Wednesday, September 1, 2010

What to Wear: A Clothing Swap

Happy Wednesday!
I know most of you are regular readers but for those of you who aren't, I welcome you, too! I also want to let you know that I only post once a week, on Wednesdays, so if you look for me on other days I'm not there! LOL!

I have to tell you how amazing it was to read each of your comments last week about your nominations for someone to win a purse. I read each and every one, in fact, twice, and normally when any of us at Proverbs 31 gives out prizes, we usually just choose a random generated winner but in this case I just couldn't do that. You poured your hearts out on behalf of a friend, mother or sister and I was touched by your stories so much that I really asked God to show me who should win. Finally, when I thought I had my winner, I called my friend Heather to help me confirm it. I told her to look at my list, choose the one she thought should win and see if it was the same one I had chosen.
 It was.
So, in obedience to God, I have chosen my first winner as:
Erin Barlow's mother.

If you want to read her story, please go to last week's blog comments and read it. It's a beauty. So Erin, please email me so I can ask you about your mom and her coloring, etc and make sure I send her the perfect bag! Also, Erin, I need your pic and info so I can send YOU a purse, too! Congratulations to you both!

And then Heather said, but there's a another one that I really want to win, too. So I asked her who it was. When she told me all I could do is smile because when I was going over the list and asking God if there was anyone else He wanted to win, I passed over this one name and He prompted me and said, "her".



And so, even though I had not planned on a second winner, I am choosing one. See here's the thing. I KNOW that God wants me to give this gal a bag. Not only did He not let me pass over her name without prompting me to pick her, but last Friday when I was in Dallas, I was at an AMAZING purse store. I didn't think I could choose the purses there because I didn't know who the winners were yet. So I told God....YOU pick. Lead me to the perfect purses for the women you want to win. And He led me to THREE purses. But I only need TWO purses, God...one for the winner and one for the one who nominated her! But He told me I needed THREE purses. I guess He knew I would need it.

So, the other winner is: 
cjcjcj's sister, Denise!
So, cjcjcj, please email me so I can get your sister's info to send HER a perfect purse!  And since I wasn't planning on another winner, I will send YOU a signed copy of my new book, ok?

I'm excited to see who is going to get each bag....after I get the personal info on each person I will show all of you the purses each one got....they are so fabulous!!!!

Now for this week's topic: A Clothing Swap!

Not sure if many of you know this but I'm the fashion and beauty editor for Susie Magazine 
which is a magazine for Christian teen girls. If you have a teen girl, PLEASE subscribe her to this magazine. I am serious when I tell you that it is the BEST teen magazine I have ever seen. Susie Mag was formerly Brio Mag of Focus on the Family but Focus did away with it so it became Susie Magazine.

Anyway, I have a Q & A fashion and beauty column in the mag for teen girls. They email me questions and I answer them in my column. In this month's issue, September, one gal asked me how to get some new clothes without spending a lot of money because it isn't in her family's budget.
So I gave her the idea of having a clothing swap

Here's the scoop on how YOU can have a SWAP with your mom's group, your sunday school class, your neighbors, or any group you might be involved in. You might even have an additonal swap for your daughters or small children. This is a great way to help all of us think "outside of the box" so we don't have to get all our wardrobe items at the mall.
The best part of all is, it's FREE clothes!

Here's how to do it:
  1. Ask every woman to bring in 5-10 pieces of clothing or accessories that she either doesn't wear or can't fit into anymore. Each item has to be clean and in good condition. I recommend nothing older than 2 years old.
2. Decide on a location for your clothing swap where there's lots of space. A large bonus room in someone's house would do, or a room at church or conference room.

3. Each person checks in with the registration team and receives tickets for every item she brings. For example, if you bring 7 items you get 7 tickets. It's the registration team's responsibility to check each item and make sure it's in good shape.
(Choose 5-7 women for this team if you're having a big event with lots of people.)

4. Each item is hung or folded with similar items. Jeans with jeans, accessories with accessories, etc. If you'd prefer to do it by size, then do that.

5. This works just as well with a small group. If you do have a smaller group, however, you must have women of similar sizes. For example, this won't work if you have mostly small sized women and just one larger sized woman...know what I mean? Like, don't be inviting me to your smallish size sale...cause I won't have anything to get with my tickets and you won't want my 12's and 14's, got it?

6. You can do special swaps, too. Like an all-accessory swap for example.
 Or all winter coats for kids.

7. Finally, time to shop! Your tickets are your money. Each ticket gets you one item.

8. Donate any leftover items to a local shelter.

So there ya go! A way to get some new stuff without bucks!

I pray you have a beautiful Labor Day Weekend. I'm off to the Cayman Islands to speak at a Christian Women's Retreat...don't you feel sorry for me? I thought you might! My husband and son aren't feeling too happy for me....they're both thinking maybe they need to become speakers...LOL!

