Denim Tote Upcycling Workshop
September 30, 2023
TAGS hosted a free denim tote upcycling workshop with Elisa on September 30th! Participants took old denim pieces and breathed new life into them as unique tote bags. Individuals used sewing machines, needles and thread, lace, and other fabric scraps to create upcycled bags. Here are some photos of our final products! Can't wait to see everyone at our next free upcycling workshop!
Rock The Block
September 9, 2023
This was our second year participating in the Boys and Girls Club's annual Rock The Block event and we had so much fun! TAGS had a DIY tote bag workshop set up in the teen center managed by Elisa, Hailey, and Lisa. This unique craft offered various levels of difficulty, including both sew and no-sew aspects. We were astonished by the amount of creativity these lovely people had! It was shockingly simple to repurpose a t-shirt into a tote bag, and we can't wait to do it again! Thank you to the Boys and Girls Club for having us!
TAGS 2 Year Anniversary / Bryan's Farewell
September 2, 2023
This event was full of many emotions - happiness, grief, pride, and love are among a few. Kathryn invited the TAGS team to her home to celebrate the two year anniversary of our store opening, as well as say goodbye to Bryan. We had a lovely time enjoying dinner together, all telling stories of our favorite TAGS moments together. We are wishing Bryan well as he attends Savannah College of Art and Design. This night reminded us of how far TAGS has come over the last two years, and the impact we have made on this community. We give a generous thanks to everyone who helped us get this far, and a beautiful welcome to many more amazing memories.
Bryan Mendez's Art Show
August 6, 2023
In early August, TAGS collaborated with nearly a dozen San Leandro businesses to put on a free art show! Bryan showcased 50 pieces of his astonishing work, ranging from mythical clay sculptures to paintings with rich, significant cultural value. Over a hundred members of our community joined us in eating delicious pastries, enjoying live music and poetry from KayK, and overall having a beautiful night. Mayor Gonzalez also made an appearance and purchased a piece to hang in his office. We are so happy with how the event turned out, and so proud of everyone involved!
Boys and Girls Club Tour
Last Wednesday, the 19th a few members of the Boys and Girls club came in to our store for their Fashion Week and were given a tour of our store by our shift lead Stacee. During the tour Stacee led them through our Makers Market, workshop space, rotating artwork space
July 19, 2023
Graphic Tee Revamp Workshop
On Saturday July 15th TAGS held a Graphic Tee Revamp workshop led by Elisa Ramos. Elisa guided participants while cutting and sewing. We loved seeing what they started and ended up with. It was nice seeing friends and strangers come together to repurpose clothes.
July 15, 2023
Kindness Award
July 10, 2023
On Monday night, July 10 Lynn was recognized by Mayor Juan Gonzales with an Award for Kindness in City Hall. Friends and family accompanied her as she gave a speech thanking Mayor Gonzales and spreading the message of our mission here in Tags. We are so proud of you Lynn and so appreciative of what you do to help teens, young adults, and the community!
Y2K Tee Workshop
JUNE 24, 2023
TAGS hosted a popular and unique workshop! Stacee guided attendees as they ironed on transfers to t-shirts. We had so much fun seeing the creativity blossom in our work space! Some of our favorite designs include "LEO RISING", "GIRLBOSS", and "SJSU"! It was beautiful to witness everyone coming together and sharing their art with each other! Thank you to our donors that help keep workshops like these free for youth.
Second SOLA Fundraiser Event
JUNE 6, 2023​
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Sons of Liberty Alehouse hosted yet another fundraiser for TAGS! 20% of the day's sale goes towards our nonprofit and helps to fund our teen programs.
The whole community came together again for delicious food and drinks, while supporting our small business. Such a great turn out and we are always so appreciate for SOLA's help! Can't wait for our next fundraiser.
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TAGS Photo Shoot
MAY 26, 2023​
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Stacee put together a TAGS photoshoot where community models showed off TAGS merchandise. Many of these items are still for sale! Stacee shot these photos within a 500 foot radius of our store. She wanted to make sure all the models were comfortable and represented an array of feminine and masculine styled clothing, as well as making this a fun and exciting experience!
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Small Business Proclamation
MAY 5, 2023​
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The city of San Leandro and the San Leandro Chamber of Commerce recognized TAGS as a small business in May of 2023. Lynn happily accepted the award in City Hall surrounded with love from the TAGS board, committee, and mayor Gonzalez. It is an honor to be recognized by the city for the effort we have put into making our community a creative, greener space.
