Spoonful of Imagination

Add it to a Family for Something Beautiful

All 4 Kids Consignment Sale

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I’ll never forget in the fall of 2006 I was invited to my first baby consignment sale.  I was already overwhelmed as an expectant first time mom with registering and the oodles of baby stuff you needed (that would soon be everywhere in my house).  I promptly said “no, thank you” and passed on my opportunity to go to an All 4 Kids Consignment sale.  My mom went on without me and brought me back a like-new Snuglie baby carrier.  These things go for up to $70 at Target.  She got mine for $8.00, and it looked brand new.  I was intrigued and there in that one item was born a love for baby consignment sales, and as I would discover later on it really was a love for All 4 Kids Consignment sales.

All 4 Kids has two sales seasons a year.  There is one  at the end of winter to buy all your spring/summer clothes, and there is one in the summer to buy all your fall/winter clothes.  They hold sales in several areas over the course of serval weekends for each season. I love that is broken up by seasons, so you can easily find the items you need and not have to wade through winter jackets when you are looking for a bathing suit, but I am rushing ahead!  You need to know how I got there!

I had my first son the following March 2007.  That fall was my first time shopping.  I loved it.  From that sale on I have not missed an All 4 Kids sale. It is kind of like a rush or adrenaline high when you find something you love for a deal!  If you love to thrift  and antique, you would LOVE baby consignment sales.  I think after two seasons, I started learning tricks of the trade with consigning.  If you sign up to be a seller (and sell the baby items you don’t need/want anymore), you get to shop earlier than the public at these sales.  If you are a seller AND a volunteer (you agree to give some of your time to help set up, run a cash register, etc), you get to shop even earlier!!  Needless to say, I am always up for a good sale.  I have been a seller ever since.  At times I have been able to volunteer as well (depending on life with my three and who is able to help me watch them so I can go volunteer).

My friends and I have made these All 4 Kids sales a girl’s night.  We always meet up early, go to the sale, stand in line with a sweet tea, talk, make lists of things we want to find, shop, sit and admire each other’s finds, help one another decide if an item is a necessity or not, check out, and then we go to dinner afterwards!  No joke.  These sales are something we have come to look forward to!  We get that rush that you might know from Black Friday Shopping.  It’s like a hunt to get in there and find the best deal on the item you want or need the most.  I love them!

A few of my favorite finds over the years are a double jogging stroller for $50, brand new converse shoes for $6, Fischer Price outdoor plastic tricycle for $5, cowboy boots right in time for my sisters country wedding for $4, and oodles of toys.  I am telling you the deals are unreal!  Sometimes I just merely have clothes on my list, but I come home with WAY more.  There is always some superhero for a $1 or pirate ship for $3 that I know I can’t live without!  I think it is the best place ever to buy toys!

I am selling agin this year!  One thing that has made All 4 Kids stand out to me is the level of excellence they have in the items they take to sell.  After going to a few other baby consignment sales through the years, All 4 Kids is the ONLY one I go to now. Until I became a seller I didn’t realize all the “rules” on the items we give them to sell.   First of all, with All 4 Kids it has to be all stain and rip free clothing, and they check each item at our drop off carefully looking for these.  Everything that requires batteries needs to have working batteries in it, so the buyers can see that the item works.  Also, it might sound like a little thing, but the clothes have  to have cardstock tags, and the tags have to be the required size and pinned onto the clothing in a particular way.  I’ll spare you ALL the details, but I will tell you these small things are huge!  Not every baby consignment sale goes to these measures to make sure you are getting something good and you have an enjoyable shopping experience.

I can’t wait to shop Wednesday night with one of my best friends and sister-in-law.  It will be a good time.  I will let you all know what I find!  But PLEASE don’t just take my word for it…go check it out!  The sale is open to the public starting this Thursday.  It is located right behind the Hobby Lobby on Alpharetta Hwy in Roswell.  Here are the details:

(Corner of Holcomb Bridge Rd -Hwy 92 and Alpharetta Hwy)

5000 Commerce Pkwy., Roswell, GA  30075                               

Thurs., August 2nd, 9:30(or 8:30)*-7:00pm

(no strollers prior to 11am)

Fri., August 3rd, 24th, 9:00-7:00

Sat., August 4th, 9:00-1:00

(many items 1/2 off on Sat.)

