I received a copy of Quilting for Peace by Katherine Bell a few months ago. In it, Katherine highlights the stories of people and organizations that are sewing for different causes. Each project in the book corresponds to a particular initiative and range from full quilts to shopping bags, small pet mats to sleeping bags.
Inspired by the book, the girls and I decided to make one of the projects in the book. Mirabel the owl is the project for Softies for Mirabel. Softies for Mirabel is a holiday toy drive that collects handmade, soft toys for the Mirabel Foundation in Melbourne, Australia. I chose this project because it is simple and I knew the girls would be able to help me make the softies. Additionally, I knew that my children would be able to relate to the idea of giving to other children who might not have as much as they do.
It was definitely a team effort. Kate and Jane chose the fabrics and trims that they wanted out of my stash. I cut out the owls and they traced the other pattern pieces onto fusible interfacing. I did most of the cutting, ironing and machine sewing. They embroidered the eyelashes and stuffed the owls. In a little over an hour, we were finished. The girls were excited to show the softies to Fatty and spent a long time guessing what kind of child would end up with their creation. They also asked if we could do it again another day and maybe take those softies to our city's children's hospital. Of course. Then they asked if they could make one for themselves. I had been waiting for that! Of course.
I am so glad that I carved some time out of this busy week to work on this project with my children. It's important to me that they realize that even at their young age, they can do something for others. And I loved that the three of us spent time working together. Also, it wasn't me that insisted it get finished. After I proposed the idea of making the owls to them, they were the ones that kept reminding me that we needed to do it, that we should get busy sewing. Thanks to my girls, I was reminded that no matter how busy I am, no matter what needs to be done, chances are I have an hour or so to do something for someone else.
Quilting for Peace includes many easy, doable projects and information on the
organizations that could benefit from your crafty talent. There's a 30-minute shopping bag pattern in the book that you could whip up for gifts. Or maybe sew a quilted mat to donate to a local animal shelter. I encourage you to take a look and see if there is something you can make for someone else in need this holiday season or in the new year.
I am giving away one copy of this fantastic book. If you are interested in winning, leave a comment on this post that includes one thing you have done or will do for someone in need or a particular charity this holiday season. I will close comments Wednesday, November 25th at 5:00 p.m. EST. The winner will be announced on Friday or Saturday. In other business, I'll be back tomorrow with the winner of last week's giveaway and some shop talk.
that is so awesome erin! i love that the three of you did that together, such a sweet experience that i’m sure they’ll remember for years. kate and jane are lucky to have such a wonderful mom!
i have knitting for peace, and it’s such a wonderful book.
I love everything about this! Love and sharing and awareness! Awesome!
I love the idea behind this book, because as you said even in our busy lives it’s important to show our children that we can easily do something for others. So far this holiday season we have collected food for our local food pantry and toiletries for another local group. Both projects were through our schools. We are doing a thorough clean-out before the holidays to make sure we have passed along clothing, toys and household items to those in need. It’s much better to have those items put to good use than hang around our house. One more thing we plan to do is donate money to Ronald McDonald House to help families who have seriously ill children. Thanks for the info about Quilting For Peace and the chance to win!
This sounds like a great book.
I am eager to start making pillowcases for Conkerr Cancer.
What a great idea!
Hi,
I love the idea of making things to give away. Our family usually tries to make our most of our gifts rather than buying things from the store. Last year we made baskets with baking, preserves, our favorite chai tea, drawings and salt dough tree ornaments for family and friends.
We got the idea for tree ornaments from Melissa at tinyhappy here:
http://tinyhappy.typepad.com/tiny_happy/2008/12/index.html
I love your little owls. Your girls did a great job!
– have a great day,
Audrey
http://www.lifeinevverybreath.blogspot.com
What a lovely project! My husband donates one morning each week to the local food bank. This time of year, I usually buy an extra few cans of food to take along, go through our pantry for what hasn’t been used in the last few months and ‘weed’ out our closets for usable warm clothes that don’t fit us or that have been replaced. Everything has a use, even if not for us! ~H
What a fantastic way to spend time with your daughters and to help others as well! I cannot wait until my little one is a bit older to help me in the craft room! Thanks for a wonderful giveaway, and have a relaxing and restful holiday!
Wonderful post today. We always give to a child for the Salvation Army Toy drive through my husband’s work, as well as try to give to local food pantries, and donate our gently used coats and gloves to those who need them.
