The Secondhand Baby Shower

“Thrifting for Hank”, read the cake which was decorated with one red rose. And “thrifting” we did, as the Rosebuds showered Rosie P. with second hand abundance at Tuesday night’s “Second Hand Shower”.
Let this event stand as a model for breaking the traditional mold of the baby shower and embracing the notion of re-gifting, and the joy in the “hunt”.
Sincere appreciation to Rosebud Wendy for keeping an organized list of gifts during this event, and to Dawn, Jeff, and Pamela for help with set up.

Rosie P. left the shower with a car full of treasures:
*Piles of clothing (onesies, outfits, a blanket, and overalls) from Dawn and Jeff

*Snowsuit from Nancy

*Pregnancy swimsuit and a handmade blanket from Sutton and little Lillon

*Two piece sweater set from Lisa

*Striped 3 month onesies from Margaret T.

*Frog costume for Hank’s 2011 Halloween, and the book “My Aunt Rosie” from Pamela

*”Bag-A-Baby” and a handmade brag book from Wendy

* Organic and locally made soap and lotion from Val (From Green Mother Goods)

*Sippy cup, onesies, and corduroy pants from Amy M.

*Picnic Basket, wooden roll toy, wooden bear toy, Happy Baby food grinder, Puff the Magic Dragon book/cd, from Rosie W.

*Sensory toy, “Rock Star” hat and onesie, and socks from Anna Banana

*Athletic outfits and bathing suits from Freida

*White noise machine from Christina


And the best gift remains the new friendships made within our “Thrifting” community. Hank is in for a wild ride! Blessings to all. Rosie W.

Ingredients for a successful fundraiser yard sale

As many of you who have followed our writings know, we have a long
history of shopping at the church rummage/relay for life/humane society...etc.
garage sales. We have also had the honor of using our unique talents to steer,
manage, consult with and direct large fundraiser sales. Mind you, this is not
for the weak of heart. Organizational/fundraiser sales are a great deal of
work.
About 6 weeks ago, I received a phone call from my mother-- a staunch non-garage
saler herself--but a recent convert GW thrifter nonetheless. She serves as
a board member for a local organic garden cooperative back in Illinois. They wanted to host a benefit
garage sale in order to raise the funds to buy a new tractor for their garden.
She needed a crash course in how to successfully conquer a fundraiser garage
sale and she needed broken down into simple steps. Amazing--she accepted the
challenge and I was so proud of her! I now became her mentor and provided her
with advice to negotiate the ins and outs of this daunting task. So, I decided to share the same info

with you, our readers, in order to benefit all non-profit, organizational garage sale fundraiser folks
out there who need a heads up, a direction to be pointed in, a pat on the back,
and a large does of moral support.
You may be asking yourself, what does she really know? My story
started back in the days when I was a Youth Minister at Sacred Heart Church in
Effingham, Illinois. A large Catholic town, the church hosted an annual
picnic--which was a huge social event. Along with the picnic came the annual outdoor

church rummage sale. Being a youth minister, one of your job responsibilities was to be able

to manage the church rummage, using the youth with their exuberance and strength to complete
the majority of the physical labor involved in set up, collection, display, and
take down. As well as, teaching the youth about pricing, selling, organizing,
bartering, making money, working as a team, and feeling vital in the overall
sense of community. As a life long garage saler, I welcomed the challenge of
being in charge of something this big. We had a large tent, ongoing publicity (
as we were attached to the picnic), a large base of donation support, and the
space with parking to have it. It was almost like a pre-packaged event and I
was somewhat of a figurehead more than someone who had to spearhead the event.
So, I learned some of the ropes without having to take too many risks. This was
an uncommon way to learn, but an extremely valuable one in that it allowed me
to gain an overall insight of the inner workings of such sales.

When I moved to the mountains, the organization I worked for joked about having
a fundraiser garage sale for an in-house charity that we supported. I told them
that I would love to do that and we have held 7 consecutive sales thus far. This is the forum in
which I have developed the recipe for the sale........almost now creating a
pre-packaged sale of our own.

Key Ingredients
1. A committed group of individuals--steering committee, volunteers, workers
(10-15 individuals) I have found this to be vital to the overall success of the sale!

