Consignment: The ultimate kid stuff thrifty source

Photo from Spring Sale 2011 - Boutique for a Week.

Most people that know me know that I have no problem dressing my kids in Goodwill or thrift store finds. You can find the same clothes and shoes you find at Gymboree, GAP, Target, and elsewhere for under $3 (They just need a run through the washing machine).  This wasn't always the case.

When I got pregnant with kid #1, I was clueless.  I bought everything new.... EVERYTHING.  Furniture, toys, clothes, gear, etc.  Oh the money I might as well have flushed. The thought of buying someone else's use toys (EEgad!) for my baby girl was just gross... like gas station bathroom floor gross.  Then, the kid came out, and instead of thinking I knew what it would be like to be a mom... I knew what it was like to be a mom. (Harder than I ever imagined, but that's another post). Let the life lessons begin.

I saw how few times she actually wore each outfit (some never got worn), how easy it is to take the cover off the swing and wash it, how quickly the top of her new dresser/changing table got scratched up, how if I bought used, I could get a much better quality item for less than a new flimsy version would cost.

I started to search Craig's List and garage sale after garage sale.  That method was okay, but it was a lot of work, time, and driving to find sales with kid's stuff in decent condition.  On one of my garage sale outings, I went to an address that I thought was just a garage sale.  Turns out, it was a kid's consignment sale.  I felt like I hit the jackpot of kid's stuff deals!  The giddy-ness was hard to control. Tons of great-condition kids items all in one place.  After a few internet searches for kid's consignment, I found Boutique for a Week.

What is it? Let me see if I can sum it up in a sentence.  It's a few women who collect good-condition kid's stuff from local moms, rent out a space for a week, set up a "store" with those items, and make it easy for you to shop (and sell) in one place for every kid's item imaginable.  Make sense? Here's how they describe it.

Boutique for a Week is held for one week, twice a year.  Once in spring and once in fall.  I consigned this past spring and made... drumroll..... $250!  On top of that, I got rid of a TON of my kid's outgrown stuff and freed up some space in my closets.  The best part for me is that I drop it off and they do all the work.  I absolutely hate haggling... ask my husband.  I'm so bad with confrontation and pushy people... which is what you get at garage sales.  At Boutique for a Week, you tag your item with a price, drop it off, and pick up your check when it's over. Simple.

I also shopped.  Want to see some of my finds from the spring sale?

First, a pair of genuine Crocs for $4! I think Austin has worn these almost every day this summer. I would have paid more... well worth it.

Next up, a complete outfit from OshKosh. Best part about this one is it has shorts built in.  Perfect for daycare.  Kaley refers to this outfit as "comfy outfit"... as in, "Mom, can I wear comfy outfit today?" Can't remember how much this one was, but probably less than $5 knowing me : )

I also got, count em, 2 bathing suits for my little dude.  One is Old Navy and the other is Circo and I paid $2 each!  These have also been worn almost every weekend this summer.  I know this past weekend he was neck deep in mud in the green one.  Still looks great!

Another great daycare/summer outfit in green... which I love.  Don't you get sick of pink sometimes?  I know I do.  Any cute girl clothes in an alternative color are very welcomed here. This one is from The Children's Place.  Can't remember how much this was was either.

 

Last, and probably the most complimented, is this GAP beach cover up for Austin.  It looked brand new when I bought it and I think I paid $4.  Woo hoo!  I still love it and am sad it's getting a bit snug.

This is just a small sample of what I got.  Like I said, these are from the spring sale so they've been well loved by my kids for the past few months.  And they have way more than just clothes.

To sum it up, I spent around $60 for a wardrobe full of clothes for both of my kids.  Since I sold clothes and gear, I really just traded their outgrown stuff for new stuff and made a little cash.

They also take bedding (I sold my daughter's crib bedding for $50!), furniture, toys, swings, pack and plays, Bumbo seats, bouncy chairs, high chairs, strollers, etc...