We always make a donation to Heifer International at Christmas. I love that, but I also love being able to make something to give. This book sounds very inspiring. Thanks for the chance!
Fabulous owls! And I love that it was a team effort. I really need to come up with something my boys would enjoy getting involved with. They tend to roll their eyes at my projects these days…
In the meantime, I made a quilt for the latest crafthope project, which I think should make a little boy somewhere very happy (my own little boys wanted to keep it, if that’s any indication.)
Oh this is so inspiring! Thank you for sharing!
Every year I knit beanies for babies all around the world. They take no time and it feels good.
I’m very interested in checking out this book, it looks like it is full of great ideas. I have a very soft spot for kids in need this time of year. Every year I recruit mom’s from my neighborhood mother’s group and friends to purchase Christmas gifts for kids in foster care. We are each given a gift tag with the child’s name, age, and three gifts from their wish list. The thought of a child not receiving just one gift during the holiday season is just so sad to me.
It sounds like a wonderful book. We make a point of donating the children’s clothes that they outgrow to a charity in town. I also try to always buy the clothes etc. that we need from a thrift store that supports a charity.
Thanks for talking about this book (I had no idea!).
A few years ago, I sent my sister with hundreds of gifts to children in Chinese Orphanages from people who read my blog (Made for China). It was SO INCREDIBLY AMAZING AND INSPIRING that people from all over the world used their talents to help fulfill a vision I had…I must get or maybe win this book! 🙂
Happy thanksgiving!
My daughters and I have been participating in the Craft Hope (crafthope.com) projects. So far we have made dolls for orphans in Nicaragua, blankets, beanies, and booties for babies in India, sock monkeys for burn victims in California, and quilts for homeless children in Michigan. We enjoy the work and love knowing that we are helping those in need. Quilting for Peace sounds like the same idea. Thanks for a chance to win and Happy Thanksgiving!
I love what your girls did and you have inspired me to take the time to something like this with my kids. I’m so tired of hurrying, hurrying all the time. I looked at this book the other day in the book store. I love the ideas in this book and the inspiration to do GOOD with our crafting. I have been thinking about the legacy we leave our children with – in terms of our interaction with the world around us. A friend had a Sunday School class for adults with speakers talking about needs in the local community and she and I are talking about how our families can contribute to one or more of them as a “gift-giving” idea this year.
Those are really cute, and what a great team effort! I’d love a copy of the book.
What a great way to spend the day with your children crafting and for a terrific cause as well. We constantly try to reinforce into our children to care and think of others. We always pass on clothes, toys or anything else we no longer need to others via various charity groups. We used to give 3 gifts(one for each child) under the wishing tree at Kmart, but we have since changed this into a yearly donation to the Smith Family, which uses the money to educate children from less fortunate backgrounds. Education is one of the best gifts you can give……oh and i have made sock monkeys for Softies for Mirabel.
I would love to have a copy of this book!
This holiday season, I’ll help my book club provide Christmas presents and winter clothes for a family. My daughter, husband & I will go grocery shopping, letting her pick canned goods for donation to a local food closet.
Thank you for the reminder that as we head into this season that is often focused on excess, we should be thinking about those who are not as blessed & doing something about it.
What a perfect post for this time of year. My daughter (who was adopted from China) and I have been involved with the Craft Hope projects. It’s such a rewarding process for both of us – it allows us to “give back” and help children in need around the globe.
This is such a fantastic book – I browsed through it a few weeks ago and immediately put it on my wish list!!
That’s really wonderful making softies for kids in need, so often what we give is store-bought, I wonder how many impoverished kids never get something hand made with love especially for them?
This year my daughter and I picked out 2 snowsuits at Sears to donate to the snowsuit fund, and once the angel tree goes up in my office each child will pick a tag and we’ll shop together for a present for the child represented by the tag. I try to choose children about the same age as my own so that they can feel more conneted to the recipient.
Thanks for your great blog, always full of things that make me think…
The owls are adorable, and the Children’s hospital will be so appreciative! Every year my husband and I participate in Operation Christmas Child through church, and I’m always so honored to be able to participate in the cause.
I’m so glad your girls thought of the local children’s hospital—there are so many children who will be spending Christmas in a hospital bed- after many long months of being stuck in that same bed. That softie is lovely and I would love to have a copy of the book!
