Oh my. Consignment season is here again. I'm not sure how it sneaks up on me each season. I guess I'm just not thinking about winter clothes when it's still 90 degrees outside. I know I've already missed several good ones but St. Matt's is this weekend and Otter Creek is next. Those are two of my favorites. Happy Shopping!

The Dreaded Seasonal Clothes Takeover

It's that time again. No, I don't mean consignment sale time. I mean time to swap out the clothes in my daughter's room for the changing seasons.

This Spring has been especially difficult for figuring out when it is safe to swap out clothes. It is either 40 degrees or 80 degrees! So winter clothes stay in the drawers, while summer clothes are brought out for those nice days and live in a laundry basket. Clothes take over the poor kid's room! I've talked to some mom friends of mine and they all do the same thing. Is there no better way?

So finally, finally! I decided that it is going to stay above 60 degrees and officially made the swap this weekend.

Good grief!

The downside to getting so many good deals at consignment sales is that this kid has way too many clothes! And I apparently did a crummy job last year swapping things out. She's in a 7 this season, and I found jackets and tights that are a size 4. Egad, I have got to do better next time.

Preparing

If I were a more organized person with time on my hands, I would be down in my basement preparing and tagging clothes for the next sale. Unfortunately that's not going to happen until hours before the next sale, but I did make sure of the following things to make tagging a little easier for the Fall:

1. Dresses are hanging on metal hangers, not plastic ones. Less wrinkles and no re-hanging later.
2. Matching outfits are stored together, hanging up if possible.
3. Obviously stained clothes go right into the Goodwill box.
4. Verify that I have enough hangers to get through the next season.

That last point is an important one. When it is in the middle of consignment season, dry cleaners get tired of giving out hangers; time is short and you can't collect them as easily from friends and family; the last thing you want to do is buy them. If you need hangers, post to your friends on Facebook, look on Craigslist, ask your local dry cleaner. Do that now, when you have the time.

Good luck. It's a jungle in there!

Getting my 7 year old to part with her toys is worse than pulling teeth. She has things in her playroom that have not seen the light of day in well over a year, but fights tooth and nail to keep them each season.

This weekend, I offered allowance money for her to give up "5 quality items" that I could sell at the next consignment sale. She wasn't interested in the money (a smart one, she is). So I had to lay down the law and tell her that if she didn't give me 5 items, that I would pick them myself and she probably wouldn't like that. Reluctantly, she agreed.

She first brought out a cheapy plastic bobble-head kids meal toy. So I had to define what a quality item was. Second, she offered to give up one Barbie from the big bin of Barbies and clothes that take up half of the bookshelf in her playroom. So I had to explain that the reason for doing this is to make room for something else. If we weren't able to get rid of the bin for the Barbies and free up space, it wasn't doing any good. I think she was mostly tired of hearing me explain everything so she decided to play along.

After some thoughtful playing, she came up with 5 quality items for me to sell. The princess dress-up costumes were no surprise now that she is over the princess stage. The Barbie cash register that she loves to play with, now, that was a surprise. Two puzzles and two bins of dolls later, she was done.

The sad thing is that you can't even tell they are gone and I bet she will never miss them.

Here in the South, Spring has sprung. The daffodils are blooming, Bradford Pear trees are budding (and stinking), and it's either beautiful weather or raining. But even if the weather wasn't a tell-tale sign, the Spring consignment sales have started and that is a sure sign that Spring is a-coming!
Be sure to check the calendar page for sales in your area!