The next sale is open to the public September 21st - 23rd at Metro Life Church in Casselberry, FL if you're local.  And if you're not, don't sweat.  Visit consignmentmommies.com to search for a sale close to you.

Happy shopping.

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Thrifty Finds

I've been thrifting it up lately (and sewing) but I'm a little more excited about the thrifting right now.  Maybe it's sewer's block?  Hmmm.  It occurred to me that I might be drawn to bright pink as I put this photo together.


Here's the rundown.

New with the tags Target toddler girl shoes for $3.99!  My Goodwill gets all the Target clearance Target doesn't sell... how great is that!?

Speaking of Target shoes, I was just hunting ebay for some new fall boots for the kid when I walked in and saw these.  A little worn but for $3.99 well worth it and her size!  Circo brand and way cute with some fall skirts and dresses.

Staying with the pink theme, I found this straw beach tote with the tags still on for $1.  Can't beat that.  I thought I might do some sort of craftiness to it, but the more I look at these pictures, the more I kind of like it plain.  hmmmm.

Still hanging in there with the pink?  Dupioni silk at Goodwill!  I'm not kidding.  Occasionally you come across someone's fabric stash they donated.  Today was one of those days.  1/2 yard of hot pink dupioni silk for $1!  Yes please.

Ok, departing from the pink now... are you a little sad?  No need, I have some cheery yellow for you in the form of spray ink, brand new.  Had no idea this stuff even existed.  I did a tiny bit of internet research and read it's good for wood and paper.  I plan to use it on fabric.  I'll let you know how that works out.  $4 at Goodwill, $8 online.

And my all time prized thrifty find to date!  A set of 8 Marcrest Swiss Alpine dinner plates made in the USA from the 1950's in perfect condition! Best part you ask?  99¢ a plate!  I paid less than $8 total for these gems.  After a smidge of Googling I found the same plates on replacements.com for $17.99 each!  I'm slightly excited about them. Can you tell?


And that's it.  My thrifty mojo has been strong lately.  Stay tuned this week for an awesome resource for kids thirftiness. Happy shopping.

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Summer Beach Robes

Ok, well, so far they have been pool robes. At some point, these "beach robes" will actually make it to the beach. Pathetic really, since we have a beach within a hour or so in either direction. Gulf to the west, Atlantic to the east. Sigh.... neighborhood community pool it is.


These cozy robes are made from towels (beach or bath) and a downloadable pattern from Dana at Made.  

Disclaimer: the picture is a little deceiving, the larger pink robe actually took 2 towels to make, not 1.  The smaller blue robe I did get from 1 towel.  


The towels were on sale at Target for $4 and the pattern cost me $8. Total cost for two robes and a pattern I can use a million more times was about $20. (Budget leftover for Starbucks drive through... mmmm). You could use terrycloth fabric, but usually you have a way better selection just getting a towel. Also,they sell towels everywhere or you can just take some from a relative's linen closet next time you're over. What?

So, I must admit, I'm a bit of a blog stalker. I check out Made once a week. Okay, a couple times a week. OKAY, everyday. But isn't that what bloggers want you to do? I'd like a blog stalker or two, or a few thousand. Tee hee. Anyway, one day Dana announced that she had a new pattern for sale. My first thought was, "I'll just look at the pictures and wing it... I don't need the pattern. I am the best seamstress ever!" -said in super hero voice. (Well, maybe not that last part). Then, I realized I'd have to make arm holes and measure my kids... bleh. $8 later, the pattern was mine. I must say, well worth it!  I hope my extended family knows their kids will be getting robes for the next few birthdays and Christmases. : )

This was the first time I made any clothing from a pattern and Dana breaks it WAY down. Have you ever tried to sew from those tissue paper patterns from the fabric store? Holy confusing! I just did it for the first time the other night (blog post to come) and had to look up 3 words in the first sentence of the first direction. Not simple no matter what the package says. The pattern from made was just like reading a blog tutorial with color pictures and instructions. Easy.


