The other week I was busy organizing our garage sale at school.  This is an annual fundraising event I started three years ago in support of Project Reach Out Not Drop-Out (Pro-Dorp), an organization within Cantilan National High School in the Philippines that is committed to reach out to those students who are at risk of dropping out. They “adopt” children for their school financial obligations, feed the malnourished, expose the students to productive tasks and also counsel them.

Our school has been sponsoring 23 children since 2011.  They will be high school juniors this June.  One more garage sale to organize and I’ll see them  getting their diplomas.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is probably how getting older sounds – like  a proud mama.

Photos of our garage sale from 2011 to present. I’m forever grateful to the parents and teachers for their continuous support.

We sold a lot of clothing, accessories, household items –  you name it, we sold it – really cheap.  All unsold items were donated to charities like Prague Thrift Store and Sue Ryder.

Don’t you just love super sales? I do.  This is probably why a garage sale is what I decided to do to raise money for a cause. I love the excitement of rummaging and finding a nice item in a pile for a bargain price. Yes, I’m mostly a cheapskate when it comes to fashion.  I think one can be fashionable without hurting her bank account.

From this year’s garage sale leftover I found a couple of clothes that  are one size bigger for me but I thought I could alter or practice sewing on.  One is a pair of pink Sisley pants sold for 50kč (2 euros).

They’re a bit loose but very comfortable so I decided not to alter the size.  The length was the problem.  I was wearing high heels in the photos above but they were still too long for me.  Oh well, the solution is pretty simple, right? I shortened the hem and et voila, I have a new pair of pants!

Here’s the super sale fashion complete look:

Only the clutch from Topshop is the “expensive” item.  I bought it from their fall sale last year for 10 euros.  I don’t really dig  the wedge shoes but they’re comfortable and they fit well for a garden (pink) party which I will be going to in two days.  Yes, this will be my get-up for the occasion.

The best thing about all this is that I only spent 2 euros for the pants, contributed to charity, learned how to shorten hems, and most of all, recycled/upcycled for a greener world.  All in all a better way to be self-absorbed, hehehe…