My First Swap Party

About a week ago, I held my very first "Swap Party." I invited a few friends over and encouraged everyone to bring some food as well as any clothes or accessories they didn't want any more. There was no specific theme, and the whole thing was pretty casual. It was easy and everyone had fun. Here is what I did, as well as how I might improve for the next one.

Planning: I scheduled the event for a Sunday evening. I have many friends who work in retail environments, which close around 6 or 7 here in Reno. So people began arriving around 7, with the last guest coming around 7:30.
I bought plenty of food and drinks, although I probably should have bought fewer drinks, since one guest brought quite a bit of soda to contribute to the potluck.
I brought out some items of infrequently-used furniture to use for the "fixtures" of the party. We had plenty of space for everything, but one wall hook in particular was overloaded and fell down. Next time, I think I will add a tension rod to the bookshelf unit (it has no inside shelves, only the top was used) for better hanging space.

Invitations: I used Facebook to invite friends for the party. A few people who aren't on Facebook were invited by phone. This seemed to work okay, but I really wish people would respond to the Facebook invite, even to say they weren't coming. I understand that Facebook has changed the way invitations are handled on the website, so maybe a lot of people just didn't see the invitation. Or maybe, when someone RSVPd with "no," I didn't see it. I'm not sure.

The great thing about this type of party is that you can really invite anyone. I invited all of my local female friends and relatives. It is a unique opportunity to declutter, socialize, and shop at the same time. They brought a fun mix of styles and tasty treats. I promised everyone that I would donate any leftover items to a local charity.

Theme: This first-of-it's-kind event didn't have a particular theme. I encouraged everyone to "bring any unwanted items that another lady might enjoy." This translated to a very diverse shopping experience for everyone. We had a lot of clothing and accessories, as well as books, electronics, cosmetic and toiletry items, and household items.

I would like to have another swap party in early October, but I would like to emphasize a costume theme. Everyone should feel free to bring anything they like, just like last time, but I would love people to bring anything that could help make a fun Halloween costume. Wacky clothes, makeup, and accessories are more than welcome!

I think I am comfortable with hosting this type of thing every 2 months or so. Each event could have a particular emphasis.

The Flow of the Party: When everyone started arriving, food and drinks were out in the kitchen, so they could serve themselves buffet style. If someone had brought something, I put it out with the rest of the food. Most everyone sat at the dinner table and got to know each other. I had put out a book called Would You Rather? For Women as an ice-breaker and everyone really enjoyed it.

Meanwhile, I took everyone's contributions to the living room to be placed out on the "sales floor."

This table held jewelry and toiletries. It's just a folding table that I keep for those times when you need a little extra table space.

This table held household items. This table actually lives in my living room all the time, and was commandeered for the swap party.

This poor bookcase was used to hold the various books that people brought. It doesn't have shelves inside, so I used the top. Next time, I will create hanging space inside the cabinet part.

The couch held shirts and pants/skirts, organized by type.

These plastic hooks held dresses, belts, and a coat. The one with the coat kept falling down. :(

The whole thing looked great. My friends were all willing to help with setup as well! Everyone commented on how my living room looked like a real thrift store. 

After everything was set up, I joined everyone at the table and we all ate and played more "Would You Rather?" Then someone suggested that they wanted to go browse the shop, so everyone got up and looked around. It seemed like everyone found a few things that they wanted. After a little more chit-chat, people started to go. It wasn't terribly late but everyone seemed to have had fun. 

Leftovers: Once everyone was gone, I had a lot of leftover items. So, I packed them up in paper grocery bags (save for a few things I kept for myself!) and, the next day, I called the charity I had in mind, a local domestic violence shelter. It turns out that their storage was currently full and they were unable to accept any more donations at the time, but they referred me to another group, a women's substance-abuse treatment center. They, too, happened to be full and referred me to Big Brothers Big Sisters. Luckily, they were not full and even had a drop-off center really close to my house. I gave them all 6 bags full of various items, and from what I understand, BBBS sells the items to the local Savers stores to raise money. 

I am so pleased with how it went. I would definitely do it again. Have you ever hosted or attended a swap party? Tell us about it in the comments!

Cheapskate Confessions #1: Gift Wrap

This past week, my lovely and talented brother, Kevin, turned 20. Seems like just yesterday I was changing his diapers...

Anyhow, I bought him some aviator shades. He works as a sign waver and needs lots of protection from the blazing Nevada sun. I was lucky to get a few pairs of glasses for gifts at a going-out-of-business sale for the kiosk I worked at last Christmas.

In my family, gift wrap has never been a terribly serious situation. Since there is no pressure to make something look spectacular, I can be a bit on the frugal side! :) To make things even easier on me, I reuse things like tissue paper, gift bags, and ribbons. And I am not above removing the ribbons from things such as Victoria's Secret shopping bags to reuse later. Those particular ribbons are the perfect length for what I am about to show you.

