How To Get New Clothes for FREE! Clothing Swap Event.

Who has clothes or other items in your house that you no longer want or need or fit into? Come on, you KNOW you just won’t be that size again so time to let those clothes go…haha….

Who NEEDS new clothes but lacks the funds to go on a nice shopping spree?

This is your answer! Read on!

All of the above applied to me and I knew there must be other women at my church who felt the same way. And I must digress here to brag on the ladies of my church; they are all tremendously generous. I think it’s the Hawaiian way, and I love it! Everyone is so quick to give things away, without a thought about charging anyone any money. That would be so insulting! When I was pregnant with my first child, I not only had the traditional baby showers, but women in the church with older boys brought me bags of used, good condition clothing. I had so much I didn’t have to buy my son one item of clothing until well after his first birthday! And the same has been true with my two daughters, as well. And the maternity clothes…HA! I can quickly off-hand think of about 5 other women who have worn my maternity clothes as we’ve all passed them around.

Also, the times when our church has held a yard sale as a fundraiser…well….we all ‘shop’ amongst the stuff that we’ve all brought, and probably half of the money raised is from our own pockets!

SO, with all of this in mind, I approached our Ladies Leader about doing a Clothing Swap. She loved it and got permission from our pastor’s wife, asked if I’d organize it since it was my idea, and bam, there it was on our church schedule.

I’ve heard of these for a few years now, and thought it would be awesome for us. If you google it, you’ll see various ideas about ways to do them. Some are pretty high-end, with designer items being swapped. Some are pretty regulated, with rigid rules, while others are more loosely organized. Some are held open to the public and hundreds of people show up, while others are private affairs held among groups of friends. Some are systematic, with people receiving a ticket for every item they contribute to be used to ‘pay’ for each item they select. Some swaps also feature food, drinks, etc. You can research all the different ideas there are, and organize yours however it best fits your group of people. Here is how we did it….

We told the ladies about a month ahead of time so they could start clearing out their house and closets. Yes, we did open it up to more than just ladies clothes; ALL clothing was welcome from babies, kids, men’s and women’s…including any accessories like purses, shoes, etc. And we also opened it up to household items. The rules were:

All items should be new or gently used, in good working, wearable condition.

All items should be small or light enough to be carried by a woman and able to fit into a regular vehicle.

Ladies should not bring items they will end up regretting getting rid of, and reminded that they would get NO money for anything, so obviously if they wanted to sell it on craigslist or eBay for a profit, they should not bring it.

Ladies were asked to bring their own shopping bags.

We had it at our Ladies Leader’s house since hers is large enough and the church wasn’t available that night. She borrowed folding tables from the church. Ladies were asked to start bringing their items during the week preceding the event; they could bring it to her house or to the church for her to take home with her. A few of us showed up early and quickly organized everything like a standard yard sale. Clothing was sorted and folded, all picture frames, accessories, etc. were placed together….same for DVD’s, shoes, books, etc.

The night arrived and some ladies still brought their items with them. Obviously if you have a large group of people, you can’t do this because it does need to be organized ahead of time. We had a small enough group that as they arrived we were able to still quickly sort their items. As ladies arrived, they were invited to grab some of the snacks that were set up (everyone brought a small dessert or snack item to share).

To begin the Swap, ladies were invited to look around and ‘window shop’ all they wanted; checking out sizes, etc. Nothing could be actually taken yet. After everyone was allowed to do this, we went over the rules again and then said “GO”! In our Swap, we did rounds: ladies could go grab one item and then return to the seating area. After everyone returned, round two started and they could go get two items. Then for round three, they could get three items…and so on. Some ladies wanted to try on items which slowed it down a bit, but after awhile we no longer had rounds because, well…no one was fighting over anything like some of the swaps I read about on the internet! Everyone just liked browsing and taking whatever they wanted, and they were able to try on items in the bathroom.

Let me tell you, this was SO MUCH FUN! I mean, how many times have you been to a yard sale and told to take anything you wanted for FREE? And everyone had brought such a neat variety of things; all different sizes of clothing, both dressy and casual, kids clothes, kitchen items, stuffed animals, books, shoes, movies, etc. Everyone left with bags of ‘new’ treasures! Even if you weren’t sure you liked something, you figured you might as well take it because after all, it’s FREE! People got items for family members and friends, too.

We were left with a small amount of unwanted things, and ladies knew they could either take ‘their’ contributions home with them (no one did), or just leave it there for the next fundraiser yard sale that our Ladies Leader is going to do on a local military base.

The next Sunday, several of us (or our kids) were seen wearing some of our ‘new’ clothing! And everyone commented on how happy they were with all the ‘new’ stuff they scored!

Just a few things that I was thrilled to bring home: about 6-7 new DVDs for me and my kids, stuffed animals for all three of my kids, a new platter for my kitchen, a belt, two new skirts and four new shirts, some brand new nursing pads, several items of clothing for Samuel and Olivia, several pairs of shoes for my kids, etc. There were also some things I was glad to get out of my house and see them find new homes with people who would enjoy them!

This was a really fun event and everyone is already talking about our next one. I can’t wait!

Keeping Kids Quiet At Church

How do YOU keep your kids quiet during church services? I've been collecting ideas about ways to keep kids quiet in church, so PLEASE share your ideas!

