But not all thrift stores are created equal. You are probably familiar with big chain stores like the Goodwill or the Salvation Army. But when it comes to thrift stores, big isn’t always better. Sure, a bigger store might have more variety, and a chain store will likely rotate items among local stores, but neither of these factors necessarily make for a better shopping experience, in my opinion.
Enter Deseret Industries. This medium-sized thrift store on 82nd Ave in Clackamas, OR appears as unpretentious as any thrift store from the outside, but inside there is a world of difference. I’ve only been there twice, since it took me several times of driving by to break out of the habit of stopping where I was familiar (comfort zone, you know) and drop in. But I was so impressed that I vowed I would be back nearly every week (I shop thrift stores using many of the ideas I learned at Large Families on Purpose, one of which is shopping weekly), choosing this store over the Goodwill without a second thought.
From the outside, it looks just like any other thrift store: gray walls and a sign pointing to the donation center in the back. But inside is very different. The first impression you’ll get upon entering the store is one of order and organization. They have opted for circular clothing racks instead of long round ones, and these seem to make the clothes easier to browse–at least for me. And everything is organized by color, which is not only pleasing to the eye, but easier to browse.
Closer inspection proves that not only are the clothing items organized by color, but also by size. And sizes are more consistently found in the correct location than at the other two big name thrift stores nearby. They even organize maternity clothes by size. This might seem like the obvious choice, but both the Goodwill and the Salvation Army just put all their maternity clothes on the same rack without bothering to sort for size. This makes looking for maternity clothes a rather trying experience. I mean, how discouraging to find the cutesy top–in a small, when you really must wear a large! At Deseret Industries, the maternity rack is organized by size, tops separate from bottoms within each size, and each section is color-coordinated besides! So if I’m looking for a large pink top, I just have to look in the large section where I see pink. That’s it. No hunting through the whole rack, checking the size of every pink shirt! And it only took me a few seconds to verify that they didn’t have an appropriate turquoise shirt in my daughter’s size this last visit (I’m looking for a specific color to go with a summer sleeveless dress I got a while back).
The next thing you’ll notice is the prices. For one thing, they are all round dollars. No $4.99 in this store! The second thing you’ll notice about the prices is that they are lower than the other major thrift stores. I have not checked any adult clothes other than maternity yet–my husband doesn’t need clothes right now, and I’m 7 months pregnant–but so far I haven’t found a piece of clothing over $5-6, and some are less. Children’s t-shirts and shorts range from $1-3. In general, it seems prices are consistently one third to one half less than Goodwill prices for the same quality. Sure, they don’t have specials on specific color tags like the Goodwill does, but with prices so low, it doesn’t really matter.
An interesting and logical feature of the store is that girl’s clothes are located on the same side of the store as women’s clothes, while boy’s clothes are located near the men’s clothes. I’m used to the toddler and baby sizes being lumped together, but this makes so much more sense. It does take some getting used to, though; I forgot to look for shorts for my son, because my mind told me that I had already looked at kids’ clothes by the time I got over to that side of the store. But I’m sure I’ll adjust quickly!
If you are into crafts and sewing, you’ll love the craft aisle. Skeins of yarn are available, many sold individually instead of in big bags with random colors and textures mixed together. And sewing patterns are sold individually, priced $.50 each! And on my last visit there were scores of patterns!
So let me tell you what I got on my last trip.
My total for that trip and all that stuff? $38.50. I think I would have paid over $50 at the Goodwill for the same items.
I give this store 5 out of 5 stars! So next time you go up 82nd, stop by Deseret Industries and check out what they have to offer!
This review is simply my personal opinion. I was not asked to write it or compensated in any way for posting it.
I, however, have never been successful with growing anything since I moved away from home. With the exception of basil, which loves hot weather and doesn’t need much water, and therefore thrived in spite of my neglect the one year I decided to grow some in Texas. You could say I got gardened out in my growing up years!
But with food prices on the rise, as well as my increasing concern with non-organic foods (especially the dirty dozen), I have felt the need to garden. Unfortunately, the last two years circumstances kept us from being able to grow anything. And even this year we are getting a bit of a late start (the last frost was several weeks ago), but I figured we have to try something!
So I bit the bullet and bought 4 packets of heirloom seeds from Victory Seeds. Lettuce, kale, cilantro, and basil. The first two are cold weather crops, so a week ago I went down to the hardware store and bought some peat pots from their nursury and planted 6 each of those seeds. 
Or rather, my daughter planted them. She loved it! The other two prefer hot weather, so I’m going to wait until probably the end of May. Besides, my garden area isn’t quite ready yet, though hopefully it will be all tilled up sometime this week.
