One of the most common questions on instagram/Facebook/Twitter when we share a photo isn’t “what paint color is that?” or “who makes that lamp?” – it’s “where did you get that shirt/dress/skirt?” – and they’re not talking about me (or John)… they’re talking about Clara. Yes, there have been a bunch of requests for a post about how we score deals/save money in the kid clothing department along with where we get her clothes. So whoop, here it is. And thanks to all of those aforementioned instagram photos that we’ve shared, we have a whole bunch of shots to use throughout this rundown.
Admittedly it’s kinda weird to analyze your kid’s clothing in so much detail (she’s two! we just buy things we think are cute and try to save money when we can) but I realized when I was writing this up that we’ve actually learned a decent amount over the last two years of dressing a tiny person. And there are definitely things we wish we had known in the beginning, which would have saved us money and time – so maybe they’ll help someone else out there. So without further ado, the story of Clara’s clothes, as told by our instagram feed…
Most of Clara’s clothing comes from these four places:
- Hand me downs from her sweet cousin Elsa (or the three year old who lives next door)
- Old Navy (usually on the clearance rack or purchased with a coupon)
- Target (always on the clearance rack)
- H&M (they have the cutest stuff, especially summery dresses)
Of course she also occasionally gets things as gifts or we get gift cards to a place like The Gap for our birthdays (and spend the money in their kids department instead of on ourselves). And we’ve also ducked into other stores from time to time, like the Carter’s Outlet near John’s parents’ beach house. But I’d definitely say the majority of her stuff comes from the four sources above. Like the dress in the picture above (from the clearance rack at Target) for example.
It was actually a birthday gift for her from John’s sister Emily, but we love that she knows one of our favorite Clara-clothing spots (I think it was around $6). It’s a size 2T, which should last Clara at least a year (we can add jeggings underneath to carry it into colder temps or to cover things up if it gets shorter as she grows). And it might seem obvious, but we’ve finally realized that dresses are often the most bang for our buck in the clothing department since they’re just one piece (so instead of finding a cheap t-shirt for $4 with cheap shorts for $4, that dress is an entire outfit for $6).
Here is a dress from H&M, which was $12. Initially I thought that was expensive (I’m cheap, so I like things in the single digits – anything over ten makes me flinch, haha) but Clara has worn the heck out of it. Probably at least once a week for the entire summer so far. So by the end of its life I’d guess the cost per wear will probably be around fifty cents. And if we hand it down to a future kiddo it could be even less.
Unlike a Beverly Hills housewife, Clara wears her outfits a whole bunch of times. You might see her petting goats in something one week…
… and playing with Barbies in the same outfit a week or two later.
This is a clearance skirt from The Gap and a white top from Old Navy. I think this outfit total was around $7 ($4 for the skirt and $3 for the top). Basically the top + bottom equation with her is usually: colorful blousey top + basic jeggings/dark jeans OR colorful skirt or pink/yellow jeans + basic top (like this white ruffled tank top). Something sort of classic with something else that’s bright and fun. That way it’s not too boring or too crazy, it’s a little bit of each. And when it comes to trying to “make” outfits from random items that she has in her drawers like a pair of jeggings or a cute t-shirt, I can now make pairings pretty much on autopilot with that general equation. So as weird as it is to have a “Clara clothing formula” it saves us time (and money spent on things that wouldn’t fit in as easily). And she seems to really like her clothes (last night while going to visit her grandparents she said she couldn’t wait to show them her “pretty pretty dress”).
Another great example of that equation would be one of my favorite Clara outfits ever. See how the basic printed t-shirt (featuring a Burger lookalike from the J Crew Outlet) + a girly ruffled soft pink skirt (a hand-me-down from the girl next door) can add up to something playful and sweet at the same time? Especially when paired with a RAD tattoo. Haha.
Another example of this would be one of my favorite shirts (from Old Navy for around $8), which you can see in this picture. It’s blousy and flowy and Clara LOVES it. Everything from the big sleeves with the scalloped trim on the bottom to the colorful flowers float her boat. So we pair it with basic jeggings or jeans most of the time. Just because it’s an easy foolproof outfit. And it keeps me from having to buy more specific bottoms that “match” it (ex: purple pants, orange capris) since we have enough classic items like jeans/jeggings in our drawers that already work with it.
Here’s yet another example of girly/bold/patterned bottoms with something basic on top. This is an outfit I found at the Carter Outlets in Delaware when we stopped there over Memorial Day. I think it was under $10 total for both pieces (total) and Clara has easily worn this at least eight times since then.
When it comes down to numbers, Clara usually has 10-12 “good outfits” in rotation, which is just a number that seems to work well for us since we do laundry once a week and she has some other “messy outfits” that we’ll put her in before doing anything crazy like painting or running around in the mud. So it’s not like she changes clothes three times a day and needs 30 good dresses and pants and tops. I’d say 95% of the time, she wears one outfit all day long. So since 10-12 outfits isn’t really that many, we try not to go for quantity, but for quality. Not by spending a ton of money on the item itself (goodness knows kids get things dirty and grow out of things all the time) but by trying to stay “focused” on things that work well for us (especially Clara) – so she doesn’t end up with dresser stuffed full of mismatched deals with no real pairings or purpose.
