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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DIY Tinsel Pom Poms

I saw these tinsel pom poms at Target that I really wanted them, but they were kind of expensive to me at $4 for 2. I decided to make my own. I just got a strand of tinsel garland 15ft for $3.50 and made about 25 pom poms. I just cut about 2"strands, made a circle and stapled them together to make poms. It was super simple and easy.

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Christmas Cards

I love sending cards in general, but here are the Christmas cards that I sent out this year to family and friends. I put a lot of detail into my cards, so it feels like it takes me forever to write them. I've noticed most of the cards that we have been getting this year are picture cards with printed messages on them. Since most of our friends now have children there are always pictures of the kids. Since not all the post offices by us will hand cancel, I went to a different one that does on Greenbriar and Richmond. (which on a side note: the people at the Greenbriar and Richmond post office are really nice and not rude)

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Eco Holiday Tips

So I had every intention of writing more blog posts this month, but honestly work has been crazy and I just haven't felt like writing on here when I get home. I know this little post may be coming a little late, but here are some eco holiday tips you can follow. 

• If you shop online try to get a majority of your items from the same place so you can reduce the amount of packaging you use
• Make your own gifts i.e. scarves, mittens, jellies, pastries, etc.
• Plan your shopping trips so you don’t have to drive as much and ride your bike whenever possible
• Bring your own bags
• Try wrapping gifts with the comics section, reuse old paper maps, and spare scrap pieces of cloth
• Send holiday cards by using cards made of recycled paper or send e-cards
• Buy vintage gift items or gifts cards to reduce on the amount of packaging
•  Buy LED lights for the outside of your house and tree
• If you are using candles during the holiday season buy soy or beeswax candles
• Make or reuse your old decorations or if you must buy new ones buy from resale shops
• For parties buy or cater locally
•  Don’t use disposable plates, silverware, etc
•  Stay home instead of traveling
• Carpool whenever you can, especially if you will be making a lot of trips to the store

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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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Thanksgiving by Numbers

I found these Thanksgiving statistics from StatisticBrain.com to be interesting. 

Thanksgiving Holiday StatisticsData

• Total number of Turkeys that are consumed on Thanksgiving Day  51,000,000
• Total U.S. spending on Thanksgiving dinner food $2,375,000,000
• Average household spending on Thanksgiving dinner $54.18
• Average household spending on Thanksgiving weekend $302
• Number of families that will travel for Thanksgiving 39,000,000
• Number of places in the U.S. named Plymouth 37
• Average cost per pound of Turkey $1.15

Thanksgiving Related Food StatisticsData

• Average number of Turkeys raised in the U.S. each year 248 million
• Annual consumption of turkey by the average American 16 pounds
• Annual tons of green beans produced 656,340 tons
• Pounds of sweet potatoes produced annually 2.4 billion pounds
• Value of all pumpkins produced annually $117 million
• Pounds of cherries produced annually 266 million pounds
• Barrels of cranberry produced annually 7.5 million barrels
• Total value of turkeys produced in the U.S. annually $4.37 billion

Source: StatisticBrain.com 

DIY Thanksgiving Pinecone Wreath

For some reason this past year I have been into holiday wreaths. I really prefer simple wreaths. I was thinking of a Thanksgiving wreath that I could make or buy depending on if I found something that I really liked. I looked and looked and finally saw one online that was a simple all pinecone one. I had every intention of going to the park and picking up pinecones. Growing up I remember seeing pine trees everywhere, but now living in the downtown Houston area I rarely see pine trees in our neighborhood area. I was at Hobby Lobby picking up some crafting supplies and happened to see bags of pinecones for 80% off, so I ended up buying two bags for $2 each (which saved me time) and I bought the wreath form there as well and had a 40% off coupon, so it ended up being just a little over $2 for it. 

It was extremely simple to make. Literally all I did was hot glue the pinecones onto the wreath. It smells good because the bag of pinecones had cinnamon sticks in it as well. 

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