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Auntie Kate The Resale Expert

Kate Holmes of TGtbT.com talks with consignment, resale & thrift shopkeepers about opening, running, & making their shop THRIVE!

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« Did you forget your costume this morning? Shame on you!
Deja Vuesday: Can you think a year ahead? »

Emergency costume: Thrift stores, right up your alley!

October 31, 2011 by Auntie Kate of Too Good to be Threw

This story of mine is a couple of years old, but still might work for you today!
 

In response to a desperate shopper at the thrift shop last week, we came up with this super-thrifty Halloween costume. Took him less than an hour to make this, and he promises to be the Belle of the Ball at the fancy society smash he’ll be attending.
Josh is going as “Table for One.”

He’ll take a circle of cardboard (cut out from an appliance carton courtesy of a local appliance dealer) with a hole cut out for his head so he can balance it on his shoulders. Then, he’ll cover it with a checkered tablecloth we found, allowing the edges to drape in a fetching sort of way.

On the tabletop, he’ll glue a wine glass, appetizer-size plate, napkin and silverware. The plate is filled with some plastic fruit and a “reserved” sign (donated by his favorite bistro) and the check (from an old-fashioned receipt book from same bistro.)

We found a headband to which Josh will hot-glue a bunch of flowers, so his head is the centerpiece. (I think that’s the part he likes best!)
How much it cost:

Tablecloth and napkin: $3.50.
Plate: $1
Plastic fruit: $2.50
Silverware: $2
Wine glass: $1
Headband, silk flowers: $4

Total? $14, and he still has most of the items to donate back to the thrift shop.

Note: Josh added wide elastic bands from the underside of his tabletop to swoop under his arms and back up. But he’s a dancin’ fool and wanted comPLETE stability.

The money Josh saved by not buying or renting a Halloween contest? He plans on donating it to Toys for Tots so that a child or two has a happier holiday. Pretty nifty guy, Josh.

–Kate Holmes, HowToConsign.com

P.S. Yes I know this is the 3rd Auntie Kate post today. Can you tell what my favorite holiday is? Besides 4th of July of course, and International Resale Day, which I was lucky enough to be born on. Oh and Christmas and Arbor Day and Thanksgiving and Valentine’s Day.

Arbor Day?

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Posted in Not-for-Profit Resale, Shopkeeping talk, Slices of (my) life | Tagged Halloween, holidays, Thrift |

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