Clothing Swap How-To

Ok, so this is the last day I will post about the clothing swap, I promise -but can't you tell that we enjoyed it so much?  As fun as it was, it was a lot of work.  So I wanted to just share a little bit about how everything came together in case anyone is thinking of hosting a clothing swap of their own in the future. 

So in case you don't know how a clothing swap works, participants bring in unwanted clothing (but still in good condition) to swap with other participants.  Now, we have a fairly large student ministry and I knew there would be some students who would not be able to bring in anything - so I made it clear in the beginning that everyone was invited and could participate no matter if you brought in clothing or not.  For me, I thought this was a ministry to others in a lot of ways - one of them being a great way for girls to give what they have to others who don't have as much.

Now, trying to get teenage girls to bring in anything ahead of time is almost impossible - but was doable.  We received most of the clothing a few days before hand and then several donations the day of (some even minutes before we started) so it was important to be organized and to have people there who know what the plan is.  We had organized and sorted sections of clothing so we could easily sort through a big bag as it was brought to us.

Some needed items for a clothing swap: 

1.  Clothing Racks (not completely necessary but it was really nice with items like dresses).  We found a couple of really cheap ones at Target (for $9.99) - and they were cheaply made but served their purpose.  We also borrowed some clothing racks from another ministry at our church.  

2.  Hangers - we asked for donations and got a ton, someone also clued me in on freecycle, which is a local online recycling community (there seems to be lots of these all over the US)

3.  Tables - pretty obvious

4. Shopping Bags - we just asked our adult leaders if they had any to donate, we ended up getting a ton of really nice ones with the handles 

5.  Lint Roller - there were just a few items that needed a little roll

6. Some sort of dressing rooms (we just used the girls restrooms since it had plenty of space and mirrors).

Other items that would help:

1.  Table Cloths - just to make things pretty (we just used plastic ones that we saved from a previous event, so no cost there).

2.  Clothing pins (to help pin up clothing items like skirts to racks)

3.  We also made signs, really just for fun and for the girls to quickly find what they were looking for

It's important too to remember that not all clothing will be taken so you need to have a charity or ministry in mind that you want to donate the remaining clothing to.

Another thing we did was add a check out table.  Mainly for us to count items, bag the clothing for the girls and also to break the girls up into their groups for the discussion sessions.  We gave them each a "receipt" or ticket that had a group number on it - much easier than trying to get them back together and divide them up.

After all of the swapping was completed the girls broke up into their groups where they were lead in different discussions based on modesty.  We talked about outward modesty, inward modesty and how God makes old things new.  The girls talked together, prayed together and had time to reflect and spend quiet time with God - the most important part of the night.

So that was our clothing swap journey - it was well worth all of the work and I do think we will do it again.  Thank so much for taking this little journey with us the past couple of days!

Girls Ministry Event - Decorating Details

Yesterday I shared with you about our most recent girls ministry event and today I wanted to share some of the details.  Hosting an event like this doesn't have to be expensive especially if you use things you already have.  Before our big clothing swap we had a time of fellowship and refreshments together, just to give everyone a time to chat, get to know one another and plot our swapping strategies.  Another exciting part of the night was the door prizes.  We decided to put together some baskets for the girls to try to win.  We had a summer basket, hair care basket, spa basket, sweet tooth basket and college basket.

The Target dollar section has become a favorite spot of mine.  They have some really great and cute stuff that we used for these baskets.  I also love the ELF make up line at Target.  They have lots of $1 products, including make up brushes - it was perfect for this.  Nail polish is another inexpensive option and of course candy.

This was really an added fun element to the night.  The baskets and metal tub were also found in the Target dollar section.  The little buckets and boxes were a Target dollar find last month.  So like I said, really cute stuff.

Another fun detail were these tall colorful metal planters (also Target dollar finds - although they were $2.50, still not bad).  We just used some inexpensive colorful tissue paper, some easter basket straw and a pretty pinwheel to fill them up.  When I purchase decor items for these events I try and get things I can reuse later on and I can totally reuse these containers for different things as well as the pinwheels and even the straw. 

So as we were setting up for this event we stumbled upon a few things stored away on our church campus that we thought would work perfect for our event.  These little faux wrapped presents were one of those finds.  I actually made these 4 years ago for a mother/daughter dinner and we just happened to have saved them just in case.  Don't you love free decorating?  

