Upcycle? Handcrafted and Thrift or Vintage Finds Working Together

For the last couple of months I've been toting around a modern little red handbag I'd picked up for one dollar at a local thrift shop.  It's not a vintage bag, in fact it was new and unused.  I love the idea of handmade but it's hard to pass up such a bargain.  To make it "my own" I simply added a crocheted flower pin from a friend who has a shop on Etsy (Jennifer at iwunder.etsy.com) to the front and it suits me perfectly:

Jennifer also offers beautifully hand knitted scarves and accessories in her shop.

With family in town over the weekend one of the things on the agenda (for the girls) was visiting some local thrift shops.  With sales over the new years weekend there was a fuss over the possibility of a well used piano at half off.  However, in the end I purchased for myself one item, the perfect Spring handbag- perfect after I'm finished with just a few simple additions to it.  A deal at fifty percent off of five dollars!
Here it is before and already lovely for $2.50:

And after (and just lovely to look at) here is the Spring 2011 bag I'll be sporting, embellished with two hand crafted buttons from my friend Ginny's shop (ginpins.etsy.com) :

 *Thanks to Micah, my 6 year old for snapping this last photo*

Sew simple. Why not take a look at your handbag stash and see if you can freshen up an old bag with a new accessory...or two!
Happy creating! ~Be sure to follow me by clicking "Follow" on the right of this page~
Kila
Hand crafted Nature inspired jewelry at kilarohner.com