 Small Gift Wrapping for Dummies and/or Cheapskates

 

You need: a small gift, two sheets of tissue paper, and a ribbon Just place the gift in the center of the tissue and pull the paper up around it, like you're putting your hair into a ponytail, and hold it tight with your fingers. Be sure not to wrap it too tightly, or you risk breaking whatever you are trying to wrap and/or ripping your tissue paper.
 
 Next, take your ribbon and tie into a little bow around the top of the gift. I try to leave a little tail sticking out of the bow to make it easy for the recipient to open the gift.

 

You can now proudly present your gift to the lucky recipient, knowing that you wrapped it yourself in a method that is both frugal AND eco-friendly! I hope they love it! Kevin loved his sunglasses!

 

 Thanks so much for stopping by!

 What do you do to reduce your cost and footprint at gift-giving time?

Don't Trash It, Fix It!

Hello again!

The other day, as I pulled my sunglasses out of my purse, I made a terrible discovery. My sunglasses had lost a screw!

:(

Now, I have had these particular glasses for a long time. I COULD have just chucked them and bought a new pair for pretty cheap. But I didn't want to. For one, I really like these sunglasses. Additionally, all that had really happened was a screw had gone missing. I knew I could easily find an eyeglass kit and replace the screw.

Fixing what we can is the ultimate middle finger to the culture of consumption. It's a way of rejecting the status quo. And it is SUCH an empowering feeling. Seriously, successfully repairing something provides a unique kind of boost.

It is also good for the Earth. Now, rather than fossil fuels being processed into plastic, a factory turning the plastic into glasses, spewing pollution into the air, and all the transportation required to facilitate this, I bought a repair kit that can be used to fix this exact problem 9 times, AND saved my favorite sunglasses from the landfill.

Here is my kit, purchased from Dollar Tree. Other sources of such kits include grocery stores, optometrist offices, and other companies with small giveaways. These little kits are good to have around. I plan to keep mine in my sewing kit.

This kit contains 3 tiny screwdrivers (1 phillips and 2 flatheads), a cute little magnifying glass, a lens cloth, 9 screws, 2 replacement nose pads, 4 stick-on comfort cushions, and 2 "plastic starters." (I have no idea what those are for. Do you?) All of that in a cute little box.

Fixing the glasses was pretty easy once I got the arm positioned such that I could place the screw. I didn't even use the magnifying glass. They are now as good as new, although all of this fixing has me thinking that I might want to touch up the chips on the frame with nail polish!

Take a look!

Thanks for stopping by. Have you fixed something recently, instead of just replacing it? Tell me your story in the comments!

To have, or not to have, a cooking blog? Or, some thoughts on the environment.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Michele, you just started this blog, and you have only made one post so far. How can you think about creating a new one?! However, I was talking with a coworker and we mutually decided that I was the Queen of Leftovers. Not a terribly glamorous title, but it fits me quite nicely. We talked about how I could wear my tiara and film little videos of me fixing up awesome meals using my leftovers.
You see, what happened was, a few days ago, Michelle (note the double l) gave me her leftover Chinese takeout, which consisted of some fried rice, shrimp, and veggies. She always gives me her leftovers because, while she won't ever eat them, she knows I will. So, I ate the fried shrimp and vegetables, and later, I took some raw cauliflower and sauteed it with a little minced garlic, then steamed it until it was cooked. I then added the pork fried rice with more water, added some hot sauce, covered my pan back up, and let the steam rejuvenate the rice. It worked beautifully. I scarfed that stuff down like it was my last meal. In retrospect, I overdid the hot sauce, but I am pleased with the results. My meal was much better than just popping the rice in the microwave.
Now, this may make me a conceited person, but I think some people could really benefit from some advice on stretching their leftovers inexpensively. Not only is it better for the food budget, food waste has a remarkable effect on the environment. Allow me to briefly explain...
For the most part, food is shipped long distances as it makes its way from the farm to your plate. For example, let's think about the aforementioned pork fried rice. Before Michelle picked it up at the Chinese restaurant, the vegetables, rice, pork, eggs, soy sauce, etc, all had to be delivered to the restaurant, either from the factory or, even worse, some sort of warehouse where the item is stored between factory and restaurant. The factory also took shipment of these goods, as well as their packaging (bottles, bags, etc) from their source. In the case of the pork, food also had to be shipped in for the pigs to eat. Not counting the energy consumption of the factories themselves, that is a lot of driving around in a truck or boat, possibly tens of thousands of miles. If we all wasted less food, less of these trips could be made, conserving energy and protecting the environment from CO emissions and landfill usage.
And did I mention that it is good for your pocketbook? According to a 2007 study sponsored by the UN, Americans throw away nearly 26 million tons of food each year. How much do you suppose that much food is costing us? The cost just to dispose of that extra waste is estimated by the same study to cost about 1 billion dollars each year. Our nation could do a whole lot of stimulating of the economy with a billion extra dollars.
Hopefully, my leftover crusade will inspire some interest in cutting down on food waste. I will be sure and post a link when my new blog is up and running.