House of Aqua's Thrift Store Sweater Challenge

Hey everyone!

As many of you know I love to go shopping at thrift stores. It is something my mother and I enjoy doing from time to time and we always manage to find really nice things for next to nothing. I've been wanting some sweaters and maybe a couple flannel shirts but they are usually so expensive that I haven't wanted to spend that much money on a single piece of clothing...especially for myself. I had been looking around and found some really nice pieces at some different second hand places and I want to share those with you now.

This coat by St. John's Bay was only $3 at St. Vincent's Catholic store. It looked brand new and it is so soft. It feels like suede on the outside and the inside is so soft. I know my daughter will be super warm when she wears this coat this winter.

This short-sleeved denim jacket caught my mom's eye and she asked me if I liked it. I really do. It will be nice to have an extra layer for those fall days when it's still warm outside. The weather we have been having lately is perfect for that. It was only $2 at St. Vincent's Catholic store. I can wear a tank top or camisole underneath and one of my long skirts.

Another score for Kadesia! She loves purple so I thought she would really like this sweater. It was only $1 at St. Vincent's Catholic store. There is a cable-like weave pattern that I thought was so nice and it's light enough that she can wear this throughout the fall.

This striped shirt is bigger than I normally wear but I thought it was cute and I can always layer it. I was looking for some button-front tops since I don't own any ... until now! For only $1 at St. Vincent's I thought I would grab it!

Mom and I went to the Goodwill store in Bloomington. It's north of us about 40 miles (+/-) . It had been a while since either of us had gone up there and I just wanted to look at the sweaters. We got a lot of items for cheap and this sweater by Land's End was one of the great finds! It was $4.29. I really like the color and it still looked really good.

Mother bought this on a different thrift store trip we took to Jasper. I have a YouTube video about it that you might have watched. This was only $2 or $3 at St. Vincent's Catholic store down there. It is nice and big...super soft and oh so comfy! I love it!

When I saw this shirt hanging on the rack at Kara's Kloset I really liked the colors in it. It just looks so fallish to me and I really loved that it was short-sleeved. I have worn this a lot since getting it. My mom had taken some of my kids' clothing in and was given in-store credit for the items. So this shirt was totally FREE!

This is the last item I am sharing today. I really like how this has just the one big button and two small pockets on the front. The sleeves come about to my elbows and it's another great layering piece. I got this at Kara's Kloset also for FREE!

What do you guys like to find at the thrift stores? I usually like to get home decor items, storage solutions, strawberries, and clothing. I created a video featuring these clothes for the House of Aqua's Thrift Store Sweater Challenge. You can watch the video below.

Be sure you check out my contest video where I am giving away $100 in gift cards to 10 stores! You can see that video here.

Thanks for watching! Have a great day!

Hugs,

$5 Goodwill Challenge: Fall Edition

Hey, everyone!

I was asked to participate in the $5 Goodwill Challenge: Fall Edition from Hillary at My So-Called Home on YouTube. I was beyond excited to join the challenge; however, I was very sick and did not get the chance to post on time. I figured a little late was better than missing the challenge so I went thrifting and was able to find amazing deals and come up with a really sweet fall set up!

The $5 Goodwill Challenge was created by Hillary. She started the challenge last Christmas and then she issued the challenge in the spring and the summer. I participated in those challenges and I will link to those videos here:

$5 Goodwill Challenge: Spring Edition

$5 Goodwill Challenge: Summer Edition

So the way the challenge works is you have a budget of $5 and you are to go to your local Goodwill store, thrift store, rummage sale, etc. and try to find something you can add to your home decor for that particular theme. It can be a real treasure hunt sometimes to find something, but it is such a FUN challenge to do.

You can purchase an item as-is, or a "fixer-upper" for the challenge. There are MANY YouTubers who take this challenge and I watch all of their videos and am so AMAZED at what a lot can come up with. Sometimes they really take something from trash to treasure with a little love and effort. I am always inspired by what I see.

So here is my video and be sure to read to the end for my challenge to all of you!


Thanks for watching my video. I hope you hit the thumbs up button if you liked it. If you are new to my YouTube channel, please feel free to subscribe and then you'll receive notices when I post a new video. I have several playlists so I hope you'll find something that you like. My channel is always growing and changing so I hope you will enjoy the journey with me.

My challenge to all of you (if you have gotten this far on this post) is to take Hillary's $5 Goodwill Challenge: Fall Edition. Even if you do not have a blog or a YouTube channel. Just take $5 and go to your local thrift store to see what you can find. I hope this video has inspired you to decorate for fall on the cheap! I'd love to hear back from you in the comments below. If you have joined the challenge and want to send me photos you can link your blog below and I would LOVE to check it out. If you share a video response I will definitely watch it! If you don't have a blog or YouTube channel, you can email me a photo at bridgettowens78@gmail.com and I would love to see it! I read all of your comments so please feel free to leave me a comment below.

Definitely check out Hillary's channel and all of her amazing videos. She has so many incredible things to share! Thanks for hanging out today!

