My Obsession with Trashy Crafter!

Have you heard of Trashy Crafter? Well, after this blog post you will know all about this great little company and how I became obsessed with their jewelry!

Trashy Crafter started 5 years ago… Kim and her mom Helen were in a local thrift store and noticed that they had to throw away hundreds of damaged or outdated books. Rather than having those books just sit in a landfill, they gathered them up and took them home while trying to think of ways to reuse them. Kim remembered learning how to roll paper beads from her 3rd grade teacher! (See teachers? We really DO make a difference in so many ways!) Kim and her mom started rolling book beads that night and haven’t looked back!

Now Kim, her boyfriend Dave, and her mom are busy enjoying their little business making tons of recycled jewelry! Kim’s dog even joins in on the fun! You can find lots of bracelets, earrings, necklaces, and lanyards in their shop from over 50 different books…and you can even request custom orders!

I heard of Trashy Crafter over a year ago after seeing many of my blogger friends wearing their cute bracelets. After following Trashy Crafter for awhile on Instagram, I decided it was time to make my first purchase. I told my hubby that I knew exactly what I wanted for my birthday and that I would take care of it! I emailed with Kim (Ms. Trashy Crafter herself!) about the sizing I would need for the bracelets to fit my teeny wrist and was super excited when my Wizard of Oz bracelets arrived…they fit perfectly!

Coolest jewelry I own! So glad I thought of this as my bday gift from my hubby! @trashycrafter you rock!! #trashycrafter #teachersofinstagram #childrensbookjewelry

A photo posted by Elyse Rhodes | A is for Apples (@peaceloveapples) on Oct 8, 2014 at 1:35pm PDT

Kim’s wonderful customer service, innovative idea, and super cute packaging had me hooked! When one set of bracelets wasn’t enough, I asked my parents for another set as a holiday gift last year. Again, Kim and her amazing customer service made it so that the bracelets would fit my little wrist!

So, that’s how my collection went from 1 set of bracelets and earrings… to 2!

The bracelets on the left are made with book beads from The Very Hungry Caterpillar (one of my favorites!) and the bracelets on the right are made from the Wizard of Oz.

When I noticed that Trashy Crafter was now making stud earrings, I was very anxious to get my hands on a pair! I’m more of a post/stud earring kind of girl. Even though I enjoyed the hanging book bead earrings, my little ears couldn’t handle wearing those every day.

I got my hands on a pair of One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish earrings that I knew I could wear with lots of my clothing! They are SO lightweight and comfortable that I forget I’m wearing earrings. I get compliments all the time and have to touch my ears to remember that I’m wearing them!

I’m just a walking advertisement for Trashy Crafter when I wear my earrings, lanyard, and bracelets (couldn’t get those in the pic!)
I got the lanyard for my ID when I attended the TpT conference in Vegas. I’m so happy I did because now I have something extra special to use with my teacher ID that I must wear every day!

I love knowing who I’m buying from and supporting creative people. I’m very happy to have found a great source for neat jewelry. So many books, so many beads, so much fun! Who wouldn’t want to support this?! Great for yourself or for gifts!