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This blog will be used, but not for the thrifting daily articles, that will go to this site: http://thriftingdenver.wordpress.com/

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Men don’t seem to be as excited about thrifting or donating and purchasing used clothes as women are. I think it might be because lots of men don’t really enjoy shopping, but they should! At the very least, it’s good for everyone to recognize the importance of recycling. This week, I’m focusing on men’s shorts. I found some fun, barely used shorts that almost any man could wear. These excellent pairs of shorts are often found in places like Macy’s or Nordstrom’s.

First is a pair of Tommy Hilfiger dress shorts. These are size XXL at $3.99. Inside liner and black in color with same color pinstripes, average length. They are a great pair of dressier shorts, but will still help keep you cool.

Second, is another pair Hilfiger shorts sized XXL at $3.99. This pair of shorts would do very well on hot days with their lightweight cotton. These shorts can be worn dressed up or down, so they’re great for travel!  Not too long or short.

Lastly, and maybe best of all are these knee-length surf shorts. They’re a size Large and have never been worn. The shorts are made by Kirra, which makes funky boarding clothing. Usually these shorts go for about $40.00 new, and these are a mere $1.99! Now that’s a steal!

If you want to come in and purchase any of these items, you will need to go to the Goodwill located on South Broadway and Archer.

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Thoughts on educating teens on thrifting and using their money wisely.

It seems that because America has had such good fortune, even with the downturn in the economy, many of , today’s teens haven’t learned how to spend their money wisely. At one point in time, our economy provided a luxurious life for many teens. Money was not a huge concern for many Americans and because of that, there was a lack of knowledge about the importance of saving and spending wisely. Credit cards are widely used in place of cash and because you can’t see money leaving your wallet, it can seem like there is an endless supply.

Now that our economy has suffered such a severe blow, the once luxurious life many teens has changed. They are learning that money does have great importance, but lack skills necessary to navigate these leaner times. There is an opportunity to teach teens a great lesson today: that thrifting can really help them become aware of how they can harness and stretch their dollar much further.

One great way to teach your teen about money is to take themto Goodwill on a 50% off sale day, with the promise that if you can’t find anything there, you can go to another place. Give them an allotted amount of money to spend, and they can either purchase used or new. Check out the used items first. Because Target often sends their excess inventory items to Goodwill for donation, many times the teens can get brand new clothes at a fraction of the cost.

Some teens might think that having used clothing is not the coolest thing to do. Teens are swayed easily, and they want to fit in, so they purchase the $120 pair of jeans. That $120 could buy them an entirely new outfit at a thrift store, and often times it is just as trendy and hip. If they knew this, I believe they would realize the savings and go more often, donate more often and keep the earth cleaner longer. There is great potential to teach teens about the benefits of thrifting, and learn the value of the dollar. If a teen walked into school wearing a recognizable $300 outfit that was found for only $30 at Goodwill, that would start to open minds!

Thrifting can be cool, teens just need to be exposed to the right way to do it!

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One thing I love about shopping at a thrift store is the variety of fashion you can see. You get to view what trends are slowly becoming less popular because you will see them start to show up in abundance in thrift stores.

Over the past few years, dresses of all styles, colors and lengths have really increased in popularity. In my attempt to purchase a good travel dress, I was amazed at the selection and many assortments of dresses just in my size alone at the local Goodwill!

So, in the hopes that I will be traveling to warm and beach-y places this year, I needed to find something that would look superb on, that could be worn dressed up or down, and even possibly worn over tights or leggings for the layered look. It is important to have different ways to wear one outfit if I’m traveling, especially since we now have to pay for baggage handling!

So, what should I get? Knowing that dresses average $5.00 at my local Goodwill, I started to try them on.

Should I choose the lovely unworn Kelly green Forever21 wrap dress that’s fun and flirty? Pretty ruffles, can be dressed up or down, but since I don’t look good in that green unless I’m tan, she was eliminated. And she looks like she would need ironing, which I loathe.

Or what about the skin tight stretchy animal print ArdenB sexy dress with an open back? So appealing, and doesn’t take up much baggage space, but isn’t all that versatile and I could NEVER have a fat day in that thing.

Hmm, maybe the absolutely stunning halter top lollipop fun and flirtatious Lily dress? Wow, so sweet, so cool, and I’d feel like a million bucks in it. But, it looks like it will wrinkle, and the possibility of wearing a bra with it is minimal. I need a bra. Bye, bye pretty dress. Someone else will snatch you up.