We do special grocery shopping to help stock our local food pantry for both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
I know my kids would enjoy making those softies for others as well, Erin. Thanks for reminding us that we can always find an hour to do something for others.
This looks like a great book–I’ve been really excited for it to come out and would love to win a copy….
Let’s see….yesterday I took in some coats for our community coat drive!
This is a great project – and those owls are adorable.
I support Sanctuary Home for Children, an orphanage in south India, which a friend of mine founded and runs. My husband and I sponsor a child, and we’re also giving a little extra money to their Christmas fund this year.
Wow, the softies are great and it’s so nice to hear about how meaningful it was to your girls to make them. How fun that they were reminding you to get sewing! I really like the idea of sewing mats for an animal shelter…will have to look into that idea.
We’ve bought some boots for a local child through my women’s group’s tree of need, and have given money toward an annual kids’ holiday party at a local mental health organization–funding was cut, so every little bit from outside donors helps, I hope.
We always donate food every year (as often as we can) I love this post. What a fun project. Thanks for the chance 🙂
Adorable and such a great memory for the three of you!
This year I made a quilt for Craft Hope. Such a joy as I stitched it up thinking of the little one it would help keep warm.
Last year on Thanksgiving day, we sponsored a child through Compassion International. We let my five year old pick a child who had the same birth month/year. He ended up picking a little boy in Tanzania. We have all loved receiving letters from him and sending them in return.
Thanks for your blog full of all sorts of inspiration!! Happy Day!
My boys have been saving 10% of their allowance all year with the idea to make their donation right before Christmas. We just read in the paper this morning that our local Bikes for Kids program is short on bikes this year, so they have decided that is what they want to do. I would love to do a project in this book too. I saw it at Borders and it has some great ideas.
I am a Girl Scout leader and our troop is adopting a foster child and purchasing gifts for that child. The girls are very excited. I would LOVE a copy of this book to use for myself, my family, and our troop! I love that you made those gorgeous little softies with your girls!
The book looks really interesting, I’ll have to check out a copy. And the owls are amazing. Your girls did a great job.
I’d love a copy of this box. And applause to you and your girls. The owls are lovely and I’m sure will brighten someone’s day.
This is a wonderful book and I would be honored to win it. I am the leader of the Hugs Ministry at my church. We make quilts and pair them with stuffies to make Comfort Kits. We give them to the local fire department. They give them to kids in crisis situations. Thank you. Take care and God bless, Cory
Want that book. Great projects!
Hi,
I love the idea of quilting for peace–two of my favorite things, handcrafts and peace. Do you think the projects can be done without a sewing machine? We’ve been helping with a food drive this week. Have a great holiday!
I am the nursery director of our church. Each year I organize an Operation Christmas Child shoebox drive for the children, their parents, and our volunteers to participate in. We each pack a shoebox with age appropriate gifts and drop them off to OCC. The shoeboxes are sent around the world to children who otherwise would not receive a Christmas present. Thanks for the giveaway!
I am knitting wool caps that are distributed to our state National Guard troops as they are deployed to Afghanistan. The hats serve two purposes … keep them warm, but also let them know that we appreciate their sacrafice. There are several women in Minnesota that are participating in this knitting project.
I’ve been able to participate in one of the rounds of Craft Hope. This book looks amazing.
just finished making a quilt for CraftHope…would love the book to find out more organizations that I can bless with handmade goodness!
I love the projects I’ve seen in this book. I’d love to win it! Thanks!
Those look great, and give me such hope for future projects with my own kids!
Each Christmas, we put together shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. My son was less than enthustiastic about the giving away part (he’s 4, though — big surprise). My hope is that, given enough opportunities, he’ll start to get into it as he gets older. Patience…. 🙂
I will definitely need to buy this book!
This year, my husband and I are helping 2 children whose parents are battling addiction right now. There is a treatment center near in our area and they have names of children on a tree with their wants/needs.
I’ve been looking at that book for a while.
Every year I make hats for homeless men in Seattle that are handed out at Thanksgiving dinner. A friend of me organizes the hat drive and I love participating.
I think that’s awesome that your girls are so excited to help others! The book looks fabulous and I’d love a copy to use with my own daughters!
I have ordered a quilt kit from Quilts for Kids (http://www.quiltsforkids.org/) and plan to make another on my own to send. I’m also going to be helping my Daisy Girl Scout troop organize some sort of collection for a food bank, toy drive, etc – we’ll see what they choose!
That’s such a great activity. Good for you.
