​What am I?
 
I am an antique sewing tin!

These charming little tins where the “must have accessory” of seamstresses in the 19th and early 20th century.
The three-part design of these tins was a clever solution for organizing and transporting sewing supplies. The different pieces could be separated and stored in a compact manner, making them easy to carry from place to place. The ingenuity and practicality of our ancestors!  These tins were also designed with beauty in mind. They were often made of metal and came in various shapes and sizes.  Back in the day, they would be as commonplace as a TV nowadays, so you would want them to be aesthetically pleasing.

This little red tin offers a glimpse into the past and a reminder of a time when practicality and aesthetics were combined in everyday objects.
 
Did you guess it right?

It’s the original hipster, Mr. Potato Head!
The original Mr. Potato Head was first introduced in 1952 by Hasbro.  The toy was a hit with children and quickly became a beloved classic. The original version of Mr. Potato Head consisted of a real potato and a set of plastic parts, including eyes, ears, a nose, a mouth, and other accessories. You would poke the plastic parts into the potato to create your own unique potato characters.
In 1964, Hasbro released a plastic potato body, so you wouldn't have to use real potatoes anymore. This move was a practical one as real potatoes were perishable and could attract bugs. This new plastic potato body had a hole in the bottom to store the extra parts when not in use.

I hope you enjoyed our new feature - Check back soon for our next mystery item
xoxo
​

Well, well, well. It’s been a spell, no?
If you think I have been hibernating for the last 2 years, I only wish I could say it was true.  
Like everyone else the past two years have been miserable. Truly just miserable.  
But that shouldn’t stop us from having some creative fun. 
So, I have set my intentions going forward, vowing to be more blog HaPpY.
To kick us off on my new blog run, let’s start with something for my favorite sidekick, Comet. 💕
My big standard poodle was the recipient of my latest upcycle.  

I found this pattern:    
https://www.ehow.com/13709038/how-to-turn-an-old-sweater-into-an-adorable-dog-sweater?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=022718&c_crid=cta6&epik=dj0yJnU9aHpXUG1lUEl5SG9iSVF1cWZDMldpVHBrWUs0c2ZsNEgmcD0wJm49ZzNPNDB1Zm1MdFRzaUVfMGt1RzZMZyZ0PUFBQUFBR0lBamM0
 
I changed it up a bit because I wanted the top of the “P” to be at the neckline, but the basic pattern is a rectangle and a triangle stitched together.

The end result:

Isn’t it fun!?  
I wish I’d made the chest a little wider.  (Note for the next letterman’s sweater) The big girl seems to love it! 
So just in case the groundhog is right, my four-legged housemate can have a little warmth on her outside visits until the spring weather arrives.  

Speaking of spring, we are working very hard preparing for our Spring open March 3, 2022 - SAVE THE DATE!
That means spring must be close, despite what Punxsutawney Phil thinks.  Stay warm, stay healthy!
xoxo

​I hope you are all staying safe and healthy.  
I am by nature one who can not sit still.  So as you can imagine I’m like all the memes out there; my dog is hiding from me because she is exhausted from all the walks she gets, my closets are getting organized, my craft room has exploded and I’ve watched more Netflix in the last week than I have the previous 52.  
 
So rather than watching CNBC to critique everyone’s at home workspace while you patiently wait for our doors to re-open, I thought I’d share a little project to get your creativeness going!  In all honesty, I made this a few months back, but you get the idea.  
 
From a beat-up old footstool and a cute window treatment panel, both found at the shop, emerged a cute little footstool to bring some cheer.
 
Here is what I started with….

Yes, a little tired and sad….but good bones!

I then heard this window panel purring…

​First I removed the striped seat.  Lots of dust and dirt there…

Time to sand, prime and paint the footstool…(I don't have painting pictures, sorry)
I let it dry… added another coat, some more drying time… another coat…additional drying….
And while all this drying time was going on I worked on the stool cover.
I took off the striped fabric cover to put on a plain white cover then over that I attached the cat cover.
Getting cuter….

Time to put it all together...

WaLa!  A super cute footstool.  Stay safe. Stay home. Stay upbeat!

Can you say buttons?  Well we have a lot of them!  We have so many buttons, that button projects are a necessity!

​My “Button Use-Up” Project
Button Bouquets:
Grab some wire, stack up some buttons, thread the wire through the buttons, twist, add some beads, twist some more.
What do you have?  A button flower!   
Repeat.   
Now what do you have? A button bouquet!

Do you have a good “Button Use-Up” Project? 
Please share – tag us on your Instagram #winnetka_thrift_shop
And if you don’t have any buttons but want a project, get on over to the shop and get yourself some buttons.  
We have plenty!

On May 18, 2019, two terrific young women, Val Kilborn and Greta Zimmer
​with the help of third rising star, Stevie Bianco, put together and pulled-off the most amazing fundraiser;
                                                             The Green Butterfly Fashion Show 
Val is one of the New Trier students that helped with the Winnetka Thrift Shop and ARC*, a sub-group of the New Trier Environmental Club, clothing drive.  And to my surprise, her mom is one of my favorite customers!
 
