Invites!

Friends of ours are getting married and the bride to be asked for my help with the invitations. So I gathered up some extra supplies and a few of the gals from church and we had an invitation party! We had people cutting tulle, trimming photos, punching corners, we had flowers being cut out, things being glued down and in place. Even her son got in the action.

Michelle the lovely bride to be!

(Modeling the scissors that matched her invitations :)

Even her son wanted to help!

(He figured out the Fiskars LED trimmer in no time!)

Many hands make light work!

There are a few keys to a project like this. 1) Organization--make sure you have your project planned out and have things broken down into manageable steps. 2) Supplies--make sure you have enough for everyone. If you have two different steps that use scissors, you don't want people to have to wait around because you don't have enough pairs. 3) Have fun!--making multiple items like this can be tedious, make sure to try and keep things upbeat and fun. Have music playing or just keep the conversation going you can even provide snacks/drinks (be sure to remind people to wash their hands before returning to work.)

Any chore can be turned into a fun task when you share with friends. With a bit of organization and a few extra supplies you can turn what could be a tedious job into a party!

Shoeboxes!

Seventeen years ago Samaritan's Purse started a ministry called "Operation Christmas Child" the idea was to pack a shoebox with simple gifts; personal care items and school supplies and give those shoeboxes to hurting and needy children all over the world with the message of the good news of God's love for them. That first year my son was a baby and we did one box. The 2nd year I had 2 kids so we did two boxes. As our family grew we did more boxes to correspond with each child till one day those kids said "mom lets do more!" So we did 5 boxes. Then one year one of the kids said "Ya know mom, this would be great for shoeboxes, we should save stuff all year round so we can do more." That year we did 22 boxes. The next year I got my church involved, we did 30 something boxes the first year. The following year I had another gal start saving stuff all year round and we filled 70 something. The numbers kept growing till last year we did 276 boxes! And still...

Our numbers kept growing.

As our numbers grew I needed to find creative ways to support our projects. Being part of the crafting community I looked there for help. Scrapbook Expo allowed us to run their baggage check and collect supplies and have raffle tickets for a gift basket from At the Blue Barn and a new "Scrap-n-Easel" from Contain ya crafts. Many of my scrapbooking friends came out to help at the expo as well. Local crafters came out to an event again donating supplies for boxes and buying raffle tickets for another fabulous gift basket. Plus companies such as Unibind, Creative Options, Epiphany Crafts, Craftwell, Xyron, Fiskateers, Hydrangea Hippo, Contain Ya Crafts, Faithfully Yours, MemoryWorks consultant Kemi Foresteri, Close to My Heart Consultant Lori Brown, October Afternoon and more donated make and take items, door prizes, and goodie bag items to the event! All these events (and then some) helped gather not only supplies but funds to purchase supplies and help offset the cost of shipping shoeboxes.

It's no secret, I love doing shoeboxes. It's such a simple way to reach out. Things we take for granted like soap and a toothbrush are some of the kids favorite gifts to receive and for some kids this is the first present they have every received in their lives! I also love shoeboxes because of what it allows me to do within my community. When someone decides to be a missionary to another country. They start raising support, gathering their supplies etc. They get sent on their trip and we hear about it when they get back. With coordinating shoeboxes I get a chance to encourage my church, family and friends to be missionaries right where they are at!

It's incredible to be able to help kids not just my kids or my church kids, but my nephews, and friends kids and even other kids in the community to take that step to look beyond themselves to reach out to others. It's a privilege to be able to hear "wow this was so much fun...I love helping, I can't wait to do it next year." and "I'm so glad I came, knowing that one more child gets a present cause of what I did is AWESOME!"

Well I can spill the beans! This year we packed 351 shoeboxes!!! Thank you again to everyone that helped make this possible!!!

Welcome Home Heros!

My family and I were privileged to take part welcoming home some local heros. The 6 men and 1 woman were retuning Afghanistan. Also being honored were 2 of their fallen comrades. I am so thankful for the sacrifices the men and women of the armed forces make for our freedom. They are away from family and loved ones, and some even give up their lives! Considering I spent most of the afternoon in tears I'll just share some of our afternoon in photos instead!