Frugal Fashion Friday #4~ Floaty Top With Leopard Print

Cardigan from Walmart~ $14/ Floaty Coral top from Goodwill~ $2.50

Necklace from Claire's Outlet~ $2

Leopard Print Ballet Flats (One of my Faves!) from Walmart~ $12

I love to wear these with my skinny jeans!

Total cost for this outfit~ $30.50

Time Out Part 2~

Hopefully you've had a chance to look into yesterday's post.  Very sobering stuff, huh?  But a great opportunity to do something global!

Today I want to talk about something more local~ The Give-A-Shirt Project!  This amazing project was started when a local youth group was given a challenge to think of one thing they could do to better the community around them.  Listen to what one girl, Whitney, came up with:

Can you imagine being an intelligent, yet homeless, teenager who is too humiliated to continue school simply because you have no clothing?  What a waste of potential!  I want to do my part to set these kids up for success!  And working for the school district, I see it everyday!

Give A Shirt t-shirts are a mere $15... How reasonable is that?  And 2/3 of that purchase goes to buy clothing for people right here in our community!  And the idea is spreading nationally.  Congratulations to this teenager who thought big and is giving big!

Wanna help?  There are 3 ways to get your Give A Shirt gear:
1) Online at http://igiveashirt.org/
2) Pick one up at Felicity Boutique
3) Pop on over to Salem Alliance Church (if you live in the Salem,Oregon area) where the whole project originated.

Buy one for yourself and buy one for a friend or three...  This has been impacting our community in a very large way, and I heart that!

Time Out~

I'd like to take just a little time out to draw your attention to a couple of causes that are dear to me.  Now, there are 612,942 different causes I'd like to be a part of and I wish I had unlimited resources to do so... If only my pocketbook were as big as my heart...

But these are 2 special ones that I take part in and you can be too!  I sincerely hope you will take the time to investigate both.  And the call to action for both causes are so simple!  Today I'd like to talk about the Kony 2012 campaign...  After than sinks in a bit, tomorrow I'd like to tell you about the Give A Shirt project!

About 6 years ago, I was made aware of an organization called Invisible Children. My heart was wrenched by the stories of child soldiers, mutilation and brutality.  I've bought t-shirts and bracelets to help support the movement, but still felt like I was just a small drop in the bucket...  But now, today, I am seeing that it's a bucket that is about to overflow and we are so close to solving a very BIG problem!

 By now you may have heard of Invisible Children, The LRA, and or Joseph Kony.  If so, FANTASTIC!  If not, then I would not be doing my job if I did not make you aware of the nightmare that is taking place in Uganda.

Rather than try to articulate what's taking place, which I know I cannot do, I am posting this video.  I hope you will take the time to watch it!  If this were taking place in America, it would be on the cover of every major news source and it would be put to a stop immediately!  Yet, somehow, this has been going on for years and many people still don't know about this horrible tragedy.

The good news is, we can spread the awareness, and the powers that be are listening!  I am planning on taking part in plastering the town on the night of April 20th.  Won't you join me?

Frugal Fashion Friday #3~ Belted Cardi

Sheesh!  It's been a while since I've written anything "beefy" here on P31 central, and I promise good things are coming, but in the mean time, here is another peek into a cheapskate's closet:

Cardigan from Target~ $22/ Velvet "Belt"~ Just an extra piece of ribbon I had lying around!

Ruffle Top from Goodwill~ $4

Studded Kitten Heels from Payless Shoe Source~ $7 

Silver Rings Necklace from Deb~ $4

Total cost for this outfit~ $36

Frugal Fashion Friday #3~

Pretty Paisley

Paisley Top from Rue 21~ $4,

Necklace from Rue 21~ $2

Worn with skinny jeans I've had forever and don't remember how much I paid for them, but I assure you it wouldn't have been more than $10/ Boots from Walmart Clearance~ $15

Total Price for entire outfit~ Approx. $31

Also, head on over to my other blog Phytotherapy before midnight tonight for a chance to win some fun hand crafted items valued at $30!  Fridays are always a good day for a deal!

Frugal Fashion Friday! #2

Another look into a cheapskate's closet:

Gray ruffle belted blazer from Goodwill~ $7
Cami from Walmart~ $3

Hot Kiss Wedge-Heeled Shoes from Goodwill~ $4

KUT jeans (regularly $80ish at Macy's) from Goodwill~ $12

Black Beaded Necklace from Target Clearance Rack~ $4/ Silver Link Necklace from a Cookie Lee Garage Sale~ $8

Total cost for the entire outfit head to toe~ $38... That's more than I usually spend... But the consignment value will be great later! =)

"She is clothed in strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."

Proverbs 31:25

Because she saved her family some money!

WILLIE~

Ugh.  I'm one of those people who is unsettled if I am not growing...  But of course, the process of growing can certainly be unsettling as well!  After a season of dryness, I am currently undergoing some spiritual remodeling and my Contractor has made me aware of some areas that are going to need more work than I originally thought...  Thankfully, His budget, time, and energy doesn't run out and He's willing to invest whatever it takes to complete what He started in this little project...

Of course, as in many remodel projects, I do not always see eye to eye with my Contractor.  I choose Him because He's the best at what he does and then I try to tell Him how to do His job.  Pathetic, I know. What I want doesn't always line up with His vision of how things ought to be and there is the battle of wills.  There is His will, and then there is mine.  The problem is, whenever I insist on things being done a certain way (even though He's the professional), it never turns out right and we end up having to start the whole project over again, which of course was a waste of my energy.  Thank goodness He's patient. When will I ever learn?

I am always reading personal growth-y type books and right now I am struggling my way through Crazy Love, by Francis Chan.  By struggling, I mean I love it and hate it at the same time...  Let me see if I can show you what I mean.  In this book, Chan quotes another author, John Piper, in his book "God is the Gospel":


"The critical question for our generation- and for every generation- is this:  If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?"

Now, maybe your insides are not as ugly as mine.  I sincerely hope not.  But when I read that, I could sense a demolition coming and an immediate need to reconstruct what I thought was a solid foundation!  I had to pause (as I've had to do many times with this book) and take a long hard look at myself.  What are my priorities?All of the above mentioned things are important to me.  But, after really thinking about it, they really have become the foundation of my American life. But where does my love for my Jesus fit into all of it?  This house was supposed to be built upon a Rock.

Yes, I thank Him for all of these things.  I share my gratitude at the dinner table and at bedtime prayers with the kids and when the perfect parking spot opens up for me. Yes, I read my Bible nearly every morning.  But the actual investment into my relationship?  With Christ?  I hate to admit it, but sometimes I think I forget He's in the Bible I'm reading and the prayers I'm saying.  Routine has become an enemy to the intimacy I am so longing for! The worst part?  I didn't even realize it was happening.  Well, enough of that.

So, that's the reason for the current project.  I am still under construction.  I'm looking forward to the end result and spending LOTS of QUALITY time with my Contractor.  I'm going to try very hard not to try to take over.  Anything worth doing, is worth doing right... Right?