I am a Grandma who loves to entertain, and when I do, I love to have pretty serving dishes. I found these at Celebrating Home, a home party plan. These beautiful salad plates are part of the Somerset Song Collection. I love the whole collection, but these little plates just caught my eye. $44 for a set of four.
For many years when my children were growing up, I was their Girl Scout leader. We did many fun activities, and went on many trips and camping four times a year. But, we also did many service projects, including making Christmas Stockings for the local fire department to deliver to needy families, and packing food boxes to deliver as well. These community service projects became a tradition in our family, and taught my children to give to others and to be compassionate. They are now in their late thirties, and they are still serving their communities with service from their hearts.
Operation Christmas Child is expecting to reach a milestone this year, with more than 100 million children receiving shoe box gifts since 1993. They hope to collect more shoe box gifts this year to reach as many children as possible.
One way you can participate, even if you have no children at home anymore, is through the virtual Build-A-Box website. There, you can fill your box online, and make a donation to Operation Christmas Child. It’s very easy to do, and will help a child somewhere in the world have a happier Christmas.
Instructions on how to pack a box at home:
1. Use an empty shoe box (standard size, please) or a small plastic container. You can wrap the box (lid separately), but wrapping is not required.
2. Determine whether your gift will be for a boy or a girl, and the child’s age category: 2-4, 5-9, or 10-14. Print out the appropriate boy/girl label shown below. Mark the correct age category on the label, and tape the label to the top of your box.
3. Fill the box with a variety of gifts that will bring delight to a child.
4. Please donate $7 or more for each shoe box you prepare to help cover shipping and other project costs.* You can give online, or you can write a
check to Samaritan’s Purse (note “OCC” on memo line) and place it in an envelope on top of the gift items inside your box. If you or your family are
preparing more than one shoe box, please make one combined donation.
5. Place a rubber band around each shoe box and lid and drop off at the Collection Center nearest you in mid-November. For locations and dates, call 1-800-353-5949,or visit www.samaritanspurse.org/occ. You can also send your shoe box gift to:
Samaritan’s Purse/Operation Christmas Child,
801 Bamboo Road, Boone, NC 28607
This holiday season build a box with your family to teach kindness, compassion, and generosity.
BlogFrog will match the first 200 boxes that are built. Pledge your commitment below to build a box today on Facebook or Twitter!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Operation Christmas Child. The opinions and text are all mine.
This holiday season build a box with your family to teach kindness, compassion, and generosity.
BlogFrog will match the first 200 boxes that are built. Pledge your commitment below to build a box today on Facebook or Twitter!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Operation Christmas Child. The opinions and text are all mine.
World Vision is a charitable organization that helps children, families, and communities by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.
Years of research show that children living in poverty are more likely to underachieve in school, experience health and behavioral problems, and remain in poverty for another generation. World Vision serves those vulnerable youth through programs that empower young people. We also help struggling students receive free tutoring from trained volunteers, expand the capacity of child-focused organizations already serving in communities, and distribute critical gift-in-kind products.
Through decades of serving children and communities in poverty here at home and around the world, World Vision has developed proven practices to help children and families achieve life in all its fullness.
The work of U.S. programs:
- Helps youth gain leadership and critical-thinking skills, improve academically, and become strong advocates for their communities
- Equips community organizations and churches to produce effective academic mentors and tutors to low-income students
- Provides low-income youth and families with essential school supplies, personal hygiene items, and household cleaning products
- Helps families and communities by preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters
- Facilitates short-term mission trips for youth groups or family groups from around the U.S. to serve in under-resourced communities in rural America
With help from our partners, we serve children in urban and rural areas across the United States, giving young people hope for a brighter future.
World Vision works in many countries around the world as well, helping make the lives of children better in many different ways. You can make a donation to World Vision United States Programs, Sponsor A Child, Order a Gift from their catalog, or find many other ways to help here.
We have been plodding along, very slowly, towards getting moved into the house. All the planning we did over the last couple of years towards the goal of living in a house again “someday” have come together, if not perfectly, then close to it.
Although I am still not able to do much, our neighbors have been so helpful. Jill came over one day last week, and I told her what to move where. She did all the picking up and moving of “stuff”, putting in the right rooms, and even putting some things away where they go. It was exhausting for me just to walk back and forth between the trailer and the house, but we got about half of our things moved that one day.