Well, then, what about the strapless J. Crew linen dress? Yep, perfect! It holds every goal I wanted for a travel dress: It is supposed to be somewhat wrinkled in look, I can wear a bra with it, with or without straps, it is something that you can wear on a beach or out dancing or to a date! It won’t take up too much of my limited baggage space and I can add a belt or leggings to it! Yes, this one was the winner. It was very easy sacrificing the $5.00 for such a wonderful dress.

(Apologies for the dresses being cut off, not sure what happened!)

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The other day I had some free time, so I took a leisurely few hours and took the opportunity to peruse my local Goodwill store. One of the biggest thrills of a “thriftanista” is to find unused items at a fraction of their cost. That day, I was lucky enough to get this thrill a few times over!

I could not believe the amount of absolutely new, not used items I found outside of the clothing department! The local stores and businesses in the area are clearly very dedicated to Goodwill, giving their unused and out of season items.

I happened upon several boxes of unopened fancy invitation paper, running 6.99 for 150 invitations and envelopes. There were a few different kinds to choose from (see one picture below). What a steal for such a fancy item, and something you can use for any kind of event! I also found pretty and unused, very fancy gift bags. I personally love gift bags for their re-usable, no wrapping involved virtue.

I then came across probably 20-30 unused pairs of hose and tights which were a donation from Target. If I needed new hose, this is where I’d shop! There were plenty of sizes and types (see picture with tights in clear tubs). How impressive!

Like all thrifters, one always has to check out the clothes, and this day, I saw employees rolling out a rack of unused clothing donated from Target. There were several spring dresses and tops, all bearing the original price tags. I even found over 20 pair of unused flip flops, which are by far one of the most versatile shoes you can have.

If you are ready for new clothes (literally), check out your local Goodwill, you may get more than you bargained for!

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I find it sometimes extremely frustrating to find a bathing suit that I feel comfortable enough to wear in public, and I know I’m not alone! Not to mention, brand new suits can get expensive! Last year, I learned that several Goodwill locations get unused swimsuits that haven’t sold in places like Target. While picking swimsuit pieces for the trend of is the week, I found a number that were brand new, complete with tags!. Swimsuits like Victoria’s Secret, Gottex, and Speedo are a steal at $1.99!

Below are this week’s picks – some truly great finds. And the trend (you’ll see it more and more on Costa Rican beaches) is to mix and match. This allows for you to create more than one look for a suit which helps when you are traveling! I personally like to mix tops with one bottom, and it makes for a more fun creative self-made suit!

At these prices, you can certainly fill your swimsuit collection easily. Don’t forget to take a look at my article on how to “clean” these items to make sure they are like new.

1. 1.  Gottex, sice 12, full piece gold and light brown print $3.99

2. Blue two piece, top is Xhilaration size medium top, floral print. $1.99. Speedo blue bottom, $1.99, size M.

3. This is a fabulous find! Blue and white print two piece Ralph Lauren bikini with yellow belt. Unused, $3.99. (or $1.99 each, separately)

4.  Mix-n-Match: Victoria’s’ Secret top and bottom, bright red-orange, $1.99 each (top and bottom), and could mix it with Ana Top (for more coverage) at $1.99. Great for travel!

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I personally love baring my feet.  Problem is that I suffer from cold feet, so I have to wait till the weather is pretty darn set on being warm before exposing my toes. 

I am so excited for my personal finds for the spring and summer!  I have to say, last year I had serious flip flop issues, not being able to find a good pair, and honestly, I can’t convince myself to spend over $20 for a pair of foam/rubber shoes with a few straps on them.  That is a thrifters mindset, there is a limit what we will pay for new items.  If we can’t find it, we will either search for it elsewhere or wait for the sale.

But these particular finds were at the Goodwill located on Leetsdale in Denver.  This particular day the shoe selection was so good I actually had to put pairs back because it was getting expensive (for a thrifter).  Even though they are $5.00 a pop for shoes, you buy a bunch of pairs and it adds up! 

Anyway, I’m just so excited as I found a pair of black Kenneth Cole Reaction (made especially for J.Jill) black flipflops.  We all know the price of new Kenneth Cole shoes.  Even on sale it’s more than $5.  Sketchers rubber backed, walking flip flops are obnoxious and super comfy.  These make for fabulous kicking around, going to the pool or getting coffee on a Sunday morning type of shoes.  Mushy, they hug your feet so it feels like you are walking on pillows.  And if you are a shoe shopper, you know Sketchers is always costly, even when you feel the material spend doesn’t qualify for it. 

