Only 6 more weeks until our sale...how to start getting organized!

If you are like me, you love to procrastinate and leave everything until the week before the sale.  Big, HUGE, MASSIVE, mistake!  I thought now was an appropriate time to blog on how to prep for our upcoming consignment sale, located at the Riverview Inn, in downtown Clarksville.  To learn more on how to join the fun, go to http://www.hautetotstn.com/ 

1. The best thing I have noticed to help before consignment season is to keep a laundry basket in a closet where you’ve tossed clothes and shoes in as the girls outgrow them. It’s never too early to start planning for subsequent seasons.

2. Once you have all of your items together, take advantage of a bright, sunny day and either outside or by a window, check each item over for stains, holes, missing buttons, faulty zippers and signs of heavy wash wear, such as fading and pilling. Pay special attention to collars, cuffs, fronts of shirts, knees and bottoms of pants and shorts, and don’t forget the backs of each item!

3. Next you will want to iron each and every item if possible.  It is very tempting to skip ironing your kids outgrown clothes, but items that are well presented have a greater chance of being sold. Most shoppers at consignment sales are looking for items that have been gently worn, are in excellent condition and look extremely crisp and sharp.

If you have started on these first three steps already, you are golden, and in good condition.  Later this week I will blog on Hanging and Pinning.  Look out for our give away tomorrow.  We will be starting our Haute Monday Give-Aways starting tomorrow, so stay tuned!  ;)

We're BAAAACK!

I am so excited to have our location, and dates secured for our upcoming Fall/Winter Sale. I have been so busy with work and the girls, but have been thinking quite often how great it was to meet all the wonderful people at our first sale. Our volunteers were amazing and I truly feel like I made some lifetime connections with some. The consignors, shoppers, and just overall supporters were all amazing. I cannot wait to see each of you again soon and hopefully meet more fun, amazing super savvy parents and grandparents at our next sale.

SOOOOOOOO, we will be host our upcoming Fall/Winter sale at the Riverview Inn located in downtown Clarksville and our sale will be August 17-19!!! I am working super hard to make this sale be a lot better than our last sale. I am always open to suggestions so please bring them. You can contact me at anytime via email or Facebook and of course give me a ring. I look forward to working with each of you again and please please PLEEEEEASE help us spread the word. Tell all your friends and family about our new location and sale dates and Put our website link on your Facebook page and help sell your items too ;).

Martha <3

Shopping consignment sales for Christmas presents

Many of our friends and family have asked us what we are getting the girls for Christmas.  I sometimes think they look at me like I'm a horrible mom when I say nothing.  First of all the girls are 2 years old and 9 months.  Let's be honest here...they REEEEAAAALLLLY don't need a whole lot, but we also have a lot of friends and family who have already purchased them clothes and toys galore. So this holiday season we have not gone to Toys R Us once or any other children's retail store.  However, we have bought them quite a bit throughout the year in different consignment sales.  I thought it would be a neat project to look up retail prices for everything I have bought for the girls and my nephews and compare to what I actually paid for it and add up my savings.  Before I begin, I want to stress how picky I am with all my stuff.  I am EXTREMELY picky but the reason I love shopping consignment sales is because if the sale organizer is good, he/she is going to be OVER THE TOP picky on what they accept in the sale.  Everything has to be in great, like new, and working condition.  It truly is a great way save money in these tough economic times and an easy way to make some if you are a consignor. 

So let's do the math.  I bought my nephew a Harley Davidson motorcycle glider that retails for $139 for $25.  I bought Emery a vtech "mobigo" with two games for $15.  A mobigo retails for $55 and each game retails for $19.99.  As well as:
A huge Nemo stuffed animal retails for $25 and purchased for $5
A huge Scooby Doo stuffed animal which retails for $15 and purchased for $5
A princess theme laptop.  Retails for $25 purchased for $8
Cinderella dvd.  Retails for $20, purchased for $5
Tons of play food.  retails roughly $30, purchased for $2
IKEA Duktig Child Kids Cookware Pots Pans Play Set.  Retails for $15, purchased for $4
We also went ahead and bought Emery her first "real" bike with training wheels and that was the only gift I purchased for full retail price.  Looking at all the numbers I figured out that we saved $295 on Christmas gifts just by shopping ahead at consignment sales!!! 

Now do you see why I love children's semi-annual consignment sales?!  My only hope to try to make my customers as happy as these other sale organizers have made me.  If you are interested in finding out more about our sale, look us up at www.hautetotstn.com and please help us spread the word!  Happy Holidays to all!

Volunteers....how we love them!

There is nothing that I want more than to make my first sale a success, and have each and everyone one of you come back for my fall sale.  Of course that will not be possible without the help of volunteers, and lots of them! I have gotten some of the best deals in other consignment sales just because I volunteered.  And let me tell you, once you volunteer and shop the "private pre-sale" you will never go back!  It is so much fun.  You meet and hang out with so many new people who end up becoming life-long friends, and it's also another way to get in some "away from the family" fun time!

