- Sign up for a thredUP account, Join our group here, and request a FREE Clean Out Bag.
- When your bag arrives, fill it up with your very best gently used clothing that's still in great condition, and return it to thredUP for free with the pre-paid postage via USPS or FedEx (you can even leave it right outside your door for your postman to pick up!).
thredUP processes your high quality items and sends you another email once they've had a chance to inspect and price all of your items. This email will provide you with a link to your Bag Detail page, which lists all accepted items and tells you how much you've earned.
After 14 days, you can contribute your credit to a thredUP Group. From thredup.com, go to My Groups under the My Account tab in the upper right of your screen. Then, click on "Contribute Today." - All accepted items are resold in the thredUP marketplace. thredUP gives your clothes a second chance and you earn money to contribute to your Group account!
Have you heard of thredUP? I only recently learned about this online consignment site through another adoption blog. What a great way for friends to help contribute to our adoption just by donating their high-quality used clothing. Here's how it works from their FAQ section: And the best part? (other than you will feel sooo good to clear through the clutter in your closets) thredUP will match donations through our group up to $1000. So, if we earn $300 through this by the end of 2013, thredUP will donate another $300 toward our adoption. If we earn $1000, they will donate an additional $1000! Yay! Anyone feel like doing some closet purging this weekend for a good cause? Thanks a bunch if you can help in this way. Oh, and pass the word along. Our group link is: http://thred.me/19J73hS
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It's that time of year again. Most of us are making our lists and checking them twice. You know you're going to be spending money buying Christmas gifts anyway, so why not buy gifts that give… twice! What do I mean? You can spend your hard-earned money in a way that gives a beautiful gift to your loved one, while at the same time making a difference in the life of the artisan. How cool is that? I collect ideas all year on my pinterest board. This post will highlight just a few of them. Looking for beautiful scarves or leather products? Shop fashionABLE this season. The mission of fashionABLE in their own words: The fashionABLE mission is to create sustainable business for Africans so they aren't dependent upon charity, but instead earn the dignity of a job. We offer opportunity to everyone, with a primary focus on empowering women. When we invest in a woman, statistics demonstrate that she will have a life-changing impact on her family and community... and herself. Through your purchase, you are ABLE to provide opportunity, and a woman is ABLE to have a new choice. Amazima Ministries in Uganda sells magazine bead jewelry made by the women there. When you buy from Amazima, you employ a Ugandan woman, feed a hungry child, and know that the women in the vocational training are receiving spiritual discipleship as well. Trades of Hope is another organization that "empowers women to create sustainable businesses worldwide." I have bought beautiful jewelry & scarves from this site before and have not been disappointed. Lovely craftsmanship. "Shop our products to help a woman feed her children. Inspire hope. Create change." All while getting your Christmas shopping done. Win-win! With a motto of "changing the world for one," what's not to love about No. 41? This organization employs 21 young women from an orphanage in Rwanda and 11 from the surrounding village. These women also give back to their community through a feeding program in local schools. Unique gifts, decor, and accessories that will give the artisan a job she can be proud of. What a great way to spend your money this holiday season! This is just a small sampling of how you can shop with a purpose this Christmas. I'm making it my fun challenge this year to see how much I can buy this way. Who's with me?
