New Year, New Clothes

A couple weeks ago, my friend Mariko messaged me to plan a thrifting date, and I jumped at the opportunity. I never need an excuse to go shopping, but I knew going with someone else would lead to some different shops, and I was excited to see if fresh eyes would lead to some fun finds.

Where I tend to focus more on budget basics, Mariko has a passion for vintage. In fact, she is a collector of vintage Pyrex, classic cookbooks, older editions of Agatha Christie novels, and collectibles. Those she is willing to part with, she'll bring to markets like the SoDo Flea Market, or post on her Etsy shop.

So, adding a couple vintage shops to my usual haunts, Mariko and I headed out, and powered through 5 stores in 2 hours! Capitol Hill has *many* shops, and you could easily make a full day out of it. We hit: Lifelong Thrift (donated/thrift), Crossroads Trading (consignment), Revival Shop (vintage and boutique), Goodwill (donated/thrift), and Pretty Parlor (vintage and boutique).

Right away, I found success: these Calvin Klein skinny boyfriend jeans fit like a glove and were in great condition at Crossroads Training.

They were on half-off special, so I took them home for $12. Compare at $70 new.

Next stop, I found this great skirt at Lifelong Thrift. With a gauzy outer layer, it was perfect for a night out on the town. (I wore it to the theatre this Saturday, and my friend Jeni exclaimed, "It's like an adult tutu!")

A lucky find, this skirt was new with tags, costing $136 retail, and I scored it for just $7.

I'm sad to say I missed capturing the best moment of the day: Mariko didn't go empty-handed. She took home a comfy and colorful vintage muumuu in varying shades of blues and purples from Revival Shop.

At the end of the day, I spend $19 and saved $187 (90%), all while having eco-friendly fun with a friend.

Mind Your Bee's Wax

My friend, Tatiana, has been super supportive of my goals to reduce waste, and got me this sweet DIY Beeswax Wrap kit as a holiday gift! Don't know about wax wraps? They are basically wax coated fabric, that can replace cling wrap, and can be reused for months before refreshing.

The kit contains everything I need to make 3 assorted size wraps: fabric in a fun pattern, directions, parchment paper, 3 pieces of wax, a glass jar, and a paintbrush.

First, preheat your oven to 200℉ while you complete the first few steps.

Lay the fabric on a piece of the parchment paper on a cookie sheet. (I ended up using the same piece of parchment for all 3 wraps, and keeping the other sheets for future projects.)

Next, create a double boiler situation by setting the mason jar inside a pan of boiling water. Melt the beeswax in the jar.

Use the melted wax to paint a thin layer over all your fabric. Don't worry if it's perfect or starts to get chunky.

Next, put the cookie sheet with fabric into your pre-heated oven for 1-2 minutes. This helps melt the wax further, so its spreads evenly over the fabric.

Then remove the cookie sheet, and carefully pick the fabric up by the corners, and wave it in the air for about 30 seconds. This will quickly cool the wax until the fabric stiffens.

Finally, test out your new wrap! Simply wrap it around the food you want to package, or bowl you want to cover. The warmth of your hands should soften the wax enough so that the fabric molds into shape. Exhibit A: wrapped orange.

In between uses, you can wash your wrap in cool water with dish soap. You should be able to use the wrap many times before it starts to lose its effectiveness. Then, simply repeat the waxing process.

Not feeling crafty? Get a ready-made wax wrap, like this set of 3 for $18 from Sur La Table.

Have your own fabric but need wax? Get it for about $1.50 per wrap, available online or at craft stores.

Pat yourself on the back for reducing your use of cling wrap and having super cute lunches. :)

Awesome in 2019 and Looking Forward to 2020!

Hi friends ~

Thank you for joining me in 2019. I was a little lighter in posting due to multiple things going on - job changes, job travel, love ones lost... But we still accomplished quite a lot!

You stuck with me through 27 posts, in which we made smarter shopping choices, and made the most of what we did purchase:

Recycling/upcycling programs: 

• We found multiple programs that recycle dead Christmas lights (and some that give you coupons for new lights!).
• We put ourselves on the waiting list for Loop, a milkman-style service for household products, currently being offered on the East Coast, and expanding.
• We discovered Ridwell, who hosted a special event to take Amazon Prime Day packaging, and has programs for other difficult to recycle items.
• We learned about the value of replanting trees (or getting a houseplant!) to soak up our CO2.
• We learned about a cool company that both upcycles and creates jobs, making animal sculptures out of used flip flops.

In the Community:

• We learned there were tons of ways to do more during Earth Month and throughout the year with Earth Day Bingo and a list of community events throughout the Northwest. 
• The Seattle Recycled Arts Festival provided both entertainment and introduced me to multiple upcycling artists.
• Airports helped us avoid buying water bottles (and spending $3) by providing refill stations, and apps are helping us find bottle-free water around town. 

Clothing:

• We explored options besides donating to thrift stores, and gave ourselves more reasons to shop at thrift stores!
• We found several great shops in West Seattle and saved $52 on some brand name shoes.
• I got brave with the floral denim trend, and saved $75 by thrifting.
• We built thrift shopping into our regular habits, and saved $486 in a single month.
• Online thrifting let me quickly shop for something specific while saving $100. 
• I saved $160 on summer sandals by letting friends and family know I'm open to hand-me-downs. 
• We had a rockin' Halloween costume, and saved $140 by buying used pieces, and made $25 back by selling some components online.

Other Thrifting and Swaps: 

• I saved $37 buying a vintage cake-taker to treat a friend for her birthday. 
• Online used book sales helped us save $5 and shop with convenience. 
• Our pets got more love and we saved $32 by switching our style of lint roller.
• We got $12 more value out of our Thanksgiving turkey by using our slow cooker.

DIY: 

• We gave new life to half-used makeup, by testing out some online tutorials. 
• We improved our every day floor care with homemade "Swiffer" solution and pads.
• We propagated our own succulents, saving $32 on 8 successful baby plants!
• Snack containers were the perfect base for DIY decoupaged planters.
• We converted our favorite concert tee into a conversation-starting tote bag. 
• Homemade simple syrup saved us $7 flavoring our beverages. 
• A quick mending job on a shower curtain saved us $10. 
• Recycled cardboard was transformed into cute holiday decorations. 

Overall, we saved $1176, and had a fun time shopping and crafting throughout it all! Here's looking forward to an even better 2020.