If you're an attentive thrift store shopper like yours truly, you begin to get a sense of what sorts of treasures come in and when. I noticed awhile back that Goodwill was getting in lots of sample books. I imagine that interior design places get new sample books yearly. And what are they to do with the old sample books? I guess they end up in thrift stores.
To my recycler's mind, it seems incredibly wasteful. Old tile samples should be used for mosaic making. Wallpaper has endless uses, including scrapbooking, book making, and card making. The cloth and upholstery sample books could be used for quilting.
It's a bit like going into an animal shelter. I want to save them all. Well, I can't rightly bring home all the tile, wallpaper, and cloth sample books I find. I'd end up on a multi-episode of Hoarders.
However, I couldn't resist rescuing a few sample books. The OCD in me--the part of me who feels compelled to organize the bins in Walmart like this guy--likes that the sample books are organized according to color schemes. There's also tactile pleasure, as there is a lot of variation in texture and fabric type. That variation would be impossible to achieve if one went to a fabric store, or at least incredibly time-consuming and expensive.
Speaking of expensive, did I mention that the sample books sell for $2 - $3? Each cloth sample book contains anywhere between 50 - 75 sheets of fabric.
I'm a sucker for a good deal, but it's only a deal if you USE what you buy. I decided to use the fabric for wedding decorations. If you look on ETSY or really any party or wedding blog, you'll notice banners are really popular these days. You see them everywhere and in every conceivable incarnation. I thought I'd do a variation. Rather than the pointed triangles, I let the samples dictate shape. In fact, the bottoms are already zig-zag shape.
My inspiration is prayer flags. It seemed like a natural for my shabby chic sensibilities. I'm also a fan of the fluidity--the movement.
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