We didn’t always follow this technique. When she was smaller we used to go for quantity, so if Old Navy was having a t-shirt sale I’d get three for eight bucks instead of one dress for eight bucks on the sale rack. But as Clara grew we realized that a bunch of clothes that you don’t love (and that you didn’t necessarily buy as an “outfit”) aren’t as easy to use or love as trying to keep your focus and only buying things that you’ll end up reaching for them again and again. One easy question I ask myself before I buy something for her is “will this be something I put in our ‘favorite outfits’ drawer, or will it end up in the middle drawer with a bunch of on-sale mismatched items that she never wears?”
This is a tee we got on clearance from Old Navy with a red skirt from The Gap that Clara got as a gift… wait for it… over a year ago.
So another one of our learned-along-the-way tips would be to ignore the size on the labels when it comes to retiring items of clothing and just go by how they fit. This skirt actually says 12 months in the label, but it still fits her comfortably (and although it’s a little short it has built-in bloomers for toddler modesty, haha). So instead of just stashing it in the tupperware bins in our attic (where we store all of the clothes she has outgrown – more on that here) I’m cool with her wearing it as long as it comfortably fits. We’ve gotten at least one “bonus year” of wear from it already, so I’m psyched. Saves us from buying another one until she truly outgrows it.
Here’s the opposite application of that last tip. If something is too big, you’ll get more wear out of it by figuring out how to get your kiddo into it sooner if at all possible (two summers of use from a dress instead of one = added value). So when I slipped this $8 Target dress onto Clara and it was way too big (the straps were so stretchy the neckline slipped down below her chest), I tried turning it so one of the arm straps went around her neck like a halter. The other strap got tucked into the elastic back of the dress, which doesn’t seem to bother Clara at all, and now she can wear this dress now, and hopefully next year too with her arms where they’re meant to go.
This is another dress from H&M (it was $11). It’s hard to tell from this photo, but it has a pretty eyelet detail on the bottom and it’s a soft blue seersucker material. One thing to notice from the picture is that Clara has a favorite pair of shoes, and it’s her pink Crocs. So those are what she wears 95% of the time.
It has saved us a ton of money to recognize that the girl has a favorite pair of shoes (we used to buy her a bunch of different kinds and she always requested the same ones, to the point that she’d outgrow perfectly pristine shoes without ever wearing them since she favors her Crocs so much). But now we’ve realized that they’re her shoe of choice and we’re ok with pairing them with almost any outfit. Sure, navy shoes might be cuter with this blue dress, but pink crocs send out that “these are the shoes I like” vibe, which we’re cool with.
This dress is from Old Navy. It was $6 on clearance and after stacking additional coupons on top it was $4 at the register. Woot. I always keep Old Navy coupons in a little file folder in my purse (more on that here) so I basically never buy anything there without using a coupon since they pop up in the mail all the time.
In general our theory on dressing Clara is that we want her to be comfortable and cute. We could always spend more, and definitely could spend less, but after two years we think the $6-12 per outfit range is the sweet spot for us. We’ve also finally figured out the stores we like and how things fit her (ex: 3T jeans and PJs at Old Navy fit her like a dream, 2T dresses are better for her from almost everywhere, etc). This is helpful because it saves us money and time (had we invested in three more pairs of 2T pjs without knowing that 3T fits her better, she would have outgrown them faster and we’d be back at the store buying more).
This outfit is all Old Navy. The top was $4 and the jeggings were 2/$7 (so it was $3.50 for this pair). I’d say Clara’s “summer uniform” has been sundresses and the occasional skirt and top, but for the spring, fall, and winter, jeggings and dark denim jeans (along with a few pairs of colorful jeans – in pink & yellow) have been awesome.
And in case you’re wondering, Clara totally goes shopping with us. Her favorite spot ever = the fake family at the front of our Old Navy. She literally runs towards them and says “I see the children and the dog!” and even lifts up the girl’s shirt to look for her belly button.
This is one of my favorite instagram photos ever, and Clara’s wearing a hand-me-down shirt from the girl who lives next door. I thought the checkers on her shirt looked so cute with John’s checked shirt while they were lying in bed, and I’m so glad I grabbed this shot. Makes me melt. And even though you can’t see the rest of this outfit, since Clara’s hair has yet to grow in and she sometimes gets mistaken for a boy, her pink crocs help to add some girl power. Not because we’re weird about gender stuff and covering her in pink, just because we like to throw strangers a bone so they don’t blush profusely after calling her a boy. And Clara actually says “pink and yellow” when you ask her what her favorite colors are. So those definitely get worked in a fair amount when it comes to her clothes.
So that ends our little Clara clothing rundown. I hope our weird analysis of why/what we buy and how many we get/how much we spend somehow helped folks out there who were wondering! What are your favorite kid clothing stores? Do you have any money-saving tips? Or do you have a magic number of “good outfits” that carry you through the week without making you feel overwhelmed (or making your drawers feel overstuffed)?
Psst – I’m obsessed with this beach house. How pretty is it?! Thanks to the sweet reader who suggested the link. I’ve had the page open for days.
Ginny @ goofymonkeys says
Good choices! I miss picking baby/toddler stuff for a girl. There are really tons of cute things at Target and ON. Boys choices are limited to khaki & navy shorts with a variety of polos and t-shirts. I like to go for bright & interesting colors to keep things fun.
