Operation Sparkle in 2011!

Very exciting things are happening here at Operation Sparkle! Now that we have wrapped up our 25 days of BLACK FRIDAY THRIFTING (and, hopefully, shown the world how amazing thrifting, on such a typically shallow day of consumption, can be), paid proper homage to the baby Jesus and have rung in the New Year (one more until 2012 folks!), we have some big, big plans for Operation Sparkle!

Starting this year, we will be including three new features to accompany our normal posts about spectacular thrifted finds: guest bloggers, "Thrift Offs" and trips.

1. Guest Bloggers
Maybe it is because we are special, but Laurie and I have a whole bunch of people in our lives who are just as talented at the skill of thrifting as we are. While they aren't as psycho and haven't created an entire blog about it, we have roped in some of them to share their great thrifting experiences and finds, in hopes that it will further encourage others to thrift as well. We are also taking submission for guest posts, so if you are interested, email your post and pictures to operationsparkle@gmail.com.

2. "Thrift Offs"
For those of you who are unfamiliar with "offs," "offs" are mini-competitions/group decision-making method in which two or more people present an item (say, a movie to watch amongst friends) and the crowd votes on what item they think is best. Offs can be as little as one round in duration, or as many rounds as necessary for a final decision to be reached.

For the purposes of Operation Sparkle, we will be hosting Thrift Offs where two people (either Laurie and me, or a special guest competitor (or two)) will present their best thrifted item of a certain type, say "best tankini" or "best use of velvet." The two times will be displayed on the blog, with readers having the ability to vote on who has the best item of the two. The item with the most votes wins the off and the person who presented the winning item gets the satisfaction of their peers acknowledging their superior taste.

Depending on how this goes, we might develop a more bracketed, intricate system of offs, as often happens when you have offs out in the real world. We might even create some sort of thrifting Olympics, mostly because I love crying during the Olympics.

This all depends on the level of participation we receive, so please, participate! If you have a thrifted piece that you feel cannot be beat, let this be the place where that is decided once and for all!

3. Special Trips
With trips, we are embarking on a whole new level of thrift documentation with Operation Sparkle. Every month, we will feature a shop or region with several shops that one of us has stumbled upon outside of our normal range of thrift shops. Not only will we be showing our finds from these trips and a bit about our experiences going on them, we will also be providing an in-depth analysis and discussion of the quality of said shops on several levels including (but not limited to): pricing (including schemes), ambiance, friendliness of the staff, and overall experience.

As previously stated, we will continue our normal posts about great thrifted finds, and can be followed on twitter @opsparkle for more up-to-date "news." Any questions, comments or submissions for guest blogging posts can be sent to operationsparkle@gmail.com.

Get ready for some fun times!!!!!!