Here’s a close-up on the seedlings, taken Friday (5 days after planting). 
I don’t have a grow light, but I have a skylight in my kitchen which seems to work almost as well. It keeps them from bending like they would in a window. The larger ones are the kale plants.
My plan is to also plant red & yellow onions and some sweet potatoes if I can find slips. It’s a bit late to grow my own slips (they take 6 weeks, and then 100 or more days once they are in the ground). Then in the fall I want to plant more lettuce and kale, and maybe some other cold-weather crops like broccoli.
Are you growing a garden this year? What are you planting?
This post linked with The Modest Mom; We Are That Family.
The real reason Is that pregnancy is getting the better of me. I just hit the third trimester, and I’m tired a lot! By the end of the day, I’m dragging most days. I don’t always have the energy to get even my basic routines done. Sometimes my husband will wash the supper dishes and shine my sink for me while I crash on the couch with a book or go to bed early.
However, my routines haven’t gone completely out the window, either. I still lay out my clothes most evenings and get dressed before I start breakfast most mornings. I still swish and swipe every day except Sabbath. I still try to keep my sink shiny as much as possible.
Partly because my energy levels are a tad low, and partly because I have been dealing with pain in my hips that is directly related to the effects of pregnancy on chronic scoliosis, I don’t move very quickly, and sometimes it takes twice as long to get everything done. This doesn’t leave me with much chance to do extra things, like unpacking. But I try. Of course, it doesn’t help that most of the boxes are full of dusty items that give me hay fever, and I can’t take allergy medication while pregnant, so I can’t do a lot of unpacking at a time.
But I do have a daughter who is becoming quite a capable housekeeper. She can was most of the dishes, just not the really heavy ones or the really fragile ones. She can mop the floor on hands and knees. I usually use a damp mop with a handle, but the other day there was something sticky on the floor, and even though I mopped it 3 times, it just wouldn’t go away. So I filled a bucket with soapy water and gave her a rag. She mopped while I took a shower, and when I got back, the floor wasn’t sticky anymore! She likes mopping this way, too; don’t ask me why!
So I’m just trying to cope as well as I can, doing what I can and looking forward to getting my body and energy back later on in the summer. Of course, by then routines will be of utmost importance, so I’m doing my best to maintain the ones I have as well as I can. I also plan on using some of my down time to make my control journal. That way my husband will (I hope) be able to keep things more under control in the first few weeks after the baby arrives.
So instead of continuing my series on routines, I will soon share how I made zones in my house. Because I wasn’t happy with Flylady’s zones, but I liked the idea of zones. I’ll tell you about that soon.
How about you? Have you established any routines? How do you keep up with them when you are sick or pregnant or just don’t feel like it? Please share!
I know not everyone enjoys peeling skin. Some people think it’s disgusting. Others, however, delight in it. My mom does. I do. And, apparently, so does my son. From sunburns to bubbled skin after a bath, it’s a fun pastime.
Of course, it makes it difficult to get him dressed as long as he can find something to peel!
Maybe you’ve seen it in the store next to the aluminum foil. Maybe you’ve even used it to bake cookies. But I’ve found several uses for parchment paper beyond the obvious use of lining my cookie sheets to cut back on oil and save scrubbing later.
In fact, the thing that motivated me to first purchase it was not for baking cookies. It was for making lasagna.
Lasagna?
Yes, lasagna.
Let me explain.
When making a lasagna, you are supposed to bake it covered. But unless you have a glass or metal lid for your casserole dish, you probably just use aluminum foil. But there is a problem. The acid in the tomato sauce eats at the foil. So unless you use a really deep dish or make a shallow lasagna, you need something to protect the foil.
I worked for a couple of months in a cafeteria, and I learned that they would cover the pans with plastic wrap before adding the foil. This effectively protected the foil, and it wasn’t hard to remove later.
So I did that. Until my husband pointed out that the hot plastic was probably just as bad as the aluminum.
This left me with few options. Until one day I had the brilliant idea of using parchment paper! I cut it to fit the top of the pan and covered it with foil, and presto, problem solved!
Of course, I started using the parchment paper to line my cookie sheets, and was pleased that I didn’t need to use the oil spray that my husband didn’t really like me using in the first place. I wasn’t so worried about cutting back on the little bit of fat, but those sprays are actually not good for you, being processed and refined and mixed with aerosol.
I also discovered that recipes for kale chips say to line the baking sheet with parchment paper. After making them, I can see why. Oh, and if you haven’t ever had kale chips, get some kale and make some! They are delicious. Even my son likes them! Too bad he is allergic to kale.