Another good place to check are consignment shops & seasonal sales – you can get good quality stuff without paying tons. And since kids grow so fast, most of the stuff has hardly been worn!
Have a great weekend!
YoungHouseLove says
You guys are getting me excited to dig for better thrift consignment spots! Thanks for all the tips!
xo,
s
heyruthie says
i agree with the consignment/thrift thing! there’s a shop near me that is half price every week, and I *only* go there on that day. and when things go half price, the most expensive kid’s items cost $2.25. All the other items are cheaper, with T-shirts ringing in at a whopping 75 cents–you can score great Old Navy/Gap/Gympboree T’s for that price. I almost never buy new any more.
Karen L. says
Love your tips which I can use for our youngest grandchild, a girl, the fifth child after four boys for our son and d-in-l!
About Clara’s hair—-my daughter had wispy hair like that til she was about 4 and then, wham! It grew, thickened like crazy and turned out to be just like her daddy’s hair, nice and thick and gorgeous. So, one never knows just how it will turn out. :) Clara is just a cutie-pie for sure. (My granddaughter is named Claire, also two; she loves her pink crocs, too!)
YoungHouseLove says
Yeah we keep hearing from folks with great thick and even curly haired kiddos who say theirs took a long time too. Something about thicker hair or curly hair follicles can take longer or something?
xo,
s
Lauren says
That’s interesting! I’d never heard that, but my daughter’s hair is super thin and slow-growing right now and I’m SURE she will eventually have thick hair like the rest of my family. Guess we’ll just have to wait a while for it to come in!
heyruthie says
he he. this makes me laugh. my 7 year old son’s hair looked just like Clara’s–his nickname for the first year of his life was “Cue Ball” because his head was so bald. When it did start to grow in, it looked just like Clara’s hair. Today, he’s STILL my….well….least hairy child! He’s adorable, and has the most beautiful, softest blonde hair…but there’s not much of it :-)
tracey says
Do you have a “ONCE UPON A CHILD” nearby? They usually have great stuff at great prices. I have a 4 1/2 year old boy and bought nearly all his baby stuff there and most of his toddler stuff. We have also scored some great toy deals.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! There’s one about ten minutes from us, so I’ll have to check it out!
xo,
s
Donna Jean says
the once upon a child on midlo is pretty nice. i haven’t ventured into their girls section yet (i have a 2m old and am pretty set on clothes for now – although she’s already in 3-6m size and will probably be out of that soon). i’ve had some good finds there for my 2yr old son. especially jeans. i find it helpful not to go there with a specific thing in mind to buy (blue sweater), but a category (long sleeve shirts, pants, dress shirts, etc). their prices are great, plus they give you a punch card that will eventually get you 20% off. you get a punch for every $10 you spend, but they usually punch it every time you buy somethings, even if it’s not $10.
YoungHouseLove says
Love all the tips!
xo
s
Gina says
The part about the crocs cracked me up. My four and a half year old son acquired a pair of hand me down brown construction boots… that are a size and a half too big… that he insists on wearing with EVERYTHING. Mind you we live in NoVA and it’s been HOT! My only rule is he can wear them but he must wear a nice shirt and shorts, no basketball shorts and t-shirts with the boots, but we’re getting wear out of all the other hand me downs that he’d refuse to wear otherwise. (I love hand me downs… and a kid who can wear the same size for like three summers in a row… I can’t remember the last time I bought a full season worth of clothes!)
Kathleen says
we are H&M folk here- they have summer dresses for as little as $5. We also stock up at the end of the season from the clearance and at Old Navy and GAP, they usually run an extra 50% off clearance deal too. We buy for the next year and sometimes a few years down the road if we like it enough!
YoungHouseLove says
Love that!!
xo,
s
Lisa says
She’s so cute. I thought that was very clever of you to turn that one sun dress sideways and have her use it as a halter. Impressive. My sister was a hair dresser for years. She had numerous customers who were trying to grow their baby’s hair, but it stayed fine. She always advised them that they had to cut it regularly. Seemed to work. I’m no hairdresser, so I don’t know if there’s science behind that rationale or not! Anyway, you are very smart with your purchases and Clara is always dressed adorably!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Lisa! I trim her little mullet and even tried snipping a tiny bit around her whole head but it just seems to be taking its time. Haha.
xo,
s
Jess says
I love this! We take a similar approach to clothing our two-year old. Hand-me-downs + jammies from Wal-Mart (always buy one size up to get more use out of them) + clearance clothes from Target and Old Navy = one super cute and affordable wardrobe. Oh, and I always scope Marshalls for deals on shoes — I just found a pair of crocs for $7.50. They won’t fit her until next year, but we can wait! $7.50!
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoo! Such a deal!
xo,
s
Kristen Swift says
Love these tips! I’ll have to look into H&M…I’ve heard a lot about their cute toddler clothes lately.
I have to say I haven’t had much luck in the Target and Old Navy clearance sections for my toddler boy. There aren’t nearly as many cute clothes and size options available for boys, at least at the stores we visit. We have had a lot of luck with kids consignment sales, though. There are several in the DC metro area that we’ve been to so far.
