Okay, the Julie and Julia party was such a hit, I have a NEW IDEA for a party. It was partly inspired by my recent decluttering spree (that I'm still in the midst of...probably will be for a while), but the main ideas come from an article I saw in a past issue of Better Homes and Gardens. It fits my group of friends - we're mostly moms who love to decorate, love a good bargain, love a clean house, and love to get together! (Especially if we can have a good time on a dime!)
I think I will invite 10 or so friends to declare February to be their Spring Cleaning month...or, at least decluttering month. I will ask them to set aside up to 10 houseware items in excellent condition during their decluttering spree. (I know I have platters and bowls, some decorating items, maybe some furniture items.) No clothing or anything - just housewares. They can bring these like-new items that they've grown sick of or never put to good use to our Housewares Swap Party.
Each will arrive the day of the party with their like-new items, and receive a tag for each item they bring. On it, they will write a description of the item and any selling point. Tags are attached to the items and displayed on tables in my home.
Everyone gets a hinged clothespin labeled with their name for each item they bring. They use the clothespins to "claim" items they'd like to take home by clipping their clothespins onto the tag of any given item. If there are multiple clothespins on any tag, the clothespins are thrown into a hat and one is drawn to see who gets to take the item home.
I'll either have people take home their leftover items that were not swapped or I could box up the leftovers and bring them to Goodwill at the end of the party. Boxing them up seems like a whole lot of work if I have 10 people bring up to 10 items. I guess that would depend on how many we're left with. Maybe 5 people bring 10 items? Or 10 people bring 5 items? Hmmm...have to think that one over...
Doesn't that sound like a fun swap party? I can't wait to pitch this idea to my friends and see what they think. It should be fun!
So, what do you think? Do you have any ideas or suggestions? I'd love to hear them! I'm kind of making this up as I go along, so please help me out! I haven't pitched the party yet, so I can make any changes I want at this point. :)
6 comments:
Hi! I read about something like your February challenge a while back and as it worked for me, I thought I'd pass it on... check out The 30 Day Decluttering Challenge and there's also a website with more info about setting one up, I think you get it through the article link. Hope it works!
I love the idea!!! That is a fabulous way of getting rid of the stuff they are tired of and sprucing up their house :o) You are so smart!!! I love it!!!
By the way, I don't think I am going to take very much of a break with moving. We leave here on Saturday and get to Chicago later that evening and I will have my computer up and running by Sunday :o) Maybe I can pop in on my cell phone...I will have to see how that works!
I miss you too when you are too busy to write...but I do love that you come over and show some love :o)
Sounds like a great idea to me!
Sounds like a great idea! What a nice way to get rid of something you don't want and get something totally new and cool! Your girls will love the idea! :)
I have also read about these, and actually read about the hinged clothespin idea and thought it was GENIUS. Sounds like a wonderful little adventure :)
Staying warm? HA. Brrrrr up here.
I wish that you and I lived closer to each other because we would have so much fun! This party sounds amazing - and I have so much kitchen stuff that I want to get rid of (alas, the husband has emotional ties to most of it, even though it hasn't been used in over a year!). What a great idea! I might have to copy you on this one ... now just to find the women to do this!
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