My Yard Sale Secrets

Every Saturday morning my mom and I have a standing date where we go scour the yard sales in our town. She picks me up at 8am, and we spend 2 glorious hours sifting through trash and treasures!

And every week, I am almost ALWAYS asked (vis IG or in person) how in the world I am able to find such beautiful pieces amidst such junk.

While it is a known fact of yard saling that you WILL sift through a ton of trash, I'd love to share my go-to secrets that always guarantee me a stellar find!

1) GO OFTEN- frequency matters! I mean, think about it...if you had a goal of getting in shape, and only took a walk once a month, you would be no where near your anticipated outcome. The same is true with yard saling. If you stop at one yard sale per month, you will more likely than not completely strike out. My mom and I go EVERY week, to MULTIPLE yard sales. And usually one or two will be decent enough to find something worth taking home! 

2) MAKE A LIST/HAVE A PLAN- Over 20 years ago when my mom and I first started yard saling when I was in jr. high school, the only way to find a yard sale was to look in the newspaper or to just drive around. But now, you can find out about yard sales via SO many places (Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and yard saling apps). My mom sits down on Friday night and checks multiple sights. She groups the sales by geographical neighborhood, and then makes a route. We get the most bang for our buck this way!! 

3) LOOK FOR THESE ITEMS- I am constantly drawn to items that are in their natural state...

- Wood- candlesticks, trays, bowls, etc

- Rattan & Wicker- BASKETS are my love language and they are at almost every yard sale! Tune your eyes to scope out the baskets! 

- Metal & Ceramics- Give me ALL the copper teapots, and ceramic mugs! 

4) DON'T BE AFRAID TO DIG- This may have been too much for my jr. high self, but Lord Almighty, I am an EXCELLENT digger now! Loads of people hosting yard sales are too lazy to pull everything out of boxes, and you never know what gems might be lurking under the surface, haha! I find that clothes are often buried in boxes or bins, and digging will reveal some treasures. 

5) DON'T BE AFRAID TO BARGAIN- Lots of sellers just want their junk gone! They are more than happy to go lower than their listed price. And if you offer a lower price, and they say no....no big deal, you're back where you started. No harm done! But I'd say about 90% of sellers will accept the price you offer! 

6) IF YOU SEE A PICTURE OF A GOOD YARD SALE ONLINE, START THERE FIRST! This one is fairly obvious, but if there's something in an online listing that catches your eye, go directly there in the morning. 

7) MOST ESTATE SALES WILL OFFER 50% OFF ON SUNDAYS. I find estate sales to be priced more expensively. So, often if I find something I like (but that is out of my price range), I'll wait until Sunday to purchase it, because everything left on Sunday goes on sale for 50% off! 

8) GO WITH A BUDDY! Even if the yard sales are a total bust, at least you caught up with a good friend! 

Happy Yard Saling friends! Hope this was helpful!! 

Yard Sale Style: a run through the flowers

 I haven't been hitting the yard sales as hard these last few months because we've been gone so much! But a few weeks ago my mother-in-law and I snuck away for about an hour on the hunt to find a few treasures! And we did…we found this gorgeous flowy Free People dress! I was smitten the minute I picked it up. The problem with buying these dresses full price is that you kind of know you'll only wear them once or twice, so it's hard to justify the $200+ price tag (but I mean really, there are VERY few things that I would ever spend $200 on and clothes is NOT one of them!). But that's the beauty of a yard sale…even if you only wear it once, it's worth the few bucks!! 

On my birthday, Kevin and I went on a hike as the sun was setting. I happened to throw this dress in our backpack, just in case we found a secluded spot. And we did! I'm sure the few people who walked by me as I pranced around in this fabric thought I was crazy, but it felt so fun to be free. When I was a little girl I would look at magazines and dream of being a princess running through a field of flowers in a gorgeous dress (those dang perfume ads always had the BEST photography and scenery!). I felt like my inner child was coming out! I also found these unique teal earrings at a yard sale too… 50 cents!! Doesn't get much better than that!!