Julie K says
I’ve had the best luck at Baby Gap. Almost every time I go in, they have take an additional 20-40% off the clearance prices.
Lauren says
Your posts always seem to be timed so perfectly! I haven’t had to buy many clothes for my baby girl because we got so much from showers and she’s pretty much just been living in onesies this summer. About 2 weeks ago I realized she has no fall/winter clothes and nothing in the next size up, so I’ve been trying to figure out where to find the best deals. Thank you so much for the tips! Now I just need to figure out which stores/brands fit her long, skinny body the best.
I was also wondering, since Clara was born about the same time of the year as my little girl…did you put her in shoes for her first winter? I seriously doubt my daughter will be walking this winter, so shoes aren’t really needed, but how do I keep her little feet warm when we’re out and about in the cold?
YoungHouseLove says
Nope! She didn’t walk until 13-14 months, so no shoes for a while. In her second winter she had cute little Ugg-ish boots she loved from Target.
xo,
s
heyruthie says
One word for you Robeez. (or better yet, the knock-off version from Target!) Robeez even has an Ugg-type boot, but they will. not. fall. off. you will love them. p.s. they run big.
christy says
Have you seen Robeez? They’re soft soled shoes made for that stage of the game. I put them on my son to keep his feet warm and protected from public walkways but it still feel like barefeet.
Jessica says
Long and skinny for us was Children’s Place jeans. Old Navy runs skinny as well. Dapper Snappers helped a lot until she got into the T sizes which have adjustable waistbands.
Barbara says
I always love Clara’s outfits! We are in love with Target and Old Navy clearance racks as well. One thing we try to do is stock up on “staples” (solid-colored tees, etc) in the next size up at the end of the season when Old Navy clearances everything out to $3 or less, and then put them in a tote for the next year. It’s been handy to just pull out those “saved” clothes when our 8-year-old (who has gone through THREE clothing sizes in the past YEAR!) goes up a size.
I also shop at childrens’ consignment shops if I’m looking for something specific, and then I’m a member of Facebook groups where other moms are selling their gently used clothing, toys, etc. I’ve gotten some great deals that way and also been able to sell off our outgrown clothing that is in good shape!
Jessica Gilbert says
My son dresses head to toe(ok not shoes) in clothing from Goodwill! He wears all name brand clothing, lots baby gap which I would never spend the money on new. We buy ahead in sizes and grab the good stuff as we see it. Thinking seasonally, for example tee shirts can always get a long sleeve underneath in cooler weather!
YoungHouseLove says
Love that! So awesome.
xo,
s
heyruthie says
I have 4 kids (10, 7, 5, 2.5) and I give a hearty second to “ignore the size labels.” My kids tend to be built like Clara–on the thin (read: skinny!) side. And I’ve discovered that in cold weather, we have to buy slims, but in warm weather, life is MUCH easier, becuase my kids just size way down. In winter, my 10 year old has to wear sz. 12 slim pants for length. But in the summer, he’s been wearing sz. 7 shorts for 3 years. Still good! We just cull through the ones that are getting short, and he wears the longer styles. My 5 year old daughter is in the same boat. Her favorite “skirt” this summer was an adorable one from Old Navy in size 2T with attached bloomers. She’s been wearing it for 3 years. It’s still in beautiful condition, and fits her perfectly. By ignoring the labels, we’ve saved a lot of money, plus found clothes that actually fit much better than if I was determined to only keep “her size” in the drawer. The size 5’s slide right off her. Also, for the skinny kids, once they hit about age 3 or 4 or so, the invisible adjustable elastic waistbands become indespensable. They have saved us!
Also, I have a policy that I don’t do light-colored clothes that can’t either easily hide dirt, or be bleached. So, if a dress comes in two colors, light pink/white floral, or dark purple/orange, I’ll go for the dark prints *every time,* even if the light pink looks adorable on the rack. I sometimes even stand in the store and ask myself, how will this look with food all over it? If the answer is, “Not bad!” then I know I have a winner!!
Also, I’ve discovered that with active girls, they do much better in blousy tops and leggings or 3/4 length pants than shorts. Otherwise, their kness look like hamburger meat all summer. I try to cover their knees, even if it’s just a lightweight cotton capri. It saves us from a lot of skinned knees.
Oh, one more thing: if you have a bigger family, we’ve moved to the “one type of sock per person” thing, and that is awesome. Each person has their own style, so we all know whose is whose! No more sock sorting!
YoungHouseLove says
Great tips guys! Thanks to everyone for sharing!
xo,
s
Megan says
Our 16 mo old girl rotates through about 10 outfits a season too. We do less dresses since I always think they get in the way while she’s playing. Maybe next summer when she’s a bit older. She only has one pair of shoes (waited for a piperlime sale & got a good deal on a nice pair!). I’ll be watching for another sale & hopefully on some snow boots too!
I love GAP sales, especially when they run those extra 30% off coupons.
We are the first in our family to have kids, so we don’t get many hand-me-downs. A few garage sale finds, but that’s it. For those hoping to save money on clothes & you’re lucky enough to have older kids in the family/etc, that’s the way to do it!
I’ve heard people talk about how when they find a good deal they stock up for next year…which I find hard to do because how do you know what will fit (especially pants) and will it be seasonally appropriate? (I live in Iowa so the weather plays a big factor!) She’s our first so same as you, we’re still learning! Thanks for sharing your tips!
