Stocking Stuffers with Purpose

When it comes to filling stockings, I am definitely guilty of quantity over quality, but I'm hoping to put that behind me this year, at least a little bit.  Here are some ideas to stuff those stockings with purpose.  Maybe Santa will catch on!



Candy - look for Fair Trade chocolates and organic candy canes. Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and online at The Natural Candy Store are good places to look. Think quality over quantity. Had my first taste of an organic candy cane with no artifical dyes this season and it was SO good. 

Ginger Baby models a BeadforLife bracelet and Shea Butter Soap

• These headwraps from Tukula
• Lipbalm or soaps from The Body Shop, Purple Prairie or BeadforLife.
• Mints or gum from Project 7
• A $5 bracelet from BeadforLife made from recycled paper.

• One of these cute L.I.F.E. jackets for your coffee cup.  Pick them up at Whole Foods or order online. 

  Please chime in with your own suggestions!

Christmas Cards, or lack thereof

I don't know how to address this (pun intended) without sounding like a Scrooge, but last year I didn't send Christmas cards.  Why? 

1. The time and the stress of taking and choosing THE right picture, layout and words. 
2. The cost of the cards themselves and the postage (we've moved a lot and have a long list of people on that list).
3.  I already post pics of my kids way too often already - it's not like most of these people haven't heard from me in a year.

Was it hard?  Yes.  I felt guilty with each card I received, but I did let all my friends on facebook know I wouldn't be sending cards out and why. 

Did I cheat?  Yes, a little.  I took an offer of 10 free Christmas cards from a card printing company and sent them to people that aren't on facebook like my grandma.

What did I do instead?  I took the money I would have spent on cards (which really adds up if you think about it) and I donated it to a charity.  We had more time to concentrate on the true meaning of CHRISTmas.

Am I doing it again this year?  You betcha!  Some ideas for where to donate that $$ you would have spent on cards are: 

• a local mitten tree, food bank or fuel bank
• SoleHope ($10 sponsors a pair of shoes)
• Amazima ministries

Are you in?  Comment below with your answers or suggestions for alternative uses for your Christmas card budget.

Give Thanks, Give Hope

Lots of family gatherings will be held in the next few months.  Hopefully they will be precious times with memories made.   These times are purposeful in themselves, but here are two ideas to spread the love a little.

Order a Holiday Shoe Party kit from Sole Hope.  After the big meal, gather around the table and cut out some shoes for kids that may never get a Christmas present or a warm Thanksgiving meal.  It can be ordered here from the Sole Hope store.  Sounds like the start of a great yearly tradition to me.

Maybe cutting shoes out isn't for you, or maybe you want to do even more! How about asking your guests to bring an item that Sole Hope uses in their jigger removals in Africa, such as: 

• large safety pins
• medical gloves
• gauze wrap
• emla cream (or other topical numbing cream)
• stickers for children
• monetary donations to purchase basins and soap in country.

Supplies should be sent to:

Sole Hope
P.O. Box 1492
Asheville, NC 28802

So c'mon, give thanks, give HOPE!

More Purposeful Party Ideas

So I promised to share more ideas from my sister's bridal shower, and here they are!

Go purposeful in your attire. How about a cute dress from Mata Traders? 

If you have gift baskets or prizes think purposeful again.  This is not only a good place to direct your resources to support purposeful companies but it is also a great way to spread the word about products most people know little about.  I did a coffee basket with Three Avacados coffee and included their information card and sticker in the basket.  I also had a throw blanket, chick-flick and bar of fair trade chocolate for another.


Again, I would love to hear your ideas! Please share!

Party with a Purpose

My youngest sister is getting married soon and as we began planning her bridal shower I started to think of ways we could "go purposeful"with the shower.   Not wanting to steal the spotlight from my sis on this important occasion, I ran all my ideas through her first, but she is a Social Worker with a heart for helping others so she was on board immediately. 

Donations in lieu of favors are one way and are becoming more popular at Weddings and showers.  We decided that instead of trinkets, we would make a donation to Sole Hope.  A cheap $1 favor in my opinion just makes for clutter and with a big guest list can get quite pricey.  We thought of what a real impact a $50 donation could make to Sole Hope.  That would sponsor 5 pairs of shoes! 

Here is what we came up with for our fall bridal shower. On the back side the mission of Sole Hope is explained.

 

Here are some tips/ideas for doing this for an event:

• Pick a cause or charity that is significant to the persons being honored or the occasion. 
• I wanted each person to go home with the Sole Hope name and mission so we did do individual favors and candy, but you could just print out a piece of paper stating that in lieu of favors a donation was made to xyz charity and place it in a pretty frame on the gift table.
• Consider a fair trade favor- chocolates or coffee.

Now for the best part!  I have 20 extra fall cardstock printed Sole Hope favors.  I will give them to the first person to make a $25 or more donation to Sole Hope, http://www.solehope.com/donate/  .  Please put in the comments of your donation "party favors - Carissa" , then in the comments below let me know you have done so (I will verify with Sole Hope) with your e-mail address and I will contact you and mail them to you.  Bags and candy NOT included.

Would also love your ideas or suggestions for ways to purposefully party!  More posts & pics to follow about the other things we did to make this shower purposeful.