For great ideas and tips that work for other bloggers, be sure to check out Works for Me Wednesday at Rocks in my Dryer!
My kids are big fans of getting dressed up to play. I have done a variety of things to help them 
have a good variety of things to dress up in. This weekend, we had our biggest increase in our dress up box, and actually ended up moving our dress up box from an overflowing large rubbermaid container into our living room hope chest instead.
Anyway, so, for about the price of a Cinderella set that I saw on Amazon.com (around $30), which included a two piece dress, plastic shoes, a crown, and a wand, we went to Goodwill instead.
We walked out with the following items for our dress up box: 2 clip on ties, 2 pairs of sunglasses, 4 vests (two girls vest and two mens vests -- one is faux leather), a ton of scarves (a bunch of head-type scarves like Molly is wearing in the picture and then two winter scarf types of scarves), and a very over the top gold shiny purse. 
(Molly kept saying, "Look, Mom! I'm Mary!!!")
The kids thought they had hit a goldmine! And, I loved that we were able to add so many cool things to our dress up stuff.
Other ways we have added to our dress up box before: clearance dress up stuff, Christmas gifts, after Halloween sales (we got a cowgirl multi piece set that was originally $20.00 for $2.00, since it was 90% off), we have made some of our own things (like tutus), Target's 1-spot, etc.
Having a dress up box is such a fun thing for the kids, and it really spurs their creativity. Heck, even Noah who wants nothing to do with dressing up was thrilled after our Goodwill trip! He grabbed everything when we walked in and ran in his room. Then, he came out and started singing a song inviting people to come and buy things in his shop.
If you're starting out a dress up box or just adding to a current one, be sure to check out Goodwill for some great deals! Plus, the great thing about buying at Goodwill is that this is a "greener" choice for dress up clothes than running out to the store and buying a set of play dress up clothes.
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Speaking of kids...need some tips about photographing them? Be sure to check out some of my photography posts from this weekend!
Say Cheese (or Not!) -- Some More Tips for Photographing Your Kids
Tips for a DIY Home Photo Shoot with Your Kids
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
WFMW: Finding Great Deals for The Dress Up Box
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children,
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going green,
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19 comments:
Awesome idea!! I have actually not even thought to look in a second hand shop love it!
Great blog! Glad I found you.
Great ideas! My kids LOVE to play dress up. I need to get our box together.
This is great. I have picked up thrift store stuff for dress-up also. The kids love it.
When I was a teenager, there was a 4yo next door that would come up with the most creative things. If you said, "Pretend you're a dog," he would go find two brown socks and fit them over his ears. He was so funny! My kids need a little more help than that, but it's fun to see what they come up with.
My girls love to dress up and are in need of dress up clothes but like you said $30 outfits don't come with a whole lot. I didn't think about the goodwill stores. I will have to take them out for a trip this summer! Thanks for sharing!
A lot of stuff in our dress up box is from the Dollar Tree, or my former clothes. I am not kidding that my graduate school graduation robe is in there. Sash and all. My mom insisted I not give it away. I conceded on the idea that it would go in my kids' future dress up box. So there it is (although future no longer).
Cool! So far, our dress up play only encompasses Superman (a cape). But that seems to be quite popular around here.
Love this idea - my kids love dressing up!
Goodwill is not only "green." The company trains handicapped workers and also gives jobs to people otherwise considered "unemployable." So donating unused items there, and shopping there, is good for the community.
My sister does this for stocking her dress up stash and for some reason, I just haven't gotten around to checking out our own Goodwill. But your post has given me the push I needed. I'll be heading out this week.
Thanks!
Yes, Barb, I agree. As the Mom of someone with a developmental disability (though I fully expect that he will go on to college and be employable), I always like knowing that when I donate my things that it helps those with disabilities.
We actually dropped off a trunk full of stuff a couple of days after buying all of our dress up stuff. :) It makes me so happy to just drop off all of my extra "junk" and knowing that someone may be walking through the store, see something I dropped off, and have it be "just what they needed."
Great idea!!
Linda
My mom worked at Goodwill (comptroller) while I was growing up. We grew up with a GW box always in the works, tossing things in as we didn't need them. Helped with clutter and taught us at a very young age what giving was all about. I have continued that in my home. My little girl is too young to understand it now, but she will grow up with the concept just as I did.
Great tip! Kiy
I love the idea.. I totally forget about collecting things like dress up clothes for my kids.. But now that I think of it.. I really enjoyed playing dress up as a little girl.. Thanks for the tip.
Isn't Goodwill the BEST? We've found everything from out of print books to bicycles there. Love it!
Cool tip!
My son is just starting to get into dressup and we've been scoring goodies from thrift stores, yard sales, and dollar stores!
:)
Great idea--I don't have any boy dress-up stuff yet, but it's time to get some because my 2 year old is dressing up in his sister's princess dresses.
This is a great idea, and might actually help my boys have their own dress up stuff, because it really bothers their grandfather and uncles when they dress up like princesses, and fairies.
I just take lots of pictures to show to all their friends later on in high school (and use as blackmail tools).
I LOVE checking out Goodwill finds. They have such great stuff. Another cool thing I've discovered are play silks. Basically, they are just yards of cut fabric for kids to make into whatever their imagination can come up with. Instead of buying expensive ones online, we went to Wal-mart and bought a yard of different $1 fabrics. They live in the dress-up box and my girls have turned them into mermaid tails, capes, dresses, head wraps, and about a thousand other cool things. We added hours of fun to our dress-up box for less than $10!
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