On the tables we used things we already had - so not a dime spent on this.  We had previously bought these paper lanterns for our last event, the candle holders and then used more of the faux wrapped gifts we found.

We also made little conversation cards - all pertaining to our clothing theme and scattered them around the tables.

We had a really fun refreshment table filled with all sorts of punches and fruity drinks.  The smaller drink dispensers came from Target - they were $7.99 and are also stackable.  One again, something I can reuse over and over.

I also loved these little serving trays (Target Dollar Section) and we totally reused the plastic tablecloths from our last event.  And, we were able to give them a little wipe, folded them up and they are ready for the next as well.

We decided to make it easy and just serve drinks and cookies - we actually had a ton of cookies come in from all of our lovely leaders.  This also helps to save on cost - food can get super expensive.

So all in all it was a fun and springy event that really didn't cost all that much.  There is more to the story though and tomorrow I will share with you the details on the main event - the clothing swap so check back in tomorrow!

Girls Ministry Event - Clothing Swap

Last week I shared with you that we were busy preparing for our next girls ministry event and now I'm here to share a little of that event with you.  Last friday we hosted a Clothing Swap for the high school girls in our student ministry and it was so much fun!  I will be sharing some of the little details and prep work later this week but here is the overall recap from that night.  As before, I didn't want this night to just be an event but a night of worship and fellowship as well.  

So in thinking of the clothing swap theme we thought it was a perfect time to talk to the girls about modesty.  I wanted to not only talk about outward modesty but inward modesty as well since outward modesty is really just a reflection of who we are on the inside.  When we are confident in Jesus, when we are totally in love with Him and are following Him with every step of our lives, we will not doubt be modest dressers.  This is not to say that to be modest means you can't be stylish or wear cute clothing, it just means that your focus is on a higher calling.  So to do this we asked several young women who are closer to the girls age to come and lead break out sessions and discussions focused on these themes.  I loved that they were willing to come and spend their Friday night talking to the students about this subject. 

The night was really fun, we had a great selection of clothing - most of it was brought in by the students, some of it by college students just wanting to donate and some was donated by a local consignment store (clothing that didn't sell and the consigners did not want back).  It was fun to watch the girls "swap shop" and find all sorts of new outfits.

Each girl was given a limit to the number of items they could choose.  There was really no science to it, I just counted every item and divided that by the number of girls we had there.  I've also seen it done where you just give a bag and have the swappers fill up the bag.  I think either way would have worked in our case.

We had a fun time of refreshments and fellowship, we gave out door prizes, swapped til we dropped and learned about modesty and what it means to adorn our hearts in God's love.  Such a sweet time.

We have the best students ever.

 It was so much fun us adults are talking about hosting one for all of the ladies of our church.  So I'll be sharing more of the details like decorations, cost, break out sessions and such this week so check back with us later!  Thanks so much for stopping by today!  Have a great week!

Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious.  1 Peter 3:3-4

Clothing Swap Inspiration

I'll be honest, there hasn't been a lot going on in the forms of house updating in the last week.  I have a big girls ministry event coming up this Friday and most of my free time will be devoted to getting ready for that.  I'm pretty excited - we are hosting a clothing swap for the girls.  I've never done an event like this so I'm learning as I go.  The girls were actually the ones who suggested this idea and I thought it was really great.  What a great way to get new free clothing and a fun way to meet new people and hang out.  I also think it gives a glimpse of the first church in Acts - where everything was shared and everyone had what they needed.  I totally had no idea how popular clothing swaps were but after googling and pinteresting (is that a new term now?) I came across a ton of info.  Check out some of these great clothing swap ideas:

Aren't these shopping bags adorable?  I absolutely love these, from the Hostess with the Mostess.

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Becky has some great tips on how to organize everything for your clothing swap over at Organizing Made Fun.

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Clothing racks are not cheap, believe me I've searched - I love these diyed ones from Design*Sponge.  This would even be cute for your home!

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And the mack-daddy of all swappers - The Swapaholics.  I had no idea something like this existed, but I think it's really cool.  These ladies host huge swapping events all over the place and their site is full of swapping inspiration, ideas and info.  If you are thinking about hosting a clothing swap - this site is a must read.

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So I'm busy in swap preparations this week, I hope I can share some more things with you this week that we are working on, we have lots of other ideas woven into this one night.  I hope everyone has a wonderful week!  Thanks so checking in with us today!