Thrifting the WitchyWay

Hello all and welcome to Thrifting the Witchy Way!

(take a good look at this picture, it will be important later- there may be a quiz)

This is my first article here on Pagan Pages so be gentle.  So let’s just dive right in.

First let’s tackle the big one- why thrift?

The economy these days sucks BIG TIME.

So how is the money savvy witch or witch enthusiast (you know who you are and we love you!) going to spread the brimstone and cobwebs?

Get thrifty, that’s how.

Witchy style thrifting is so much more than just saving money, or having some creative fun. It’s taking something that is discarded or undervalued and transforming it into something sacred. It’s taking the mundane and making it magical and personal. Being a Witchy thrifter let’s you channel the divine into projects that will become so much more than the sum of their parts.

We all own a sense of responsibility to Mother Earth (or Gaea, or whatever name you have for her). Everything that we as humans make or use comes in some way from her. It is either dug from her soil, cut while it is growing from her, or taken from her seas or sky. No human made product is, in reality, a product of only ourselves. All of our creations are a product of her substance and our imagination. As we all know there is only so much of this that our Mother is going to be able to stand before too much damage is done. By finding these items and re-using them I am, in a very small way, taking something out of the create and discard cycle that our society has perpetuated for itself. And I am honoring Mother Earth by not allowing the things we have taken from her to be discarded as worthless. Instead I am retransforming them into something sacred.

It brings me joy to hunt through the shop in search of that piece that will spark my interest and get my creative juices flowing. It brings me joy to take those pieces home and in some way transform them. Walking through a store and seeing pieces of other peoples’ lives displayed trips my curiosity. It makes me wonder about them and what drew them to the objects in the first place. Why did someone own a green leather jewelry case and what did they keep in it?  Why would someone have 15 different cat mugs? What color wall would match fuchsia shelves? You can develop a very interesting view of humanity by looking at what they thought was too precious to throw away. Because that is in essence what you find in thrift shops and yard sales. The things that people couldn’t stand to see thrown away but can no longer keep themselves. Sometimes they are things a relative has left them after passing, some times they are things that they need to get rid of to make room for new things to love, but no matter why they are giving these things up at some point someone cared enough about them to have kept them in their home and did not want to see them completely discarded. Which means when I go to pick them up and take them home I am taking on a bit of a trust, to take these things that someone cared about and make them into something that my family will make part of our home, and someday when we are done with them they will return to the thrift store for someone else to find and make part of their home.

From thrift stores, to yard sales, to dollar stores it’s a jungle out there full of ripe deals just waiting to come along and be plucked. Ritual tools, to witchy garb, to decor- there are so many ways you can use items you find at ridiculously low prices and then make them jujutastic. Not only will you get completely unique works of art, but they will be so much more powerful because you put your time and willpower into them. When you think about how much it costs to get some designer or retail witchiness from a store or shop compared to how little you’ll spend on making your cool new spellerific swag it makes it that much sweeter.

There are so many ways to save some money while still grooving to your own unique witchy beat. With some imagination, and a few accessories, you can be the most styling witch in your neighborhood.

Which brings us back to that picture up above (I told you it would be important later). Would you believe me if I told you that that lovely little altar originally looked like this-

That horrible little refugee from a computer desk was on its way out to my parent’s garbage when I snagged it. All it took to transform it was some paint and a few hours of my time.

So let’s refresh- in a couple hours that turned into this-

(behind the velvet cloth are shelves for book or supply storage and, sometimes, a cat)

I used a couple of cans of black matte spray paint and metallic craft paint mixed with acrylics with a spray polyurethane coat over it all. I also did the back board in chalkboard paint so that I can put whatever messages I feel I need and just wipe them away when the spirit moves me.

But as cool as that transformation there is something even better about this set up.

Let me give you a closer look.

(please ignore the hideous carpeting- we try to)

Now go ahead and guess how much this altar set cost. Go ahead. I bet you’ll be surprised. The set contains two hand painted candle holders, a hand painted wand, a cut glass goblet, a metal offering dish as well as a glass one on a stand, and a flat glass scrying disk all on a velvet cloth.

This altar set, including the altar itself, cost me around $25.00.

That’s right 25 smackers for the entire set up. And I get the great bonus of having all my tools personally charged and dedicated.

The wand is actually a wooden serving fork that I picked up at the dollar store along with the goblet which even has a multi pointed star on it. Everything else was found at thrift stores and then modified or just repurposed and dedicated. Even the velvet altar cloth was made from a thrifted velvet skirt that I picked up on sale for $3.00.

Since this is my first column, and my Daddy always taught me to leave them wanting more, I’m going to leave you to mull over all the ways that you can let your creativity run rampant through your own space. I’ll be back to show you show you all the tips and tricks to get you Thrifting the Witchy Way!