Last Minute Gifting Tips and Tricks

With only 4 days to go till Christmas… here are a couple of my gift ideas for those last minute shoppers out there that might want to snazzy-up their holiday gifting while helping the environment and making your purchases go further.

As a mommy that values finding ways to help our earth with every little bit I can (which Goodwill is also aligned with saving millions of tons of items from the garbage dumps every year in this country!) I like to be creative with my gift giving, including the wrapping it’s in.  So here are some of those items you can buy at your local Goodwill to use as the boxes and/or wrapping that will add something special to your gifting this holiday season while helping out our environment…

For those guys in your life… grab a car washing-mitt (like this one I picked up at the Seattle Dearborn Goodwill for $4.99) and put a tool in it (like this Craftsman level I picked up at the Seattle Dearborn Goodwill for only $19.99) add a bow (or not) and your set!

For girls on your list grab a holiday kitchen towel (like this brand new one picked up at the Bellevue Goodwill for $1.29) and wrap it up into a roll and put a bracelet or belt around it and then finish it off with a scarf! (also from the Bellevue Goodwill for $4.99)

And the finished look with a bow and a gift tag (made from repurposed wrapping paper)…

Or you can give an entire “Accessorize package” and wrap a handbag (like this beautiful brand new Tignello handbag I picked up at the Seattle Glitter Sale for only $39.99) in a scarf (also from the Seattle Goodwill for $3.99) with some bracelets (all from the Seattle Glitter Sale for various prices ranging from $9.99 to $12.99)!

And wrapped in the scarf as wrapping paper…

For those kids on your list… purchase a nice, cozy winter hat (like this GAP kids hat purchased from the Seattle Dearborn Goodwill for  just $1.99) and put some presents in it (wrapped or not)…

And here are a couple of more ideas for items to use as boxes or wrapping paper instead of using more materials that cut down trees…

How about a planter for a gardener’s gift to store items in

Or a Coffee Canister (or kitchen canister of some kind) to put trinkets for that food-lover on your list

Or a storage container for that kid or parent on your list to store all those toys they often get during the holidays!

Or how about using a men’s tie as a bow on a gift (even better if it’s a “bow tie”!)

There are many different ways that you can package your Goodwill items in repurposed goodies that will not only cut down on your environmental footprint, but give your gift a little added PIZZAZ when viewed against the typical wrapped gifts under the tree.

But no matter how you wrap your gifts… I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and I will see you soon to wrap up this year of Living the Goodwill Life for 2011!

Labor Day Sales

This weekend was Labor Day, so we went to check out the Goodwill’s holiday weekend sales to find some of the items on our back-to-school list.

First we headed over to the Seattle Goodwill Dearborn store on Friday evening…

Just look at this LIST!!!  The first thing we found was this big, insulated lunch bag.  Big enough for goodies, milk and everything else!

We also found some other needed things such as these Safety 1st baby-proofing latches for the fridge and drawers since we had been putting all our kitchen items on counters for months to get them out of our little one’s reach.  They were installed this weekend and what a luxury it is to not have towels and utensils all over the floor!  We also picked up this great car-washing-cloth as the first of a holiday basket we are making for Nana and Papa.  Remember… they have all those classic cars that need to be washed all the time!  We also found a couple of items for the little one like this great sippy-cup that is usually sold at Williams Sonoma for $12.00 each picked up for .99 cents!  And a Manhattan Toy that is currently being sold in Nordstrom stores for $14.99 that we picked up 1/2 off .99 cents!

Then on Monday, mommy took a couple of hours for herself and went to the Bellevue Goodwill store…

The store was crazy packed!  But I managed to find a couple of goodies in the big sale (.99 cent BLUE TAGS, and 40% off PINK and GREEN TAGS)

As  you can tell I’m a label shopper and the Bellevue Goodwill store always satisfies!  I ended up scoring a Faconnable top for 40% off $9.99… picked up a great Eddie Bauer skirt and designer jacket for .99 cents each and a pair of Gap pants for the little one for 40% off $1.99!

And…

We found another item off our back-t0-school list!  These great brand-new Target rain boots that were only $5.99!

Hopefully you all had a great Labor Day weekend and are ready for back-to (school or work)!