Kate says
Great tips! I’m due with our first in January, and affordable clothes for the little one (as well as maternity clothes for me) is a big concern to me.
Kohl’s also has some great sales racks. I’ve picked up things there in the past for my nieces, and my mom actually picked up a couple cute neutral colored onsies/t-shirts there already for the coming baby (in 6/9/12 month sizes). They often have really cute things marked down to $5 or less, and you can get even more off if you have a Kohl’s card.
YoungHouseLove says
Great tips everyone! Thanks for sharing them all!
xo,
s
Erin says
I always love seeing what Clara wears! My daughter also has that very first dress you posted from the Target clearance rack! I was able to buy 3 dresses for her, I think I spent less than $15 total!
rita says
Hey guys! How often do you go shopping for her clothes?
YoungHouseLove says
We try to only duck into stores when we need something (ex she outgrew her jeans, etc) just to avoid the trap of buying too much. Maybe once or twice a season or every two months?
xo,
s
kate says
Great post! I have a daughter about a month older than Clara. I’m very cheap too, but have a harder time with clothes. Mae is much rounder than Clara and has quite the bubble butt. Though absolutely adorable, we have to really shop to find things that fit her. It’s funny b/c though Mae is built very different than Clara, we have so many of the same outfits. Mae does great in the flouncier bottoms. She also outgrows things very quickly. We have been in 4T bottoms for a while and even there, we can only get the ones with no structure in the waist.
Tara says
Our biggest challenge in dressing our 14-month-old son is that he wears cloth diapers so we have to go up a size for bottoms but his shorts look like capris and his pants are long! Dresses would be so much easier! I’ve learned not to buy more than one season ahead and what brands fit him best so that’s a huge help when checking out yard sales and consignments shops. And can I just say that it is great his birthday is in July so I can suggest fall/winter clothes as gifts and when Christmas rolls around ask for spring and summer? We hardly buy anything for him.
YoungHouseLove says
So smart!
xo,
s
Wendy says
Before we moved, I patiently, patiently researched a known website for “free” deals in the hopes and prayers that one moment, something would “click.”
I knew my husband and I were frugal, he’d be in grad school full time, and who knew where I’d be working (still finding that job in the new state!). I also knew that I could get a ton of stuff done while hitting “refresh” on the computer. A little obsessive, sure, I’ll admit it, but it paid off.
How much? To the tune of thousands of dollars. Before we moved, we were blessed with the following for free…yes, FREE:
*2 years of clothes for a girl (she’s due Thanksgiving-ish)- all are gently used, many still had tags, and we only donated about 4 outfits and 8 pairs of shoes (just not “us” or practical)
*2 years of clothes for a boy (as we hadn’t medically confirmed that she was SHE- her initials by pure chance!)
*booster seat
*baby bath
*crib (yes, a crib!…brand spanking new due to a recall that we found out about when we went hunting for a missing piece… it was even packaged for our cross-country move and arrived via FedEx..!!!)
*Kelty ridgeline backpack (thanks to a friend)
*bigger kid car seat (thanks to the Kelty friend)
*Halloween costumes (Kelty friend)
*2 diaper bags
*regulation (aka big) high chair (thanks to my Mom making friends with someone in a fabric store…)
*infant play mat and other stuff (see Mom’s fabric store impromptu friend…)
*series of kids board books in Spanish (thanks to hub’s mother for fishing them out of a “trash” bin at the clothing donation center where she was volunteering)
*Ergo baby carrier (thanks to our REI rebate)
*Graco pack ‘n’ play- great condition!
*more
I can tell you it was a HUGE relief to NOT spend my days/nights hitting “refresh” on the site, texting people, randomly calling them, and praying things would work out… a little jail-like if you will.
Yet, it was worth every day/night/moment and that trip from Woodbridge to Reston to Bethesda in rush hour traffic on a Friday night at the end of Spring Break to pick up the 2 years of girl clothes was astoundingly beneficial!
Our thrifty ways do allow us to “spend” a bit on stuff, but we’ve agreed to the motto of “Experience over Stuff” for our family. At last Saturday’s garage sale, I picked up 2 push/walking toys and a busy bee thing with a mirror for $8. A little white vinegar and water and they’ll be good!
Before we go into a thrift store or a garage sale, we set a limit. Yesterday it was $10…$15 if something REALLY cried out and we needed it. We left with 3 items for $6.25.
Also, since both my mom and hub’s mom are sewers/knitters and funds don’t abound for them… we’re taking with gratitude what we can “receive.” My mom is making soft cloth blocks, stacking rings, and something else…all things we can toss and wash.
Hub’s mom is making a will-make-me-cry blanket for her granddaughter and a quilted toy bag (she has Parkinson’s too…early stages, but still….. and she used to own a loom and make her own fabric! yeah, she’s that person! :-)
The short version of this…would be if it’s up to the family to set their priorities on spending and funding. There are ALWAYS options out there. Sometimes it means compromising “fun” days for researching days (by choice), but the thousands we saved…so worth it for us by choice.
