Intentional Shopping

This month alone, I saved almost $500 thrift shopping, primarily on designer shoes.

I don't have any magic tricks. I don't know of any hidden boutique shops, or have complex maps of which shops have discounts on which days. What I have done is build shopping into my regular routine, which takes the pressure off any one outing. We're pretty fortunate in the northwest, that second-hand stores are almost as plentiful as coffee shops.

First step: identify shops that are along your routes to other activities. For me this looks like one near my work (fun lunch break anyone?), two near my home, and three near my regular girl's night. By having these already identified, it's easy to just swing in for 15 minutes on the way to grocery shopping or if traffic was better than expected to girl's night.

Next: have a few items that are on your "list". Three categories I always shop for:

• Need: Jeans. Seriously, love thrift shops for jeans, where I'll see many brands and fits side by side. 
• Fun: Shoes. I love variety for my shoes, so second-hand is great for something I want to rotate quickly.
• Non-urgent wishlist item: Tiki bar decor for work. This is something that if I see it, cool, but there's no pressing deadline, and I'd rather save the $ than buy new. 

Between building the stores into my routine and having a shopping list, it becomes habit. For me, this is about 30 minutes per week, and I've almost entirely eliminated "regular" shopping.

Here's the score for this month:

These silver ballet-inspired Taryn Rose wedges. Compare at $150 new, paid $11.

These fierce Club Monaco studded flats. $250 new, paid $15.

This Next blouse. Compare at £24 ($31), paid $10.

These Style & Co skinny jeans. $49 new, paid $3.

These Dana Buchman trouser cut jeans. $48 new, paid $3.25.

Overall, I would have paid $528 for these 5 items new. Instead, I paid $42.25 for like-new condition, a $485.75 savings.

What steps can you take to make shopping second-hand... second nature?

Earth Day Bingo

Hi Friends!

It's Earth Month - with that we have Earth Day coming up on Monday, April 22nd, and many events being observed on the nearest weekend, this Saturday, April 20th.

Following is our Earth Day Bingo card (click for a larger version), featuring 25 easy ideas for you to get involved this month.

For more information on a few of these topics we've covered:
Cancel junk mail through catalogchoice.org
Shop locally-made or recycled-content products
Mend a clothing item
Make the most of a makeup item by getting to the bottom of the tube
Complete a house project using a borrowed tool
Plant a seed or buy a houseplant

If you complete all items in "B", congrats, you are a Reuse Champion.
If you complete all items in "I", you are an Active Advocate.
If you complete all items in "N", you are a Supporter through Shopping.
If you complete all items in "G", you are a Defender through DIY.
If you complete all items in "O", you are Household Hero and Commute Conqueror.

*Here are just some of the Earth Day events going on in the PNW:

4/20 Beach Cleanup - Multiple Locations! (WA Coast)
4/20 9am Forest Restoration Genessee Park (Seattle)
4/20 9am Earth Day Plogging (Seattle)
4/20 9am Earth Day Plogging (Portland)
4/20 9am Battery Recycling Event (Everett)
4/20 9am Earth Day Cleanup Point Defiance (Tacoma)
4/20 10am Earth Day Refill Pop-Up! (Redmond)
4/20 10am Alberta Street Cleanup (Portland)
4/20 10:30am Earth Day Art Project (Kids) (Kent)
4/20 11am Earth and Arbor Day Festival (Duvall)
4/20 11am Recycled Super Hero Day (Everett)
4/20 11am Earth Day Family Nature Walk (Carnation)
4/20 12noon Earth Day Art Making + Supply Swap (Kirkland)
4/20 1pm Solar Power Celebration  (Tualatin)

4/21 7pm Craft and Drink - Earth Day Edition (Portland)

4/22 9:30am Athleta Earth Day Discount (Bellevue)
4/22 10am Earth Day Restoration in Jose Rizal Park (Seattle)
4/22 10am Tacoma Public Utilities Free Earth Day Giveaways (Tacoma)

4/22 5pm Earth Day Celebration: Workshop and Book Signing (Redmond)
4/27 10am Burke Gilman Trail Cleanup (Seattle)


How will you celebrate this Earth Day or Earth Month?

Don't Cry Over Spilled Eyeshadow

Have you ever dropped an eyeshadow, and picked it up, just to see it shattered and crumbly inside the lid? Or get almost down to the bottom of one and want to get the most of it?

It's easy to re-form powdery makeup! This will work for powder, blush, bronzer, etc. There are numerous tutorials online, ex:
If It Works for Lauren Conrad... 
Or If You Prefer A Video

and I decided to test it out for myself:

Here I have two eyeshadow palettes, where I'm down to the bottom on the lightest shade of each. It's definitely gonna be hard to get into the edges with those little applicators. The colors are both in the same family, so I think it might work to just mix them together.

If the whole pan isn't already crumbled, break up any solid pieces. Here I'm using a clean butter knife; toothpicks will also do a good job.

Next, I poured the makeup from both palettes into a small bowl for mixing. I added this step because I'm wanted to thoroughly mix the two colors, but if you're just repairing a single color, you can do it right in the pan. All you need to do here is add a few drops of rubbing alcohol. Use a small spray bottle or eyedropper to avoid pouring too much in.

Mix until smooth. It should be thick, at least toothpaste consistency. Then spread back into the pan.

Press down on the surface of makeup with a firm object for a couple seconds. For round containers, some tutorials recommend a coin; for this small square pan, I just wrapped my finger in a tissue. This will compress the powder back into a solid cake.

Allow to dry. Most tutorials are saying wait 24 hours. Mine dried within about 3 hours. What you're looking for is a nice powder finish like when the eyeshadow was new. Voila! Full pan of light shadow!

 

No more needing to throw away half your eyeshadow!