I donate to Wildlife Defenders, Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, and TRUST Minneapolis, which provides support to low income families.
LOve the owls! Our family will choose names from a local Christmas tree and purchase/make presents for two or three children.
That is so sweet! I give some money to the salvation army every morning when I see those bell ringers at the train station.
Would love a copy of this book!
It’s not crafting for charity, but we did a major closet clean out and donated winter coats to the local Unitarian congregation for their annual coat drive. Hate to think of anyone suffering from the cold in our Wisconsin winter…
Adorable!
What a cute idea. I have an hour! My 5 1/5 year old and 8 year old would love this project.
Every Christmas I have taken them to the toy store to pick out one of their favourite toys. Then we donate it to Toy Mountain, which gives the toys to children who would otherwise receive nothing. Even after their birthdays, we always hang on to the duplicates to donate vs. doing an exchange, because really my children have everything they need.
Thanks for the great giveaway.
Every time I go to the book store I plan on buying this but some how walk out without it. It’s a really great looking book and it will eventually make it home with me. 🙂 As for helping out, I am working with another local blogger on making and donating quilts for kids that are homeless (or in foster care) in the Portland, OR area. I could go on and on about it, but you can find more through links on my blog if your interested.
those owls are so cute 🙂
I love that you do things like this with your girls. Or do them at all, for that matter.
I’m an Indiana girl now living in Northern Ireland. The village I live in is full of well-to-do, retired folks. They aren’t in need of many things, but they do need company. So, like my grandma always did, I’m going to bake 5 batches of cookies a week and take them to neighbors and friends and anyone else I can find. 🙂
We usually get a child’s name from an Angel Tree project and buy gifts for them for the Christmas. When we’ve been able, we do two or three children. We even bought one the bike they wanted one year. Thanks for the giveaway! Looks like a beautiful book.
I think this is a great Brownie Girl Scout project. And as a bonus, they could even earn their sewing badge….and I want one too!
What a lovely sounding book! This year, and every year, we sit down to discuss our charitable giving as part of our christmas and boxing day traditions! Most important this year will be supporting local food banks and shelters.
This looks like it will be a beautiful book – hopefully it will find its way under the tree in our house this year (if I do not win it of course!). I have made and donated baby slings to other mama’s in our community who do not have the resources to make/buy their own. I am looking forward to seeing what other projects are in this book!
Thanks for the great idea for a charitable project to do with my kids. We talk a lot about how fortunate we are, and make donations of money and food, but giving of your energy and time has so much more meaning, and that’s a really valuable lesson. As for myself, this year I have a quilt ready to go to the local hospice, and will be knitting caps for kids and chemo caps. Thanks again for all the inspiration you’ve given me!
What a fabulous book. What I would like to do this Christmas is using my extra money to buy a extensive gas card for a mother I know who has 8 children and alcoholic husband and works full time, and she is nearing 60. She definitely deserves a break anyway she can get it.
Wow those are so nice. And how special to do that with your girls. I would love to do something like that with my Katie.
This year we are sponsoring a single mom of 6 kids. She has been diagnosed with Lukiemia, so things have been rough for her lately.
I have also been wanting to make small blankets to donate to a vet clinic. When we lost our puppy this August, they let us take home a home made flannel blanket to bury our dog with. That touched my heart that they did that, and I would like to do that for others that have to put thier dogs down.
[email protected]
I love this idea!! And they are so cute!
What a great book! This week I am getting together with friends to assemble and distribute turkey sandwiches on Thursday to people that are working: busdrivers, firefighters, etc. etc.
Through my girl’s school we will give gifts for children that don’t get presents. As teacher’s gifts we usually give a “mosquito net” “pig” etc… through the Episcopal Relief Development program. Who needs more stuff?
The owls are adorable. I volunteer to work at our local hospice telethon, answering phones and taking pledges. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving
A great kick off to the holiday season and hopefully an easy way for all of us crafters to carry giving through the rest of the year as well! Great Job!
What a sweet project. I have heard the book mentioned on other blogs…I think I might have it on hold at the library. This year I’m going to make a small donation to Heifer International for each of my four neices. I’m going to make them a little barnyard animal, haven’t decided which kind yet, and print up a little story about how they have helped a child far away.
Lovely softies! We’re donating as a family to Heifer Foundation.
What a wonderful, giving project…. the softies are so cute! For Thanksgiving, we bought the ingredients to feed a family dinner and for Christmas we will be giving a present to a child in need.