Here’s another use for parchment paper. I like making my soy souffle once or twice a month, but it is always a bear to clean the pan afterwards. Greasing the pan does nothing. It sticks something fierce, and no amount of soaking will make any difference in the amount of elbow grease required to remove it. And I hate scrubbing and scrubbing.
So I got creative. I decided to try lining my baking dish with parchment paper.
And you know what? It worked! Yup, by cutting the paper to fit and creasing it a little, I was able to make it sit in the pan while I poured in the batter. Then I baked it as usual. The result? I still have to wash the pan, but it takes about as much time as it does to wash a plate or bowl. See?
Now, I probably won’t line all my casserole dishes with parchment paper for every use. But of course, most casseroles don’t stick half as badly as my soy souffle.
Have you ever tried parchment paper? Have you found any creative uses for it? Please share!
This post is participating in the link-ups at The Modest Mom and Works for me Wednesday.
It's Snowing!
Okay, so I’m not really a good photographer. I didn’t think about adjusting the focus until it was too late. But maybe you can see that it is snowing. It is, at any rate. Even though it isn’t sticking. [Added later: It never did stick.]
So what happened to spring?
This is actually the third time I’ve moved while pregnant. First time was from one town to the next, and I was in my first trimester of my first pregnancy. Fortunately we didn’t have much, and my husband was able to move it all himself without my help. The second move was during the second trimester of my second pregnancy. It is amazing how much I did–even to driving the big moving truck!
But this time trumps it all of those times. What is worse than moving while pregnant? Moving while pregnant and sick.
The day of the move out of our house in Aloha, OR, I was feeling pretty well. I could tell I was fighting something, but my energy was good and I figured I could do what needed to be done. Thankfully I had some help with getting packed and loading the van (because carrying heavy boxes was not something I felt safe doing, especially this far along in pregnancy). But I overdid it. The next day, I could tell that I was succumbing to whatever I wad fighting. And I succumbed. Missed church and everything. My daughter, on the other hand, was able to rest when she felt sick and got well in just a few days. I was sick for almost a week.
We moved most of our stuff to the new home and a few things we needed to our friends’ basement apartment for a few days while we waited for everything to be finished in the home. I had planned on spending the days we stayed in the basement unpacking and organizing the house, so that it would be easier to move in. Instead, I spent most of them relaxing in a recliner and trying to recover from being sick.
One week after moving out of the rental house, I was feeling well enough that I just wanted to move into out new house. So I packed up our stuff and got a friend to come help ne load and unload the van.
But once again I overdid it. And while I didn’t get quite as sick as I had the week before, I was not exactly well either. I had a sinus infection that was toying with being bronchitis. Then it was finally clearing up, and I was trying desperately to be productive, cooking and doing mountains of laundry (because our bedding had been in storage for a year and was musty smelling–as were our towels, my maternity clothes, and other needed items), and trying to unpack and organize the kitchen and the rest of the house.
A couple of those days, I was so out of it that all I could do, it seemed, was cry and wish someone would come over and help me. Or bring me food so I didn’t have to cook. Or offer to watch the kids for an hour or two so I could focus on unpacking, or take a much-needed nap.
But no one came. I went to bed early and felt better the next day.
But then, exactly two weeks after moving out, I noticed my sinuses were getting bad again. As in, infected. But I had two prenatal appointments, and a kitchen that was very much in need of staples like fresh fruit and veggies and some other commonly used items. So I went shopping. By the end if the day I was dragging, and I was in bed a bit early. Or I should say the recliner, since my hip was bothering me and laying down just makes it worse–especially for midnight trips to the potty!
Well, that was yesterday. Today, I have a sinus headache. It’s 10:00 am as I’m writing. I’ve eaten breakfast, and my daughter has (my husband prepared it while I tried to sleep), but my son still hasn’t eaten. You might remember that he is allergic to almost everything, and he is going through the typical 3-year-old I-no-yike-dat-food stage, so almost every meal is a battle. And I don’t have energy for battles right now. Not to mention that I don’t really feel it’s good to have battles over food. I’d rather let him get good and hungry so that he’s willing to eat whatever is set before him.
So now I’m worn out, wishing I had help, trying not to be overwhelmed by the things that must get done today, wishing I had more energy to do what needs to be done.
And thinking that the next time I hear of someone that is sick or moving, I am going to bake a casserole and head over and offer to help. Even if I have to drag the kids along. The friend who helped me pack had kids, and I really couldn’t have done it without her.
And I hope that I can get over this infection soon and be back to being the happy mom that I like to be!