pillowsIf you missed the last post with some wool sweater ideas, check it out here. Pillows are an easy thing to start with. blankets & quiltsAnother great idea for using large chunks of sweaters are lap blankets or quilts. You can make any kind of patchwork pattern out of sweater pieces, then sew to a coordinating flannelette with right sides together. Leave a small section unsewn for turning it right side out. Finish with a stitch 1/4 inch from the edge of the blanket. Lap blankets for car seats are a great baby gift for the wintertime. But what about those pesky arms of sweaters or those little pieces that are left over? Shouldn't I just throw them away? Absolutely not! There's still much to make from scraps. Unless you're planning on making coffee cozies or candle cozies out of the sweater arms, you can feel free to cut them apart at the seam, giving you yet another nice size of felted wool to create with. When cut open, the arms make great pot holders. pot holdersOne item that was popular at my craft show the other weekend were wool sweater pot holders. Wool is naturally heat-resistant, and with your wool having gone through the felting process, the fibers are nice and tight. No yucky chemicals like in the store-bought pot holders. Wool is also stain-resistant. And these are pretty enough to use on the table as a trivet. Just cut your wool whatever size you want (mine are about 7 inches square). Now, here's the beauty of felted wool. Since it will not fray when cut, you can sew these 2 layers of wool with right sides facing out, and it will look great! No need to hide your stitches. I added some extra stitching across the pot holder for more durability, but it's not essential. Oh, and before you sew it all the way shut, add a little strip of wool for hanging. garland & buntingSince it's almost time for that holiday decorating, why not make some fun bunting or garland? Or, if you'd rather not do-it-yourself, my etsy shop is always open :) For the bunting, I just made a template for the size triangles I wanted. Cut your stash of felted wool. Then, tuck the tops of the triangles into double sided bias tape and finish with a simple straight stitch. So easy, but this would be beautiful tucked into the Christmas tree, across windows, or as winter party decor. Get the kids involved with this last project. As long as it's about 1 inch, no scrap is too tiny to create with! Make colorful felted wool garland out of square scraps. Two of my boys (ages 7 & 9) spent some time working together to make this garland. Just thread some yarn into a thick, large-eyed needle, and sew through the middle of your square scraps. Knot your yarn every 3 squares or so, to keep the garland from bunching up when it's hung. Would look so festive on the tree or draped in a window for the winter. I will have a few final ideas coming soon to use up your felted wool stash. In the meantime, check out my pinterest board for additional inspiration.
Have you ever created with felted wool? What was your favorite project? Are you planning on trying one of these ideas -- which one? One of my favorite crafting materials to work with is up-cycled felted wool sweaters. They're like a colorful blank canvas, just waiting for some re-creation work. Not to mention, they are fuzzy and soft. Start out with a treasure hunt at your local thrift store. Our local Salvation Army has 1/2 price clothing days once a week, so that is my best time to shop. Buy the biggest 100% wool sweaters you can find. The men's section is usually not as crowded as the ladies, so head there first. They don't have to be in perfect shape, or even name-brand, because you're going to cut these babies up eventually. The key here is 100% wool for the felting process to work. Throw your sweaters into the washing machine on a hot cycle with detergent and as much agitation in the cycle as possible. These are your components to a successful felting process. Once washed, throw them into the dryer, again with the hottest temperature possible. Check and empty your lint several times. I don't like to throw anything away, so I'm sure there is a DIY craft for clean wool lint. (Fire starters, probably?) Once your sweaters have been felted, they will be noticeably smaller. This is because the fibers have become denser and tighter. They will not fray when cut, making felted wool a nice material to work with. Now for some DIY project ideas just in time for the holidays. The easiest project is a felted sweater pillow. All you need are basic sewing skills for this. Turn your sweater inside out and pin your layers together. Decide on the size and shape of your finished design. I usually lay my sweaters on a cutting board to use the lines to help me cut straight. Then, straight stitch all around, leaving a small opening for stuffing. Fill with polyester fiberfill and hand stitch shut. For added interest, consider making some beautiful felted wool flowers. They are easy to make following this tutorial. Beautiful leaves can be made by cutting a leaf shape around a sweater seam, using the seam as your leaf veins. If you are adding flowers or buttons to your pillow, it is easier to sew them on before the pillow is sewn together. Just a hint. Not that I did or did not forget that hint while sewing my pillows. :) I love how interesting buttons can look on a pillow. I just cut 2 circles of felted wool and sewed vintage wood buttons on the top of the pile. Now they kind of resemble little flowers on the pillow. Another pillow idea is to find a nice button up sweater. This one is turned inside out, sewn all around, then undo the buttons to slip in a pillow form. So easy! All the hard work is already done for you. And here it is finished and all buttoned up. Now that the largest part of the sweater has transformed into a pillow, what do you do with the arms and other smaller pieces? Whatever you do, DO NOT throw anything away. Check back in my next post for several more projects to use up all that gorgeous wool.