If you are interested in volunteering for one of our shifts either before, during, or after the sale, you will be invited to shop our Private Presale held exclusively for volunteers. This presale is set up for all volunteers to shop BEFORE the consignors and the public so you'll get "first pick" at the sale!!

If you are just too busy to volunteer? You can still earn that presale pass.  You can help us by bartering some of your services.  We will be accepting food bartering and plenty of other services.  Also, you may help us advertise and you'll earn a Volunteer presale  pass. Here's how...facilitate a business partnership that allows us to place 500 flyers in multiple local business locations or connect us with the media so that we can continue to spread the word about our upcoming amazing sales events.   If you are interested in becoming a volunteer please contact me at lewcrew32@yahoo.com.  We would love to have you join our team! :)

What's up with all the "HAUTE-NESS"???

We are so excited to bring you an incredible way to buy and sell high quality, new and gently-used children’s items.  Anything children related from infancy through pre-teens!  We only want to sell you the best quality of children's selections, so when shopping at our sale you will find the best children's items .Accepted items must be in good, working condition that are CLEAN!!!  We will also try our best to keep everything extremely organized and easy to find!

Starting March 8, 2011, we will hold a 3 day children's consignment sale where you will find gently-used and new children's items from cribs and toys, to bikes and clothing for newborns through pre-teens. Consignors will bring their items to me in ready condition a few days prior to the sale.  We will then compile all items, sort them by categories and advertise the sale to the general public.  Consignors are not required to be at the sale, we do it all!   Anyone is welcome to bring me their children's products to sell and ANYONE (moms, dads, grandparents, friends, etc.) is welcome to shop at the sale. 

It’s never been easier or faster to sell the items that your ToTs have outgrown.  And, if you’re looking for children's items you can find them all at this sale and get them here at reasonable prices!!  After the sell consignors will have the option to either pick up all unsold items or have them donated. All checks will be mailed out to consignors within 2 weeks.  It truly is a win win situation for everyone involved! 

Another EXCITING program I am working on is where my donations will go.  As many of you know, my parents live in Honduras.  We just returned from there about three weeks ago and I truly believe while I was there I was called to make a difference.  It dawned on me after speaking with some friends and family that I would use Haute ToTs to help the children of Honduras.  After every sale, I am going to use an additional day to package all donated items and have them shipped to Soto Cano Air Force base.  The local chaplin there will hold the boxes for me and hopefully a few weeks after my sale I will be taking a trip to disperse all items to the poverty stricken. I invite anyone who would like to join me to help with the cause.  Of course all donations to Haute ToTs will be 100% tax deductible.  I am flying back to Honduras on October 2, 2010, and I hope to report back to you the specific needs these children have and how we can all pull together and make a difference in their lives. 

Exciting News!

Hello friends and family!  I am making this blog to keep everyone up to date on some of the exciting things I have been working on in the past year.  Of course as many of you know our family has grown and we now have two gorgeous little girls, Emery Xumara age 2, and Giada Maria 6 months.  We are extremely blessed!  With our careers beginning we found ourselves like most young couples trying just to make it day by day.  Jeremy is a step closer to his goal and is now the Women’s Head Basketball Coach at Cumberland University and I am in the very challenging Real Estate industry….but I am ALWAYS up for a challenge!    

About 3 years ago, when I found out I was expecting my little sassy Emery I was introduced to semi-annual children’s consignment sales.  I immediately fell in love with the concept and knew that I wanted to bring this concept to Clarksville, since there is a huge market for it there. After A LOT of prayer and thought, I have decided to start my own semi-annual children’s consignment sale, Haute ToTs!  My first sale will be March 8-11, 2011 and it will be located at Austin Peay State University.  I am extremely excited and would like to invite each one of you to please pass this along to all your friends and family who you believe would be interested in my sale.   

If you do not know a whole lot about seasonal children’s consignment sales events, let me tell you a little bit more about it.  A semi-annual children’s consignment sale offers great quality clothing for your children at a fraction of the retail price.  At Haute ToTs, you will be able to buy and sell GENTLY worn and LIKE NEW children’s clothing, toys, shoes, boots, baby furniture, maternity clothes, and much much more! 

Every parent knows how fast our little tots grow and how most clothing items are only worn a few times, if not any.  At HauteToTs you will be able to purchase clothing for all of your children at a fraction of the retail cost and save big time!  Each consignor keeps 70% of the sale price. Do the math and think of all the extra money and space you could have in your closets!  So mark your calendars because on March 8, 2011 you will not want to miss this sale and I promise you I won’t let you down! J 

I will continue to update this blog with information on my sale. Also, if you would like to be put on my mailing list please email me your name and email address at lewcrew32@yahoo.com. I look forward to hearing from everyone and hopefully seeing you at my first sale!!!