What an awesome idea for a book. I always here about various organization collecting various things, but to have it all in one place is a wonderful way to know how to help. I would love to win a copy.
i love that you created for other kids with your girls. so sweet. and requires a dose of patience, too. 🙂
My kids and I fill two boxes for Samaratins Purse…relief aid to Africa along with a Bible. I also have a quilt to donate to my local shelter…not too big, but warm someones lap nicely.
Thanks for a chance at this awesome book!
What great owls! We give to the local food bank as well as donate our old winter coats to the same group for distribution.
What a wonderful book! My daughter is in a “Joy School” group this year- the girls in her class are all getting ready to learn a nativity play, and we’ll go perform at a local nursing home, sing songs, and hand out cards the girls drew. I’m so excited! She and her classmates are all 3 and 4 years old- rather young, but it’s never to early to serve others.
I’ve been stalking that book at my local bookstore hehe I love the idea behind the book and the projects look very doable indeed.
Every year we purchase a few things from World Vision’s Christmas “catalog”. But instead of being filled with toys or things, this catalog gives you an opportunity to help people around the world in need. You can purchase shares of livestock that will go to families who need them not only to feed their children, but to sell the eggs/milk/whatever to make $ for their family. You can buy a sewing machine so a woman in another country can make a liveable wage. You can purchase a share to dig a fresh water well. The list goes on and on and on.
You can actually do this through them year round, but at Christmas they do advertise it to encourage people to give in this way. World Vision is a great organization!
We donate money and toys for the Toys for Tots program! I’d love to browse through the ideas in this book!
What a wonderful idea for a book. I’d love to check it out.
I’ve been shopping extra/double this holiday season when heading to the grocery store, so I can make a large drop off at the food bank.
What precious memories you are creating with your children.
We love send share Christmas with Compassion Internation children.
Love them, love the idea behind the book. Thanks for sharing!
Oh goodness – everything about this is awesome!
nice work Harris girls! i’m sure your kindness will be apreciated!
my girls choose some items to donate to a child who lives in the community we summer in. there are many with much less than us. we learned about it just a few days ago, and with this past weekend away, hand made wasn’t an option, but they contributed their workstudy / chore money and they hope their choices make some little girl happy this holiday season. we’ll deliver them tomorrow to the coordinator of the program as we celebrate our thanksgiving holiday there. happy thanksgiving to you and your family erin!
Great book, great idea! The girls picked some great fabrics and you all did some wonderful work. I love that there are tons of ideas at your fingertips in that book.
We like to give to Angel Tree every year. This great organization that organizes a toy drive for the children of prisoners, an often forgotten and marginalized portion of our society. We also support our local food pantry and Compassion Closet.
My husband and I were unble to have children, so every year we adopt a family from the Savation Army. That way I get to buy some kids toys and help a child have a merrier Christmas.
Wonderful! I would love to put the projects in that book to good use. If I could include my kids, all the better. Thanks for the chance to win.
What a wonderful giveaway. I love projects that I can involve my children in. I want them to know that one person truly can change the world, and small actions can add up. This year, we have selected four names from our church’s giving tree to buy presents for, and we are providing a Christmas dinner for a local family in need. We’ll also be out as a family this Saturday ringing the bell for the Salvation Army.
Hello Erin! Thank you so much for posting about this! And look! You made my owly! Hurrah! Isn’t this a simply wonderful book full of inspiring ways to use craft to help others?! Well done Katherine Bell! x
This is wonderful! We give money to the Houston Food Bank, Navtive Seeds, Heifer International and plant trees with Trees Houston.
That book looks amazing! I think that charitable crafting is one of the most loving things we can do.
This holiday season I plan to sew at least one new toy for our local Stuff A Bus campaign, as well as donations to the Soup Kitchen.
I am not a wealthy person, but every morning I wake up and appreciate that I am laying in a warm bed with a sturdy roof over my head. Too many others cannot say the same.
Hi!
I sent 2 quilts to Margaret’s Hope Chest this year. One boy themed, and one girl. I’m also (with the help of my knitting group) working on hats for a school in India my uncle has ties to.
Thanks-
Michele
I always try to donate to the food bank because my Mum and I had to use it when I was a child. I am also donating a bucket load of toys to an organization that a friend of mine works for that supports families who are living with AIDS in my city.
Wannawin!
