Good Food & Good Finds at Goodwill + Goodwill Store News

• Vintage Snack Sets
• Pineapple Trend
• Pyrex & Jello 
• What's New at Goodwill Stores

Today someone at the office said something about winter and we were like "Shhhhh!!!!" Don't say that word yet, summer is flying by too fast!
Here in Southwestern Michigan it does seem like summer is just getting started with several days in a row with warmer temperatures. But we have over half of it left so we are going to soak up the sun while we can and share a few summertime food ideas.

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Vintage Snack Sets

Find on: wecallitjunkin.com (plus more vintage plate ideas)

These little gems are fairly easy to find at thrift stores. They were quite common in years past. Keep a set around to make your outdoor eating a little fancy.

Grilled Cheese and Gumbo
Yum!

Find on: betweenthebreadblog.com

Looking for vintage and antique treasures? Shop the Treasure Chest shelves at our Milham (Kalamazoo), Benton Harbor, South Haven and Allegan stores and online at shopgoodwill.com.
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Pineapples Everywhere!
Have you noticed that pineapples are everywhere right now? We see them on fabrics, clothes, and home decor. And of course all over Pinterest. We found a couple upcycling ideas to add some friendly and welcoming pineapples to your summer days.

Upcycle a thrift store frame with a free Pineapple printable:  

Find on livelaughrowe.com

                   
Use a thrift store pillow or pillow case and add a pineapple print.

ispydiy.com

  Transform a thrift store lamp with plastic spoons.

Find on nowthatspretty.blogspot.com

These final two may not be upcycle projects, but candy and bacon!!

DIY Pineapple Candy Gift
                               

Find on fabdiy.com

Bacon Pineapple Mozzarella Rings 

icreativeideas.com

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Pyrex & Jello
Hello Pyrex collectors - how about a couple Jello recipes to serve in your pretty Pyrex at your next summer gathering?
   
Strawberry Fluff            

Find on cincyshopper.com

Orange Fluff

Find on keyingredient.com

    Blueberry Salad (with pineapple!)

Find on justapinch.com

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What's New at your Goodwill Southwestern Michigan Stores:

This Saturday, July 25th, is Super Saturday. This last Saturday of the month sale is a lot of fun, you can get a cart full of extra savings! You get to take 50% off most items. One day only, our everyday low prices will be even lower! (Some items will be excluded such as Treasure Chest items and new goods - please see store for details.)

The Half Off Store at 420 Alcott in Kalamazoo - where Everything is 50% Off Everyday - also has the Super Saturday sale and that means you will find prices at 75% off! 
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Have you found a treasure at Goodwill? We would love to see pictures of your finds and your upcyling projects. Share them with us on our Facebook Page.

                   Happy Treasure Hunting!                                            

Lucky Finds Follow Up, Spring Finds and More!

• Lucky Finds Follow Up
• Spring Finds at the Half Off Goodwill Store
• Linking to Helpful Hints for Thrift Store Clothes
• Half Off Saturday

A follow up from our Lucky Finds Contest -
Last week we drew a winner for our Lucky Finds Facebook contest. Laura entered a picture of her lucky find - a beautiful bed and bedspread and she was our Lucky Winner! We are sure Laura will have fun treasure hunting with the $50 Goodwill Gift card she won.
Be sure to follow us on Facebook.com/GoodwillSWMI to keep up on the latest happenings at Goodwill stores, mission services and more fun contests and special offers for our Facebook Friends.

              
Visit our Facebook Contest Post to see the rest of our lucky find entries.
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Spring is here! (Just ignore the light dusting of snow we are getting this week in Southwestern Michigan) Here are a few spring things that we found in our new Half Off Store on Alcott Street in Kalamazoo. When you shop this store EVERYTHING is Half Off everyday!            

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Have you seen this funny e-card?


We love it....and it is so true! But what about those clothes you find at Goodwill that are almost perfect? We have a link round up of great ideas we found to help you say yes to the dress, or skirt, or pants, etc.....

Great Skirt, but wrong length? 
Follow along with thedapperbun.com tutorial and sew a modern hemline.

Loving half of the dress?
See how whilecamdensleeps.com refashioned this dress - very imaginative!

We found a dress which could possibly use this treatment at the Half Off Store. What do you think?
                           
Flare to skinny jeans. 
eyefuloflovely.blogspot.com tutorial for turning her Kelly green flare jeans to skinny jeans is from 2012 - but colorful jeans are still a thing this summer so keep an eye out for them while shopping at Goodwill.
                        
