A Little Gingerbread Cheer...

I love the 577 Foundation. Since moving to northwest Ohio, it has become one of my favorite destinations. Established by local philanthropist Virginia Secor Stranahan, the 577 Foundation offers all kinds of creative courses and opportunities that are in line with 577's mission of providing community offerings that are "educational, environmental, experimental--and fun" . I've taken Chinese cooking classes, courses on composting and winter gardening, and ceramics classes, including a recent workshop where we learned how to make these cute gingerbread house (out of clay) which we "personalized" with our own creative touches. With a little votive candle tucked inside to illumine this little cottage on cold and cozy winter evenings, I will treasure this little craft for years to come! Thank you, 577 Foundation--you all are fabulous!

www.577foundation.org

Have Yourself a Merry Fair Trade Christmas...

A Nativity--made out of recycled materials. From the Philippines, purchased at 

Georgette's Grounds and Gifts. www. georgettes.org

The Nativity--with the Virgin Mary in a sari, compliments of the fair trade gift shop at Grailville. www.grailville.org. 

Peace dove ornament carved from a large seed. 

www.tenthousandvillages.org

South African Christmas Angel (complete with cool sunglasses). 

www.artaidsart.org

Giving the Gift of Crafting...

This year we're "getting creative" with our holiday donations for those in need. Mercy College of Northwest Ohio student Bobbi Schelkun is seeking donations of yarn and knitting supplies to teach the kids at Toledo's Padua Center how to knit Christmas gifts for their parents. Padua Center, sponsored by the Catholic Diocese of Toledo, is a community based presence reaching out by empowering people at all stages of life to achieve their maximum potential through education, counseling, support and community involvement...as well as, apparently, through learning a craft.

So, instead of sending a check, we went out and bought "kid size knitting needles" and enough yarn for two or three simple projects such as hats and scarves. We are pleased to support a project that teaches urban young people an enjoyable and useful craft skill, but we also want to encourage and applaud Bobbi for her innovative and imaginative use of her crafting talents to help "craft a better world".

Bobbi also wants to start a Project Linus chapter at her college. Donations or inquiries can be directed to Nancy Surella, Community Partner Liaison, Mercy College, at (419) 251-1411.

This holiday season, consider funding a grass roots craft initiative as part of your holiday giving to those in need. Consider sharing information about your project with us.

www.paduacenter.org

www.projectlinus.org

Georgette's Grounds and Gifts

Consider doing some holiday shopping at Georgette's Grounds and Gifts of Maumee! This is a great little store, with a great little story.

Georgette's Grounds and Gifts is one of the many projects that have been born of The Sunshine Children's Home. Founded by Georgette and Roy Engler, a local couple who raised five disabled children and vowed to begin an organization to help the disabled and their families have access to vital services, The Sunshine Children's Home currently has sixteen group homes and serves 110 clients living in their own homes, all of whom have disabilities and many of whom have Downs Syndrome. The Sunshine Children's Home not only provides basic services, but works specifically to offer a great quality of life for the disabled and their families, and values and creates meaningful employment opportunities for those with disabilities. Georgette's Grounds and Gifts, a coffee shop and fair trade store in downtown Maumee, is such an opportunity. On any given day, you can visit the store and find several of Sunshine Children's Home's clients assisting customers and keeping the premises sparkling clean and inviting. The atmosphere is warm and cozy, their food is great, and just being there invites you to slow down and remember the good things that life is all about.

Georgette's serves fair trade coffee, as well as sells the coffee by bulk. The fair trade store sells gorgeous crafts, soaps, jewelry, CDs from around the world, and, at this time of year, lovely creches and Christmas ornaments. You don't have to live in northwest Ohio to shop at Georgette's; many of their products are displayed online. 

Check out the following web sites:

www.sunshinefnd.com

www.georgettes.org

Renee's Quilted Creations

While I was on retreat at Grailville, I had the good fortune to attend a seminar given by the Reverend Dr. Renee Keels, on spirituality and quilting. Not only did several of us have a wonderful time assembling "mini quilts" and experiencing the quilting process as a sort of meditative prayer practice, but we all became acquainted with Rev. Renee's gorgeous hand made bags.

Many of her "black and white bags", as she calls them, have vibrant accent colors to off set the blacks and whites. She also does beautiful bags made by wrapping fabric around, of all things, clothe line rope, and then sewing the ropes in basket style hand bags, like the one shown above.

Be sure and check out Rev. Renee's hand bags online at www.reneesquiltedcreations.com . You can order bags, specialty liturgical stoles, housewares and quilts from her website.

I'll Be There...Will You?

The Holiday Open House at the Polish Art Center in Hamtramck features their annual szopka (handmade Christmas altars) competition plus, music, hors d'oeuvres and nice things to buy for the holidays while helping Polish artisans.

Remember, our sisters and brothers in Eastern Europe are still emerging from decades of economic, artistic and spiritual oppression. Buying their gorgeous arts and crafts is a way of helping Eastern Europeans get back on their feet. 

Holiday Open House

Saturday, November 21 11 am-5 pm

Sunday November 22 11 am- 5 pm

Polish Art Center 

9539 Joseph Campau Boulevard

Hamtramck, Michigan 48212

www.polartcenter.com

More Double Duty Donations...

Every fall I order socks from our friends at Kullakas women's knitting cooperative down in La Paz, Bolivia, to give to various charities. This year, I ordered the socks through Nest, a not-for-profit organization helping women's crafts cooperatives, founded and operated by Rebecca Kousky. Rebecca has graciously agreed to highlight Kullakas products. A small percentage of the sales from Kullakas goes to Nest, to help Rebecca give funding to even more women's crafts cooperatives so they can buy essential supplies and get "off the ground and running" as a business.

The socks will be going to a local charity this year, Hannah's Socks. Hannah is the cutest little girl you could imagine, with her own not-for-profit to boot! Hannah served at a soup kitchen with her parents on Thanksgiving, and saw that one of their guests was not wearing socks even though it was freezing outside. She told her mother she'd like to give the man her own socks so he could stay warm. Hannah's Socks took off from there, collecting and distributing over 40,000 pairs of socks to individuals in need in both Toledo and Cincinnati. 

So, once again, we thank Kullakas for providing us with hand knit, ultra-warm socks, to provide in turn to those in need.

Check out these two really wonderful organizations:

www.buildanest.com

www.hannahssocks.org