dehoardifying part 3: I did it for the mug

Well, sorta.  Actually no.  I didn't even know I was going to get a coffee mug!  I guess if you volunteered for two shifts, you got a free coffee mug, how nice is that!  This will be put to lots of use, thank you very much Kids Closet!

I actually did it to dehoardify.  I dropped off 10 boxes, and got back only 4, so I did just that!  I was pleasantly surprised with the amount I made this spring, the most ever!  So again, thank you very much!

I got the opportunity to volunteer on the last day, when people were picking up, so glad I did.  First, because I forgot I got a $10 coupon for that day, so big shout out to Michelle for reminding me.  I didn't think I'd find much on the last day, but pleasantly surprised I found a gymnastics T-shirt!  I love my graphic tees!  Also got a couple of other shirts, leotard, and 2 dresses.  Very happy.






I'm doing this backwards, but its late...and I'm scattered brain...So, in the beginning...I volunteered during the pre-sale, this way I got first look at the items.  I do pay full price, but its worth it especially for the hard to find boy size 8.  I found five pairs of shorts, and a shirt.  Thank goodness!  Because that boy of mine, has no idea when shorts are too small on him...and nothing makes me cringe more than when he sneaks outside in a pair of shorts that hug his butt way too much.  So thank you lady who brought the size 8 shorts, you have saved me a lot of embarrassment (just me, cause my son could care less)!

Now onto the toys!

 I questioned both of these purchases.  $6 for wedgits, which I hemmed, and hawed about thinking they were too young for Moo girl.  So glad I bought them - she's been playing with them ever since!  The $4 bag of legos.  The legos I struggled with...picked up, put down, then said screw it, its only $4 and bought them.  So glad I did!  The treasures that we found in that bag!



On the second day I volunteered again, this time...I went to the vendors.  So happy I did!  I hate paying shipping when all I want is a $5 item from Pampered Chef.  I've been dying for these bamboo toaster tongs FOREVER!  The dog ate them awhile back, and I've been mourning their loss ever since.  Kids used them, I used them...ugh.  Damn Dog.  Well, guess who had them in stock?!  My new favorite Pampered Chef Lady.  They also have the best paring knives ever!

Talked to some very nice ladies, and also got a sample of a candle.  Excited about the candle, and as soon as I try it out I will let you know all about it.  Its for my crafting projects...if you go back to The Good The Bad and The Ugly post, it will show you how I use my candles for crafting, but I can only use soy because of the soot. This candle may work instead...I'll let  you know.

Overall I'm a happy camper.  I think most people were very happy.  I talked to some new consignors, and you have to remember its a learning experience.  Pricing things fairly for both the shopper, and yourself is  always difficult.  I know I gave some stuff away, that I could have made a couple of more dollars on...but at least its out of my house.  I also know that I forgot at least two items - but you know what, they got donated to a good cause at the end of the day.  So its all good.

I'm already looking forward to getting rid of all my fall stuff since my Moo girl has finally out grown her three's!  I will have another 10 boxes I'm sure!

To buy or not to buy

that is ALWAYS the question!  With Kids Closet sale tomorrow, I have had this on my mind...a lot!

According to Facebook there will be a lot of new shoppers to Kids Closet.  Congrats to you!  Once you cosign, you always cosign!  You start to look at  kids clothes shopping in a whole new way.

Lets start with what consignment is...it is moms helping moms.  That is one of the main reasons why I keep going back to consignments shops and the bi-yearly consignment sales.  My money goes directly into other moms pockets.  Plus its a great way to reduce, reuse and recycle. Its the feel good event of the spring!

What consignment it isn't...a garage sale.  Consignment is one stop bargain shopping at its finest.  You don't have to go to 5 different bad garage sales to finally luck upon one good one.  So remember that when shopping.  Some things may be priced higher than what you expect, but remember what the sellers do...we wash, inventory, tag, get stuck by stray safety pins and bleed.  Consignment sales are clean, organized, clothes are majority stain free, and the toys work.  That doesn't always happen at your garage sales or thrift stores.  A mom makes a few bucks, and a mom saves a lot of bucks!  Its a win-win my friends.

Notice how I said majority stain free.  I'm sure you did.  Sellers aren't perfect.  We try, we do. But sometimes we just wash, look quickly,  tag, and be done.  And a stain, or tear may slip through our hands.  So here are some tips to catch our mistakes...

Stains:  Mesmerized by the cuteness of the front of the dress aren't you? The beautiful embroidery that is just screaming your little girls name.  Don't forget to look at the back!  Never know if that previous lil' owner sat in cherry pie.  A seller would never purposely sell you a dress like that, but, pie happens.  With dresses, look at the hem line, make sure no dirt stains or ripped seams on the bottom.  The dress may not be perfect, close enough is good, you just don't want half a hem undone.