Cute top, right size, but wrong fit.
Find a great fix for this common problem at nikkishell.typepad.com

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Treasure Hunters - Don't forget that March 28th is Super Saturday at all Southwestern Michigan Goodwill Stores. Take 50% off most items the last Saturday of each month. One day only, our everyday low prices get even lower! Some items are excluded, so please see stores for details. Visit our website for store locations and hours. www.goodwillswmi.org/our-locations/

Happy Treasure Hunting!

Lucky Finds at Goodwill

"Man buys watch at Goodwill for $6, sells it for $35K". This news headline from Fox5NY features a lucky find story at a Phoenix Goodwill. How exciting to find a treasure like that! We've collected more lucky finds from Goodwill stores around the nation. 

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The full story about the $6 Goodwill watch - a Jaeger-LeCoultre Deep Sea Alarm watch - can be found HERE.

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Football Star Signing Suit Purchased in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  The Goodwill buyer put this suit up for auction and it went for  over $7,000!
                                                                  
Read the whole story HERE.

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Another football related lucky find: A Vince Lombardi sweater was discovered by vintage clothing treasure hunters. The Knoxville couple's story can be found on WBIR.com
             

Vince Lombardi's sweater purchased at a Goodwill Outlet by a Knoxville couple. (Photo: WBIR)

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Wow! "Painting Bought at Goodwill Sells for $34,500 at Auction" is the headline for this story found HERE.

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Did you know that an old video game could be worth $15K? Check out this story about a NES cartridge found at a Goodwill by a woman from Charlotte, NC. "A woman paid $7.99 for an old NES cartridge at a Goodwill store..."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadium_Events

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Finding History - "Only known tape of Martin Luther King Jr. Arizona speech found at Goodwill." Mary Scanlon had no idea a $3 purchase from a Goodwill store in Phoenix would turn out to be a rare link to the civil rights movement's most revered leader. Read the rest of her story on Foxnews.com

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$3 Painting from Goodwill turns out to be a Flemish painting from the 1600's and sold at an auction for $190,000. Watch this Youtube video for the whole story. 

  

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Do you have a LUCKY FIND from Goodwill? It may not be worth thousands of dollars, but is special to you. Like a recent customer who found a mink coat that reminded her of her mother's coat. She told us she wore her vintage find with pride while shopping on a frigid day with her friends in Chicago.

Share your lucky find with us on our Facebook and enter our Facebook Contest. We are giving away a $50 Goodwill Gift Card! This Facebook contest starts now until St. Patrick's Day, March 17 2015, and we will pick a winner by random drawing on March 18th, 2015.

Good Luck and Happy Treasure Hunting! 

                     

Cozy and Creative Flannel Crafts and more...

• Cozy Flannel Projects
• Love Your Pet Day
• Shopgoodwill.com Spotlight
• Donations Coordinator Internship

Brrrrr! This has been a cold February so far and looks like the deep freeze will last for the rest of the month.  That got us thinking about putting together a link roundup of cozy flannel projects. Last week we linked to our upcycled sweater Pinterest board. Here are more creative ideas using commonly found flannel at Goodwill.
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Look for flannel shirts in both the men's and women's areas at Goodwill and also check linens for flannel sheets.  Here's the roundup!
Thrift Store Shirt Scarf  from bec4-beyondthepicketfence (bonus pillow project too!)    

Beyondthepicketfence.blogspot.com

Coffee Sleeves  Look closely - these cozy coffee warmers are made from the cuffs of flannel shirts! Found on thriftdee.com blog. Wouldn't your friends love a set of these to keep warm too?                              

thriftdee.com

Soft and Cozy Pillow  Visit Robin-happyathome.blogspot.com and read her cute story about buying a thrift store shirt not because it fits, but because she loved the color. We get that! She upcycled the flannel shirt into a cozy pillow.

                              
Flannel Hand Warmers  iheartnaptime.net has a simple to follow tutorial for making these hand warmers with your left over materials.

iheartnaptime.net

________________________________________________________            This Friday, February 20th, is Love Your Pet Day. The official day for pampering your pet with a little extra love and affection.
Meet three Marketing Dept. pampered pets!
This is Patty and Tilly - pampered pets of the Marketing Assistant.

and Tiger, the Director of Marketing's pampered kitty. 

                       

More "Love your Pet" ideas can be found our our Must Love Dogs and Cats Pinterest board.
                       

Find links to these projects on our Pinterest board.

 We have a new and exclusive product for dogs at Goodwill Industries of SWMI. Dog Town Ultra Ear Cleaner.                  

