Goodwill is excited to be a part of Earth Day Omaha this year!

Earth Day Omaha will be held this Saturday (April 20th) from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Elmwood Park in Omaha. The event will have food, drinks and activities. We will have fun (and easy) craft projects made from upcycled Goodwill t-shirts.

Goodwill employees have been busy this week planning for Earth Day Omaha, which has included testing the craft instructions! We made some wonderful tank tops, bracelets, bags, scarves, and headbands-all from old tshirts. See for yourself:

Come join us at the Goodwill booth on Saturday, make a fashionable item for yourself or a loved one, and learn a little more about Goodwill’s recycling efforts.

The winning designers pose with event hosts Mulberry Lane

The second annual Style Proud! event was held Thursday at UNO. Nearly 200 students from Omaha and Millard Public Schools packed the room for a runway show complete with repurposed clothes purchased from Goodwill’s Benson Park Plaza store at 72nd and Ames Avenue.

Style Proud! is a unique event that gives young, aspiring fashion stars the chance to design their own clothes. A group of 30 students came to Goodwill in January and picked out pieces to serve as the base of their outfits. After months of work, the fashions were ready to be displayed.

Models walked the runway in the outfits designed by Omaha North High students, and a panel of judges — including 16 year-old designer Kate Walz and Omaha Fashion Week founder Nick Hudson — watched intently. Musical group Mulberry Lane emceed and treated the crowd to an acapella version of Macklemore’s “Thrift Shop.”

At the event, Goodwill showed what $30 or less could buy you at some of our stores. Dresses, skirts, and shoes were the envy of event attendees. We raffled off a $50 Goodwill gift card to one lucky attendee, who would be able to purchase two full stylish outfits with her winnings. All exhibitors spoke with the students and gave advice about potential careers in fashion.

The crowd cheered as the styled models walked the catwalk. While there were only three winners, all of the students shined bright as their own signature dresses, pants, jackets, and shirts walked down the runway. Congrats to all!

from A Night Owl

As part of her “Thrifty Thursday” series, Kimberly at the A Night Owl blog has a fun list of ten DIY Valentine’s Day projects made from Goodwill finds.

Hi friends! It’s Thrifty Thursday again, and since we’re in Valentines mode (have you been following along with the fabulous 14 Days of Valentines series?), I thought I would round up some fabulous projects that were done with items from Goodwill – or that could be from Goodwill! Let’s save those bucks this holiday season, but still decorate and celebrate in style!

The projects include a cupcake stand, Valentine’s mailboxes, a chandelier and Valentine’s Day teacups (seen at right).

Check out all ten at A Night Owl (including a plug for our very own Goodwill Valentine’s Day cards!).

We had more than 3,200 votes cast in our third annual BOO!dwill Halloween Costume Contest, and we had the most impressive batch of entries yet! Thanks to all of you who sent in your submissions — both for sharing your creativity and for supporting Goodwill. When you shop at Goodwill, that revenue goes to support our employment and training programs, which help people with disabilities and other employment disadvantages get the training and support they need to find work.

Finishing in third place, and receiving a $25 Goodwill gift certificate, it’s Frankenstein and The Bride by Kyle!

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Thanks to everyone who entered this year’s BOO!dwill Costume Contest! We had some amazing submissions, and you can see them all in our costume gallery on our Facebook page. The first year we did this, we narrowed it down to five finalists. Last year, we had more entries, so we bumped it up to six. This year, we had so many amazing entries this year that we bumped our top six finalists up to a TOP TWELVE, and it was still a really tough decision. But now it’s time to choose the winners!

So take a look at our finalists below, and then vote for your FOUR FAVORITE COSTUMES in the poll at the end. On Wednesday, November 7, the voting will close, and the top three will all receive Goodwill gift certificates ($100 for 1st place, $50 for 2nd, $25 for 3rd)!

Now, in the order that they entered, here are your finalists…
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