Handmade Conference and Project Linus
This past weekend I was lucky to attend the Handmade Conference in Independence Ohio. The conference is a full three days of education for handmade artisans. This year, in addition to attending some great workshops, the Handmade Conference and Project Linus came together to do a philanthropic project. The attendees became “blanketeers” and we made 100 blankets for children in need.
It took me a few minutes to realize that Project Linus is named after the peanuts character Linus. Their headquarters is located in Missouri. There is a local chapter in Ohio where we were able to drop off the blankets. Project Linus delivers these blankets to children in hospitals, shelters, social service agencies, or anywhere there may be a child in need.
Wholesale Supplies Plus donated the material we needed and the patterns they chose were so appropriate. We had cars and trains, mermaids and rainbows. There was lots of bright colors and comforting fleece.
A few of us spent some time blocking out the fleece Friday so cutting and tying the blankets would move quickly Saturday night. Wholesale Supplies Plus hired a DJ for our entertainment and we even had some blanket karaoke going on.
We decided to stagger the volunteers so some of the attendees paid a visit to the Handmade Studio first and said they would be our second shift. They were disappointed when they found out we were finished when they got back. We had 100 blankets cut and tied in about 2 hours.
Holly Port of Lotion Bar Cafe was our fearless leader, working with Wholesale Supplies Plus to make sure everything ran smoothly.
It feels good to do something good for someone else. Cutting and tying the blankets gave me a real warm and fuzzy feeling. I’m grateful I had the opportunity to help. The mermaid blankets were my favorites. I can see the smile on the face of the little girl who receives it.
What are you grateful for this week?
Yours in Gratitude,
This blog reminds us all there are great people doing great things, one “blanket” at a time. Too often we have no idea how ‘we’ are assisting the planet in its revolution against hate.
True! It’s a small thing to do, but think how much better things would be if we all did something small. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Angela, hope all is well with you! Not sure if you remember me but was a former student of yours. And you were so right – am totally obsessed with soap making! Must be because I had such a great teacher! That’s so great you made those blankets at the conference. I hope to someday attend – it looks like so much fun. Take care. Jayne
Of courses I remember you Jayne! And I did warn you that soap making is addicting. 🙂 You’d love the Handmade Conference. Wholesale Supplies Plus does one every year, start planning to come next year! Making those blankets was so much fun, and knowing we did something good made it even better. Thanks for sharing.