Did you miss last year's felted wool DIY post? Check it out for more great ideas. Welcome to Pebble Beach, White Head Island, New Brunswick, Canada. Nestled in the cold North Atlantic waters of the Bay of Fundy, and boasting some of the highest tides in the world, this little beach is a fun place to do some treasure hunting. And treasure hunting we did! We had such a nice vacation last month visiting family here. I already told you about our adventures with dulsing and picking bakeapples. Today I want to give you a peek into the amazing North Atlantic beaches on White Head Island, and show you some one-of-a-kind items that are popping into my etsy shop from this beach! We spent lots of time on the two sandy beaches plus Pebble Beach. This is Pebble Beach, where my father-in-law does his dulse drying. There are lots of old nets half buried or washed up on the rocks. With the tide rising and falling 40 feet each 12 hours, an amazing amount of beach treasures are abundant and ready for pickers... like me! Nothing is too worn or battered. Everything has a story. Everything can be up cycled and made like new again. And its second life will be more beautiful than its original existence. The sea has smoothed rough edges. The bark has been stripped off of tree limbs, leaving behind a soft white mellow patina. Once-mighty wharfs and stately trees have been drifting in the cold North Atlantic. How long? Long enough to strip away tough parts and splinters. Long enough to expose a new beauty from the broken pieces. So from the Bay of Fundy beaches on White Head Island, right to your coastal-inspired decor, here are my newest pieces in my driftwood collection. Use this green knobbed beauty to hang your favorite jewelry or keys. If you like authentic and natural, this one is for you. I love to imagine what it was in its former life. Those nails are original. The driftwood has specks of something left on it... maybe specks of bark or specks of seaweed dried on? Whatever it is, you could never recreate this patina. It's unashamedly natural. Humble, even. Never to be replicated. If you love it, grab it. I'm sure there will be more to come from my stash of driftwood, nets, sea glass, and periwinkle shells. Stay tuned. It's such fun to create treasures from seemingly worthless things. And it reminds me of what the Master Creator has done in my life. Taken the old, the worthless, the broken, and made me a new creation.
We did a lot of picking while visiting White Head Island, N.B., Canada, on our recent vacation. Picking dulse. Picking bakeapples. And picking treasures off the beach (more on that in a later post!) So today I want to show you our adventure in picking bakeapples, how you can get some yummy jam for yourself and support our adoption at the same time! Bakeapples occupy a variety of moist northern tundra and peat bog habitats. White Head Island in the Bay of Fundy, is one of those special places where they grow. On a rather warm day on White Head Island, we took our vehicles as far as they could go toward the heath. Rubber boots. Check. Buckets. Check. Now to find those bakeapples. Into the heath we went. We had to be careful to step on sturdy ground. Sometimes our feet went into the mossy heath too far, and we almost lost some boots! We made sure not to lose any boys :) We were there at just the right time, since they are generally ready for picking around mid July. First came a lesson from Nana on what to look for. Bakeapples look like a large raspberry. The fruit is red when unripe and turns a soft golden orange at maturity. It grows one berry to a plant approximately 3-4 inches high. Called "bakeapple" in Atlantic Canada, the name is anglicized from the French, "baie qu'appelle..." meaning, "what is this berry called..?" It is internationally known as a "Cloudberry." It was interesting to discover that IKEA sells Cloudberry Jam, but it is not available on their website. It is only available in their stores when you're lucky enough to find it in stock. Bakeapples have a distinct honey/apricot-like flavor. These berries are extremely rich in vitamin C and contain few calories. And like IKEA says, "Their rarity makes cloudberries a delicacy." Yes, hand-picked, each one of them. After an hour or two in the heath picking bakeapples, we were ready to take them back to the house and let Nana work her magic on them and produce... Bakeapple Jam for my etsy shop! If you're looking for the perfect gift for that person who has everything... how about our Bakeapple Jam? There is a limited quantity available, so grab it while you can. And as always, the proceeds from the jam (and everything else in my etsy shop!) go toward the adoption of our daughter from Ethiopia.