YoungHouseLove says
Wow that’s amazing!
xo,
s
tracy a says
you’re right, that beach house is AMAZING. wow. and i must say, little girl clothes are so much cuter than little boy clothes. 2 boys in our house…no lace or ruffles for them!! :)
Eileen says
I have four kids, and when they were small, we spent next to nothing on their clothes until they were about 8. We started with all the gifted clothing from baby showers, moved on to yard sale finds, and then to consignment and thrift stores. We found a couple of families holding yard sales who had the most beautiful, high quality clothes and were selling them for 25 and 50 cents per item (this was 15-20 years ago, though). We gave them our phone number and whenever they had a season of clothes their kids had outgrown, they’d call us and we’d take the whole season’s worth off clothes off their hands for about $15. When shopping, we found that it made more sense to buy used high quality brands, like Osh Kosh, than it did to buy cheap new stuff from discount stores. Then there’s the time (we only had 3 kids then) when the piles of like-new kid gifts under the Christmas tree cost us only $60 for all three kids. Yep, it can be done.
robyns says
another way I have gotten double duty out of clothes for my daughter is when she was 3-4 I would buy size 6 shirts and use them as dresses. short sleeves are just thrown on and out the door. the long sleeves I would put a quick rouche thread thru the sleeves to pull them up some so they wouldn’t hang over her hands. leggings or tights underneath. so i acutally got about three years of use out of something that would normally only last about six months. I also make pillowcase dresses, extra long to start, and she wears them for years as dresses then as tops when they are too short. and she wears them all year with leggings, tights and shirts underneath. Oh and if there is a gymboree outlet anywhere near you, get there too. you can find shirts for 1.99, dresses for 6.99. If you go thru PA on any trips they have no sales tax on clothes so that is a saving as well.
leah says
I love that you have focused in your clothing choices for her. We have the same theory but we have boys, which are not nearly as fun to dress. We have our favorites, and have learned to try to keep that in mind when shopping. With boys, it seems polo shirts are the good “go to” staple. Have you checked out Gymboree? With thier gymbucks program I often can score a shirt for just a couple dollars, or an outfit for under $10. They have really fun things there… at least I think so.
YoungHouseLove says
I’ll have to check it out! Thanks for all the tips everyone!
xo,
s
MJB says
We love to give and receive hand-me-downs, and surprisingly, so do my kids. I remember my son always picking out a shirt the older neighbor boy had given him, saying happily “This even smells like Paul.” (I swear it had been washed many times.)
I get all misty eyed when I see a young cousin wearing one of my kids’ clothes because I remember how little they once were.
We have a “giveaway” box in each closet and my kids know to put their outgrown items in there right away.
YoungHouseLove says
So cute!
xo,
s
Krystle @ Color Transformed Family says
I love consignment sales and like you set a limit on how much I am willing to pay. This past spring it was five bucks an outfit. Which is crazy because many of them were name brand with the matching accessories. I agree that dresses are the way to go. It really cuts down on the price of an outfit.
Amanda B. says
LOVE LOVE LOVE that Tybee house! We just came back from a week at Tybee; I was hoping for a pic of the front of the house to see if I could recognize it from our bike rides. The all-white is such a refreshing palette for a beach getaway place! My favorite things are the round chairs on the porch- kinda spiderwebby, no? The deep-set bathroom mirror, the tall lamps in the living room… Thanks for sharing it!
Julie says
How the heck do you get ON coupons??? We get a lot at the Carter’s/Osh Kosh outlets, always with 20% or 25% off coupons. My 4 yo still has the wispiest hair and our 1 1/2 yo seems to be following suit!
YoungHouseLove says
Maybe since we have a Gap/Banana/ON credit card? They come a lot!
xo,
s
cc says
It’s the ON credit card– they offer bucks back on purchases, plus they have a lot of awesome deals that show up in my e-mail all the time. My favorite is a once-or-twice a year 40% off deal that happens when stuff has just gone on major clearance, so there’s still a lot to choose from. My son gets the majority of his clothes from these sales, when I pay an average of $2 for his shirts, and about $7 for a pair of jeans. They also usually have a sale on coats around Christmas that’s 50% off, so I try to work it so he gets a coat (for the next year) for less than $10– sometimes I’ve done it for free with my ON bucks. Just depends on the timing.
Kathy says
Love the post- I have a 10 month old and I love me some Old Navy and Target. I see a lot of people asking you about consignment shops in the comments- have you ever checked out Once Upon a Child on Midlothian Turnpike? Great selection and pricing- seems like it’s right up your alley. Happy hunting!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip! Can’t wait to check it out!
xo,
s
Wendy says
PS After that lengthy post (hope you don’t mind…) we discussed our mentality for our kids… (hub also has a 13 year old who is essentially “my” kid… :-)
With the wee ones (she-one soon and eventual second one), we decided we did NOT want to be part of the Baby Comericial Train (of Insanity?)… We wanted to help the environment as much as possible, too. We also were seeking as much of a non-plastic world for our kids, too.
That means we’ll recycle and use whatever we can get, make our own mobiles, thrift til our hearts are content, use cloth dipes and wipes, etc.
It also means that we (in our view) are being responsible and allowing life to continue for our 13 year old without being too compromised due to his new sibling (plus another eventually we hope). Sure, we’ll all thrift away, but the “well, your sister was born, so we don’t have the $$….” doesn’t fly with us. Forget about from whose womb the kid emerged, we’re ALL a family. (Sorry if this is too blunt…)
It’s about love, respect, and responsibility for all… and teaching (our 13 year old is learning a LOT!) :-)
Peace to All!
