I opened my shop on a tighter than a shoestring budget. 

The whole story as to how I ended up opening a shop in the first place is quite the tale of adventure. But there I was 6 months pregnant with identical twins, opening a shop for the first time, with less than $500 to my name and otherwise unemployed. 

 
To fit out my shop with displays to showcase my products, I had to get really scrappy. I scoured rubbish dumps, op-shops (charity stores), garage sales, various buy/swap/sell groups and car boot flea markets. I even gathered objects from walks in the bush. I let whatever I found, guide my shop design and help tell my story, my products story.  I trained myself to look for display fitting in the most unusual of objects.  Necessity is truly the mother of invention.

What started out as resourceful necessity, soon became my point of difference. 

People loved it.  Over time this sparked a whole new side line to my handcrafted designs and turned my shop into the Recycled Gallery that it is now.   

I wanted to share this with you as I know there are plenty of people out there looking to start something awesome but feel trapped by lack of financial resources. You might not be planning to open a shop but whatever you want to do – a little bit of innovation goes a long way. Look around for the resources at hand. Instead of being fixed on a certain idea, let these existing resources play a role in shaping your dream.  

Start small. Very small even. 

Build and grow over time. Don't get me wrong, having plenty of capital to kickstart a new venture is an advantage. However, there is value in allowing a new business to evolve. When you have to watch every penny spent, you put a great deal of thought into the 80/20 principle. With more capital to play with, it is easy to waste funds on a whim and on the other 80%.  That is my experience anyway. 

I am going to let my photos tell the rest of the story...

For those curious this is a non exhaustive list of the things I used. Can you spot some of them in the pictures?

• spoons
• 44 gallon drums
• chicken wire
• old skirting boards
• apple crates
• the base of a wood bed
• vintage pegs
• books
• cardboard
• cement stencils
• tree branches, wisteria vine and leaves
• coat hangers
• wood logs
• coffee filters
• wire
• dresser drawers
• doors
• wood spools
• lace, fabric & ribbon
• table tenis racket
• mason jars
• coffee mug stands
• old motorbike
• pallets
• half used tins of house paint
• camp table
• suitcases
• spinning wheel
• cheese grater
  

Even now with a higher cashflow, I still make myself look at the things I have or can get cheaply before spending bigger bucks. 

Until next time - GET THRIFTY

xx Isabella