bracelets & soccer balls - the update!

wade and i are 2 weeks out from the marathon (yikes!).
then we're 2 weeks out from my little brothers wedding.
and then we'll be 2 weeks out from ethiopia.

exciting!

and making it even more exciting ... we've started to get soccer balls + bracelets in the mail for our trip. we've had an awesome response. i love putting this blog into action.

soccer balls from mama bear. and a little arm party for a very good cause!

(don't worry - i just put them on for the picture!)

i love getting snail mail - especially when it includes an envelope full of gifts for the kids of the awassa children's project! these amazing bracelets are from one of my sponsors this month - bonny bee designs on etsy:

the summer after bonnie's junior year in college, she volunteered in tanzania for 5 weeks. while she was there, she taught women at the community center how to make bracelets so that they could sell them. one of her new friends made her a bracelet and she put it on that day (over 4 years ago). worn and a bit smelly, she reluctantly took it off for the first time earlier this month. and then she read our post about our trip. she emailed and volunteered to make bracelets for the kiddos ... some w/ the very same cord she had bought in tanzania.

we're so very grateful for her sweet bracelets and the time it took her to make them! please check out her etsy store and support her w/ us! and of course - message me if you'd like to get involved too!!! there's still time!

speaking of bracelets - have you heard of band for good?

my friend faith brought me one of these bracelets over the weekend. and i love it! i love the bright colors - but even more i love that it is fashion w/ purpose.

each year, off the mat - a program bridging yoga and activism - sponsors an international service project called the global seva challenge. these off the mat global wristbands support local artisans in thailand and otm’s 2012 seva challenge focusing on rehabilitating women and children involved in sex trafficking in India and worldwide. check out the offthematintotheworld.org and globalwristbandproject.com for more information and to purchase your own!

{simple things} mayday + spring clean w/ purpose

happy (belated) mayday, folks!

{new yorker magazine, may 1941 per woof nanny}

they say "april showers bring may flowers". i'm praying this is true this spring. many of you know that april was miserable for much of the south. devastating storms claimed more than 300 lives and destroyed thousands of homes across six states in the southeast. while we were spared, so many were less fortunate.

plan to spring clean? this weekend i plan to give the closet a once over. clothes4souls (a divisions of soles4souls) is currently collecting clothes to distribute to communities devastated by the recent tornadoes. check out their website for details on how you can help and where to send your clothes/donations.

{click here for more info}

and i couldn't blog today w/out a little shout out ... a very happy birthday to my dad. i know my crafty little blog isn't really up your alley ... but if you do happen to catch this know that i'm thinking of you RIGHT THIS SECOND. and i love you very much.

{simple things} craft hope

have you heard of the site craft hope? one of my favorite bloggers, ashley ann at under the sycamore did a post this morning about participating in the most recent craft hope project which reminded me of this sweet cause. their mission is to help crafters (like us) share handmade gifts w/ those who need them around the world. currently they are on project 12.

a few heartbreaking statistics:

• more than 1 million orphans are waiting for a home in russia.
• in russia, 60% of girl orphans become prostitutes and 70% of male orphans become hardened criminals.

for this project, craft hope is partnering with orphan outreach. they will be working at st. petersburg’s crisis center 15 - a center for children ranging in age from infant to teen who have been abused, neglected, or abandoned. craft hope is encouraging crafters to make bracelets to be given out during the trip!

i'm definitely on board - and since the rain won't go away ... i'll make good use of my couch time! and bonus: i'll share a little tutorial later this week w/ my bracelet of choice.

interested too? check out craft hope now! :)

the busy housewives club ...

wade has an old picture of gallatin that we've recently hung over our desk in the bedroom. gallatin, tennessee is his hometown ... & it's full of sweet memories from his childhood. the picture is a nice reminder of who he is and where he comes from.

we decided a few months back that it would be really special if we had a a picture of where i came from as well. but i'm a transplant to nashville, and before that i was a transplant to petersburg, illinois. (i love my parents home and in all honesty - i'm sure i could find a BEAUTIFUL picture of petersburg from long ago. it's a very historical town. but it's not really home.)

so i decided to go in search of a picture from my grandma's hometown - martinsville, illinois.

the last time we were visiting grandma's house, we came upon the "history of martinsville, clark county, illinois illustrated - an official sanctioned sesquicentennial project." {that's a mouthful.} it was printed in 1983 at the celebration of martinsville's 150th anniversary (1833 - 1983).

we not only found the perfect picture:

... but i found out a little something about myself.

meet my great grandma ... ethel hardway:

ethel was a founding member of martinsville's busy housewives club.

50 years earlier, in june of 1932, she and a group of women gathered to meet the needs of any hard pressed family in town. those were the desperate days of the depression ... and they would spend their afternoons together making quilts, clothes, and dinners for those in need.

i love this! the apple doesn't fall far from the tree ... my mom & grandma are just like our matriarch ethel hardway. and my sisters and i are all busy busy busy bodies. (ask wade ... it's very exhausting at times.) i especially love how despite hard times all around - she gave back. such a reminder of purpose. :)

maybe we should start a new club.

speaking of ... so much to do!!! cookies to bake tonight for tomorrow's cookie swap. and 3 {craft}ernoon/christmas presents i'm wrapping up. {no pun intended. hee hee.} do you know the trouble with having a craft blog in december? everything you are making is likely a gift for someone. it makes keeping secrets really hard!

xo.

ho ho ho-ly cow ...

... i think i have just now caught up on sleep (and obviously blog posts!). i had a great time @ our freshman + sophomore calvin house sleepover this past weekend.

there was plenty of junk food:

and of course manicures:

but no sleepover is complete without FACIALS!

i love my girls! :) they are too too too funny.

tomorrow is felt friday ... and that means i need to get busy tonight! between christmas parties and work functions, i've fallen behind.

give blood ...

get camo?

ONLY IN TENNESSEE! ;)

{i also have a massive headache. think the boss will think i've gone crazy if i lie on the floor with my feet above my head? can you say "more vacation time"?}