How To Throw A Dust-Catchers Party!

Hey ladies, this one is for you and your inner bargain-shopper. I know what it’s like to need a fun day out shopping and relaxing with your girlfriends but balancing the fact that you also need to save your potential “fun-funds” for keeping your family’s day-to-day priorities afloat. So how do you get the best of both worlds? Ahead, I’ll show you, in fact, I’ll also let you know how you can have a bonus world.

It’s all courtesy of something called a Dust-Catchers Party. It is a super smart and super fun way to get rid of your old, outdated clothes (yes that includes the dress you default to for every. Single. Occasion.), some not-so-sparkly kitchenware or small appliances, and basically anything else that’s catching up dust. I haven’t even told you the best part yet! You get to take home a whole new wardrobe, AND relax with your girls, AND (bonus) help America’s veterans by donating the remaining unclaimed clothes or small appliances, all in one afternoon!

Rather than just tell you to go and attend one of these stellar parties, I’m giving you a breakdown of how to throw your very own.

---

Here’s how you do it:

Really just about anything you can think of will work. Remember one person’s trash is another person’s treasure.

The Invites: Set a date for your party and send out a massive email or evite to all your best girlfriends to invite them (woohoo girls’ night!). You can decide for yourself what the parameters for your party will be, i.e. 21 and over only – no kids, no teens; no husbands, etc. Tell your guests in your invite to do the same thing you did with gathering up those dust-caught items and to bring it all, along with a fun beverage or snack. You could also have them bring more guests of their own! The more people there are… the more you can shop from.

The Party: The day of your party you can liven up the festivities with some music or fun decorations. Once everyone has brought in their piles and bags, everything gets unloaded into the living room. You can sort the items into categories and place them in their own quadrants of the room to make the shopping easier, or you can have everyone’s own bag kept tidy and together so you know who you’re grabbing from, or if you don’t want to think too hard about it just toss it all into a big mush-pot in the middle.

Munch on your snacks and sip your beverages as you peruse the piles, you can all go through and take whatever you want…for free! This is like free shopping at the greatest garage sale ever with your friends! Remember that cute blouse of Emily’s you’ve had your eye on forever?…now’s your chance to snag it.

The Bonus World: Once everyone has shopped until they’re more focused on the goodies and catching up than on the clothes, you can let the good times continue as long as your heart desires. At that point it’s safe to say whatever you see left in the piles can get donated to the Vietnam Veterans of America, but don’t forget to schedule your pickup appointment when you send out your invites, that’s an important step. You’ll also want to double check their acceptable donations list just in case something in the pile isn’t donate-able.

Another nifty little additive for your invite is if for any reason a guest can’t join you but they would like to give back, have them feel free to drop boxes or bags off at your house anytime before your scheduled donation pickup date and just add it to your pickup pile.

So have a blast while you swap out your used items for different or better things than you had before and take your time relaxing with your friends, enjoy your beverages and snacks, and take a load off – literally!