What a great project for your kids! We like to donate locally to our food pantry and samaritan center. I’d like to get involved with Project Linus as well. Love the idea behind thsi book!!
Sounds like a great book. What a great idea to give something special that you enjoyed making.
Love the owls, those eyelashes just kill me! 🙂
Thanks for this opportunity to win this book. I love helping others. I have donated food to our local breadbasket; my husband and I donate regularly to charities; I love sharing food and dog food with a local homeless man; we have ‘adopted’ local children to give gifts to for Christmas.
Side note: When I was hospitalized as a youngster, I remember receiving handmade softies in the shape of cat heads. I still have them and love the thought that went into them!
You are always find great things to do with your girls but this is extra sweet because it channels your girls’ and your talents to do good for others.
Every year we do a 12 days of Christmas countdown for a family in our area. We get the name of a family in need from our local church leader and surprise them with gifts depending on their needs, but usually including a warm dinner, toys for the kids, hats /scarves /mittens, hot cocoa, one year we were told that the family really needed clothes so we did that too. It has been a great experience for all of us + my kids love knocking on the door and running as fast as their little legs can carry them and collapsing into a laughing heap knowing they didn’t get caught. I love how personal it is for us + that we do it secretly so the only pay off is the great feelings we have inside knowing that we did something really great for someone who needed it.
First- Love that owl!
Second- I have a coworker who has been struggling to make ends meet lately. I nominated her and her family for our annual sponsor-a-coworker’s family for the holidays at work. We’re a small company with big ideas, but keeping things close to home and supporting our own makes a huge difference in company morale. And I just want my friend to be well taken care of.
Those owls are beautiful and what a joy of a book!
I do some crocheting and knitting for my mom’s church during the year; they give them to ppl who might need them.
Thanks for the giveaway!
Robin
cokelush at gmail
I love doing projects with my girls that also help others. My daughter and I made fleece blankets for orphans in Romania the other day. So satisfying! This book is a wonderful way to inspire philanthropic crafting.
what a wonderful theme for a book. and your girls softies are adorable.
oops i forget my charity act:
we leave a reusable shopping bag by the front door. once a week we go into the pantry, take an item out, and add it to the bag. once the bag is full we take it to our local food pantry.
(our nations food pantries are seriously struggling, especially this time of year.)
I’m so glad you reminded me of the Mirabel foundation. I wanted to make a couple extra dolls this season, but needed to find a place to “accept” them.
That book looks wonderful.
I am a HS youth group leader and we recently took our youth group into the city and handed out fruit to the homeless on the streets.
I love softies! I always donate to our local foodbank throughout the year but especially during the holidays, over the summer they were able to start a mobile foodbank – which is great because we are supporting folks who live out in the “country” (to those city dwellers:) Happy Thankgiving to your family and your awesome blog/blog followers – Michi D
Sounds like a great book! Actually, today my son helped me make a “Germ Monster” (to scare away the germs…) for one of his friends with the flu. His idea. His design. Photos on my site: sqeakyalligator.blogspot.com. We’re also purchasing some gifts and necessities for a family in need for our area. It’s going to be a family effort – each of us is pitching in. The kids are super excited to be able to help out another family.
I’ve been “Knitting for Peace” lately – hats to keep little heads warm in our Vermont winters. Would love a chance to do some “Quilting for Peace” as well.
What a lovely book – and I love the tale of the girls making them too!
The owls are absolutely gorgeous and I think I will be getting a copy of this book for the upcoming summer school holidays here in Australia. My 3 and 5 year old would love to make these.
we give money to our local rescue mission in town and going to go thru our toys and find some that are like new and take them down to the womens shelter.
I love the idea behind this book, especially at this time of year.
For me the perfect holiday celebration is being surrounded by my family, sharing beautiful meals. We laugh until we cry as we make new memories. I believe everyone should have this opportunity so I donate to my local food bank.
My good friends and I walked the Tampa Bay Breast Cancer 3-Day – 60 miles in 3 days and raised over $15K for breast cancer research. This was part of my 40th birthday “year of giving back.” (http://weconnectthedots.wordpress.com for the details).
We have yet to decide what our family contribution will be this holiday season. While we’ve donated money to our local food bank, I’m going to peruse your comments for some more “hands on” contributions. My husband and I would like our kids to see firsthand how their contributions are helping the community – even if it’s as simple as a smile on someone’s face when we sing Christmas carols!
