New 2 You

This week’s donation organization tip covers going through your garage and shed!

The garage and shed are places just big enough for us to store too many items, and it can be easy to start to forget what is in the back, or on the bottom shelf. It can be daunting to go through and clean/organize a garage. Hopefully some of these tips will help you figure out the best way to organize your garage and shed donations. 

Here are some tips to help you organize garage & shed items you’d like to donate! 

• The number one thing to do before donating items out of your shed/garage is to make sure your items are clean. We know yard tools, bikes, and toys get used frequently– but if you’re hoping to donate these things and they’ve been sitting in the back of your garage collecting dust and cobwebs, it’s really helpful to us if you just wipe them down before bringing them in!

• If your tools are rusty, we cannot sell them. We understand tools both for the garden and construction projects get used in dirty settings, and some wear and tear is no problem. However, if the metal is rusted, it is not safe for us to have it on the selling floor. 

• Check for broken items before donating. If your items are cracked or broken we are unable to sell them. 
  • Frequently donated items that we receive broken:
    • Garden hose reels
    • Flower pots (please note, we are unable to sell the plastic flower pots that your plants come in when you purchase them)
    • Shovels
    • Kids toys (plastic bikes, sandbox toys, etc.)
  • We are so glad to receive these donations, we just ask that you double check to see if they’re functional first!

• We cannot accept gas powered lawnmowers/tools. It is a safety risk for us to have something on the store floor that could potentially leak gas. Thank you for understanding!

• The last tip we’re offering is just to check what’s inside your boxes before donating. We know it can be tempting to just take all the boxes from the back shelves and drop them off, but we appreciate it if you’re able to sort out what might be broken or unusable before bringing it over. 

We are so grateful for all of the support we receive from all of you. We are incredibly blessed to have people who send us kind words of encouragement during this time while we are closed. We are doing our best to prepare for the day we can open again. Until then, we hope you know how grateful we are for you and your dedication to our store!

Until next week,

Your friends at New 2 You

This week’s donation organization tip covers your toy box and game closet.

 We know that games and toys are things that fit to particular times of life. Of course your kids don’t need their baby toys when they’re older because they’ve outgrown those toys. You can take that idea one step further with other games and puzzles. Maybe there are some games and puzzles in the back of your closet that you enjoyed a few years ago, but you prefer others now. We’d love to take those old games off of your hands! This way the game you don’t get as much joy out of, or that puzzle you’ve already done enough times can bring excitement to someone who has never done it before. 

Here are some tips to help you organize the toys and games you would like to donate:

• For games and puzzles, first check to see if your game or puzzle is complete. 
  • This isn’t to say that we won’t take a puzzle or game if it’s missing one piece or so, but if it’s missing enough to make the game unplayable we are not able to sell it. 
  • If your game or puzzle is missing something, please label on the box “missing one piece”, or if it’s complete, just label it “complete”. This saves us a lot of time counting and checking for pieces!
  • Check for wear and tear on game parts, for example, the playing board or cards.
• For all toys, and especially stuffed animals and dolls, check for missing parts, broken parts, rips, stains, and sticky spots.
• If you have larger baby toys such as bouncers, or exersaucers that may have been sitting in the basement or attic for a while, make sure they’re functional and wiped clean. 
  • *Note, we are unable to accept cribs and carseats.
• It’s always helpful to us when items come presorted, so if you’re donating toys and games along with other items, we’d love it if they had their own bag.

Hopefully this challenge of sorting through old games, puzzles, and toys will bring you happy memories as you remember when these items had different value to you. 

Until next week,

Your friends at New 2 You

This week’s donation organization tip is about your linen closet.

Let’s face it, for most of us the linen closet is the disaster that you shove away and pray the contents won’t tumble out when you open the door back up again! Some sheets fold nice and stay flat, but those darn fitted sheets take up lots of extra room. So let’s figure out how to reduce the linens taking up too much room in your house, and organize them for donations!

Here are some tips to help you organize the linens you would like to donate:

• Check for stains, holes, fading, and fraying. We are unable to sell linens with holes or stains. However, if the item in question is 100% cotton, you can put it in a separate bag labeled “Lisa’s Rags”, and we’ll donate to Lisa’s Rags mission. Lisa’s Rags will also take your old bath towels.
  • For more information on Lisa and her mission follow this link!
• Keep sets together.
• For larger rugs, check for spots, vacuum, and if possible, write down the dimensions.
• Label what size your sheets are. (It saves us lots of time measuring later!)

It’s so important that we remember to keep our spirits up during this hard time. So if you need a laugh today, here’s a link to a clip about the frustrations of folding fitted sheets. Enjoy!

Click for video clip.

Until next week,

Your friends at New 2 You

It is easy to calculate the monetary value of shopping secondhand, but there are benefits beyond what we get to keep in our bank accounts. Shopping at your local thrift stores actually has a large environmental impact. When you shop at a thrift store here are just a few things you do to help the world around you!

-Cut on carbon emissions needed to bring merchandise from factories to retail stores

-Keep items out of landfills because you’re reusing them!

-Boost local economy by giving business to local stores

-Lower demand from businesses that sell products made in unethical sweatshops

-Create an all around positive attitude to reusing and upcycling!

These are just a few perks of shopping at thrift stores. Thank you for supporting your local thrift stores, and being a positive impact in the world around you!

Do you find yourself wanting to keep up with the latest decor trends, but find the price tag for even small simple items to be too big? There are so many obvious ways that shopping at thrift stores can save you money, like finding a nice sweater for $5.50 as opposed to $70. However, you can save on a lot of trendy decorations by just getting a little creative! For example, you can make your own fancy memo board or chalk board by purchasing a frame or old picture from a thrift store, and with a little paint and some cork you’re done! Something they won’t tell you in a retail store is that there is a whole lot more satisfaction in displaying something you made and found for a bargain, then there is when you simply purchase at full price. So stop over to New 2 You soon and let your creative juices flow!

This week we will be putting out all of our Halloween costumes! We’ve been saving them all year and they are finally ready for their spooky debut! So stop in this week to get ready for all of your Halloween parties, and of course, Trick or Treating!

It’s no secret that the popular styles for our kitchen and dining room tables are not the same as they were fifteen years ago. It is also true that we don’t necessarily receive regular donations of brand new tables and chairs! However, that does not mean that you can’t add your own spark to an older set of table and chairs! We get in donations of kitchen tables and chairs all the time, and it doesn’t take much to give them that stylish farmhouse look! To achieve the look in this photo, all you really need is some sandpaper, and your choice of wood stain, and paint. A little creativity goes a long way, and in the process, you can give new life to a once out-of-style set of table and chairs.

Brand new furniture can be expensive, and sometimes shopping at thrift stores can be a bit discouraging if some of the furniture is quite dated. But don’t let that dishearten you, rather see it as an opportunity to refinish something to be exactly the way you want! A little sandpaper, some paint, and maybe some different hardware can make an old dated item become the centerpiece in your home!