Earth Day Maker's Event
APRIL 21, 2023
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TAGS participated in San Leandro High School's Earth Day Maker's Event. At this event, local businesses came together to enjoy music, thrifting, and a sustainable fashion show! Lynn, Sam and Hailey represented TAGS and spoke with SLHS students about sustainability, fast fashion, and mindful consumerism.
UC Berkeley SSAB Night Market
APRIL 10, 2023
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TAGS just had an awesome opportunity to be apart of UC Berkeley’s SSAB Night Market.
This was such a great experience for us to introduce our small business to others and also connect with other creative artists and businesses!
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Drake's First Friday Fundraiser
APRIL 7, 2023
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We joined Drake’s Brewing for their First Friday charitable block party on April 7th! This event was from 5PM and 9PM at Drake’s San Leandro Barrel House with tons of drinks, food, live music, and cornhole! Thank you to everyone who came and supported TAGS by purchasing a growler or crowler during the event, or anytime during the month of April. We appreciate you all!
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Denim Painting Workshop
MARCH 2023
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TAGS hosted a successful denim painting workshop led by Brooke. We had an enthusiastic group of young adults join us and share their creative sides. They used funky stamps, free hand designs, and fabric painting techniques.
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Valentines Sewing Workshop
FEBRUARY 2023
Brooke led another awesome sewing workshop where she taught participants sewing techniques and how to actually use a sewing machine and other materials. This was a "Valentine's" themed sewing workshop and participants created adorable, heart-shaped plushies!
Jewelry Making Open Studio
JANUARY 2023
TAGS hosted yet another jewelry making open studio after having our first successful Open Studio back in August. Participants got creative and made all types of jewelry pieces while enjoying snacks and hot chocolate.
Holiday Card Making Open Studio
DECEMBER 2022
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To celebrate the season, TAGS hosted a Holiday card making open studio. There were no instructors and participants were able to create their own greeting cards with materials provided. To stay warm, we also offered hot chocolate with mini marshmallows.
TAGS Holiday Party
DECEMBER 2022
Tis the season! The TAGS team celebrated our annual Holiday party! This was a great way for our team to spend some time together and create more wonderful memories. Gingerbread houses were made and gifts were exchanged. Spending this time outside of our normal workspace allowed us to truly connect with one another. As a team, we wish you happy holidays and encourage you to spend time with your family and friends during this season.
Fall Flips Workshop
NOVEMBER 2022
Fashion design major Brooke Adams led yet another sewing workshop here on November 19th. She taught the basics of sewing as well as how to use a sewing machine. Brooke taught participants how to upcycle reused items. Eventually, the participants were able to design and upcycle their own t-shirts, sweaters or any other preferable clothing piece they brought or bought from the store.
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Spooky Craft Workshops
OCTOBER 2022
Fashion design major Brooke Adams led a Halloween-themed tote bag-making workshop Oct. 8, where participants got to pick out their fabric of choice and sew open-topped bags for themselves or loved ones. A couple weekends later, TAGS employees Bryan and Sam guided a jack-o-lantern making class where attendees got to carve faces or messages into pumpkins on Oct. 29.
Open Studio
AUGUST 2022
TAGS hosted its first ever Open Studio event. Participants had the opportunity to use our materials and workspace to create however they wanted. This was not a guided workshop so youth could freely create their own artistic pieces. We provided bracelet making materials and assistance if they needed any. But the art was all their own. We had an absolutely amazing turn out and had a great time!
Stay tuned for more Open Studio Events coming very soon!
San Leandro
Makers Market
SEPTEMBER 2022
TAGS participated in ReDiscover Downtown’s Makers Market Sept. 17, where local businesses and creatives united and connected with event attendees. Our booth highlighted some of our hottest fits along with the incredible artwork created by local artists Bryan and Brooke. TAGS is extremely thankful to the Downtown San Leandro Community Benefit District for this opportunity to connect with more members of our community!
End of Summer Sale
AUGUST 2022
As we neared the end of the summer, TAGS had its biggest sale yet. 25% off of EVERYTHING in the store. We have so much awesome fall inventory, that we needed to clear room. This sale lasted from Aug 10th through the 14th. The community gained awesome clothes at incredible deals!