Right now, we are to the point of just waiting for our bed to be delivered so we can move the rest of the way in. There doesn’t seem to us to be any point of moving the cooking stuff and coffee pot over to the house until we can sleep there. So, like I said, we wait. The lady from Sears said that all the iComfort mattresses are made to order, so they are just waiting for the factory to let them know it is ready.
Fabgrandpa has been busy putting furniture together (an entertainment center and a book shelf), putting up curtain rods, cleaning windows, and weatherstripping the doors and windows. I got him to move the sewing machine onto my desk for me and finally managed to get four panels made for the living room windows. I’m still not sure I like them, but I made do with fabric I already had on hand. I am thinking they need to have some sheers or blinds behind them. What do you think?
If your Grandma likes to travel, this is a very nice gift. The Travalo Perfume Atomizers are pretty and practical. Fill them with your favorite perfume and leave the big bottles at home. These each hold 5 ml, enough for up to 65 sprays when filled. The package comes with two atomizers and a nice carrying case for them, and retails for $49.99.
[Read more…] about Grandma’s Gift Guide: Travalo Travel Perfume Atomizers Giveaway
Fabgrandpa and I spent a season working in Gettysburg, and we fell in love with Pennsylvania. The state is gorgeous, with rolling hills and farms with red barns. But most of all, there was the food. We spent our days off visiting the local eateries, farm stands, and bakeries around the area. The Pennsylvania General Stores merchandise represents the state very well.
In celebration of Pennsylvania General Store’s 25th anniversary, proprietors Michael & Julie Holahan are featuring these special holiday food gift items, proudly made in PA:
· The Pennsylvania General Store Weekender ($89.99) This handsome wooden picnic hamper is chock-full of the some of our state’s most delicious specialty foods: Hand-rolled Uncle Jerry’s hard pretzels and Betsy Lantz’s Hot Sweet Dipping Mustard (both from Lancaster County); Ye Olde College Diner Stickie Buns (from State College); Café Excellence Coffee, Hope’s Cookies and Asher’s Keystone Crunch (all from Montgomery County); Society Hill Party Mix (from Philadelphia); and an assortment of chocolate-covered pretzels plus our own Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt candy bar, both made in Mifflin County. [Read more…] about Grandma’s Gift Guide: Pennsylvania General Stores Giveaway
Does your Grandma still love a good chic flic? Get her a copy of “Holiday Engagement“, a Hallmark Channel movie, will air on November 19 at 12a.m/11 p.m. Central. Starring Bonnie Summerville, Shelley Long, Jordan Bridges and Haylie Duff, it’s the story of HIllary Burns and her attempt to fool her family with a fake hired fiance, but she winds up falling for him in the end.
From the Hallmark Chanel website’s description of the movie:
Always struggling in life and love, Hillary Burns (Bonnie Somerville) constantly feels the pressure to marry from her demanding mother, Meredith (Shelley Long). Finally, this holiday season, she thinks she finally has it right. Hillary assures her meddling mother that her handsome new fiancé is coming to the Burns’ family home for Thanksgiving weekend to finally meet her crazy clan. But when the workaholic lawyer suddenly breaks up with her, Hillary has to scramble to find a replacement or risk facing her mother’s wrath. After posting an ad online, she hires David (Jordan Bridges), an out-of-work actor to pose as her fiancé in front of her mom, her dad (Sam McMurray) and her snobbish sister Trish (Haylie Duff). Soon, her fake engagement starts to feel real when she begins falling for David. Can Hillary find a way to turn this replacement into the real deal? Or will her overbearing mother find out the truth before the holiday is through?
Holiday Engagement is available for purchase on Amazon.com for $12.86, and it qualifies for free shipping with Amazon Prime. Add some popcorn or hot chocolate, and your stocking will be complete for a movie night.
I don’t know about your grandma, but this grandma loves girlie shoes. These pretty pink Gola Quotas just make me feel so good to be wearing shoes! They are manufactured in the United Kingdom, so the sizes run a bit small for Americans, but they are comfortable on my feet.
Gola has been making shoes since 1909. They have made football shoes and during World War Ii they manufactured boots for the British Army. I just know I love their pink sneakers.
These Gola Quotas retail for $69.99, and you can buy them online at Gola Store USA.
Want to win a pair? One winner will have their choice of a pair of Low Cut Union Jacks:
or a pair of Quotas in their choice of color, and there are lots of colors to choose from!
To enter the giveaway, just use the Rafflecopter Form below:
OH! and this giveaway is open to the United States AND Canada.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