For me, it's Wednesday! That means heading off to the library to get books for Samuel. I have learned that if I get him some awesome books about snakes, dinosaurs, cars, skeletons, jungle animals, etc. and DON'T let him see them until church time, our mid-week service is alot more peaceful! He will sit and look at those books for almost the whole service. This is awesome, as anyone attending church with small, hyper kids will understand. Olivia is much easier; she is usually happy with her blankie, a dollie or purse, and maybe one or two small toys.

Another trick: gummy worms. The kids love them and offer to share with their friends, which I'm sure the parents love. Also, Samuel likes to tie his into knots before eating, or his favorite thing is to pretend that it's a snake, inching its way all around the seats, on the floor, etc. This is good for 10-15 minutes of quiet! I've also been known to bring other kinds of candy. Sshhh, please don't report me to the Bad Parent Police! haha...but like this week; I found some SweetTarts on sale and yes, am planning to take them to church to dole out one by one. Bribery is awesome for keeping the kids quiet.

My friend Cheyenne uses orange tic-tacs (why orange, I wonder). She said this keeps her son, Huck, quiet for awhile. She also heard from a friend about using plain scotch tape! You take some, let the kids have pieces, and they have fun sticking it on things, pulling it back off, etc.

I found that the traditional "Monkey's In A Barrel" is awesome at our church, because the bottom of the chairs have metal bars that the monkey's can be hung from. This kept Olivia quiet once for a LONG time! I was raving to everyone afterwards!

A favorite idea that lots of mothers told me even when Samuel was just a baby: keep some really fun (quiet) toys separate and never let the kids play with them, except at church. That way they are 'new' and fun. My friend Frances rotates her bag of church toys for her son; sometimes he has his safari animals, then the next week it will be his cars, and then his Toy Story toys. And of course, my friend Tara writes her son's name on his toys because our church has about a million little kids, so this way they get their toys back after all the kids have 'shared' with each other!

Speaking of sharing, I've found that if there is a child in front or behind us, they love peering over or under the seat to see all of Samuel's toys. And of course, he wants to have what THEY are playing with. Human nature, isn't it! To want what someone else has. So I'll whisper to him to switch toys, and this has worked out well. The kids exchange toys and are super happy playing with 'new' toys for the duration of the service! I've often joked that we mommies should just automatically switch toy bags at the beginning of service. This also helps Samuel to learn that some things are 'his' and some things are 'other kids'...and that it's OK to share, and then you return toys to their rightful owners. This is a huge lesson for a preschooler!

At the end of a church service after Samuel, Olivia, Jayda, and Texas shared toys all service. It looked like a tornado had hit! But they were all quiet and that's what mattered....haha...

I remember as a kid, sitting with a pen or pencil and a pad of paper. I drew and drew, and I guess this was my mom's way of keeping me still. This is great for our kids as well; we have those large sketching board toys and Samuel loves those, although sometimes Elton has to sit and draw with him. He draws various fun things for Samuel to identify.

I also remember taking Barbie to church, but one night in particular I wanted to show my best friend my new Barbie, and she was sitting several rows behind us. I thought if I just held up Barbie and waved her around, my friend would see her, so I did just that. Barbie was naked, though, and for some reason after that night I wasn't allowed to

bring Barbie to church anymore.

Anyway, if you have any awesome suggestions please share them.

On to another Evy's Tree giveaway (this is her Spring Preview week so she's doing lots of giveaways!). Look at this gorgeous kids design!

So if you want to enter to win an Evy's Tree item, click here.

Autism.

Autism. How that little word strikes fear in a parent's heart.

Trust me, I know.

My son is on the autism spectrum, with a diagnosis of PDD-NOS. That is a fancy way of saying that he has some certain autistic characteristics and traits, but not enough to qualify for an actual "he has autism" diagnosis. The world of PDD-NOS is confusing, uncertain, fearful, hopeful, and always changing.

I can't begin to describe how it makes a parent feel...but today I read another blog post that very well summed up the feelings. If you are interested, read it here. Be prepared to cry.

So, I haven't blogged about this much because frankly, it's very personal. It hurts. It's scary. I prefer to talk about the funny, smart things that my wonderful 4-year old firstborn does. Samuel is intelligent, hilarious, handsome, tall, and my favorite little boy in the whole world! He also has PDD-NOS. Most of the time, I don't remember his particular diagnosis and the issues that come with it.

Most of the time.

Last week, some things had happened that reminded me of that diagnosis and I got scared. Again. And retreated a bit into my head to think and pray about it all...again.

In a moment of desperation, I mentioned something on FaceBook (also known as broadcasting to the entire world) about it...and was so glad that I did, because the response was wonderful. I had several people contact me privately, and they shared their own stories with me about their experiences with autism. I had no idea that these friends of mine were also struggling with similar issues! I was so encouraged and inspired.

So last night, I was talking to my dear friend about this, and she told me that I should blog in more detail about this autism/PDD-NOS journey. That it might encourage others.

I don't know...I wonder if there are people out there truly interested in what I have to say? About my experiences...the tests...the melt-downs...the ups and downs...the lessons learned?

If you read my blog and would really like to see more posts about this, please let me know.

Now, on to something fun...

Spring is almost here, although my friends in the middle of the USA might feel otherwise! Hoping everyone is surviving the Feb 2011 Blizzard!

If you live there and have internet access, log on to Evy's Tree and have your spirits uplifted by looking at all the great, bright spring colors! The snow WILL melt and the sun WILL warm you and you WILL want some nice tee shirts! So enter her giveaway...here is one of my personal favorites because I am looking for a nice GREEN item for St. Patrick's Day!

Good luck!