Lastly, and most exciting, the pair of Bjorndal walking flipflops I got are perfect for any kind of travel.  They are versatile enough to wear with almost anything, and for sure will be going to Greece with me this fall!  This brand is like a step down from Birkenstock (which those shoes hurt my feet and they are not attractive for the most part and are too expensive). Going anywhere from $30-$80 new, I could walk for hours in these shoes.  Very nice on the feet.

In all, I am very excited for my next trip to see what’s on the shoe rack at Goodwill!

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Downcycling is still not a very well-used word. And really it is more correctly termed than the word Recycling. I learned a lot doing research online about downcycling. Number one? There isn’t much information on the World Wide Web.

Wikipedia Definition: “Downcycling involves converting materials and products into new materials of lesser quality. Most recycling involves converting or extracting useful materials from a product and creating a different product or material”. (or it cannot be recycled into the same product). Downcycling is very different from recycling, because recycling mostly means using something for the same purpose again. The term downcycling was coined by Reiner Pilz in 1994.

Advantages of downcycling compared to creation and use of brand new products:

1. Preventing potentially useful material from being wasted

2. Reducing raw material consumption and lowering energy usage

3. Water and air pollution reduction

4. Greenhouse gases consumption

5. Reducing your carbon footprint

Examples of downcycling are:

1. Turning old t-shirts or towels into rags.

2. Turning old plastic bottles into plastic outdoor chairs that cannot be recycled.

3. When people upcycle, they can also use downcycled parts. Like using an old computer as memory or backup storage.

Downcycling is good, however it turns reused resources into a lesser item, and eventually it turns up in a landfill and is completely useless. There is a lifespan to plastic. Every new drinking plastic bottle is made from raw materials. However, things cannot be totally reabsorbed into the original form and are made into a lower cost material until it’s completely useless.

Downcycling can be done both in business or at home. It’s a new way to be creative! Before you toss something away think of some possible ways you candowncycle! Although downcycling is not the BEST means of recycling, it is considered by most to be better than just throwing it into a waste dump.

Goodwill does a fabulous job of downcycling, taking in and reselling in large bulk clothes to be turned into rags, computers being downcycled for their reusable materials, trying to squeeze as much out of the donated products as they can and prevent further landfill trash. I fully support this, and was excited to hear how far they go with their cycling of as many materials as possible.

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Last night was the fabulous swappette held at SwingThai ,which truly was a success!  All untaken items (which resulted in 8 garbage bags full) were donated to Goodwill Denver (http://goodwilldenver.org/ ). Jay Dedrick, the owner of SwingThai opened up JET hotel club area to have the swap and delicious food and beverages were served from the SwingThai kitchen!

What a fabulous area to have the swap, with a gorgeous setting!  There were so many clothes and accessories and items that everyone walked away with something.  Prizes and T-shirt repurposed bags were given for girls to put their wanted items in.  Also, there were fabulous new and chic wrist cuffs personally designed and donated by Mwai Ngoma, which adds haute couture to any outfit! Jeni from Goodwill provided information for volunteer work at Goodwill.

All in  all, it was a great success!  There were a few takeaways I personally learned at this swap, and one is to have food close to the swap, as it was too far away so people were done with their food and drink while others were still getting theirs, so there were people waiting.  In addition, it’s good to set guidelines So that everyone begins swapping at the same time. No fair getting first dibs! Also, make sure you find a venue where it’s easy to park.  .  Lastly, you want to make sure all costs are covered before you pay.  So make sure to determine cost pre-swap if you don’t have it at your own house.

People came from the club in Jet to check out the swap and I even had people ask to let them know when the next swap is.  The fever is on!  Women enjoyed the hunt and went home satisfied.  Next swap?  This summer!

Below are some of the pictures of the swap.  If you are interested in attending one or having your swap, you can contact aprilsdesigns@gmail.com , and also you can get a swap kit at goodwilldenver.org.

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If you are like MILLIONS who don’t know what to get or what to do to show their deep appreciation for all their dear mothers’ have done for them, this is definitely something that could work for you.  By the way, Mother’s Day is THIS SUNDAY!

I checked out this site: Flora 2000, which is much like Flowers.com, but what I liked about it was the reviews.  I’ve not seen anything but one comment on customer service and delivery that didn’t show they went above expectations.  Plus, their boquets are nice, they have some different varieties of things that would be great for Mom!

Now, you best order early, as to avoid the mad rush, I’ve had to pay the price for expeditious delivery!

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