Moonglow found a gorgeous beaded bag for pennies at a thrift store a few weeks ago. Taken out of that context and with a few quick stitches to reattach dangling bits, it was a perfect gift for a fashionable friend. It's great when you can rescue or reuse materials like that. (One of my jewelry making books advises trips to the thrift store to see what beads or buttons are on the rack to cut expenses. Being a sewer also, I would be torn as to whether I wanted to fix a garment or render it useless by taking off its beads and buttons. Maybe a swap would work, and I could wear the garment and use the original buttons as my jewelry!) :)