YoungHouseLove says
So many great tips everyone! Thanks for sharing:)
xo,
s
Kerrie says
So other than Clara being obviously adorable! I can’t help but thinking through this entire post – “Tag Team back again.. check it wreck it and let’s begin”(if that is even the lyrics lol), so thanks yet again for another completely random song reference in a post. It’s really one of my favorite things about your blog!! :)
Kate says
I have a 13 year old boy so have no idea what “jeggings” are?
YoungHouseLove says
I didn’t either at first. They’re leggings that look like jeans.
-John
Michelle Kersey says
LOL, my daughter wears her pink crocs 99.8% of the time. :) You wouldn’t happen to have any tips for cleaning them, would you?
YoungHouseLove says
Haha I wish! We just wipe them down or spray them down from Romero time.
xo,
s
karla says
You can clean them in the dishwasher!
Amy says
We love crocs too and the best ways I’ve found to clean them are to just throw them in the washing machine or to wipe them down with one of those Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. They really are magic and can clean nearly any plastic toys
Nicole says
She does always look so cute! What about baby clothes? How many onesies in each month do you recommend? I just had one baby shower last week and another this Sunday and am not sure how many to keep and what to return?
Happy Friday!
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm she went through clothes more from spitting up and diaper incidents. Haha. Maybe have 10-12 outfits but do laundry twice a week?
xo,
s
Kate says
I’m trying to figure out the same thing right now! I’ve been aiming for 14 onsies/outfits, and I figure maybe a couple more once I count sleep-and-plays as occassional outfits as well as clothes (for a newborn, I don’t really care if they wear pj’s out of the house, lol!).
Rach says
Loving naked barbie! lol! Clara is so precious:) She is a pretty style rockin chica!! Love that she is a little older then my DTR so we learn from you and Clara!
Kelly says
A friend had a great tip for clothes for kids. Buy 10 outfits and simply rotate them until they grow out of them. She did this for all of her boys and girls until they got old enough to really start caring about what outfit they had to wear. Clara’s clothes are adorable!
Wendi says
We’re going to try our first consignment sale this fall, both as a consigner and shopper. We love Target and Carter’s outlet — always find some good sales at both. Our son needs adjustable waist jeans–finding those has saved us a ton of money. That, and figuring out that he refuses to wear shirts with a collar, much this mama’s dismay. I also just discovered Crazy 8’s, a cheaper version of Gymboree, and they have awesome clearance rack prices!
Erin {Home Everyday} says
Some great tips! Now in the summer, we usually have about 12 outfits in rotation because they are outside more and sometimes (with 2 boys and 1 outdoorsy) girl) they get pretty messy. I like to have them in clean outfits (if they’ve gotten muddy or ice cream etc) before naps. In the winter it is less. My favorite kids clothes places are Kohl’s (with a 30% off coupon). They sell Carter’s and OshKosh, and both those brands wear like Iron. I also live near a Carter’s and OshKosh outlet so that helps too. As for jammies, I like to have 7 sets just so that I have at least a week before I have to do clothes. My kids are a bit older now though, so I also buy a lot of things that can be mixed and matched pretty easy as they like to pick out their own clothes every day.
Julie K says
One typo and a tip:
1. Hand me downs from her sweet cousin Elsa (or the three year old who lives next STORE) ;)
2. My older sister purchased a few plastic bins from Target that she kept on the top shelf in my nephew’s closet. Each bin was labeled with a different size range. When she would go shopping for clothes and see a crazy deal on an outfit that was too big, she would buy it and then put it in the appropriate bin.
As my nephew grew, she always had stuff on hand for him and said her average price was approx. $2 per piece. This worked especially well for seasonal items at Old Navy, Target, and Baby Gap. When seasonal items go on clearance, she’d buy them one size up for the following year. Why pay full price for a 4th of July shirt from Old Navy, when you can get one out of your closet from last year that cost $0.50?
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks! Typo fixed and great tip!
xo,
s
Jamie B. says
I haven’t read through all of the comments, but in case no other locals have brought it up, the Ring Around the Rosy consignment sale is absolutely wonderful. It’s a twice yearly sale here in Richmond (southside off of Hull Street Rd at Courthouse) that’s actually coming up next week. It runs for a few weeks, with the last weekend being 50% off what’s left. Consigners and volunteers get to shop early but there’s usually tons of stuff. I never pay more than $3 for jeans (Children’s place and Old Navy) or $5 for dresses, and it’s not unusual to find lots of Gymboree and Janie & Jack. Here’s the information if you’re interested in stopping by (but fyi they only accept cash/checks)
http://www.ringaroundtherosy.net/
YoungHouseLove says
Love that tip! Thanks!
xo,
s
LauraC says
I didn’t read all the comments so maybe I’m repeating, but one thing we’ve done is to try to buy coats (a more expensive item) one size to large. You mentioned doing that with Clara’s clothes, but we just did it with her coat. We really did get two winters’ wear out of it! Worked for ski/snow pants too. The cooler weather we have in the NW means light summer dresses only appear for a few short weeks, and generally I think pants and sweaters are pricier. But we’ve gotten amazing hand-me-downs from a dear family who also has a girl then a boy – exactly two years older than each of ours. So we’ve not had to buy much, just a few fill-in things here and there. But we did get quite a few new things for Sophia for kindergarten this fall, although she’s totally out of toddler section now, and into the girls. That tugged on my heart.