Hugs,

$5 Goodwill Challenge: Spring AND Summer Editions!

Hey, everyone!

I am so excited to share this with you all!! If you know me, you already know that I love to go thrift shopping. It is just so much fun to see what great finds I can pick up at second-hand stores and yard sales. Back in the spring I participated in a really fun YouTube challenge from Hilary at My So-Called Home. She issued a $5 Goodwill Challenge: Spring Edition. I took her challenge and was able to find something very cute for $5 and it was from an unexpected place! A lady was selling some items from homes that she had staged and they were really nice things for affordable prices. You can check out that video below, but there is even more to see!!

I emailed Hilary to see if she would possibly be issuing a new challenge for the summer like she had done in the spring. My mother and I had been thrifting and we found all kinds of amazing deals and I was eager to share. She said she was absolutely going to do the challenge again and let me know when she would be putting her video up. So, I created a video response to the $5 Goodwill Challenge: Summer Edition! You can check it out below.

If you haven't already done so, please go to my YouTube channel and click on the subscribe tab. You do not have to create videos on YouTube to subscribe. This will let you know every time I upload a new video to my channel.

I hope you like these videos. Please let me know in the comments below if you enjoy thrift store shopping. What is your best find? If you create a video response to this challenge, definitely let me know in the comments section and I will check it out!

Hugs,

Happy Memorial Day!

Hey, everyone!

I was selected as a Guest Design Team member for Treehouse Stamps this month! It sure has gone by quickly. I was given 5 digital stamp sets, all new releases from THS, to play with and create a card for each weekly challenge. This week we are to create a card using this sketch:
I took a sheet of Kraft cardstock and cut it at 5½" x 11" and then scored it at 5½" with my Scor-Pal. The center circle is featuring a cupcake image from the Stars and Stripes stamp set. Hope you can see the shimmer on the flag, stars and sentiment. The "Happy Memorial Day" greeting is also a part of this stamp set. I wanted to come up with a patriotic card since this is Memorial Day weekend coming up!

The sentiment and main image are all raised up on pop dots for added dimension. I hope you like it!

To find out how you can participate in this week's challenge, visit HERE. You can shop at THS right HERE.

My card also works with the following challenges:

A SPOON FULL OF SUGAR (celebration card)

BY THE CUTE AND GIRLY (celebration)

CRAFTY CATZ WEEKLY CHALLENGE (stars and stripes)

MY TIME TO CRAFT CHALLENGE (vivid greeting cards)

THE SECRET CRAFTER SATURDAY CHALLENGE (no patterned paper)

SEW MANY CHALLENGES (anything goes)

STAMP SOMETHING CHALLENGES (two of something) two torn edged panels, two sets of bling

TOTALLY GORJUSS (bling it on)

I am making my friend, Christina, join me in these challenges! You can see her card here.

Thanks for hanging out with me and I hope you find a lot of challenges that you can participate in, too!

Hugs,

Purple Invitation

Hey, everyone!

I was asked to create 30 birthday party invitations for a co-worker's little girl. She only requested I use purple on the card and something with a princess theme. I found this adorable Inkadinkado® Clear Stamps-Beautiful Fairies stamp set and thought she might like it! I stamped it in French Lilac, colored in the wand, sparkles and wings with my stardust glitter gel pens. I added a sparkle in each eye with my white gel pen. The funky hair is colored in with my souffle gel pen. Other purple markers were used for the clothes, shoes and flower in her hair. The skin was colored with Copics. The sentiment is computer generated using Digs My Hart font, size 18. I placed a little purple vellum flower at her feet.
She loved the invitations! Do you? It works great for the Kaboodle Doodles Challenge this week, which is to create a monochromatic card. Thanks for hanging out with me today. I will have another card to show you tomorrow that was using digital stamps from Treehouse Stamps.

Angel Hugs,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CUPCAKE!

Hey, everyone!

I have the best friend you could ever want! She is funny and creative, so very talented, and smart! She has helped me out so many times when I needed advise, just someone to listen, have a girl gripe session occasionally (LOL), and always to inspire me when I get stuck on a project! We IM frequently and enjoy "shopping" together and blurfing! Today is her birthday and I wanted to do something special for her. We live several states away from one another so I can't just hop in my car (as much as I'd like to) and scrap with her or work on cards or even just hang out! So, I asked her if she would want to do a virtual scrap session or something since my daughter and her daughters are all in school. So that is what we're doing today! She came up with a challenge and I am so excited because it's fun and easy and now...it's done! LOL She e-mailed me this challenge and I couldn't wait to get started. Mine doesn't look exactly the same, but Christina loves purple so I went with purple frosted cupcakes! Of course I have to add the bling so the top layer has glittery sparkles that may not show up too well in the picture and the cherry is all blinged out with stickles! I can't wait for her to see it!!! So, this challenge is just for you CHRISTINA!!! Go wish her a very happy birthday!!!!!!!!

Christina: I hope you have an awesome birthday and get to spend the day doing all the things you enjoy with the people you love!!!

BIG BIRTHDAY HUGS!!!!