This ear cleaner will be available shortly on the store shelves of Goodwill stores (except the Half Off Store). ______________________________________________________________

We are shining a spotlight on Gooseberry Patch Publications. If you are fan of great recipes and country crafts - you will love Gooseberry Patch books. You will often find their seasonal books on shopgoodwill.com. Just search "Gooseberry". Here are four books currently up for bid.

Celebrate Spring    Celebrate Winter   The Cozy Home   Homestyle Favorites
                   

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Are you interested in joining the Marketing Team at Goodwill?

We have an opening for a Donations Coordinator Internship. Duties will include: 

*Assisting Marketing staff with events and communications

*Plan, coordinate and implement donation events in the community or online

*Initiate and/or build relationships with community agencies and businesses       

Follow this link to learn more about this opening and apply online.    

HAPPY TREASURE HUNTING

Vintage Treasures for Valentines Day and More...

• New at Our Stores 
• Tweed Trend
• Upcycled Valentine Sweater Projects
• Peace, Love, & Goodwill - Diva's Too

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You can find Valentine gifts and home decor at our stores this week -  all at thrifty prices.                                                                            

Or find special red antiques and vintage collectibles online. Search key words "amber" and "ruby".        

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Tweed is trending right now - what a sweet idea to add to your wardrobe to finish these last few weeks of winter! 
It is a hot look right now as it fits in with all things vintage '70s. Treasure hunt for tweed in all colors while you shop at Goodwill. 

Visit shopgoodwill.com for more new and vintage tweed pieces. Here are two currently up for bid. 

Liz Claiborne Tweed XL Jacket

Black English Tweed SZ 6P Skirt

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Give a warm and cuddly DIY gift to your sweetheart this Valentine's Day. 

We have added new Valentine's Day inspired upcycled sweater projects to our Pinterest Board Re Use Thrift Store Sweaters . 

craftberrybush.com

yourhomebasedmom.com

rosehip.typepad.com

thecreativeimperative.blogspot.com

Looking for sweaters to make these projects? Shop our new Half Off Store at 420 E. Alcott Street in Kalamazoo and find the perfect project sweater at half off prices everyday. 

           

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Share some Peace, Love & Divas! Cute pink Thrift Store Diva t-shirts can be found at all of our stores and online at peacelovegoodwill.com 

           

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Thank you to all who donate to Goodwill. Your donations support our Mission.

"Goodwill Industries of Southwestern Michigan provides employment, education, training, and support services to individuals and families so they an achieve self-sufficiency."

2015 is off to a great start at Goodwill

• What's Happening at Goodwill Stores
• Mason Jars
• Shopgoodwill Lingo
• Pinterest 100
• Unique Donation

January was an exciting month here at Goodwill. We temporarily closed our Alcott Street Store for some remodeling and opened it up as the new Goodwill Half Off Store.

Goodwill Half Off Store 420 Alcott Street, Kalamazoo MI

Everything at this store will be half off everyday! And you will be able to shop at this Half Off store on our last Saturday of each month, Super Saturday, and take an additional half off most items! Isn't that exciting?
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Mason Jars - Love them! What's not to love? They are handy, pretty, functional, nostalgic, and crafty. Did you know that in 1795 the French government  established a 12,000-franc prize for whoever could find a new way to preserve food?  This prize lead to the discovery of canning. Napoleon was the French leader at this time and desired a way to feed his army on the go and the prize was the incentive to find a way. Read the whole story at famousinventors.org.
You can find mason jars at Goodwill stores on the housewares and Treasure Chest shelves and special collectible jars like this one on shopgoodwill.com :

#9 BALL Green Pint Jar Screw On Lid

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Shopping Tip: Learn the Treasure Chest & Shopgoodwill.com Lingo

NIB - New in box
Items listed NIB will be unused and still in the original box.

UIB - Used in box
Items listed UIB have been used, but are still stored in the original box.

NWT - New With Tag
Items listed NWT are new items that still have there original tags on them.

Vintage - These collectible items are generally from the mid-20th century.

Antique - These collectible items are generally from the early 20th century and before.

Retro - These collectible items are from the recent past.
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Have you checked out the Pinterest 100? Pinterest has posted 100 trending Pins in popular categories for 2015.
Here are a couple that caught our eye:
Upcycled Lighting Ideas

Favorite Wall Vases

Spice jar organization with printable labels .

Visit our Treasure Chest Pinterest Page!
Do you see a great pin that we should share on our page? You can send a message now on our Pinterest page.
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Unique Donation:
These gorgeous 1950's era cordial glasses caught our eye.

They have a Victorian charm with a different woodland creature on each one. They were kindly donated this week and will be appearing soon on the shelves at our Milham store in Kalamazoo.

Happy Treasure Hunting!