Sarah Beth says
I’m jealous that she gets so much wear. My daughter who is 15 months wears a 3T. She started this Spring in 18 months. She is on the chunky side, but she is so long that nothing fits her. I have had to go major shopping three times for clothes this summer because she kept getting longer and longer. I like to hit up yard sales for cheap clothes too. And our town has a huge kids consignment sale two times a year. This is wear I will stock up for fall and winter (if I can guess what size she will be).
Sarah Beth says
*where. Oops =)
jessica says
I don’t have kids, but I use basically the same idea of a clothing formula when shopping for myself. I’m not sure if it’s awesome or embarrassing that my shopping methods are the same as those used for a toddler…but, well, it’s true. I know some sort of ruffly tank/cardi combo or nice vneck tshirt will work for work and play, and black dress pants/khakis/jeans always go.
Sad or awesome? I’m going with awesome ;)
Christy says
Truth be told, I almost skipped reading this post since I’m on kid #3 and didn’t think it would be new info but I loved it! We have TONS of so-so clothes so I’m going to weed through them. Thanks.
Oh and my daughter has earrings and wears pink all the time and still was called a boy. People are weird.
cc says
What I envy is your ability to put your child in white clothing and expect more than one wearing! My son wears clothes pretty much obtained from the same places under the same coupon/clearance/sale system, but he has a few more things to wear because he is so hard on his clothes (and LOVES to get dirty– the bathtub doesn’t stay too clean here either, come to think of it.) So he has clothes to wear only at home, and clothes for out in public/preschool. I usually do a load of laundry every day, because 1) there’s usually enough for a full load and then I don’t notice doing laundry so much, which is nice, and 2) his clothes can’t wait that long, due to sweat/stains/smelliness. I hope he doesn’t grow up to do anything with mud for a living, but right now it’s not looking good…. ;)
We also keep a next-size up bin of clothes, a pair of shoes included, found at rock-bottom prices, because he is known for sudden growth spurts, and I don’t like to shop for deals under pressure.
Laura says
Dart Sherry,
I so enjoy your blog. I have very little time to follow things on the computer. Your about it. I love all your DYI ideas. We do not have time to remodel at this stage of our lives, but I enjoy living vicariously through you. We DYI schooling, ha ha. I homeschool. One boy is off to college now. Four to go. We do 14 to 16 loads of laundry a week. Two to three a day. I laugh that we are either very clean people or very dirty people. By the way, teenage boys smell so you must do the laundry! We do pass clothing down but, to avoid being buried in clothing, I limit 1 or 2 plastic tubs per size. These are labeled in the basement. Every spring and fall we go “shopping” in the basement. The boys love it.
YoungHouseLove says
Love that! So sweet.
xo,
s
Laura says
I would like to say that my 30 year old husband ALSO likes to stop at the front of the store and pet the doggie :) haha. This is so cute. I feel like I shop the same way for myself – clearance rack baby!
Erin says
and this is why it is nice to have a girl. There are about 100x more girl clothes out there. Which equals tons of girl stuff on the sale rack and it’s all super cute. Not to mention that girls are so much easier on clothes. From the time my son could walk his clothes became pretty much disposable and I wouldn’t dare put him in anything white. I can’t tell you how many pair of his pants are beyond repair and how many white shirts we’ve received as gifts that were pretty much ruined after the first use. He’s also in preschool so we don’t have the option of changing his clothes every time he paints, which is just about every day.
Oh how i dream of dressing a girl!
Ashley Jensen says
Our daughter is 5 and still has some 2T and 3T items that she can still wear! Mostly skirts and dresses since we can just add a pair of leggings or shorts with the skirt since they get a little short but the waist still fits. Any dresses she wore a year or two ago now fit as shirts. She is tall and skinny so she outgrows the lenght far before the width. A lot of her cloths are mix and match with everthing else. Still she does lose some clothes due to stains or they are just worn completely out so we will buy just a few items before a new season to make up for those. And we buy things a little big so we can hopfully get more than one season out (luckily she doesn’t mind rolling up her sleeves a little!) Oh and clearance racks and some second hand children’s stores are the first place you see me heading to!
candace says
Loved this post!! I’ve been thinking a lot lately about a clothes formula for myself (I’m glad I’m not the only one!) and I know I’ll put your tips into good use when I start a family! Clara always looks so adorable and I’m thankful to hear you can do it on a budget!
christy says
I’m cheap…like way cheap. I have these self imposed maximum spending amounts on every article of clothing I buy. My son turned 4 and started preschool this year which means that I had to increase my jeans allottment from $6 to $10 and it just about killed me.
Target and Old Navy are definitely my go to spots. Just a little tip: Old Navy starts clearancing stuff online before in the store. So you can sometimes find regularly priced stuff in the stores for clearance prices online. Also, the onlince clearance typically has a bigger selection. Of course, there are some killer in store deals too!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip!
-John