Swimsuits:  People always question swimsuits at resale.  How many swimsuits have you bought your kid they wore once, and they tugged at it the entire time? or just didn't like it and wouldn't wear it?  Just because your kid didn't like it, or it didn't fit your kids body type, doesn't mean it won't fit someone else.  You can't return it, so you resell it.  Its fine.  No one is going to catch cooties.  What do kids do in swimsuits?  They swim in bleach water.  What do you do when done...you rinse it out.  No cooties my friends.  Its fine.  BUT you do need to be careful of two main things.  Chlorine wear.  Check the elastic bands.  Give a gentle tug on a waist band, or leg hole to make sure the elastic doesn't break apart.  I have fallen victim to a perfectly good looking swimsuit with bad elastic.  Always check.  Also the top may be perfect, but look at the bottoms.  One too many sits on the concrete makes a swimsuit look bad...don't get mesmerized by the cute ruffles...always check the butt!

Shoes:  Shoes are expensive.  I also like my daughter to have a pair for every day of the month.  This is another one of the many reasons I love consignment.  Dress shoes are a great buy at consignment.  Kids outgrow those before they can even wear them twice.  Boy shoes are tricky.  My boy wears one pair of gym shoes.  That's it.  He does not like variety.  When looking at shoes check the bottoms and the toe heel.  They don't need to be perfect, but you don't want them worn out.

Tears/Holes:  Some jeans have holes because that is the style that was bought, some have holes because your kid ripped the butt.  Check for wear in the inner thighs, hem line and around pockets.  Also check for pilling under the arm holes, and inner thighs of pants/shorts

Brand Names:  If you've been reading my blog, you know I can be a brand snob. But for good reason.  Quality counts.  BUT...I like me a really cute Faded Glory July 4th dress too.  So, yes, make sure the quality is there...but sometimes, cuteness wins over.  For these prices, cuteness can win.

Sizing:  Sorry, not a lot of help here.  My daughter doesn't grow and my son is the same size as his age.  So I buy accordingly.  Ok...here's a little help.  When my son was 1 year, he wore 24 months.  When he was 24 months he wore 24 months.  Get that?  Kids grow wide then tall.  I find this to be especially true during the toddler years.  I wish I could be more helpful, but my kids are older, and everything I once knew about sizing during the toddler years, has been thrown away.  One more good thing about buying resale...the clothes are pre-shrunk.

Toys:  Batteries should be in all toys, so make sure you press a few buttons to make sure it works properly.  Board games are a great buy at consignment.  Those things can get pretty pricey in a store.  Kids outgrow and get tired of games quickly.  Someones loss is your gain!

Books:  Used books are great.  You can find books that are brand spanking new for cheap!  Or gently used ones that still are perfect for your kids.  I have some favorite toddler board books, so thankful I didn't have to pay full price for so my kids can have their very own personal library.  Honestly, we have too many.

Consider the Children!:  When dressing baby/toddlers, its all about what you prefer.  Then they reach an age...where its about them.  I'm at that stage now.  So things are getting tricky at my household.  My daughter has yet to find a pattern that doesn't match.  My son a long-sleeve shirt that he wants to wear.  So, for you that are shopping for older kids, keep that in consideration.  You may still love your girl in baby doll dresses - she may not.  You may think Batman is still cool...your son...not so much.

Buyer etiquette:  I am not miss manners.  But I've been to enough of these to know some basics.

• Please don't rip open bags or boxes.  If you have a question about an item in a bag or box, go to the front desk, or ask a volunteer to help.  At a Kids Closet sale they allow you to open a bag at the front desk while someone is with you to make sure everything is in there, and works.
• Don't take 2 piece outfits apart.  Once, I had a boys dress suit I was selling, somehow it got separated...pants gone.  That was a bummer.
• When shopping, people tend to grab and hold on to something for dear life, than after 2 hours realize, nope don't want it.  Did you ever really plan on buying it in the first place?  Its ok to hold onto things, and to change your mind.  Its all good.  Just remember that all the time a shirt you never really wanted was in your bag, it didn't sell to someone else.  If your a buyer & a seller, you understand what I'm talking about.
• Listen & Talk.  I'm friendly.  The good thing about that, if I'm looking through shoes and I hear you saying your looking for a size 8 gym shoe, guess what?  If I find it, I'll say "hey...look what I found" so instead of one pair of eyes...you have two pairs of eyes looking for you.  