I love how expressing beauty doesn't have to cost us anything. God made us radiant daughters who were created to run free, be kind, spread grace, and enjoy HIM. Beauty comes from a place deep down. A place that God created to fill and overflow with His goodness. The most beautiful people I know are those that invite you into their hearts, give you the freedom to be YOU, heaps loads of grace on your faults, laugh a lot, and radiate God's love.

Let's pour the grace on thick and heavy, so that we're all swimming in the love of the Father. Shall we? Happy Wednesday friends!

Yard Sale Style: A litte country

TGIF, right? {whenever I say that expression, I still think of Full House, Family Matters, and Boy Meets World! anyone else?} This week was crazy for me, but filled with so many new adventures. Regardless, i'm glad it's the weekend!

I'm actually headed up to visit my family this weekend, and it feels so right. I grew up in an adorable community nestled in Northern California, with a beautiful park running through it, a gorgeous brick university bubbling with students and energy, and a tight-knit community. Growing up, all I wanted was to break free from our little town and see the world. I always swore up and down i'd never move back, but now i'm pinning to park myself back in this sweet place. It's funny how God gives new eyes for old places.

My parents have this gorgeous home, and my favorite feature is the fire place. At night, when it's cold and blustery outside, the fire roars on, and my mom {who is a hosting queen} makes a yummy dinner and we sit long and talk much. So much laughter. So needless to say, i'm looking forward to a weekend home. I'm also getting to stay with one of my best friends from college, and she's planning a dinner with a bunch of college friends I haven't seen in a while. Oh man, I love reunions!!

Last Saturday my friend Diana came yard sailing with me. We hit the jackpot friends. I know I say that every week, but this week was especially good! I found the most adorable shirts and dresses (A few unique tops from Urban Outfitters and Anthropolgie for the win!!), and have worn one almost every day this week! This dress is from American Rag, and I got it for $1. The earrings were $1, and the purse I got for $3~ hooray!

Hope your weekend is full of joy and rest, just a like a good weekend should be!

Happy Friday!! 

Yard Sale Style: Going Out

Oh hey there second hand clothing, I love you. I do. Clearly i'm not a fashion blogger, because if I was I would have shown you the back of this shirt because it's magical. It hangs down further in the back and just generally looks sweet. But instead i'm striking the same pose in all 3 pictures. #fail

Moving on. 

This past Saturday I only went to two yard sales, but I hit the jack pot! It was raining (which happens like twice a year), so of course nobody was out because nobody (including myself) knows how to drive in the rain. It's a serious problem, people. We freak out like it's armageddon. All my friends from the east coast that live here make so much fun of us Californians. Don't even ask me ever to drive in snow, I would be clueless. Snow…what's that? 

I digress again. 

One yard sale was at a church. And evidently this church is made up of people who like to get rid of perfectly awesome and super fashionable pieces of clothing. I literally bought 10 shirts (ranging from Madewell, to Cottonon, to Gap, to Banana Republic, to Max Studio, and of course F21 that all looked brand new!). I also scored an adorable purse and shelled out the big bucks ($3) for it! Cue me dancing in the streets!

That night, I had a friend's bachlorette party. I threw my newly acquired loot in the laundry machine, hang it to dry, and then donned a brand new outfit (to me!) to wear to the party!! 

The yellow shirt is from CottonOn, and the pants are some brand i've never heard of but I LOVE! The necklace was a $1 at a yard sale a few weeks ago. This outfit (besides the shoes) costs me $3. Hooray!! 

This story was WAY to long for basically saying nothing. The end. 

