Pincushion Surprise

Over at Craftster, there's always something fun going on; a few weeks ago a challenge was issued, to do some sort of Random Act of Crafty Kindness, and then post about it on the challenge board.  Here's what I did:

I made a TON of these cute little tie-on pincushions (based on these at the Better Homes and Gardens website).  Here they are, in-progress.

and I mailed one to each person who signed up for our Fabric Basket Swap. The picture below shows some of them, ready for mailing.  I sent them anonymously, but about half of the recipients knew they were from me!  (I didn't know it would be so obvious!)

The picture below shows the three stages of construction:
1.  Cut out 2 heart-shaped pieces from wool felt, and choose two scraps of felt for the leaves and flower.  I cut the leaves and flowers free-hand.
2.  With embroidery floss, sew the leaves and flower in place; add a button to the center of the flower.  Choose ribbon for the tie, and embroidery floss for the stitching around the edges, in a color that will add a little contrast.
3.  Blanket stitch around the edges.  When you come to the top of the heart, tuck in the ribbon and anchor it with a couple of extra stitches.  When there is only a small opening left to sew, stuff the heart with fiberfill, and continue stitching to close it up.
4.  Give it away, or enjoy it yourself!

These were a big hit with all who received them; their happiness and excitement made ME happy and excited!  It is so fun to do something nice and unexpected for other people!

If you didn't receive one of these from me but wish you did, you still have a chance!  Starting on March 17th I will be hosting a 7-day-long celebration of both my birthday (yeah, I was a St. Patrick's Day baby!) AND my 1-year anniversary of blogging (I started last year on March 28th) AND having 100 followers (okay, okay, as of today I only have 90...but that's pretty close to 100!).  For seven days in a row, I will be giving away stuff I have made and brand new fabric fat quarters to people who leave a comment on that days' post!  It's going to be great!  I can't wait!!

Call for Suggestions--CLOSED!

This has been a very exciting day for me! I just found out that the "Hope" Hearts Project (which some of you helped me with in November) has been recognized TWICE on Craftster:  first, as inspiration for the current "Random Acts of Crafty Kindness" Challenge; and second, as one of the "Best of 2011" winners!  (That's what the new badge on the top right of the page is for.)

These are the hearts we sent to Amanda, remember?

Now I would like to ask you, dear readers, for your suggestions for a "random acts of crafty kindness" project.  I know some of you are Craftster members yourselves, and you might be planning something--care to give us a sneak peak?  What I would really like would be any suggestions you might have as to how I could use this blog for a random act of kindness.  A giveaway of some kind?  A contest?  If you have an idea for me, please leave a comment below.  Thanks!

UPDATE 1/29/12:  I have decided upon my project for the Random Acts of Kindness Challenge and have started crafting for it.  Submissions are due on Craftster near the end of February, so I will post all the details of what I am doing, at that time, here on my blog.

Random Acts of Kindness

About a month ago, I posted about a "Pay-It-Forward" game for bloggers; the first 3 bloggers who commented on the post would get a gift from me, if they put the same post on their blog and agreed to send gifts to 3 people.  I felt bad that it was only for bloggers, so today I'm going to give EVERYONE the chance to get a little hand-made gift from me (except Susan, Kat and Helen--whom I love and encourage to do a random act of kindness!--you three are my Pay-It-Forward recipients, so feel free to comment on this post, but your comment won't count toward gift).

This time we're doing "Random Acts of Kindness".  I will send a random gift to anyone who does a kindness for someone and leaves a comment on this post.  Maybe it will be one of these zippered pouches:

Simply do something unexpected for someone, any time, anywhere, and then come back here and tell what you did in the comment section.  If it's next week, next month, or next year, fine!  Maybe you will volunteer at school; help an older person in the grocery store; give a gift to your favorite bank teller--I'm sure you will think of something.  It can be big or small, it just has to be something that makes someone else know they've been noticed.  The world can seem cold and impersonal at times, and random acts of kindness are meant to counteract that.

I hope I have to send a ton of gifts, and that we all will make random acts of kindness a habit in our lives.