Tag: thrift

It’s never too early to start decorating for a new season — especially for one as short as spooky season! It can take some time to get your home looking like the perfect balance of scary and stylish, so it’s no surprise that, for many, decorating has already begun.

Fall colors and Halloween-themed pumpkins come out of storage, fall-colored book stacks begin to appear on tables and shelves alongside gourds and witchy signage. It’s the unofficial start of the season, kicking off a celebration of all things Halloween — from candy to and mystical creatures.

Home décor has become more important in the last few months, as people have been forced to spend more and more time indoors. Even if this year’s Halloween looks a bit different — socially distanced gatherings and taking safety precautions while trick-or-treating instead of what may have normally been an indoor party — creating a fun spooky Halloween ambiance can have its own benefits for you and your family.

According to a study in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, putting up decorations early for a favorite holiday can make people happier. By decorating early, you begin to believe the holiday isn’t that far away, and you can start a countdown to your favorite holiday!

Plus, if you want to go all-out on spooky Halloween decorations this year, you won’t need to break the bank. By shopping for decorations or DIY craft materials second hand at thrift shops in Destin FL, you’ll find what you need for a mere fraction of the price you’d pay at another retailer. And, at the same time, you’ll be paying tribute to the environment by diverting these gently used goods from a landfill, instead putting them in the spotlight on your walls and mantle.

Below are a few Halloween décor ideas created by shoppers that will be sure to delight any ghost or ghoul this year.

Witchy Welcome Wall

There’s nothing like a nice reminder of the Halloween season every time you walk through your front door. These thrifted entryway decorations are perfect for entering any witch or wizard into your home and will keep your family in the holiday spirit. You can repurpose an umbrella holder to hold witches’ brooms, both items easily findable at your local store.

Creepy Corners

It can be a scary surprise to walk into the kitchen for a midnight snack and find a gleeful skeleton in the corner! Set up a few of these startling decorations throughout the house to add some hocus pocus to every room.

Custom Cemetery DIY

I LOVED finding the creativity this shopper had. She found the church on the left for a $3 steal at her local store and, with a little bit of black paint, transformed it into the creepy mausoleum that’s now part of the DIY cemetery stationed behind her kitchen sink. A spooktacularly wallet-friendly idea for an eye-catching and elaborate decoration!

On the East Coast, the nights have started getting colder, the air becoming crisper as the color of the foliage begins to change and flutter to the ground. It’s clear that Autumn is coming — the passing of Labor Day putting an end to frequent weekend trips to the beach and the wearing of white pants, and I want my home to be prepared as sweater season starts to kick in!

Now that I’m spending most of my time in my apartment, it’s important to me to have cozy nooks where I can snuggle under a blanket and read, write, or simply relax with a mug of herbal tea. As I now work from home and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, I’ve been trying to tackle the difficult task of keeping my work and “fun” lives separate, working in a different corner than I relax in.

This article shares more tips on creating a productive workspace with items that won’t break the bank, but will help you create this separation as well!

As you begin to welcome fall into your home by thinking about cozy décor, consider shopping for seasonal decorations, books and furniture at your local store. You’ll find show-stopping fall pieces for a bargain, and you might come home with inspiration for a custom DIY project or two as well!

1. Cozy Corners

For me, the only comfort that colder weather brings is knowing I’ll have the perfect excuse to snuggle up on a chair or couch with a soft blanket and a stack of books I’ve been meaning to read all summer. As we spend more and more time at home, it’s important to create these areas where you can simply relax — and books, a cozy blanket and a gorgeous thrifted chair can do just the trick.

2. Faux Foliage

A sophisticated fall-scaped mantlepiece is a versatile way to let a little fall into your living room all the way through the Thanksgiving holiday. By layering faux fall foliage, gourds and carefully selected vases and planters, you can create a fall landscape that brings the best of the outdoors inside your home.

3. Pumpkins & Pictures

Especially in recent years, wooden signs with phrases like “Gather” and “Come Together” have become extremely popular in home décor, especially when it comes to fall! These signs are great and — much to my boyfriend’s chagrin — our apartment has a few of these strategically placed all over as well.

But it’s important to remember that among the signage and pumpkins, you can never go wrong with a few family and friends photos. During a time where we may not be able to see our loved ones as often as we’d like, pictures can be a way to bring them into our homes, making them feel all the more safe and cozy because of it.

4. Fall Furniture DIY

Furniture shoppers have such a fantastically creative eye for before-and-after furniture projects that I constantly find myself in awe. This antique buffet table revamp is so stunning. 

Feeling inspired? Head to your local thrift shop in Destin, FL to pick up a few items to bring the essence of fall into your home.

I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a difficult year — especially for those of us who are not good with change… and a lot of it… all at once! This has been a year full of unprecedented circumstances, we’ve all probably spent a lot more time at home than ever before, and we’ve all probably had to deal with loss in some way as well.

As we approach the end of 2020 and, specifically, the holidays, we can start to think about what really matters most to us in the world. For me, it’s safely spending time with my family and friends — whether its on a brisk outdoor walk or a Zoom chat — and using some of my newfound free time to do what I can to make the holidays extra special for them this year. If there’s one thing we all could use, it’s some good old-fashioned holiday cheer!