Actually, i'm not done. Ok, so I asked on IG, but I will ask you all now! I'm toying with the idea of making a travel inspired calendar for 2015!! The calendar will have 12 of my favorite travel photos from around the world, gorgeous calligraphy (done by my friend Emmy), and inspiring travel quotes! It would be the perfect Christmas gift for any travel lover in your life…or YOU! :) 

So the question is…are you interested? 

xoxo 

2 Yard Sale Dresses {and a house full of company!}

As you can see by my lack of blogging this week, i've been a bit busy living my life with a house full of visitors!! A full house makes my heart happy:) Our sweet Aline from Switzerland is here with her Dutch husband Rick. This is Rick's first time to America, so we are having a blast watching his expressions as he encounters all things American! Oh, the laughter that has ensued! Yesterday we spent a full day going up and down the coast, walking along the cliffs, getting our feet wet in the ocean and dirty with sand, watching crabs and sea anemones in the tide pools! We ended the day with a bon fire on the beach, and loved watching Rick devour his first s'more! S'more for the win!! 

Almost daily i've been wearing something that I purchased at a yard sale! I have received a handful of comments each time, and love responding that my outfit is second hand. Today I wanted to share two lovely dresses that I picked up for a $1 each! One is a red Free People dress, and the other is a Roxy polka dot dress. I wore the red dress to work last week, and the polka dot dress to a bridal shower this last weekend. Just love that fashion doesn't need to break the bank:)

Happy Wednesday friends!! Today i'll be on the beach and introducing the Dutchies to fish tacos:) xoxo

Friday Give-Away!! {a yard sale sweater, a sneak peak at our room, and a lovely necklace to win!}

I go to grad school all day Thursday, and man, when I walk through the door around 10pm, I am exhausted! But then I get super giddy because IT'S THE WEEKEND! I'm gonna have me some fun:)

One lovely project i've been working on lately is our bedroom make over!! Loves, I'm So excited to share it with you... but you'll have to wait patiently as it still need a few finishing touches! Today is just a sneak peak…so get excited! My favorite thing to do in the morning is snuggle up in my big white chair, drink tea, and read. The sun shines through the windows, and I journal, pray, and just generally bask in all the light that surrounds me. If you're wondering if i'm actually reading that vintage book…the answer is YES. These old Readers Digests, that I swooped up at a yard sale for pennies, actually have some pretty hilarious and wholesome short stories in it. If you're asking me if I was reading it that very moment…totally not. It was staged…{cheers to being authentic!}. But that's pretty much what I look like every morning, cuddled in that chair with a book, ….but with scrubby jammies, messy hair and no make-up. I'll leave that up to your imagination!

Speaking of pennies...See the oversized maroon sweater i'm wearing? Twenty five cents at a yard sale, and it still had all the tags on it! I'm pretty sure it was probably a grammy sweater from Coldwater Creek or something, but I'm going with it! You can't beat 25 cents… {except when you have a scandalous experience with it…}

Anyway…

My favorite thing about my outfit it the gorgeous gold necklace hanging on my neck! I recently heard about a beautiful jewelery company called Ekata Designs. They are based in Memphis, TN and employ Nepali Refugees. swoon. You all know Nepal is very near and dear to my heart, as we lived there last year.

Not only is Ekata transforming the lives of refugees who are working to build a better life and a future here in America, but they also are creating some really innovative and adorable lines of jewelry! Today, I'm giving away the same necklace that I am wearing! 

Here's what you need to do to enter the give-away: 

1. Go to Ekata's website {here} and check out their jewelry

2. Leave a comment on my blog with your favorite Ekata piece

3. Follow Hope Engaged on Bloglovin, FB, and IG

That's all!! Good luck ladies!! Happy Weekend:) 

My $5 Outfit

I think garage sales are just so much fun. I grew up going with mom and sisters, and it was always a treasure hunt! Our family grew up very thrifty, and still to this day it's hard for me to buy anything full price! {it's kind of an epidemic in my family…truly, we put the "THRIFT" in thrifty!} People are always surprised when they ask me where I shop, and I say "yard sales"! So I thought it would be fun to share with you all some of the outfits i've put together of second hand clothing. This was an outfit that cost me $5! The skirt, shirt, necklaces and earrings were all a $1 each. My purse was even from a garage sale…I know. I've been super into layering necklaces, and scored this awesome 2-layer necklace with a cross and crystal attached! haha. Hopefully, this will inspire all you ladies that style doesn't have to break the bank. And you all know my motto…save your pennies for travel! (and thrift the rest, hehe!).