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Boys & Girls Club - Rock the Block Event
AUGUST 2022
San Leandro's Boys & Girls Club celebrated the remodeling of their aquatics center with a community event. TAGS was invited to set up a booth and provide a workshop style activity for the event. We did one of our favorites, t-shirt painting. This event was so successful we actually ran out of shirts! TAGS is so happy to be a part of this community and we are looking forward to next year!
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Patches and Pockets Sewing Workshop
JULY 2022
Brooke again came with her amazing self and hosting yet another amazing workshop. The skill of sewing patches and pockets onto your clothes! Participants customized their outfits with cool patches and fabric designs. Brooke assisted people with the sewing machines and helped them perfect their sewing skills.
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Tote Bag Sewing Workshop
JUNE 2022
We had our wonderful local artist Brooke come in and host another sewing workshop! She shared her art of creating custom tote bags. This was one of our longer workshops, young adults got to follow the making process from start to finish.
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In the end participants got to walk away with their own custom bag!
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Thank you Brooke for sharing your art!
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TAGS Celebrates 1 Year at El Torito
AUGUST 2022
TAGS celebrated their one-year anniversary at El Torito! It is a blessing to be able to have celebrated with our entire team and look back on all the accomplishments we made this past year serving our community.
SOLA Fundraiser Event
JUNE 7th 2022
Sons of Liberty Alehouse hosted a fundraiser for us on June 7th, 2022. 20% of all of proceeds from that day went to TAGS programs! The community got to come in, enjoy great food and drinks and help out this local nonprofit.
A big shout out to Teresa Lawrie at Sons of Liberty Alehouse for hosting a fundraiser for TAGS. It was a super fun event and a huge success - we raised $2,420!
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Shirt Painting Workshop
MAY 2022
By popular demand, we brought another painting workshop to our community. Here, teens and young adults had total freedom to create their desired painted shirt. Some popular paintings were of colorful album covers, nature, and self-love visuals. Participants were given access to various painting tools, techniques, and stencils.
This workshop was led by Bryan, a local high school student.
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Denim Painting Workshops
MARCH 2022
This month, teens and young adults filled our workspace up to capacity to paint their ideas on denim and did an AMAZING job doing so! These participants had their own unique style, painting on both denim jackets and jeans and used a variety of techniques to do so.
This workshop was led by Amy Chovnick, a local San Leandro creative.
Crystal Wrapping Workshops
APRIL 2022
This workshop was the first student-led workshop with Bryan! Because of his personal interests and taking the December Crystal Workshop, he wanted to share and teach his intricate crystal wrapping designs with others! We had an amazing turnout! Each teen/young adult showed their uniqueness and patience through this detailed workshop.
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Crystal Workshops
DECEMBER 2021
Because of the popularity of crystals, we decided to hold a crystal-focused workshop. Teens and young adults were taught intricate wrapping techniques to wrap crystals and transform them to necklaces.
This workshop was led by Kaitlin Howell, a very talented local Bay Area artist.
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*Sponsored by the City of San Leandro Climate Resiliency Fund
Stamping and Pin Making Workshops
NOVEMBER 2021
In the first week of this workshop, teens and young adults were able to decorate clothing and accessories items with stamps and paint.
In the second week of this workshop, local teens and young adults put their creative and technical skills to the test while designing and assembling pins.
Both workshops were led by Kaitlin Howell, a very talented local Bay Area artist.
*Sponsored by the City of San Leandro Climate Resiliency Fund
Halloween Headband Workshops
OCTOBER 2021
Local teens and young adults got super creative designing and constructing headbands in the Halloween Spirit.
This workshop was led by Kaitlin Howell, a very talented local Bay Area artist.
*Sponsored by the City of San Leandro Climate Resiliency Fund
Pop-Up Clothing Drive
MAY 2021
Pop-Up Clothing Drive
MAY 2021
Thank you to everyone who contributed to our second Pop-Up Clothing Drive. All of our helpful teens and young adults who grabbed bags and boxes and organizing donations are so appreciating!
A special thanks to Felipa and Jordan Pallen of Pallen's Martial Arts for hosting this Pop-Up.
First Pop-Up Clothing Drive
APRIL 2021
Thank you to our amazing community for making TAG's first Pop-Up Clothing Drive a great success! And a special thanks to our teens and young adults who worked super hard during the event, grabbing bags and boxes from cars and sorting donations.
A special thanks to Laura Sanders and Jamie Duckworth of Access Elite for hosting our first Pop-Up.