While I won’t be doing anything special, I’ll continue to volunteer weekly and donate monthly to my local health crisis center.
My good friend and I have adopted a child from the Salvation Army. She’s nine and wants skates, Hannah Montana stuff and books. A kid who wants books just gets me everytime:)
Happy Thanksgiving!!
I have been lurking on your site for much longer than I would like to admit. I absolutely love your crafts and your style!
Thank you for this post! You gave me the kick in the pants I needed to get started on an idea I have been kicking around.
http://jmommy08.wordpress.com/2009/11/24/a-little-bit-of-home/
I would love to invite you, your girls, and anyone you might know to join in!
I love the mommy-daughter time! What a great way to spend time and teach your daughters good values. It will be so much fun to share crafting with my little one when she gets old enough to share it with me. And your owls are so cute!
That is one cute owl and the book seems like a good one (I have Knitting for Peace and love it). Thanks for the chance to win a copy! An older lady that works part-time for the USFS was recently ‘laid off’ because her paperwork was messed up. She’s been out of a job for 4 months because they can’t get it straightened out and again, because of paperwork issues, cannot even get unemployment. She lives in an old trailer and we just found out she has been without a stove for over a year…and obviously can’t afford one now. So with the monetary help of a few other people, we took her to the store and purchased her a stove. She protested at first but in the end, she was crying she was so touched…I’m so glad we could help. (BTW long-time reader but lurker…sorry about that, I’ll be better!)
My kids and I organized 50 Christmas gifts for elementary school children in Chicago. My sister actually helps coordinate 2000 gifts for the kids every year; they are at 2 schools where 98% of the kids live below the poverty line.
Sounds like a wonderful book. Being the start of holiday season…and having three children in various school, church and scout activities…we have been thinking of giving to others–alot lately! My kids and I just read books to retired sisters at the convent and I am knitting caps for women in chemo this season. It feels so good to help others.
Wow! I would love to own a copy of this fantastic book!
I’m crocheting dishcloths for gifts, and we have supported a child with the Compassion International project for years, having sent ‘our’ child (in Ethopia) a Chrismtas gift of money that also provides much needed items for his mother who works in a rock quarry. I urge others to go to http://www.compassion.com to read the stories of other children around the world in need of sponsors.
My husband and I are always talking about ways that we want to give back (and it would be nice to have some inspiration). We are working with friends on a fundraising drive for the neonatal intensive care that both of our newborns ended up (at different times). Here’s the link to my blog with the fundraising post:
http://piapie.typepad.com/piapie/2009/11/ten-do.html
What a great book. My family and I support World Vision – “buying” animals for needy villages in Africa.
We always do Toys for Tots. The kids will get a letter from Santa (hmm, he should really get on that soon) that asks for their help in getting toys for children in need. We deliver the toys to a drop off location so the “elves” at Toys for Tots can help distribute them. When Christmas morning comes around, they get a note in their stockings saying thanks and reminding them of what the holiday is all about. The contents of their stocking is all that comes from Santa. Santa has a strong peace and justice message for our kids. 😉
so thoughtful!
My 3-year-old son and I are saving change to buy chickens for Heifer, Intl. He is so excited to count the $$ each night.
what a lovely book and such powerful inspiration. Thanks for sharing this with us all.
We cook and serve dinner on Christmas Eve at the teen homeless shelter. We were away last year on Christmas and so weren’t able to do it. It warmed my heart to hear my girls say that it really didn’t feel like Christmas without serving at the shelter, because it’s become such a tradition and part of their lives.
What a wonderful way to spend time with your girls, or in my case–granddaughters. We have made some pillowcases together and I decorate cakes, so they’ve tried their hands at that. They’re always eager to try something new.
What a lovely idea. I love including the kids.
Did she also write a book Knitting for Peace, or something like that?
This year (like every year) we adopted a family through an organization. We sent toys and books to each child, small gifts for their mom (she’s a single mom) and stockings full of little treats to the whole family. My boys really get into it.
thanks for the chance to win this book! this year my budding knitters and i are making hats for the homeless in our area. the season is about giving and it’s so important to help children feel the joy in it!
What a wonderful project. My girls would love to do this as they are just getting into sewing. We have been clearing out our house recently of not unwanted but not needed things and passing them onto groups, preschools and charity shops in our area. We have stopped to take time to go and see my 95 year old Grandmother a bit more often in the hope that my children will get to know her better before it is to late. But, also because she lights up when she sees my children and even though I am usually running around with my hair on fire and struggle to make time to do the 2 hour round trip I know how much we all get from it. Thanks for reminding us at this busy time of year that it is not always just about us!