Back to school shopping

So my oldest is about to venture into the dreaded… MIDDLE SCHOOL in a couple of weeks.  You know, the place where tweens start to assert their social dominance… where the innocence of elementary school (and childhood) are quickly left behind for the latest TV show, iTouch game, hairstyle and Tshirt?!  A place where saying or wearing the wrong thing at any given moment can reek total havoc on the rest of your school existence?!!

Well, maybe it’s not that bad?…. yeah, right!

My son has been brought up with a very thrifty family who has taught him not to been afraid to shop at thrift stores (or still play with Legos) up until this point and I’m not going to stop now (at least until he cries “Uncle” for fear of total social banishment) so we head over to the main Seattle Dearborn and Bellevue store to check out their Back-to-school sales.

Immediately we were met with a Back to School display…

From there we toured the men’s section and rounded up quite a few trinkets for the school wardrobe… board shorts for $2.99, khaki’s for $4.99 each, some PJ pants for $2.99

I even found a couple of shirts for the little one while we were at it… both $1.99

My oldest found a vintage 1980’s leather jacket that he just LOVED… and it was 1/2 off $19.99!

It took a little TLC because it smelled like smoke, so we put it in the dryer on air-dry for a couple of hours which did the trick!

I even ended up finding some brand-new Sofft sandals for only $12.99 in our shopping!

Remember… lots of stores have Back to School specials out there but you cannot find the deals on the designer labels like you can at a Goodwill store, so visit one today!

Girls night out

Last week a friend contacted me saying she had an evening to spare and since we had been discussing getting together to do a Goodwill shopping trip for months, this was going to be a perfect time to do both!  Besides… she lives in Bothell, so I would be able to finally have an excuse to drive north to the Lynnwood Goodwill and check out that store finally!

So after work we drove over to the store…

The store is tucked behind main roads, in-between strip-malls holding other stores like Tuesday Morning.  We were there in the evening, so getting a good picture of the store was a bit difficult, but we managed to find lots of goodies inside!

Like these new shades that she found.  There are lots to choose from so if your in the mood for a new pair check out your local Goodwill!

We both looked for items on her shopping list…

And wouldn’t you know it… as soon as we started looking, some of those items on her list were found!

Her favorite score were these pair of almost brand-new BORN shoes!  I love finding these kind of brand-name-designer goodies!  In fact, the shoe department ended up turning out pretty good for her since she scored an almost-new pair of Timberland sandals for her soon too!

Of course I ended up finding some great items too…  such as this Hollister “Orange County” Tshirt for my oldest for $1.99 and this Gap Tshirt for my youngest for $.99 and a beautiful burgandy throw blanket for $2.99 and these fuzzy-warm slippers with hard soles for only $2.99.

Okay… back to work finding a job!  Goodwill International are you watching out for my resume?  😉

 

*UPDATE on Girls Night Out*

I asked my friend to answer a couple of questions for the LTGWL readers so that you can start to get an idea of other thrifters out there and how/why they choose to shop at thrift stores.  These are the questions and answers from Brianna…

1.) How often do you shop at the Goodwill?

Brianna:  I shop at the Goodwill about 1x/month or look online for deals.

2.) What items do you look for when shopping at the Goodwill?

Brianna:   I look for items that my family or myself are currently in need of (ie:school stuff, furniture, etc.).

3.) What would you like to find more of at a Goodwill?

Brianna:  I would like to find more furniture at local locations more.

4.) What other thrift stores do you frequent and why?

Brianna:   I also go to Helping Hands thrift store, Saturday’s Child, and Me and Mom (mostly for children’s items, but for seasonal items too (rubber boots for my kids). 

5.) Why do you think it’s important to shop thrift/garage/2nd hand stores?

Brianna:  I think it is important to shop 2nd hand stores for any family on a limited budget, to teach our children to be wise and good stewards of the money that they do have. 

Thanks Brianna for sharing part of your thrift story!

PINK is the word

This weekend the Seattle Goodwill is making a “PINK” out of things!  (At least their PINK tags are 50% off!)

Look at the brand-new baby LOVE the Beatles and Gap are showing our little one…  and both for 50% off!

Or how about some brand-new PUPPY LOVE @ 50% off too?!

Check out the Seattle stores this weekend to grab up some of these awesome deals @ PINK prices!