Looking Back at 2008

It's been an interesting year. Even with breaking my wrist I was able to make over 800 items for charity. I will admit that some of the items were pretty small like granny's daughters and yo-yo's.but I also finished blankets, sweaters, hats, scarves and more.
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I started off the year making lots of sweater sets for South Africa, more sweater sets and hats went to the Inuits in Canada. I sent more items to Pine Ridge Reservation and Cooper Hospital in Camden, NJ. I made squares for blankets and until I broke my wrist I was joining squares for my All_Crafts_4_Charity group.
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As the year ended I was collecting hats and scarves to be sent to Kosovo. I have pictures of the children in their new winter wear here.
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On a personal note, my older son graduated from college and starts his new job next month. My baby boy has another year to go. My grandsons are growing like weeds (I broke my wrist at the youngest ones eighth birthday party, those kids probably heard a few words they shouldn't have but I really can't remember, I was in a lot of pain). My daughter and son-in-law helped a lot during my convalescence as did my youngest. One of these days I'm going to get them all together for a family picture and I'll be sure to post it.
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Wishing you all a Happy New Year!!

My Mess

My craft room is a horrible mess, I've really got to do something about it. I have so many small balls of yarn and partial skeins it is unbelievable. This bin is only a small part of it. Part of the problem is that I buy most of my yarn at thrift shops. I also get donations from other crafters of their partial skeins. My favorite place to "shop" for yarn is a place called Leftovers which recycles other crafters leftovers i.e. partial skeins.
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So my goal for 2009 is to use up as much as I can. Since I am setting my charity goal for 2009 at 1000 items and I can make small items like yo-yo's and granny's daughters a lot of these can be made with all these small balls. Maybe I should make a separate goal for the little things? Anyway I am going to break up the goal and say I am going to use up a binful every month! Not only that but I'm going to cheat and start on January now.
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Someone asked about Leftovers, they do not currently sell online but they have an online catalog under developement. If you live anywhere near St Charles, MO be sure to check them out. They have a website you can check out.
Leftovers Etc.

My Where to Donate Blog

One of my readers just wrote and asked me if I knew of anything near Syracuse, New York such as a childrens hospital to donate to. I don't know about anything for sure so if anyone knows please email me at debsstuff1955 (at) yahoo (dot) com. If you know of any local charities you support I'd be more than happy to add them to the list!

Where to Donate

Merry Christmas!

A very Merry Christmas to all my readers who celebrate the holiday! On this holiday while we open presents and spend time with our families, let us not forget those who are less fortunate than ourselves. There are so many worthwhile projects to craft for. No matter what your craft or what you like to make there is a need for your items somewhere. Maybe you can take this time between Christmas and New Years to decide what your goals are for crafting in 2009. Perhaps decide which charities you want to donate to or just decide what you'd like to make and find where the needs are as they come up.
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I haven't yet acheived my goal for 2008 because a broken wrist put me out of commission for three months but my goal was 1000 items and I've made over 800 so that wasn't too bad. I'm setting my goal for 1000 items again and hoping that I'll be able to reach it. I did make an awful lot of small things, hair pretties, squares and granny's daughters to get it that high and probably will next year, too. So a thousand isn't quite that daunting!

Pictures from Kosovo

Here's the first pictures from Kosovo that Dave sent. Many of the children have recieved a hat, scarf and/or mittens from the items we were able to stuff in Dave's duffle bag. See if you can see the things you donated! If you can't find your items they may be in the batch we're shipping.

I want to thank everyone again who has sent warm items for the kids. We are still collecting warm hats, scarves and mittens to send over so if you would like to contribute please email me at debsstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com

New Contest!!

The winner has been chosen and posted here.

One of the online charity crafting groups I belong to, Crafting 4 A Cause, has a store that members contribute craft supplies, hand crafted items and more, to be put up for sale to earn money to buy propane for the families on the Pine Ridge Reservation. This contest is a very transparent ploy to bring attention to that store. The prize will be a $5 "gift certificate" to the Crafting for a Cause store. To enter all you have to do is browse through the store and tell me in a comment to this post what you liked the most or what caught your attention. On January 3rd I will choose one entry to win the "gift certificate".

GRADUATION!!!!!!

I know I don't talk about my life or my kids often but I also know I've metioned that I have two boys in college. Well, now it's only one, today was the big day and the end (almost) of all the hard work. Today my son Sean graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in Urban and Population Geography. Although I'm still not quite sure what that is, obviously his new employer does and finds it of value. I am so proud of him, he worked very hard to reach this point.
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That's one down and one to go. My youngest, my baby (Ok so he's 21 and 6' tall, he's still my baby), graduates next year.

On Their Way to Kosovo!!

Dave and all the donations are on their way to Kosovo! They had a short layover in Germany which is where they are right now and will soon be flying to Kosovo. Here's some pics of the last four donations: Chris in Utah sent these great crocheted scarves!!

K. P. in Michagan sent a couple knit hats and some school supplies.

These neat knit hats and awesome scarf are from Cindy in Florida!

And this great collection of hats, with a pair of mittens and a neck warmer come from Susan in CA.

And More Donations!

Kathleen in MD sent these very warm looking hats, and yes Kathleen we will continue mailing things at least through January.

Joyce F. from Louisiana sent these great squares for me to join into a scarf as well as a very purple hat and scarf set!

A Swing Set for the School

The next project for the soldiers in Kosovo, after building a woodshed and painting the school, is to build a swing set for the school house. The problem is they can't get the nuts and bolts they need in Kosovo. Dave and several others who will be going back to Kosovo carrying the nuts and bolts they need for this project. So Dave will be taking nuts, bolts, hats and scarves back with him. Everything he can't take back with him we will be mailing. The post office has a special rate for Priority Flat Rate boxes that are going to our military members overseas so we will be seeing just how many hats and scarves we can stuff into a box! We are hoping that we will have another POC after Dave has come home so we can continue to send things over for the school.

More Hats!!!

These hats were sent by Connie in MN! I can't find her email address so I hope she sees this so she knows I recieved them. They are really nice and comfy warm hats. Thank you so much Connie!

More Donations for Kosovo Kids

Jennifer from Nebraska sent these two great hat and scarf sets. Thank you so much Jennifer, they're very warm and toasty.

Jane K. in Florida sent these awesome items. A beautiful blanket, sweater and four great hats. Thank you Jane.

Cherri in NY sent these beautiful items. A hat and mitten set, a scarf and more hats all really nice. Thanks Cherri!

Dave is Home from Kosovo

His wife, who just happens to be my boss, is very, very happy. And as we all know, when the boss is happy, everyone is happy! He looked over what we have collected already and liked it all. He was telling me it was -2 degrees F when he left there. He also said that these kids really do walk to school in several feet of snow, just like our grandparents claim they did. These kids really do need the hats, scarfs and mittens that we are sending them and I would love to be able to send enough so every child in that school would have something! Dave will be going back next Sunday with as much as he can take but we will still be sending packages to him until his tour of duty is over, I will probably be mailing up to the end of January, so if you can find the time to make just one extra scarf, hat or pair of mittens for these kids it would be great!
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Please email me at debsstuff55 (at) yahoo (dot) com

Another Great Donation for the Kids

These are only a part of the great items that were in the box from Christina P from IN. There were hats, scarfs, a vest and a couple of small purses for the little girls. Thank you so much Christina for thinking of the kids in Kosovo!