Consignment shopping

Curly Girly is growing like a weed, so we took her to the consignment store yesterday in search of good clothes. Sure, I could take her to Walmart or Target or K-Mart, but why pay $5 for a t-shirt when I can get a gently used one for $1-2, and she won't notice the difference? On our last trip, in March, we got her a cute purple Nike sweatsuit for like $6! I found the same thing online, brand new, for over $30.

Yesterday's trip was just for clothes, but we ended up buying more than that. We found a pink and white Little Tikes plastic table (for some reason it has pink Ikea stools instead of pink chairs) for only $20. There was a grey Little Tikes table with drawers and matching chairs that we liked better, but it was $40, and Curly Girly went straight to the pink one anyway! Then, my husband found one of those Kid Tough cameras for only $10. New, those things sell for $40-50. Kiddo doesn't care what color it is, she just likes cameras, but this one happens to be pink, and she loves it- she carried it around all day yesterday.The last non-clothes item we found was a bag of plastic dishes, perfect for her toy kitchen. It seemed to be items from random sets but they vaguely match, and there is even a coffee pot that makes noise!

As for the clothes, we found plenty of those too. We got her 2 dresses, 3 pairs of pants, 1 sweatshirt, 1 sweater, 1 windbreaker, about 6 shirts, and even 4 pairs of cute little Elmo undies! I was holding clothes up to her when we got home and she had the biggest smile on her face!

Grand total for the clothes and all of her other fun things was $78! If I went to a regular store, I probably couldn't even get her that many pieces of clothing. There were things we wanted but decided against (like a tricycle for $40- a similar one to one I can get at work for $40, plus use my discount and get it for cheaper), so it helps to know what things run brand new so you don't overpay. All of the clothes I got were hardly worn and look great. At the store I went to (and also others I have been to), I have even found items with the original store tags on them! Brand new stuff for cheap! I'm not really the most seasoned consignment shopper but I have been buying clothes for my daughter that way since before she was worn, and she has gotten compliments on some of the outfits I have bought at consignment stores.

On a sort of but not really related note, Curly Girly loved her new table so much that she colored all over it in ball point pen. To clean it: soap and water didn't work well, baby wipes didn't work well, Goo Gone helped a bit more, and Mr. Clean Magic Erasers took the rest off! I really ought to keep a supply of those things around the house. :)

-duckyone.

P.S. I had mentioned on my Twitter about some of my good finds, and someone gave me the link to a place called Consignment Mommies (http://consignmentmommies.com) It has lists of consignment sales, articles about the best way to shop those sales, and even how to repurpose clothes that have seen better days. I am not crafty and handy enough to fix clothes, but it was a really interesting article, and the site is worth a look!