Sharing the Love Locally

At this time of year I always have a lot of fun shopping for gifts for myself and others. I love the decorations in the stores and the sometime frantic searching for just the right present for a certain somebody. I also love shopping for things to donate to the Marines' Toys for Tots and the Salvation Army's Angel Tree. There are lots of national programs that provide opportunities to make someone's holiday a bit brighter. Two local programs have captured my attention this year and I would like to share them with you. I am sure there are other programs here and elsewhere but these two make me smile ... a lot!

One Yard Hugs

My favorite quilt shop, Sun Flower Quilts, has partnered with one of their customers to provide blankets to infants at the local charity hospital. A One Yard Hug is one yard of cotton flannel with the edges finished. While Jo-Ann's had their flannels on sale I picked up a bunch and finished them up the other day. Here is the stack that I will be delivering this week (including two from a friend who found some cute flannels while cleaning out her sewing room):

One a side note, when I make these I tend to have a pile of unfinished ones on one side of my sewing chair and a pile of finished ones on the other side. As I was finishing up I noticed I couldn't find the ones with the purses printed on them (on the upper right in the picture). I searched around and found that Kimora had taken those and made a bed out of them for herself. Girls and purses... who knew that need occured in all species?

Donations of one yard hugs are due by December 20th.

Homeless Kid Art Supplies

Sew Crafty Houston is gathering kid freindly art supplies for the Mother/Daughter Craft Club to package for kids at the Star of Hope Mission. They are looking for glue, scissors, felt, markers, colored pencils, paper, cotton balls, pipe cleaners and anything else you think a kid would like to use in making something. I think this is a terrific idea and have begun to gather a few things here that I know I won't be using like acrylic felt squares and some kid themed fabrics... all bought ages ago and never used up in other projects. One of my best memories of my son when he was much younger was how he could lose himself in little art projects. How much better it would be for a homeless kid to have that same experience rather than worrying about such adult concerns as food, clothing and shelter? Donations are due before December 21st.

These are just two ideas for sharing the love locally. I am sure there are more but these are the ones I am supporting this year. How about you?