Consignment shopping is one of those mom things, that not everyone gets.  Not everyone understands that this stuff is fun.  We get together, shop cheaply, ooh and ahh at each others finds, and have a good laugh.  Then, we never have to see each other again, but it was good while it lasted.  So tomorrow, everyone have a great time!  Find some good deals, enjoy your shopping time, and hope to see you there!

From this to this....

And 5 boxes, shopping bag filled with shoes, and I haven't even got to finishing the toys!

dehoardify...part 1

dehoardify: the act of getting rid of stuff before you become the house with the petrified cat in the basement and you don't even own a cat.

Me and my sister one night decided to watch Hoarders for the first time.  We were giddy with anticipation, expecting a good laugh over a bucket of popcorn.  That didn't happen. It actually made us sad.  The episode we watched, the state took the family's kids.  In order to get them back, she had to dehoardify her house.  Any sane person would have thrown away the used 7-11 cup laying on the garbage heap, along with everything else, just to get their kids backs.  But this woman wasn't sane.

So, before the insanity creeps into my house...with the help of kids closet...I am dehoardifying.

This Spring I'm using Kids Closet to do the job that must be done.  Kids Closet is a traveling consignment store.  You pay $12.50 for a consignment fee, then the split is 70% you, 30% them.  They also do promotions to help you reduce your consignment fee.

The object is to gather all your unused kid items, tag and sell.  To do this, you should have some kind of strategy.  I don't have it down too perfection yet, but I'm trying.  I started early this year with organizing my items.  You need to freshly launder your clothes.  I know,  they've been sitting in a box all winter, why would you need to wash them?  For that exact reason...they need a fresh smell.  They sell better that way, plus it gives you a chance to review the items for stains and tears.  Once washed I neatly fold and bring upstairs and I start typing.  Kids closet has a software program that you use on their website.  You type in your item with description.  This is nice because you can stop at any point, save and continue on with your day.  Then come back at another time when the kids aren't screaming, or need to be picked up from school.  Also during the sale, you can monitor your inventory and see what is selling, and what isn't.

Pricing.  I know you LOVED that dress on your little girl, it brought out the blue in her eyes, but guess what, I don't care.  I have no emotional attachment to that dress.  Don't care if it is Gymboree, its not worth $15 resale.  I will wait for half price day.  So, instead of waiting for that dress to sell, go ahead and list it for $8-$10.  With that price point you will more likely get a buyer on the first day.  Last day is half price day, and  you want your items to sell before then.  Remember, you want this stuff out of your house, and make a little cash on the side.  Don't get greedy.  But don't give it away either.  Again, you want to make a little cash on the side.  If your not sure what its worth, look it up.  That's one of the nice things about doing your inventory on the computer.  You can open up a tab and see what Old Navy cotton shorts are worth these days.  Not much.  They have sales all the time.  You can price $5 but they will not sell until half price day.  So you might as well price them at $2-3 so that they sell on the first day.  If you have a hard to find item, like slim or husky, you can price a little more, because those are difficult items to find.  If you have the matching bloomers for that dress...put it with them!  Personally, I'm more likely to buy the dress with the bloomers and pay a little more, than the dress without.  Shirt/short combos are also a good sell.  It makes consignment shopping easy.  Don't have to bother with trying to find matching items.  But don't despair if you don't have a "set", I find myself looking for singles because of my daughters sizing.  She's a 4/5 top, but she can only wear a size 3/4 shorts.  Thats the great thing about shopping consignment...anything goes!

Brands.  Everyone knows Gymboree, TCPlace, and Gap.  So they are easier to price...but the other high quality brands like Speechless, Vigoss and Mini Boden can be difficult because not everyone knows those brands.  With those brands, you have to let the quality of the item speak for itself.  So while you are shopping, you may see something marked high, look at the quality...it may be worth that little extra.  Everyone also knows Target and Walmart brand clothes too...remember what you paid for that cute little Circo t-shirt?  $5?  You're not going to make your money back.  So price accordingly, you will easily sell it, and still make money.

Once I've typed in all my items, I carry them down into the dungeon of my home, and they sit until I get enough courage to print my tags. To my surprise I had 344 items.  Let me rephrase that.  344 ITEMS!  Think about that...even if I only get a $1. for each item, thats $344 dollars I didn't have before.  That's just my first batch of items, I still have kid toys to tag!

Once I hit publish on this blog, I will go downstairs and conquer tagging.  I do this by getting out the whiskey, hangers, and safety pins.  I'll have the iron ready if something needs a quick smooth over.  Once I get a group done, I will put them in a box, according to gender and size and be done.  Did I say whiskey?  I meant coffee.  Irish Coffee.