course I had to try this first, you know, to make sure I could actually do it before making a fool of myself in front of my co-workers.) 

I had found this one particularly  ugly dated candlestick that I almost did not buy, but thankfully did.  The pieces were screwed together, so after disassembling it, I painted the metal with a glossy black and the green center a light blue.  I then glued a glass salad plated (that I had painted with the same blue) to the top and...

 

                                                                           

This is the after!!
I have to say - It is my favorite!!  Not sure how I will use it, but it is quite striking.

Some of the plates and candle holders were painted, but most were left as we purchased them.  Everyone seem to enjoy the process of creating something new and there were some really cute pieces that were created that day. 

Don't you think these are adorable!

I really hope these are used by their new owners. 

The best part of the activity was hearing others begin to think of ideas for things that they already had that were no longer useful, but could be re-purposed into something new.


Of course I have to use my Silhouette any chance I can so I added a little something to one of my pieces for a friend!

The idea for these came from  Burlap and Blue as well as the Crafty Chicks and Pinterest.