Beautiful project. Living in the middle of paradise we have limited availability to big charities so we purchase things from our Farmer’s Market where many of the indigenous people sell their wares. We also purchase other things that the indigenous people make and sell them to our guests. The entire community wins.
A diving board for discussion, quality time with your girls, and some amazing stuffies for a wonderful cause. Sounds like a perfect win-win-win. I would love to put a copy of this book to good use. *and quite honestly I’d like to cuddle with one of those stuffies myself!*
I have made number 24 on our advent calendar a gift from http://www.oxfam.org.uk/unwrapped, my boys have ‘given’ one gift each – something we do with pleasure every year. We also love to fill a shoe box for http://www.operationchristmaschild.org.uk/ , something we do with school early in November – its a great way for us all to remember that not everybody is as lucky as us at this time of year. Would love to win that book -its on my wish list as I am working my way through ‘knitting for peace’ at the moment! 🙂
Updated (because it helps when I closely read directions – slaps forehead)
A diving board for discussion, quality time with your girls, and some amazing stuffies for a wonderful cause. Sounds like a perfect win-win-win. I would love to put a copy of this book to good use. *and quite honestly I’d like to cuddle with one of those stuffies myself!*
We started allowance with my daughter this year and each week she puts a portion of it into a ‘give’ jar. This holiday season we will be giving that jar (along with a matching contribution) to Save The Children. This is an important organization that happens to be very dear to a relative of ours, and we’re going to add our contribution to her own while taking the opportunity to have her share with us the story of her sponsered child. Giving is so important – making it an opportunity for conversation and learning with our children is vital.
http://www.savethechildren.ca/
I’m a social worker and my roommate is a teacher. We usually rewrap all her classroom gifts of lotion, cocoa, scarves and such and I give them to my clients. Most of the parents that give her gifts know we do this, so they buy accordingly. And they love it too. Makes everyone, giver and givee!, feel great.
What a lovely book, my daughter and I would love to work with this book.
Your owls are sooo cute! I made a teddy bear quilt for our Quilting Guild. We donate them to needy children. I’m working on an outfit now for the teddy bear that it goes with. The Unit I work on also has a family we buy things for. This year two of my co-workers lost their homes in a fire. They are part of the adopted families.
This is a lovely idea. It makes me want to increase our efforts. As much as I love playing Santa for low-income school children, I’d like something more hands-on. Hmmm
oh yes, please include me! i would love to have fresh ideas for projects for the kids and i to work on.
What a wonderful idea. My girl scout troop learned how to knit & crochet and we did a blanket for Warm Up America. I don’t think they realized what they were doing at first and when that blanket was done it was…..um, interesting. But it was made with love.
I love the idea of donating handmade items in general, but this is so wonderful.
We plan on giving some groceries to the Food Bank.
What a lovely idea! We always choose a child or two from our Salvation Army tree to gift at Christmas. The kids have so much fun choosing gifts and imagining the kids who might receive them.
I love the owls. We are trying to celebrate Christmas this year with fewer things and more of ourselves. Making owls may be the perfect activity!
What a wonderful project for you and your girls!
We’ve “adopted” two children through a local Head Start program. They are the same ages as our children. (A 4 year old boy and a 9 month old girl.) Our son is having a lot of fun choosing new coats and a toy for each child. His favorite part though was choosing shoes for the little girl. He had us try them on his sister to be sure they would be “just right”. Funny what captures their interest most. I thought it would be the Transformer that the little boy asked for!
This book looks wonderful and I love that you are giving your littles such great lessons about doing for others. I love my copy of Knitting for Peace!
I love sewing for others! I am thinking about joining a quilting group that gets together to sew quilts for needy families. I would love to add this book to my collection!
thanks for the give away!
Simply beautiful Erin. I love that you and your girls made these together.My girls are the same age…I can see a similar collaboration for us sometime.Thanks for the inspiration
What a wonderful book! I would love to win it. My husband and I volunteer at a free health clinic in our area and love it.
What an awesome book, I have done some work with Quilts of Valor and would be interested finding out other outlets to donate.
This year I am giving away my surplus of maternity and baby clothes to the local women’s shelter along with some diapers and other goodies.