I really hope that you'll join me in making a difference through the projects and stick around for some great gift ideas too. You don't even have to be crafty! I will pick easy projects each month that you can do with your family.
Our first project:
Fleece Blankets for Hospice
Hospice is such a needed organization. They come in at the end of someone's life and help ease the tremendous burden from the family. They are needing fleece lap blankets for their patients.
I love this idea: to make one blanket, buy 2 fleece baby blankets at the Dollar Store (most $1 stores carry these). Tying two of the baby blankets together makes the perfect size and weight needed for adult lap blankets. So, basically, you're just putting the blankets together!
We bought ten blankets for $10 and this will make five blankets for Hospice. Our kids are helping too! You can do one or twenty. (If you don't have a Dollar Store near you, you can also get fleece at WalMart or any fabric store. One yard, should make about two lap blankets.
- Fringe the edges by cutting approximately 2" strips on each blanket.
- Lay them on top of each other and match up the strips to tie into knots.
- Repeat this on all four sides. Actually, I just showed a tutorial a few weeks ago, and here is another.
Project Deadline: Jan. 31 (please try to send them to be received by this date) because the next project will be announced the first week of February.
PLEASE tell me in the comments if you're participating. I won't actually announce the number of blankets until I receive them. But you can check back on my sidebar to see the ongoing count of received blankets.
When you've completed your blanket(s), please email me kristenwrites@yahoo.com and I will give you a p.o. box to mail it to. I will send all the collected blankets together in one shipment.
48 comments:
I will make one :)
I actually really really want to do this. As soon as I make a couple, I'll e-mail you!
I will do this, I'm not sure how many yet...can I let you know next week?
My Grandmother just passed on Christmas morning. Hospice came in and got her set up at home. The nurses were PHENOMENAL! I will be forever grateful for their kindness to my Grandma. I would like to give back.
How sweet! I would love to participate in that! It doesn't hurt either that I love a good dollar store craft!
What a great idea! I love how you are giving back - we try to do stuff like this as well. I would like to help - I'll let you know what we come up with!
I'm in.
I'll see if my students would like to do one large one. I think they'll enjoy the project and giving back.
This is a great idea! My dad just passed away in October and we received a prayer blanket for him that we kept over him until he was gone. It actually brought more to my mom, she still has it. Also, our family motto for this year is "2010...A Year of Service". Our family of 7 is trying to complete 2010 acts of service this year so this will be a great addition to our goals. Count us in!!
Oh my goodness! I just saw you're speaking at Blissdom!! Squee! I can't wait to see you IRL. Your blog is one of my top 10 favorites. I'm a total stalker...in a good way :)
I'd love to do this with my girls...not sure how many to tell you we'll contribute until I get to the store, though!
I just checked out the tutorial and a few people made comments about these blankets being called "Prayer Blankets." They said that when you make them, you say a prayer each time you make a knot for the person who is receiving it. I thought that was a really neat idea and right up your alley! It might even be neat to include a little note with each blanket letting the person know all about it. I think many people would find comfort knowing that so many prayers were said for them, don't you? I really love this idea! ;) I may even make some full-sized ones for friends and family members going through cancer right now...LOVE this idea (can you tell?)!!!
Thanks for including us in this new endeavor...I love to help and to be crafty, but am just not the best at coming up with ideas on my own!
I am going to swing by the Dollar Store today. My mother passed away in Oct. of 2009 after spending 3 weeks in Hospice. The organization is "phenomenal" as someone posted previously. Saying a prayer over the blanket is also a fantastic idea. My daughter could help me with this too! ~Lanie
P.S. Just a thank you for sharing and trying to make the world a little better.
Is there a way to get these directly to Hospice in my area? Do I just call local hospitals and ask them to direct me? I'd love to do this locally as well. Thanks for the generous idea!
Hi! That's such a sweet idea, we would really like to do it too! My mom and I will commit to making 5 blankets.
Amber and Samantha
I love this idea, I'm in :)
Great idea Kristen! We made two for Christmas gifts this year after I saw your entry about doing it with your kids. My kids would LOVE to participate in this so we'll gather the supplies by the end of the week. You can count on at least 2 from us.
Count us in for 3! My kiddos love volunteering and crafting; this is the best of both worlds!! :) I love that you're doing Do it For Others Projects! Can't wait to see what you come up with next! :)
We're in! What should the dimensions be? I already have some fleece we can use.
I will definitely make some; what a great way to help a great organization!
