Giving to Charitable Thrift Stores

For month 3 of WGBOD's 12 Months of Giving, I'll share some tips for donating items to your local charitable thrift store.

As a teenager I had the opportunity to volunteer at two different thrift stores: Deseret Industries and the Fred Jordan Mission. Today, I volunteer bi-monthly at the Assistance League Thrift Store. It is a lot of fun and very rewarding knowing that all the money that comes in goes to help my community.

So, clean out your cupboards, closets, and garage and pass some items on to new homes. Here are some tips:

Choosing a Charitable Thrift Store

• Choose a store in your community. Most likely the money earned will help people in your local area.
• Donate where you shop. It is so easy to drop off a bag, box or two when you do your shopping.
• Choose a charity that is close to your heart.
• or, pick one that will pick up items from your home or work.
• Check out Thriftshopper.com for charitable thrift stores in your area.

What to donate
Each store has different needs/wants. Check with the store for specifics but below are some pretty standard donations. 

• clean clothing
• shoes (my tip: tie shoelaces together so they don't get separated)
• books
• knick knacks
• toys
• linens
• kitchenware
• CDs, DVDs (Originals only. Not burned or copies. )
• jewelry, belts, and handbags

What NOT to donate
Again, check the specific needs of your thrift store.  Below are some pretty standard items that are not accepted by most stores, many times because of federal laws.

• mattresses
• paint and other chemicals
• tires
• torn upholstered furniture
• broken electronics
• medications
• newspapers

Some great charities that have thrift stores
Many wonderful charitable organizations raise funds through a thrift store. However, it is important to note that not all thrift stores are run by charities. The Charities Review Council has a good article about the distinction and also has information on charities.

Below are some of my favorites.

• Assistance League -This one is dear to my heart. 
• Goodwill 
• Salvation Army
• Deseret Industries - This is a great one if you have large furniture to donate. Sometimes you can schedule a time for them to pick it up from your home. 

Don't forget to ask for a receipt. Your donation could be tax-deductible. 

Do you have a favorite thrift store that I didn't list? Any tips for donating/shopping at thrift stores? Favorite thrift store purchase?  I am all about the thrift stores lately. :) Thanks for visiting.

Some Happy Stuff

WGBOD has been a little MIA lately. I've been busy writing/directing/enjoying Roadshows. If you are unfamiliar with Roadshow, it's a 15 minute long musical skit that features teenagers. It is performed in at least one church building in an evening. In our case, it was two and we had 30 minutes to get off stage, pack up kids, props, musical instruments and scenery and get to another church building. We made it!

This post is a catch-up of some cards I've been making but haven't posted. They all use color combos that are different for me and some Martha Stewart eyelet paper trims.

The first is navy, yellow and white. I made all three cards for Operation Write Home.

 The next card was in response to the OWH challenge to create a card using mostly white with a pop of color.

 

And, finally, this card features an unusual color scheme for me. It is navy with green, red and white. The Love is a rub-on. My verdict on rub-ons: Stamps are totally easier and budget-friendly but if you want a clean, crisp white on dark cardstock, rub-ons are a solution. White embossing powder would also do the trick.

 As always, thank you for stopping by WGBOD today. Leave a comment so I know that you were here. :)

Happy St. Pat's Day!

There isn't enough for a We Grow By Our Dreams'-style open house but I thought I'd share a few of our decorations.

First up we have a little leprechaun that my niece made in kindergarten.  Her teacher was super crafty and the class made different 2 x 4 people every month. I love how the hair could either be a beard or chest hair. Ha ha ha!

I've made buntings for almost every month now. This year I mad a festive green bunting for March. I used various scraps of green and white fabric and some vintage pillowcases. I made 3 shamrock appliques out of felt to do something different.

Sorry the pictures look unclear.

Totally off subject but totally yummy, I made Samoa Bars (based off of Girl Scout Carmel Delights) using this recipe. They were good but I'm going to tweak the recipe a bit the next time.

That's it. Have a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

These are the clover in my flower bed.

Welcome to the Bunny Hop

Welcome to We Grow By Our Dreams. The blog is all about crafting, baking, family, and all the other stuff that keeps me busy but today I'm excited to be a part of the Operation Write Home Bunny Blog Hop. Operation Write Home is a great organization that helps our troops stay connected with loved ones back home. And, it is a really fun group. Join us!!!!

To celebrate the OWH Bunny Hop, I created this fun bunny-shaped card. It folds along the bunny bootie and fits perfectly into an A2 envie. (I got the template off of The Stamp Shack. They have lots of templates that are free to members.)

The sentiment is part of the OWH free digi set. Check out the free digi stamps available to OWH cardmakers. I tied the white ribbon bow to look like a tail and added a button for an eye. The plaid paper is from a DCWV cardstock stack.

If you feel inspired to make some fun spring cards (awesome, that means I've done my job!), just remember the deadlines:

Easter deadline: March 18

Mother's Day deadline: March 31

Okay, if I'm your first stop, you can start at the very beginning (Do Re Me tune here) at the OWH blog. Or, if you've been hopping along, hop over to Anita's blog, Cards and Coffee. She is loves to play with animal images on her cards. So cute!

Some Bunny Loves You

Welcome to We Grow By Our Dreams. Next Saturday is the Operation Write Home Bunny Hop. It will be a ton of fun and many blogs will be offering tutorials and blog candy. All blogs will offer inspiration and creativity.

In the meantime, I made some simple Easter cards using the same papers but playing with the layouts. I thought it would be fun to go non-traditional colors. Maybe these are "guy" Easter cards.

I was having so much fun with the papers that I also made an all occasion card too.  Our heroes always need everyday cards to send home to their families.

Like I said, all occasion cards (thinking of you, miss you, happy birthday, love you, etc.) are always in demand. If you'd like to create some holiday cards, be aware of these upcoming deadlines:

Easter deadline: March 18

Mother's Day deadline: March 31

Don't forget to hop with me next Saturday, March 5th. Thanks again for stopping by.

It's My Birthday!

To celebrate my birthday I am making/collecting pillowcase dresses for the organization Hope 4 Kids Internationals' "Dress a Girl Around the World" campaign. It is a wonderful organization that donates handmade dresses to girls in need.

My goal is to send 27 dresses by April 1st. I need your help.  

If you are a non-sewer you can help me by sending me cute pillowcases that my friends and I can turn into dresses. 

If you are a sewer, you can make pillowcase dresses using any pattern but I recommend the pattern on the Dress a Girl Around the World website.This is a great easy project for a beginner. And, once you make one, you will want to make a dozen more. :)

If you want to help, you can email me at h_mcewen at hotmail dot com or you can leave a comment below.

Thank you so much. It is such a simple act that makes such a huge difference in the lives of these girls.

Girl in Uganda

Children in Appalachia

Girls in the Philippines

 Wouldn't it be fun to see the dress that you make on a child?