Thank you to so many of you who wished me a happy birthday yesterday on Facebook and emai. I took the day off and spent the whole day with my hubby. We went out for lunch and then he took me shopping for a few birthday things...we had a great day! I appreciate having you all in my life.
If you choose to leave a comment today, I'd love to know (and so would the others) your idea of a clothing swap. What would YOUR theme be? Do you like the idea? Would you do one in a BIG way, or a smaller way? Would it be for women, teens or kids?
I've got a signed copy of my book to give away to one of you!
We'll announce next Wednesday.

Love you!!!!!
Shari



  

10 comments:

The Calm of His Presence said...

Shari,

Clothing swaps are so much fun! A dear friend of mine has organized a clothing swap for the college girls at our church the past 2 years. Last year it was simply a party to swap clothes. This year she decided to make it an encouragement dinner. The guys in the college group served dinner to the young ladies. After dinner there was a short program with a beautiful song from our youth ministers wife. Three ladies from 3 different generations in our church spoke to the girls to encourage them to be Godly sisters in Christ. After the program the girls had a blast shopping for their "new" clothes. This was a fun, new way to reach young ladies for Christ.

Sherry said...

Shari,
What a great idea! I have been thinking about an avenue to donate my clothes that are still "stylish" but no longer fit and this would be great fun. At the same time teaching that we can find fun outfits that don't have to cost - the best thing free and giving at the same time. My idea is to combine ladies my age with their teen or college age daughters. Maybe have a theme around Psalm 45:11 :)

Anonymous said...

A great idea Shari. You are a blessing to women and God is using you to open our eyes to the beauty that surrounds us and the capabilities that he has provided for us.

Mariah said...

It would be so fun to have a MOPS group do that! I guess that would be considered a big scale type setting. But for someone like me, who is smaller than the average gal, a bigger setting seems to be hopeful for more options in the small department...IDK...sounds fun though!!! :D

Carol said...

The clothing swap sounds like a great idea - and a lot of fun. But I had to tell you last week I clicked on the Cayman conference button - and I've been there! I was there in 2008 for a week SCUBA diving and it's one of the prettiest places I've ever been. And the meals - well, you'll be swappin' out your 12's and 14's when you get home! :-)

Shelly said...

LOVE the idea of a clothing swap! Thx Shari! Have fun in the Caymans!

Anonymous said...

Hi Shari,

I used to host clothing swaps in our home many years ago and they were a blast!

I would set up various "departments" (ie. clothes, shoes, accessories, etc.) in the main areas of our house and leave the bedrooms and bathrooms available for the ladies to use as their "dressing rooms". Everyone helped set up the "store" and then it was time to shop. And shop we did!

After we finished, I hosted a luncheon in our kitchen so we could all eat and fellowship together. I did this potluck style, so each gal brought either an appetizer, a side dish, a drink, or a dessert to share with the group.

Both the clothing swap and the luncheons were fantastic experiences each time we did them. They were great opportunities to spend time with friends and a wonderful way to get "new" clothes!

Smiles,
Natalie :o)

Daphne said...

Hi, Shari :-) I hosted a clothing swap about 18 months ago for several families at church. I had gotten tons of girls clothes from my sister and knew many people at church who could use them. So, I invited them all to bring anything extra they had lying around, I organized it, brought treats and everyone shopped and had great fellowship! It was so much fun that I've been thinking about doing it again as a "back-to-school" function!

Henna-Maria said...

I immediately thought about baby&kids clothes and products swap. When families are done having babies, they have all the equipment left. High chairs, baby beds, changing tables, bath tubs, car seats, strollers, play mats, toys, books and of course all the clothes (some clothes like special dresses are not worn more than once or twice, and are like new). And we all know how kids grow and there are often really nice clothes, in good condition, left behind, and that is what the growing babies could use.

On the other hand, there are new parents-to-be, or pregnant single moms, who are anxious about how to provide for their baby.

Maybe a church mom's group, neighborhood parents, schools or other could have swap with a special twist: when people bring their used baby products in, they can choose to donate their tickets for those who do not have any products to bring (like pregnant with their first), but would desperately need some. This way the ones who come for the swap without anything (or very little) to swap with could still have some pieces/items they need. Like I would be so willing to bring stuff from our kids that someone else could still use and donate tickets for the needy families.

Amy said...

Some of my favorite pieces in my closet are from a clothing shop my church did.

I have to tell you about one of them. When I walked through our swap last year, there was the most gorgeous patent leather red purse. I snatched that thing up so fast! Well, it turned out that it had belonged to a friend in my Sunday school class.

My friend died of cancer this year. It's almost time to pull out the red purse again, and it has become more than just a purse. It's a treasure that will remind me of my friend every time I use it.


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