Give Back: Texas Children's Hospital Valentine's Day Cards

I have posted about this several times before, but one of my favorite giveback projects I do every year is making Valentine's Day cards for Texas Children's Hospital. I love making them and it brings me so much joy. You can send a virtual card here. What  giveback projects bring you joy? 

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Happy #GivingTuesday!

Hey! Today is #GivingTuesday. For those who don't know, it is a global day of giving.  It happens on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving. For the past several years I have tried to gather toys for MD Anderson Children's Cancer Hospital. This year has been the best year yet. YAY!!!

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How to Organize a Card Making Party & Give Back

The last several years I have made tons of Valentine's cards for Texas Children's Hospital and it is SO fun! This year I thought I would post on how to organize your own card making party.

1. Choose a charity and/ or organization you want to make cards for. 
2. Decide on a date and location.
3. Invite guests.
4. Get supplies or asks guests to bring crafting supplies. I usually buy supplies in the dollar bins at Target, from Dollar Tree and use the tons of supplies that I already have at home. 
1. You will need cards. I have gotten the Valentine's that come in the boxes and I have made my own. If I make my own, I get A2 or A4 size blank cards in various sizes, designs and Valentine's colors like reds, pinks, whites, etc.
2. Scissors
3. Glue / Glue Sticks
4. Decorating supplies like stickers, foam stickers like hearts, washi tape, watercolors, markers, etc. I don't get a lot of glitter things because Texas Children's ask to not use much glitter.
5. Plan a small menu and drinks.
6. Make cards.
7. Have fun!!
8. Send off or deliver to charity and/or organization!

I saw this in another article and thought it was a great idea, choose some questions to discuss and reflect while you are making cards.

• What are you grateful for?
• What are some of your favorite charities?
• Why do you give back?
• What makes you the most happy about giving back?
• How do you like to give back the most?

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2016 Gift Guide: Gifts that Give Back

GlassyBaby: I have had GlassyBaby products and have been giving them as gifts for many, many years. They are absolutely beautiful.

Noonday Collection: Items from Noonday are largely created by women in developing countries and Noonday gives back to various communities and helps empower women.

FEED Projects: I have been a long time fan of FEED products and love their mission that each purchase benefits various causes.

Toms Shoes: Besides super comfy shoes, Toms gives a pair of shoes away to someone in need for each pair of shoes you buy.

Hibiscus Linens: It is no secret that I love Hibiscus Linens. I love their give back collection that they have.

Houston Zoo: Adopt an animal at the Houston Zoo. It is great to give back in the community.

Marie Mae: Each item purchased equals one hour of training in their business school, which is provided to businesses in emerging markets.

FashionABLE: There mission is to purchase items from those in poverty and helping their businesses grow.

The Ethical Silk Company: These eye masks are cute and a portion of the proceeds benefit Jeevan Jyothi AIDS Centre in Theni.

Harry's: These razor's have become popular in the last year or so and 1% of the proceeds benefit City Year's New York chapter.

All Across Africa: These baskets are beautiful. Items are made by artisans usually in rural Africa and AAA helps educate, connects producers and external markets, and helps provide a means of income for the artisans.

One Hope Wine: Besides being good wine, each purchase supports a different organization or cause. Feel good drinking the wine ;)

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Volunteering and Giving

Like I mentioned in the #GivingTuesday post, volunteering is something that I like to do when I have the time. During the holidays there are always organizations that are looking for volunteers. I know that the holiday season is almost over, but that doesn't mean you can't volunteer for various organizations. Check out volunteermatch.org, volunteerhouston.org or visit your favorite non profit. I volunteered for NAMI Houston gift wrapping at Barnes and Nobles (found through volunteermatch.org) and also I volunteered in crafts section for the MFAH Breakfast with Santa event. 

You can also give to various organizations. There are tons of non profits, but ones that I am fond of for personal reasons are Texas Children's Hospital and MD Anderson Children's Cancer Center. Either organization would love donations with products http://bit.ly/1doqyzZ & http://bit.ly/18ALzVh or monetarily http://bit.ly/1bVtQOk & http://bit.ly/19gzxnB. I also love giving to the World Wildlife Fund and the Nature Conservancy.

Here are some organizations that are always in need: 

• Toys for Tots
•  Habitat for Humanity
•  Blue Santa
• Local Hospitals
• Food Banks

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#GivingTuesday

Today is #GivingTuesday, which is a national day of giving at the start of the holiday season. There are various ways you can give to different organizations:

• Volunteer
• Donate money
• Donate items 
• Amazon has something called AmazonSmile that you can sign up for. I just found out about it yesterday and I use Amazon ALL the time. 0.5% of qualifying purchases will go to a charity that you chose from on Amazon. 

Today I am going to donate some children's books to Discovery Green for their Toddler Tuesdays. I am also planning on giving to and volunteering for some other organizations during this holiday season as well. There are several organizations that I like to volunteer with throughout the year and give monetary donations at the beginning of the year to various organizations. 

Do you have any organizations that you like to volunteer with or give to? 

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Tis the Season of Giving

This is the season where many people are in the giving spirit and do a lot more giving than usual. 

Common ways do give:

• Give your time and volunteer for various organizations
• Donate money to different charities
• Donate toys to various organizations that help children in need
• "Adopt" a child / family for the holidays
• In my case, a few weeks ago I cut my hair and donated it to Locks of Love

These are just a few ideas, but there is so much more you can do and it doesn't have to be just during the holidays, you can do it year round. 

In what ways to do you give either during the holidays or throughout the year?

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Photo Courtesy of: INABA