I can’t wait to go shop!  These pictures are from their Cobb Country Fair Ground sale last weekend, but I promise you, every sale has this much “awesomeness”. I’m looking for a single jogging stroller and some superhero/princess costumes for dress up!  If you are able to go, you SHOULD!!  Please let them know when you check out that you heard about this sale from the deuel blog.  It is pronounced “dual” not “devel”. (that one drives my husband insane!)

Thank you so much for reading about one of my LOVES, and I hope you go and fall in love with this consignment sale like I have!

House Tour…messy style

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You know how your house is right after you get back in town from a trip?  I know for us, it is pretty much a mess.  We have our bags from the trip half unpacked and strings of life strung all over.  I am going to give you a brief house tour…messy style.

I got back last night from my 56 hour Ohio Trip.  I left Friday morning about 8:00am with my boys.  I drove my mom (who worked all the previous night till-7:00am Friday down at Northside Hospital), my brother, Gus, and my two young boys to Ohio.  We were there for my grandparents auction on Saturday, and we drove home yesterday.  It was a quick trip, but more of that later.

Right now, I want to take you through my house at its current state.  I took these pictures about an hour ago, and there was no prep or staging of any items.

Here is my the den (should be dinning room but is kind of a toy/craft room)…

Included in this room is my five-year old, Caleb’s, office.  He wanted a desk like his dad and me, so he made himself a small desk.  We don’t have a toy room, so he has set it up right by my window bench and pillows (which is right by my desk).  He gets dressed most mornings and comes and sits here before doing anything else.  Often in the afternoons for “nap time”, he works quietly in his office as I work at mine.  I love this kid!

In that picture, it is pretty much “set” up.  You should see it after Reagan gets a hold of it.  Attached to this room is the living room.  Here is a floor view of it looking out from the kitchen.

Most of the boys small toys came out of their room today.  No joke.  I think all the superhero costumes were worn at some point, and “guys” (action figures) were getting strung from rope like a zipline across this room.  I was so tired from the weekend, that the “mess” never even registered with me really till now.  That realization gave me the idea for this post.  I was so happy they were all happy and didn’t need me to entertain them play-by-play (as some most days are), that the mess just unfolded.

After leaving the living room, you go down the hallway to our three bedrooms.  My house is a small 60+ years old ranch with three bedrooms.  

So, the hallway might have two of the sleeping bags we took to Ohio strung out in it.  We took sleeping bags, since my grandparents’ spare beds were getting auctioned off.  Hence, probably part of the reason for my “tiredness”.  I’m a lot older since the last time I slept two nights on a floor.

The first bedroom is my beautiful girl’s room.

I think they had fun in here today.  Going further down the hall you come to my boys’ room.

It isn’t that bad until you realize that might be a dirty pair of underwear and pull up from last night?!  I don’t know.  Maybe that is why they didn’t play with their toys in here today!?  Who knows, so we will just move along.

My room is next.  Here in the corner is my weekend bag and two pillows that are patiently waiting to be made into duvet covers for my new bed.

Beside my bed are bins that I keep throwing my consignment items in.  This week I have to price all my baby consignment sale items (this nowhere near all of it) to be ready to take to the sale next week.

My beautiful bed is unmade (like most days to be completely honest).

Going back down the hallway, you can turn to go into the kitchen instead of the livingroom.  You will see our newest family hobby along with all its necessities on the long counter, in the sitting area of the kitchen.

On the kitchen floor might be more sleeping bags, toys, and overnight bags.

This might be a good time to say that my awesome husband stayed home this weekend with Reagan.  He had to work some, so he stayed back and kept her.  She would have HATED this trip.  There was way too much time trapped in a van.  He picked the house up before we came home.  All these wonderful places were created this way today.  🙂

Do you get back from a trip and just need a day to decompress??  That was today for me.  We had a great day just laying low and “rediscovering” all our toys.

I did have one success from today.  I did four loads of laundry and folded them!  Now to just put them away at some point soon…

Yes, our washing machine and dryer are under the kitchen counters in the kitchen. 🙂  I love our little house and all its special “charm” and “characteristics”.

So, that was me being open and raw about our house.  I hope you enjoyed your tour and maybe you can relate to some of our mess!  I’m gonna go sit on the couch with my hubby and drink a beer…and just ignore the mess a little bit longer 🙂

How was YOUR day!?!?