There's no place quite like the Bay of Fundy. And I am lucky enough to have a reason to visit there as often as we can. My husband's family's roots are in this place. More specifically, the family roots are on a little island off another little island in the cold North Atlantic waters off the coast of Maine & New Brunswick. Do you see little White Head Island on that map? That's where we spent a glorious two weeks this summer! First, we took the ferry from Black's Harbour, NB, Canada, to Grand Manan Island, which is only 15 x 7 miles, and home to about 2,600 people. Then another ferry took us to White Head Island, which is home to about 150 people. Most people on these two islands make their living from the sea. Lobstering, fishing, scalloping, herring weirs, and dulsing are common livelihoods here. When we visit, the busyness of schedules & appointments melts away. Life ebbs & flows with the tides. You see, the Bay of Fundy boasts the highest tides in the world. During the 12.4-hour tidal period, 115 billion tons of water flow in and out of the bay. This means that the water level rises and falls about 40 feet with each tide. This is amazing to see! So, with the sea floor exposed at low tide, my father-in-law picks dulse. What in the world is dulse? So glad you asked :) Dulse is a ruby-red seaweed that is picked from the rocks at low tide, dried on the rocky beach, and then enjoyed by many in the Maritime Provinces as a salty snack. There are even sea vegetable companies that buy my father-in-law's first quality dulse. Upon first arriving on White Head, my father-in-law, husband, and two oldest sons didn't waste any time in going out dulsing! Picking and more picking.... And then if the weather is right (and the fog hasn't rolled in), the dulse is spread on nets on the rocky beach to dry in the wind and the sun.
I have been absent from this blog for way too long! But I had a good excuse... we were vacationing and visiting family in the Bay of Fundy. And I can't wait to tell you all about it (plus show you some amazing pictures)... more to come soon. But I also wanted to pop in to say "Welcome" to all those who have stumbled upon this blog via my etsy shop's feature over at Satisfaction Through Christ! And by the way, there is a fun giveaway from my shop over there at the STC blog this week, so check it out and make sure you enter. These sweet napkins are made from authentic vintage bedsheets -- yes, like the ones you remember from grandma's house! They are double sided & reversible and would make a beautiful addition to your table. These particular ones are for sale at my shop, but if you'd like some for FREE, enter the giveaway at the Satisfaction Through Christ blog. But you only have a week, so hurry!
I'll be back later with some fun stories about our adventures in the Maritimes. Just a quick post to document God's provision yet again for our adoption...
We just got an email tonight from a private foundation that our application for a grant has been approved -- to the tune of $3000! I love seeing how God orchestrates the dollar amounts, and even the dates. Look at this: May 13th -- found out we received a $4000 grant May 24-25th -- amazing yard sale weekend that brought in $2550 June 13th -- this most recent grant of $3000 One little month, a big $9500 provision! How great is our God! I don't know about you, but I love blogs where I get to peek into someone's day and see what they've been working on. Especially if they include lots of photos. So, here's my Saturday In Pictures. We have been so blessed by the extra income from my etsy shop of late. Who would have thought? It's just enough to keep my creative juices flowing and gives me the excuse to do thrift store treasure hunting! What's big right now? I get to hunt for children's books to chop up. It's almost sad to cut up nice books, but the finished product is so cute, and all the profit is bringing us that much closer to our little girl! Another trend this spring has been shabby chic painted mason jars. Here's a special order I'm working on for a wedding. These are quart sized jars, but I'm also doing 1/2 gallon. Did you know mason jars came that large? Very fun! The bride is putting pink hydrangeas in these mint jars. Sounds beautiful. And this little listing for shabby pink mason jars caught the eye of a bridal blog this week. Then I spent several more hours today updating my four boys' memory books. I used to keep up with these, but I noticed I hadn't done anything with them for about a year! Eeeekk!! That is really hard on my Type-A personality. So, I waded through my pile of papers, artwork, certificates, and photos and got their memory books up-to-date. All I have to say is, their future wives better appreciate all the effort I've put into chronicling their growing-up years :) I found this sweet drawing that our 5-year-old made just a few months ago. Count the kids. See it? Five kiddos. He included little sister. Love this. And the final picture of the day is a sweet bouquet of ferns and flowers from the edge of the woods that one of my boys picked for me. And I had the perfect "vase" to use. Finally. I've been on the lookout for a while for something like this. Snagged it this week for $1.99 at Salvation Army.
What was your Saturday like? Busy or relaxing? What would a Saturday in Pictures look like for you? |