There is something about thrifting that I love. Just the joy of walking into old stores where the things on the shelves are falling apart and even sometimes the stores themselves are falling apart. It’s part of the charm, I guess. What I love the most is taking something old, tattered, and worn from a thrift store and upgrading it a little or sometimes just cleaning it gives it new life.
I think old pieces, whether it is furniture, old dishes, or what have you, has such a history about it. I wonder who used it last. I wonder who had it on a shelf somewhere. There is like this air of wonder about an old found piece from a thrift store, flea market, estate sale, or yard sale. Yeah, those are my four favorite things to visit!
Plus! We are giving our world and earth that God created a service by thrifting, recycling, and upcyling. On top of that, you save money. Win! Win!
I hope you enjoy this theme. It’s one of my favorites!
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Thrifting Event Concept
—Originally Posted September 22, 2011 as a “Trash to Treasure” women’s ministry theme
—Updated June 2020
The event themes on the website can be used for showers, parties, women’s ministry retreats and activities, or church functions. Each theme will have one or several possible spiritual applications. I give you lots of info and ideas—You pick just a few to enhance your event. More ideas can be used for showers and parties, but less is always more for ministry events.
Theme Title Ideas
- A New Creature
- A Faithover (Makeover)
- A Repurposed Life
- All Things Thrifty
- Born to Thrift
- Chic & Cheap (make it fashion oriented)
- In with the Old (out with the new)
- Junkin’ Jam
- Nifty & Thrifty
- Old & Bold
- Old Souls and New Friends
- Passion to Refashion (make it fashion oriented)
- Rags to Riches
- Renew
- Renew a Right Spirit
- Renew, Refinish, Refresh
- Renewed Hope ( or renewed faith, joy, etc.)
- Restore to Me
- Saving Grace
- Seasoned Goods
- Second Hand Treasures
- Something Beautiful
- Timeless Treasures
- Thrifting with Style
- Thrift & Tea (shop together, stop for tea)
- Trunk & Junk (hold a parking lot yard sale out of your trunks)
- Upcycled
- Waste Not
Spiritual Applications
- Focus on how the Lord renews us.
- Focus on how our prayer life or Christian walk can be upcycled by us just changing our behavior a bit.
- Focus on revival.
- Focus on being wise in household and financial matters.
- Focus on cleaning up our messy and tattered lives and making them something to be proud of spiritually speaking.
- Focus on how no matter what age you are, where you come from, what you look like, and all those things—-The Lord still has a purpose for you and you can accomplish anything through Christ. (Philippians 4:13)
Theme Verse Suggestions
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalms 51:10 (KJV)
“And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.” Ephesians 4:23, 24 (KJV)
“He restoreth my soul…” Psalm 23:3 (KJV)
Devotional Starters and Workshop Ideas
- Download the Thrifting and Brokenness Devotional Writing Starters (pdf)
- More Devotional Writing Starters
- Find my author page on Amazon.
Simple Decorating
- Tray of thrifted, vintage, or antique items
- Line tray with a piece of tapestry or embroidered cloth.
- Paint bucket
- Small vintage painting
- Milkglass
- Mason jar
- Tools
- Vintage dishes
- Antique bottles, jars
- Bible verses framed in old picture frames
Icebreakers
Thrift Find Makeovers
- Divide into teams.
- Give each item a thrift find such as as a small shelf, etc.
- Give each team a glue gun, some small odds and ends such as fabric, paint, crafting supplies, etc.
- Give them a time limit to make over their object.
- Have judges to choose the most useful, prettiest, most re-purposed item, etc. You can make up as many categories as you want.
Music
- Something Beautiful (Gloria Gaither)
- Remind Me, Dear Lord (Dottie Rambo)
- Spirit of the Living God (Daniel Iverson)
- Without Him (LeFerve)
- Revive Us Again
Favor Ideas
- Sanding block with verse attached
- Small square of sandpaper with verse attached
- Mini tape ruler
- Chip paint brushes (tie a cute hang tag to them)
- Retro or vintage style mug/coffee cup
- Microfiber dusting cloth (roll up and tie with ribbon and hang tag)
- Mini pillows/sachets made from vintage fabric
- Vintage/embroidered ladies handkerchief (The 99 Cent Store sometimes carries them.)
- Anything “repurposed”
Door Prizes
- Anything “repurposed”
- Gift certificate to a local thrift store (if available)
- Gift certificate to a craft store
- Home thrifitng/antiquing magazine
- Home decor magazine
Just for Fun
Fundraising Opportunity
Use this for an opportunity to raise funds for a cause. Have everyone donate old furniture, art, vintage items, household goods and have a flea market or yard sale event. If you want to make more money, you could do it with big items only such as only furniture. You could make it art themed and do only art. Oh, the possibilities!
Thrift Swap
Have everyone bring one used item to swap. You can be specific and make it home decor or household if you don’t want some utterly crzy things.
Trunk & Junk
Have everyone fill their trunk with unwanted treasures from their home and hold a parking lot yard sale out of your trunks. It makes a great fundraiser to raise funds for a cause.
Shopping Trip
Go on a thrift store outing, flea market, or meet on the weekend to go to yard sales together.
Group Project
Do a “repurposed” craft together. (use old picture frames, old buttons, old jewelry etc.)
Share Expertise
Share some thrifting, antiquing, flea market shopping tips. (Any ladies in your group that are experts that you can give the job to? For church women’s groups, this may be a way to let some of your ladies shine!)
Food and Serving
- Light breakfast before going on a shopping trip together as a group.
- Light lunch when returning from a shopping trip together as a group.
Photo Sources
- Want the photo used for the page title of this theme? Find the original at Unsplash here.
Thanks for stopping in. Please leave any extra ideas for this theme in the comments. Or if you have used this theme, let me know! Do you like to shop at thrift stores?
Creative blessings,
Julia
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