Vintage Recycled Neck Warmers

Following a trip to the second hand-store where I stuff as many sweaters and other wool garments as I can into a grocery bag for $3, I set home to work on my latest recycling project.   After having designed a pattern using triangle shapes, the one-of-a-kind patchwork neck warmers and scarves come to life, each one with its own unique features. 

The ends of some of the scarves are fashioned from unique sweater cuffs, or pockets from a jacket. A blanket stitch, hand-covered buttons or the original buttons from the garment are added to complete the look. 

I will soon have a pdf pattern available for making one.  It will include 4 pages of easy-to-follow directions with pictures for each step.  If you have any further questions, please feel free to leave me a note or send me an e-mail at misssallye@usa.net.


UPDATE:  2/6/10... With the honor of being "Guest Diva" on the Domestic Diva  website, the pdf pattern to make the Vintage Recycled Neck Warmers is currently being made available at no charge.  When you get to the home page, click on Diva's Closet.

On The Edge of Frugality

Having had a love for art and anything having to do with creating “stuff” has been a passion of mine from an early age, through art school, a career in teaching art, and continuing into the present as I gracefully mature into the golden years.  Today the passion is no different, if not stronger. I thirst to learn more, continue exploring new concepts and techniques, and yearn to share my experiences, knowledge and passion with others. I’m also a firm believer that the camaraderie of creativity and frugality walk hand-in-hand, feeding each other’s purpose and needs.


It’s always been a secret thrill for me to find a bargain at Worn Again and a personal satisfaction to re-purpose something that would normally be thrown away. I guess you could say that I’ve always been on the edge of frugality.  The truth is, for many years I really didn’t want anyone to know about this secret passion of mine.  First of all it wasn’t considered cool to be frugal, not to mention the confusion between being frugal and being cheap.  I’ll never forget my mother telling me that it was “cheap” to use the word cheap, use inexpensive or thrifty, but never cheap! 

To put the difference between FRUGAL and CHEAP into perspective, basically frugal actions are those that save money or are being resourceful in doing so, without harming anyone else.  Cheap actions on the other hand usually occur at the expense of others, oftentimes damaging relationships in the process. To put it in simple terms, it’s like the difference between saving extra napkins given to you to use later, instead of throwing them in the garbage (being frugal), compared to stuffing a handful in your purse at a restaurant so that you don’t have to buy them (being cheap).  You get the picture.

Today, frugality is not only in vogue, it’s becoming the necessary path to take in making smart and resourceful choices within every facet of our lifestyles. Having hugged the closet on this issue in years past, it felt good to finally emerge, knowing that it’s okay and highly acceptable to carry on with my best-kept secret.

When you get a chance, take a peek at an excellent article by Nancy Twigg, an expert on the subject.  Nancy’s post details the issue of “Being Frugal without Being Cheap”.   


If you’ve ever wondered whether you are frugal or cheap, click on the link for a quiz to find out. Answer the 10 questions, writing down your answers on a sheet of paper, then discover your results on the graph provided.  I scored a 24, placing me just on the edge of frugality.  Go figure!  Are You Frugal or Cheap? 

Birthing Your Creativity

Hang on to your hats, as we emerge into the birth of this blog that will be delivered with inspirational ideas, tips, sharing and support within the important aspects of our lives that we deal with daily.  Nurturing our creative abilities with a frugal approach is quickly becoming a necessity in our lives.  My aim is to provide a place of escape, to nurture and motivate each other towards the quality life that we deserve.


To nurture and achieve CREATIVITY, one must meld their THINKING SKILLS; learning to think outside the box and put existing ideas together in a new combination, with RESOURCES; gaining knowledge to new and relevant information, along with MOTIVATION; finding the motivation and passion from within.  Nurturing creativity is an essential trait that any one of us can give birth to.  All it takes is a little feeding, an occasional burping and giving the encouragement needed to grow into something that will be useful and that we can be proud of.  There are some that have more creativity in their pinkie than others have in a lifetime.  However, there is virtually no problem that we can’t solve, no goal we can’t achieve and no obstacle we can’t overcome if we know how to apply the creative powers of our minds to move forward, bringing it to life.

Life doesn't always hand us solutions to go with the problems and situations we encounter. When we’re in a pinch, sometimes we have to use what we have, along with a bit of creativity and ingenuity, to get through it.  When life gives us lemons, folks, let’s make lemonade, set up roadside stands and divide our profits by sharing some with friends, contributing some to those in need and by all means saving some for a rainy day.