Since I only have 2 children and just a couple of pets, I haven’t gotten the whole ‘naming’ thing out of my system yet. As I was naming Abby and Bettina, I had the thought that I should just keep going through the alphabet! And thus the Alphabet Friend Adventure was born.
Guidelines to go by:
- These friends are to be for charity. (Children/Grandchildren/Neighbors are not charity:) Find a cause, any cause and create a toy for a child in need. I currently give my friends to my church and they are shipped all over the world to children. You might check with local churches, Police/Fire Departments, hospitals, homeless shelters, and domestic violence centers for opportunities to give.
- There should be 26 friends made by the end of the adventure. One named for each letter of the alphabet, Abby....Bettina.....C I know, won’t "X" be fun!! Friends can be sewn, crocheted, knitted, needle-felted. The medium doesn’t matter as long as it is something a child could play with, preferably soft and cuddly. :) You can make a whole army of friends or one of every kind. There are no particulars on what you can create, dolls/animals/space men/robots/etc. They can be super simple, or all dressed up. Mine will always be pretty simple. But give them a name and take a picture!
- Pick a button, any button (see below )and place on your blog side bar linking back to this post. If you need help doing that, just ask. Also, if your copy of the button isn’t very clear, write me for a better copy. Non-Bloggers: I’d love to see your efforts as well. To be entered into the drawing at the end, just send me pictures of your creations and your plans for them. See Contact us: Des.
- Leave a comment here letting me know you are on board and I’ll set up a blogroll.
- Create a label/category of your posts about the Alphabet Friend Adventure, that way I can go directly to your efforts! I’ll be sure to peek around the rest of the place as well. :)
- Adventure ends September 15th. To be entered into the drawing I’ll be visiting everyone on the blogroll on Sept. 15th and checking out your good works. Prize will be fabric goodies for sure! But don’t do this out of greed! Do it for children! You’ll surely be disappointed if you make 26 animals for a fat quarter! ! :)
Some thoughts on Friends
Toys provide social development, fine and gross motor skills, stimulate learning and imagination and help children find joy.
Remember who this is for and what organization you are choosing. The toys I donate go to children all over the world, so I stay away from American culture, religious, military, violent or scary images of any kind. Be aware of buttons and trims and that most do not do well on a child’s toy because of the hazard of items that might be pulled off and put in a child’s mouth.
Quality, Quality, Quality! On my toys , when sewing, I use a smaller stitch on my machine. I also close up the openings, left for stuffing, with a heavy thread, like quilting thread.
If you’re still here reading after all of THAT, then you deserve a prize! Anyone who adds the button AND leaves a comment here, (sorry, non-bloggers) will be entered to win this cute pdf/email pattern! It’s a great way to get you started! By the way, her stuff is ADORABLE!! I will draw Tuesday Morning, June 17th.
Buttons to add to your sidebar: I went a little crazy and just couldn't do ONE. This might be overkill. I'm usually not this in to giving people so many choices, but I.Just.Couldn't.Help.Myself. Right Click on a button and save to your computer. Then add to your sidebar. Blogger automatically resizes it for you. If you have a problem, let me know. 
This is an awesome idea! My sewing skills are nil so I won't enter, but I'll still post the button on my blog. The buttons are too cute! Your creativity makes me so jelly. :)
ReplyDeleteI think I'll join you on your adventure! But I'll have to wait until I get to CA. Just to be sure... they can be very simple, right??? I hae a cute little dinosaur pattern that would be great. You do have such wonderful ideas. Totally love it! Oh, and I posted a button.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea and such a neat way to give a little something back. I wish I could play but I don't think I could get 26 done before baby gets here.
ReplyDeleteYou've inspired me to whip out my scraps and make a few toys to take to church anyway. I'm passing this idea along! Cute buttons by the way- I'd pick the elephant if I were playing ;o).
I'd like to join - do you have a time frame you want them all done by? 26 sounds like a lot but hopefully I'll find a pattern I like and assembly line some of them.
ReplyDeleteHi Rebecca,
ReplyDeleteThe timeframe is 3 months. Sept. 15 will be the cutoff. Actually, assembly is the fastest way to go. I spend time cutting them all out. Then a day or two sewing them. Then I get a good movie and spend the rest of the time stuffing and sewing them shut. Hope that time frame works for you.
Great idea (you are full of 'em ;) ) but I won't be joining in on this round. I have too many project I need to be doing this summer. I can't wait to see what this adventure produces though.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! I would love to join the adventure. I chose to put the monkey button on my blog even though I chose to make frogs. I have showed these to my 7 year old daughter and we have decided that I will sew, she will help stuff and she can also name the frogs. We have decided on our place that we are going to donate them to and we are really excited. Thanks for getting me inspired. Great project for summer vacation and bored children. What a better thing than service.
ReplyDeleteI just love this idea! You can count me in. I have a few questions. I'm a month behind. Do you have a link to the other anminals? The only on that I can find is Charlotte.
ReplyDeleteDiana
Sorry! My other question is .... Are you going to put out a different pattern for all the letters of the alhpabet?
ReplyDelete