Crafting with kids isn’t always easy or cheap, but you can make some things without a lot of hassle. Here are five fun ideas that the whole family can do, no matter what age the kids are. From tots to preteens, kids can make fun crafts without breaking your budget.
Photo courtesy of MorgueFile
Kids’ crafts don’t have to be hard, expensive, or messy. Remember to keep it simple and fun and kids will be sure to love it. There are many more ideas for kids’ crafts out there. Take a minute to see what ideas you can uncover that your kids will enjoy for years to come.
Heather Smith is an ex-nanny. Passionate about thought leadership and writing, Heather regularly contributes to various career, social media, public relations, branding, and parenting blogs/websites. She also provides value to become a nanny by giving advice on site design as well as the features and functionality to provide more and more value to nannies and families across the U.S. and Canada. She can be available at H.smith7295 [at] gmail.com.
I knew that one solution was to wear an undershirt of some kind, but they are hard to find, and all the appropriate tank tops that I own are too small for me now–and would be too long for my growing belly. Besides, I don’t always want the extra layer that an undershirt will provide. So I though of getting a dickey.
My efforts were not very successful. I found one at the Goodwill, but it was pink. Not that I don’t like pink; on the contrary, it’s one of my favorite colors. But it won’t go with everything, and they wanted $3 for it. When my budget for clothes for the family for the month is $20, you can understand why I would hesitate to spend that much on something so small, especially when its usefulness would be limited.
So I decided to make my own. I figured that I could just buy a shirt at some thrift store, maybe for half off, and cut it down. Sure enough, after a recent orthodontist appointment, I found myself near Volunteers of America, which has a much nicer layout than the Goodwill. I mean, I rarely find sizes in the wrong place, and colors are grouped almost perfectly. They also tend to charge as little as half what the Goodwill charges, so even though there is only one of them in the Portland area, I find it worth my while to stop there whenever I can. I plan on doing it at least twice a month once we get moved back to Estacada, since it is on that side of Portland.
Anyhow, as I mentioned in a post last week, I found a really nice black turtleneck there for $2. It was so nice, in fact, that I decided to keep it and cut up my old one. Here are the two side by side:
The lighter one is my old one. Obviously, the newer, brighter Eddie Bauer one is going to stay in tact!
The first step was to mark the cutting lines. My nice white and red tailor chalk are in a storage unit somewhere, so I opted for a yellow highlighter. It made a line that was just barely visible, but good enough for me. By changing the exposure settings, I got a picture that actually shows the line:
Basically what I did was mark the shoulder points and the depth and then just free hand it from there. In hindsight, I could have made it wider, but this will work just fine for V-necks. Scoop necks would require a wider dickey. But I don’t own any scoop necks.
I pinned the front and back together, cut it out, then drew on the back side to make it shorter, then cut out the back. Here is the result:
Then I got out my sewing machine and stitched it with a stretchy zigzag. That was it. It was done. Couldn’t have been easier.
Here’s a close-up of the edge:
And here’s me wearing it with a very nice, not-too-thick sweater. Can you see the baby bump? My husband was too busy to take the picture, and I didn’t feel like getting out the tripod (it was almost bedtime), so I just took it in the bathroom with the mirror on the medicine cabinet. Sorry for the vertical lines, but the mirror has 3 sections.
To summarize, I just laid the shirt out flat, drew the lines, pinned it so the back wouldn’t slide around, and cut. Then I drew the back line and cut. Then I stitched the edge, and voila! It was done!
My goal is to do this with several more shirts (as I find them). It could work just as well on a button-up-the-front shirt as with a knit shirt, though with woven fabric I might use my rolled foot hem to hem the edge instead of relying on zigzag. In fact, I think this sweater would look best with a pointed collar shirt underneath, perhaps with vertical stripes (if the color is right). I would like to get one with a regular neck that I could use for summer, but I don’t want the t-shirt edge on it, so I’m biding my time. Spring hasn’t even started, and besides, I’ll be able to use these after the baby is born, so there’s no big rush to make more before my maternity clothes become useless again.
I think one could also achieve a similar result by simply cutting the bottom half of a tank top off, leaving sleeve holes in tact. Also, making the front wider could be helpful. I didn’t really have much problem, but for a deeper cut or a wider neck, it could have been problematic. I toyed with the idea of putting the dickey on before putting on my bra, so that the straps could hold it down a little, but by keeping an eye on it, I didn’t have any problems. For ordinary wear, it was fine; lying down for an ultrasound, it did get a little rumpled and had to be adjusted before I left the room. I don’t think a woven one would have this problem.
What projects have you been working on lately?