So anyway, they turned out really well. The only complaint I'd have is that there is A LOT of bias tape to sew on. That was the most time consuming thing. Not hard, just tedious. I love how bias tape looks, just dislike sewing it. Do they have a machine for that?


It's so nice to have robes to throw on the kids for the walk home from the pool. Trying to keep a beach towel wrapped around a 3-year-old and a 1-year-old for a 5-minute walk wasn't working out. I can't tell you how many times I yanked dirty, ran-over beach towel out of the stroller wheels. Problem solved and they look so cute!


Kid #1 was more interested in swimming than having her robe  picture taken. Imagine that?!

 Kid #2 is a bit of a ham.  "Helllllllo ladies".

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Simple Shirred Skirt {from an old tank}

In my sewing pile I have actual fabric and then a whole bunch of old defective clothes.  Defective meaning they either don't fit, have a hole, have a stain, or are severely out of style. This tank is in the "doesn't fit" category.  Looks cute on the table, not so much on me. I've wanted to use it for a long time in some sort of upcycled project.  Then it came to me... as in, my friend Katherine from Sew Woodsy sent me a link to some shirred skirts made from t-shirts. Bingo!


Here's what I did. (note, this tank was a women's small which made a good toddler-sized skirt.  The bigger the booty, the bigger the shirt has to be.)


Start with your tank or t-shirt laid out flat.

Chop off the bottom just under the pits. (might want to measure your kid to see how long to make it)

I hemmed the top by folding it over about a half inch and ironing. (totally optional since knit won't fray)

Iron all the way around.

Now comes the shirring.  Load your bobbin ONLY with elastic thread.  You have to do this by hand, not in the automatic bobbin winder on your machine.  It will wind it too tight.  Wrap it around the bobbin tight enough so there is not slack but you're not stretching it either.  Then thread your machine with regular thread.  Start sewing a straight line.

 Here's what happened to mine. Ugh.

I have a Brother sewing machine and after many frustrating balls of elastic thread got ripped from my machine, I Googled and found Brother machines don't play nice with elastic thread.  So I messed and messed and experimented both with tension and stitch length and FINALLY got it to work!


I made my stitch length 5 and my tension 7 and it started to shirr! As you can see, I was so sick of seam ripping at this point, I just sewed right over the messed up lines. Whatever, she's going to spill juice on it anyway.  Just sew line after line about 1/2 inch apart... as many as you want.

It turned out really cute but has some flaws.  First of all, it doesn't stretch out as much as it should. My kid really has to shimmie to get it over her booty.  And, when I tried the same technique again to make a skirt for me, I got a big old mess again of elastic thread and no shirring.  I guess I just found the right tension and stitch length for this particular fabric?  I have no idea.  According to everyone else in blogland it's really easy... if you don't have a Brother sewing machine. : )


Click here for another explanation on how to fix your shirring frustration with a Brother sewing machine. I don't know if I'm brave enough to take my machine apart, but it worked for her! Good luck.

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Summer Beach Quilt... in the making

It's official.  I started the Summer Beach Quilt.  Thanks to an awesome Independence Day sale JoAnn's was having, quarters were 50% off!  That means, they were $1.  Woo hoo!  On top of that, work let us out early on Friday which means the kids were still at daycare and I had 2 hours to shop by myself. "Auuuuuuhhhhhh".... that was the sound of angels singing and the clouds parting.

Everything except the two fabrics in the front there (the yellow paisley and the orange floral) are quarters. I like using quarters mostly because I hate having fabric cut. Haha. Why does it take forever?! Ugh. I tried to buy 3 of each quarter but in some cases they didn't have 3.  Oh well, I'll just wing it.

I've been scouring Pinterest lately looking for a new quilt pattern to try, but I keep going back to the style I already made for little Levi. I just love it. And since the last one was a gift and this one will be for me, I think I'm just going to do the same thing again. I can do that, right?

Hopefully I'll have it done before beach weather is over.  Hope you like, stay tuned.

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