To say I was stunned is an understatement.  To say it was just a fashion show would be a lie.  There was art.  There was music.  And there was SUSTANABLE fashion.  Each runway creation was fashioned from recycled clothing and other discarded items to create a stunning one-of-a-kind new design.
Such talent! Such creativity!
Here are a couple of runway shots from the show.​

​For the record, I am not a hopeless romantic.  Although, I do love me a Hallmark movie with all its sappiness and I do own every Hugh Grant movie ever made.  Believe it or not, there are those that would actually say I’m skewed toward the cynical side. (that’s me giving you the eye-roll Hailey Baldwin Bieber) But, with all skepticism aside, I LOVE Valentines Day.  I love the cards, and the candy, and the flowers, and the candy….
I’m not going to lie, there are moments where I have longed for the time when I could open a box of candy and eat ALL the caramels and poke holes in those other mysterious shaped candies, without backlash.  But back then I had to buy that boxed candy for myself and well, as satisfying as all those caramels were, its now much more fun to shower the backlash crew with love. 
So here are some things I found around the store which would be lovely to purchase for my Valentines (even something for that one who just got dumped).
Why not come in and see what you can find for yours?​

You survived! You survived the polar vortex!
Was it easy? Heck no.
Let’s hope we don’t have to do that again anytime soon.
What did we do to survive?
We wore very warm clothes… 
Me…I wore these Mou boots that I bought at the shop.
One of them is missing a tail and I wasn’t sure I could really pull them off,
but after keeping my feet toasty warm (and I mean toasty!) during our polar vortex week pretty much around the clock, I have declared them indispensable. 

We pampered ourselves…
With long baths and beauty treatments…I treated my hands to some much needed moisturizing…you can find these and a host of other beauty packets at the shop for $.50 each.

​We also hibernated… 
With no school and naps.  In the end we survived and we came out of hibernation.  And on this Super Bowl night, let’s hope our beloved Bears can do the same.  GO BEARS!!!

So there I was settling into a lengthy night of Netflix British Crime Drama when she popped up.
Oh, you know her. She’s everywhere, yet she could fit in the palm of your hand!
Whom am I speaking of? The one and only Marie Kondo. 

And yes, before you ask, I did binge ALL the episodes. 

But then I sat back and thought, ‘do I really need to embrace this movement?’ 
This little stewing session lasted approximately 30 minutes after watching the last episode when I casually retreated to my sleeping quarters and tripped over a basket of laundry…need I say more?
In an effort to help you decide if you too should embrace the movement, I developed this checklist. 
I think if you answer yes to more than one point you should hop on the bandwagon. Just say'n.
   - Does your Tupperware drawer have more lids than bottoms (or vice versa)?
   - Has your family nominated you for the next episode of Buried Alive?
   - Do you have at least one Monica closet?  You Friends fans know what I’m talking about.
   - Do you have doubles (and maybe even triples!) of photos shoved in boxes?
   - Does your house look like the wasps and monkeys scene from Jumanji?
   - Is your sock drawer all onesies?
   - Do you identify WAY too much with anyone in any Episode of  “Tidying Up ”…..
 
To this end I have been cleaning out closets and drawers and cabinets…
and what have I learned …?
 
   - I should thank my clothes for letting me wear them, but really those culottes from 2006 should be
     thanking me for NOT wearing them….check
   - I should fold my clothes into something that resembles a rectangle…check
   - I should only keep things that bring me joy…check
   - I’ve also learned that I’m so much like the mom character in the “Downsizing” episode of Tidying Up 
     that my name should be Katrina not Kat…I have lots of work to do here, check, check.
 
And now for the good stuff...how can the Winnetka Thrift Shop help you?
If you are knee deep in the KonMari process, our donation doors are open and happy to accept all the things that no longer bring you joy.
We also have items in the store to help you organize
Like, hangers….and boxes…a Marie Kondo must...

​We even have a dresser that is simply beautiful and could hold a lot of things that bring you joy…

​We have organizers and hooks to hang things up – come in and see what we have to help you on your magical journey of Tidying Up.

It’s not that I like all things British.  Ok, I LOVE The Beatles, really is there any other band? and I might be on Netfilx’s radar as addicted to British Crime Dramas, but more than anything I love to sit and have a cup of tea. So it was only fitting that I ask one of our own Brits, Gemma, to join me. 

​Gemma hails from the land across the pond, as they say.
But this post is not about Briton but rather about that very British thing tea, and all the accessories that go with it.
​
Here, Gemma is modeling a very chic top while sipping a cup of tea from a lovely cup we found on the sales floor.  There's a whole set of these cuties along with matching plates.
​
And here are some more tea treasures we found in the shop.

​

​This darling tea shaped beaded ​bag. How fun would this be for your daughter/niece/godchild/granddaughter to carry to tea...

                  Here's a fun Tea party dress to sip a cup in...

      And just for fun this Harry and Meghan towel! --   you never know what your will find at the Winnetka Thrift Shop!