Craft Hope Project 9

Craft Hope's Project 9 is about to wrap up. The deadline for sending in pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer is Wednesday. I was holding off on mailing mine until the last minute, so that I could send as many as possible. I was off to a strong start on making pillowcases and then school started for Rachel...and then school started for Sarah....and hey, whoa, where'd those last few weeks go? In the past week I picked up steam again and was able to send 21 pillowcases. All the main fabrics came from my stash and I only about a few small pieces to use as the trim when I couldn't find anything in my stash that would work. Since it was mentioned that they are often running short on selections for boys, I concentrated mainly on making boyish pillowcases. This was a good way to use up an unusually large boyish stash of fabric for a person with two girls.

I got everything packed up per the organizations requests and popped them in the mail this afternoon. And while the deadline for the Craft Hope project is the 15th., ConKerr Cancer is always taking donations. This page will take you to a state listing, where you can search for organizers in your area, hospitals they work with, brick and mortar stores that serve as drop off locations as well as mailing addresses where you can send pillowcases. These really work up super fast and are such a good way to share a smile.

Craft Hope

I've talked about Craft Hope a few times before, and participated in a couple of their projects now. What an great organization this is, rallying crafters to craft for good causes. The momentum behind Craft Hope seems to be growing, as the last project was their largest yet, with over 70,000 rags being donated. Project 9 was announced this past week and I am so excited about it. They are asking for fun, colorful pillowcases for ConKerr Cancer, an organization that distributes these pillowcases to very ill children (and teens) while they are in the hospital. Just a little something to brighten their rooms and bring a smile to their face. I have so much juvenile fabric that I really didn't think I'd ever use, so Rachel and I got busy pulling pieces out of my stash right away so that I could get started. I whipped up three the first night. They are quick and easy. You can make whatever style you want (basic instructions here), just make it fun and out of 100% cotton. Craft Hope's website gives more details, as does the ConKerr site - should you be interested. After the fun we had at our rag cutting party, I am working on organizing a pillowcase party and will hopefully find a way to get the kids involved as well. Look for a link to Lark Crafts on Monday, as there will be an interview with Jade Sims of Craft Hope (her book is in stores now), and a photo from our cutting party is rumored to be showing up on the site as well.

Craft Hope for the Earth

We hosted a "cutting party" today and invited several of our friends from school to join us. Our school requires the kids to do at least one service project during the summer (as well as class projects during the year). I thought Craft Hope's current project, making wash rags that will be donated to several different organizations that are aiding in animal rescue and relief from the oil spill would be a timely project for the kids.

We had ten kids total and everyone brought old t-shirts, towels, sheets and fabric to cut. Many of the Mom's were happy to have an outlet for all the cast-offs that they'd been saving at home. I cut cardboard templates to the requested sizes so that the kids could trace them and then cut out the rags. When we were done cutting, the kids did a little math, sorting the rags into sets of ten.

Sharp scissors made for much easier work, we found, but regardless of the scissors, they kids had a great time working on this. In the end we had 360 rags cut with some families planning to go home and make more. We'll be sending four boxes out this week!

There were more piles on the other table, but we dared not mess up our sorted piles. We're so glad we were able to get a group together (on very short notice - my bad). When the work was done, the kids celebrated with ice cream cones. Honestly, my girls were so excited about this, you would have thought it was their birthday. Something to keep in mind when the birthday's do roll around!

Haiti

Haiti has been near and dear to the hearts of many people that I know for several years now. These photos were taken by my husband in Haiti about five years ago now. It's easy to remember when he went, as I was home pregnant with Sarah. He spent a week there with the Children's Nutrition Program (CNP), which works to fight malnutrition in Haiti. They have an incredible program called Hearth, which you can read more about on their website.

I have another friend who traveled to there a couple of years ago with The Cotting School, (which helps students with physical, learning and communication needs) where he works, to work with their sister schools in Haiti through Hearts with Haiti. And I have yet another friend who traveled there just last January with a church group to help with some building projects.

I have not talked anyone who has returned from a trip to Haiti that has not been moved by the spirit of the people there. In the face of constant adversity they persevere, laugh, love, smile and praise God. The news reports coming out of Haiti have shown this spirit, as even, without a church left standing in Port au Prince, people still gathered to sing, pray and worship.

So what do we do? I love this option from the American Red Cross - just text "Haiti" to 90999 and a $10 donation will be made to the American Red Cross and added to your bill. The organizations I mentioned above all have links and take donations as well. And here's one that makes me excited as well. Craft Hope has set up an etsy shop that is being filled day and night with donations from the crafting community. You can either shop within their store or donate something to be sold. All of the profits are going directly to Doctors Without Borders . I have donated the above set of seven note cards and am hoping to get a few more things made and ready to donate. You can get information on how to donate items via the Craft Hope website. They have already raised over $8,000!

So if you're still contemplating what you can do, hopefully one of the above links will speak to you.