That being said, it’s important for us to think about how and where we’re shopping for special gifts this holiday season. In addition to being the year of the pandemic, 2020 has been a pivotal year when it comes to environmental issues, and it has been a difficult year for many when it comes to job stability and having the ability to save some extra cash. If you’re nodding your head as you read this, then shopping second-hand for holiday gifts just might be the right solution for you.

When it comes to the environment, fashion waste stemming from fast-fashion brands that capitalize on short-lived trends is a major issue that is causing people to pivot to a more responsible retail era. In a 2019 survey conducted by Accenture, insights found that gifting second-hand — and especially vintage styles — is becoming a fashionable trend, and almost 50 percent of survey participants responded that they would consider gifting second-hand. And closer to 60 percent of people would welcome gifts of this type themselves!

Gifting second-hand items bought from the thrift stores in Destin, FL is so much better for the environment than shopping at traditional retail stores because it redirects gently used clothes and other goods from the landfill to your closet, where they can be put to great use.

Why give to a thrift store? 

If someone has leftovers from their garage sale, donating to a thrift store could be the best next choice. These funded programs typically serve people in local communities who have barriers to employment.

That would be people who have a disability, reentering into the community after being released from jail or prison, or for someone who has a lack of education and job training. In addition, someone finding their first job could find a position at a thrift store in Destin, FL. By donating to a thrift store, you’re helping your own community.

They’re able to divert things that typically are found in a land-zone, and reuse it. The organization is friendly to the environment by recycling used clothes and items in that way.

When is the best time to donate to a thrift store? 

“Anytime is great to donate to thrift stores. A lot of people normally donate more in the spring after getting into spring cleaning. For thrift shops, the spring time is a heavy donation time. However, there’s really no bad time to donate.

What would be the best items to donate to a thrift store?

The value of the item is in the eye of the beholder. Thrift store receives a lot of clothes and apparel, but the industries also has plenty of furniture. The stores get things that treasure hunters and customers are looking for, and they’re always looking for unique things. 

How does a thrift store benefit the community?

Serving quality goods for people is an important role for thrift stores and to be able to provide a variety of items such as cooking ware, electronics, clothes and apparel at a good price range.

The donated clothing items are almost always brand new, and shopping at a thrift store is good for customers who are managing a budget and for college students who are moving into their first apartment or dorm rooms searching for cheap furniture.

What is Fast Fashion?

Fast Fashion is inexpensive clothing that is produced to mass-market retailers in response to the latest trends. Retailers like Primark, H&M, ASOS and Boohoo.com churn out millions of tonnes of clothing each year to keep up with the ‘need to be new’.

This has been growing rapidly over the last 10-20 years with globalization being at the forefront and a drive from the Millennial and Gen-Z generations obsessed with having the newest trends before they’ve even hit the store.

Fast Fashion allows us to accommodate the world’s passion for fashion at an affordable price but does come at a price.

The Pros to Fast Fashion?

With living in such a fast-paced world, Fast Fashion allows for more affordable clothing. The latest trends are sold to the masses, people get what they want and not have to wait around for anything as there are now so many retailers and brands to choose from, either in-store and online, with eCommerce becoming the biggest industry on the planet as the human race moves deeper into the digital era.

With clothing becoming so cheap people can get a new outfit each weekend to go out in, sometimes even cheaper than a round of drink at your local pub! This has moved people into the habit of buying something and only wearing it once, a throwaway cutler. It’s great for someone who doesn’t have the largest income (students/the youth) as they can still enjoy the thrill of spending and getting the new things when they want, and not have to spend an arm and a leg on it, allowing them to save in other areas of life.

The Cons of the Industry

With the colossal demand for these clothes and the rate at which people want them, the increased waste from this throwaway culture, we as a species have created, means that 100 billion garments each year go to landfill in countries a lot worse off than the people buying the clothes.

Places like the Far East and Southern Asia, where huge sweats shops that have been known to exploit workers, make these clothes are on barely a liveable wage in awful conditions to get the product quickly the consumer on a mass scale. More than 1,100 people died in the garment factory collapse in Bangladesh in 2014 forcing western retail to be more transparent about their supply chain.

In early 2018 designer brand Burberry admitted to burning over £30 million worth of stock instead of selling it off cheaply to protect the band’s identity. This caused controversy in the fashion industry and it really made people stop and think as to what we can do to make this more environmentally friendly and stop this throwaway culture. This is the reason thrift shops in Destin, FL are gaining popularity.

What you can do

You can help combat this issue as well and it’s not even that difficult. The main and probably most beneficial thing you can do is to stop buying so much new clothing. 

Wear more than once, when you wear something don’t feel that because people have seen you wear it once you can’t wear it again. Most clothing nowadays is such high quality it will last you for a good few years if you look after it.

The beauty with clothing is its versatility! Due to the advancement in technologies, the quality of even a cheap top can out way some of the more high-end designer brands. Once you’ve worn it and are bored with it, sell it on. Use the Apps like Depop and eBay to get some money back and allow someone else to enjoy what you once had, the recycling process can continue with you.

Fast Fashion is a great thing for the masses but its dark underbelly means that for us the cons outweigh the pros. Next time you go to get a new outfit for the weekend, think, do I really need that? Think of the bigger picture when it comes to fashion and not what you just look like!