Beyond the Racks and the Register

At Top Buttons we have two main programs. The first program is our Boutique Program through which we serve ALL women in our community. We provide a beautiful environment with quality clothing items at low cost for anyone to purchase during public shopping hours. The items we offer would not normally be accessible to many who come shop with us. We strive to provide designer thrift items which are both clean and current for women to choose from for any occasion. It is not uncommon to have families of the girls enrolled in our Wearing Confidence Program come in and shop with us during public shopping hours. We love these opportunities as they enable us to pour into an entire family! We are often asked, “Who is your target market or the main demographic served through the retail side of Top Buttons?” When asked, we take great pride in saying, “As a nonprofit, our goal has never been to be a retail operation. However, we love that we are serving women of all economic backgrounds through our times of public shopping.” It is our hope that as a community, everyone has a way to both give to and receive from Top Buttons. The mission comes full circle as women donate clothes, volunteer, and shop with us. We love providing opportunities for all young women to volunteer. It teaches both job skills and helps many obtain community service hours through our Boutique Program and our Wearing Confidence Program.

Our Wearing Confidence Program is also facilitated through our boutiques and has two components. We offer education on contextual modesty, how to dress on the job, self- compassion, and most importantly - understanding identity in Christ. Through our Wearing Confidence Program, in addition to the educational sessions, we offer boutique sessions. Large groups of girls from our enrolled organizations come to us for private styling sessions. The sessions include styling services, free wardrobes of proper fitting attire, hair and makeup up touchups, free makeup (if age appropriate), professional photoshoots, and a mini devotional or educational piece. It's important for you to know that our stylists are not necessarily fashionistas, they are young women who want to give their time, love on, build up, and encourage girls in our community. Stylists are matched one on one with a program recipient where they shop our stores and talk about style preferences and clothing needs. Modesty really has so much to do with context even more than a specific set of rules. We look to prepare our girls with appropriate attire for school, the work place, and every day/casual options as well! It’s not about creating little GAP models. That’s why having nice thrift clothing is so helpful. We have an overwhelming amount of style options for our girls to mix, layer, and get out of their box with when it comes to their individual clothing vibe. It’s fun. Being together with other young women talking fashion, life, and faith makes for a great combination to connect and grow together. If you want more information about volunteering with us email info@topbuttons.org.

Redefining Valentine's Day for All the Single Ladies

Valentine's Day can be one of the most dreaded holidays amongst those who are single. Some jokingly admit it's S.A.D. (Single Awareness Day). Personally, throughout the years, I've struggled with the frustration of seeing all the couples around me and wondering when it would be MY turn. However, the concept of Valentine's Day is suppose to be about SELFLESS LOVE, so let's commit to redefining Valentine's 2015. Here's THREE innovative ways to redefine the holiday:

---

1. Learn To Appreciate Some "YOU" Time: Without a significant other in your life, it's way too easy to dwell on the fact that you're solo, but there is NO BETTER TIME in your life to invest in yourself than in this season. In other words, take some time to rest and pamper yourself! Curl up on the couch, eat your favorite flavor of ice cream, do your nails, read a good book or watch your favorite movie.
2. Rally Up Your Other Single Lady Friends: Okay, so maybe a night in and alone isn't your scene! That is perfectly okay. Rally up a group of other single ladies and adventure out. Go see a new movie, dine at a fun restaurant, or even have a single ladies gift-exchange! The possibilities are endless.
3. Spread The Love: Yes, Valentines Day is centered on LOVE, but you don't necessarily have to dwell on the romantic aspect. Why not spread some positivity and love in the world? Visit a nursing home and love on the residents; write encouraging notes to a handful of important people in your life; or even offer to babysit your neighbor's kids so that they can enjoy some couple time.

---

So whether this is your first single Valentine's Day or you've been single for a while now, do something DIFFERENT to return Valentine's Day to its origin of love. Love yourself, love your friends, and even love strangers.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.

Top Button's Teen Spotlight with Scout Hunt

Scout Hunt is a 14 year old photographer who is living proof that dedication and passion lead to success. Scout first made a social connection with us via Instagram and we quickly fell in love with her creative eye behind the camera lens.

The verse 1 Timothy 4:12 came to mind when we first discovered how young Scout was:

"Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity."

In efforts to inspire YOU to continue doing what you love, we've conducted a brief interview with photos from Scout's portfolio.

[divider_line]

Photos by Scout Hunt

1. What sparked your interest in photography? How old were you when you started, and did it come naturally for you? Feel free to describe any struggles or frustrations you had along the journey.

"I was in California for several weeks during the summer after seventh grade and my uncle brought his Canon camera and showed me how to use it. He let me take random photos of grass and things with his lenses and I really enjoyed it. He thought I was doing fairly well so encouraged me to continue it.

When we got back to Florida I began searching on eBay and Craigslist for a Canon DSLR that I could afford. I ended up finding his exact camera at a great price and buying it. I learned nearly everything from Pinterest articles, like how to shoot in manual mode, lighting tips, and editing tutorials. When I look back at some of my first portraits I realize how, honestly, bad they were. But at the time I was very proud of them so I did not really encounter too much frustration.

The hardest part about it was learning how to shoot in complete manual and how to edit well. But, through practice it slowly came together to produce better and better photos."

2. What kind of photography do you enjoy the most? "I mainly enjoy portraits because people can give feedback and I love the accomplishment of someone absolutely loving a photo, but I wish I was really good at landscapes because I think those are so beautiful."

Photos by Scout Hunt

3. What word of advice would you give other teenage girls towards pursuing their interests? "It's very important to pursue your interests because of where they could take you and how enjoyable it is to do something you're passionate about."

4. What do you want to be when you "grow up"? "I actually want to be a director, but always continue photography."

5. A lot of people use their hobbies to express themselves, to cope with emotions, or simply because they love the rewarding feeling of accomplishment. How do you feel when you capture a photo you really like? And what's your muse or inspiration behind photography? "Whenever I capture a photo I really like, I try to pass my excitement to the person I'm photographing because when they love the photo just as much as I do I know I accomplished my goal. My main inspiration generally comes from when I see photos other photographers have taken, then I want to capture a photo just as pretty."

Photos by Scout Hunt

6. What's your perspective on modesty? How would you define it? "I would define modesty as respecting yourself and your worth in the way that you dress and carry yourself."

7. We've recently been doing a "Good Girls Deserve Props" campaign amongst the youth, where we highlight young ladies who are doing good. In what ways would you say you and your friends are doing good? Any friends you want to give a shout out to? "My friend Hannah Williams has been volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters which is an organization that pairs  youth with 'Big Brothers" and "Big Sisters" who they can develop a one-on-one relationship with. The big siblings also tutor them, help them with homework, play games with them, or just help them out where they need it. Quite a few other friends volunteer at Parker Street Ministries where they also work with young children. Also many of my friends help out with Tennis for Tumors which raises money for brain tumor research."

[divider_line]

As you can see, Scout not only has an eye for photography, but a mind for modesty! She took the initiative to pursue her passion for photography and through hard work and dedication, she has excelled drastically. She definitely makes our list of Good Girls who Deserve Props by promoting modesty through her photographs and by spreading love through volunteering with her friends at various organizations.

On that note, we encourage YOU to pursue your passions and spread love too!