Count me in! My husband's best friend passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 39 a few months ago. Hospice took excellent care of him his last 2 1/2 weeks at home. They are amazing. I am thrilled to be able to do something tangible for them to help more people.
Count me in! My husband's best friend passed away from pancreatic cancer at the age of 39 a few months ago. Hospice took excellent care of him his last 2 1/2 weeks at home. They are amazing. I am thrilled to be able to do something tangible for them to help more people.
Hospice is amazing. Great idea. I will try to get to the dollar store and make some. Thanks for being such a great inspiration!
Count me in...we love these blankets around our house and my kids will love helping pick out the fabric!
I'm in! Can I just sew them together if I don't want to tie? I hope so since that's faster for me.
I love what you're doing! I'm going to get my Girl Scout Troop to pitch in on this! We will get at least 7 to you, xoxo
Thanks so much, y'all for doing this with me! To answer a few questions...the size of the blankets I found are 30x30 (but I'm sure they will accept any size!).
Yes, you can sew the ends, instead of tying them...when you're ready to ship them, please let me know. I'll try to update in a couple of weeks with a P.O. Box.
My girls and I would love to participate. Thanks for doing this!
My daughters and I will hit the dollar store tomorrow and see what we can find. I will make at least one. Great idea. Thanks.
I love this idea, and my 4 year old can help. I will make at least one, and update with how many after we give it a whirl. (I'm not the best crafty person, but love the sentiment!).
OK..this question is coming from an idiot crafter. Tying them together...is that the fringing and knotting process with them stacked?
My Nana is currently in hospice care. She's staying at my aunt's house, but they come in several times a week. They are really angels. I'd love to think of her having a comforting blanket like this. Thanks Kristen.
Yes, Bridget, stack the two blankets together, cut or fringe the ends and then match and knot/tie to join them.
And you can't be good at everything ;D
I'll let you know when mine are done. Today the $tree only had two blankets. I will try to pick up more - I would like to have enough for all of the kids to pitch in.
I love it. I'm in. Let's do this!
...quick question though. the fleece that they sell at walmart it SUUUUUPER thick. I'm talking doubley double thick. Can I just use one layer when using the thick fleece?
No dollar stores in Hawaii. sad sad sad.
Yes! You can use one layer of the SUPER thick fleece! No problem. Sorry about the Dollar Store, but it is Hawaii (I'd so give up the $1 store :D)
My family and I will participate in this project but i think we will do it locally. My grandfather passed away in Sept. 2008. He died 44 days after his cancer diagnoses. Hospice came in right away when the hospital sent him home to die. In his honor we will donate prayer blankets to the hospice that helped him & my family. Once I contact my mom to get the name I'll send you the info.
this is an awesome idea that a family can do together. God Bless You Kristen for coming up with this idea & getting us all to participate:-)
~Nicole
I've made one!
I'm sending you an e-mail now :)
Such an awesome idea. Thank you.
Hmmm...I might even have some fleece in my fabric stash. I'll take a peek and see. I'd love to participate in this. What a great idea Kristin!
Completely unrelated - I made one for my sister in law. She loved it...and it turned out really, really good!
This is such a fabulous idea. I've got the fleece for at least one blanket, so I better get busy!
Love it! I will get busy making some blankets :)
My kids and I just saw this and want to join in! We'll run to the store tomorrow and email you when we're done. They made similar blankets for Christmas gifts so they are excited to be able to help with a service project that is something they can do themselves!! THANKS!!
I love this love this love this! I bought fabric at Walmart today, hopefully it isn't too thick to tie, I'm not overly crafty, but when I told the kids what it was for, they got pretty excited. I'm gonna try to donate locally though...I'd like to post on my blog about the project, and would definitely link to you, but I don't want to steal your thunder...would you mind?
What a great project. I'm going to have our youth group help in this project so I'll have at least 5 to send.
What a fantastic idea! Count us in. I'll email you when ours are ready. Looking forward to the next 11 months projects as well. Thanks for doing this!
My daughters and I plan to make two! Love what you are doing with these do-it-for-others projects!
I was making 3 to send. I bought the blankets from the Dollar store and washed them first. It just dawned on me today that mine aren't fleece - they're very thin baby blankets. Do you still want me to send them just in case they could be used?
Shoot! I just missed the deadline! I love this idea though and I can't wait to see what the next project is!
:)
Oh!
I missed the January project, but I'm in for February - whatever it is.
What a great idea!
Disregard my question about this project. I see the deadline now. I'll try to keep up with the rest of your projects.
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