2. Place to store, sort, price items--the closer in vicinity to the actual sale
venue the better. This will cut down on the work that it takes to move the items. Determine and announce collection
dates.
3. Place to have the sale--with parking considerations and high visibility
4. A large base of folks to donate items---who support the cause and you know
you can call on them for items.
5. Insist on the "No Junk Rule!"
6. Someone who knows how to price--reasonable prices (remember to have prices
marked or indicated on a sign and don't forget to have start up change)
7. Access to tables or other display options--get items off the ground as much
as possible and organize the shopping experience.
8. Good Advertising--signs, newspaper ads, craigslist,etc.----use catchy words
and describe some unique items---not just households, clothes, and something for
everyone.
9. The dollar bag/half price sale for the last hour--this moves items quickly
and should be advertised. Quick and easy money!
10. Arrange for a pick up of leftover items---help the local thrift store by
having a group of volunteers to box up leftovers and help load them on the thrift store truck.


With this in mind, you should begin planning 3-4 months prior to the sale. This
let's folks mark their calendars and commit their time. This also allows you to
schedule a rain date if needed and gain commitment for that weekend as well.
This timeline allows any hiccups in the planning to be reconciled by the
planning committee and worked through. Believe me, alot of things can go wrong
and you need to be able to meet with the steering committee and create
alternative/back up plans.
The first one is the scariest and after that, it gets easier every year.

So, I shared this information with my mother and she had a very successful
fundraising experience. Her organization made over $1200 on their first sale.
They did not allow clothing , only items. This is a decision that the steering
committee will have to make. I have seen successful sales with and without
clothing. Congratulations Mom! I am very proud of you. I know you always said
that it skipped a generation, but now I am wondering if it was just a recessive
gene that you had the whole time and just needed to water to make it grow.

The Secondhand Rosies have written more in-depth descriptions of some of the 10
steps throughout their blog over this past year. For further reading, please
refer to www.secondhandrosies.blogspot.com or feel free to get on our Facebook
fanpage and ask us questions.
Wishing you great success!

Until next time, Happy Hunting!

The "Yes" Sale

The “Yes” Sale

Socks and coats have replaced the carefree Summer garb for those of us out and about early on these Saturday Fall mornings. Yup, the season will soon come to a crashing halt by Halloween.

This said, Rosie W. shares some more “editorial commentary” about the sales that scream “Yes” with clever ads providing details of goods and great directions.

*No Early Birds*: Too bad, “Flippers”

*Clothing $2 a Bag : How can you go wrong? Stuff and stuff for all your friends

*Pottery*: Can’t resist.

*Treasures*: The hook is baited!

*Hand Made Jewelry*: Oooh lala….see you there

*Neighborhood/ Multi Family/ Community Sale/ Merging households/ Church* : MEANS BIG!!!! So no sense driving around when you can find so much in one place

*20 + years of Attic Treasures*: Now, if it said Basement…..but thumbs to an attic full of goodies.

*Houseplants*: Usually an indicator of other gems

*Old wicker, wrought iron, and sets of old china*: Grandma’s things? A must see!

And my three top picks, all from Charlotte in recent weeks:

***3 family yard sale, with $2 pony rides*** Family fun!

***Final move – over 50+ years accumulated. Can’t take it with us*** Enjoy retirement, and we’ll take the Fiesta Ware!

***The ultimate way to ‘go green’ and recycle is to buy used items. Our annual Polkville Yard Sale*** Community with an Eco Conscience….I’d go just to support their values.

Rosie P. chiming in with a few more catch phrase items that have "caught" my eye...........

quartz crystals, old wooden boxes, vinyl albums, custom handmade jewelry,western boots

A funky hand painted dresser and art deco coffee table with silver legs--out of Asheville, NC.

Weaverville, NC: A '63 VW bug, paintings, frames, and bookshelves.

Architectural pieces, wrought iron, and old advertising racks--here I come Todd, NC.

And it is a true shame that we did not save the fabulous ad from this summer from the sellers on the corner of Bend and Straight St. in Boone. They advertised not only a wide variety of odd and intriguing items, but also live bluegrass music and juggling. For those of you who have been following our FB page for a while, you will remember that this is the sale at which Rosie W. knocked on the door and roused the sellers to put out their treasures. They would win our "best local ad of the season" trophy if we actually had one to give.

Keep up the good work sellers! Everyone looks for different key words that interest them. We would love to hear from our readers and invite all Rosebuds to comment on things that they cannot pass up checking out. Happy Hunting!