Gifts You’ll Feel Good Giving: The Blended Blog Gift Guide Blog Hop

Ho, Ho, Ho!!

So glad you are joining me for The Blended Blog’s Gift Guide Blog Hop.  Welcome, if you are coming by from visiting with Joy at Quilty Joy Joy.  I hope to share with you my gift-giving guide for gifts you will feel good giving.

If you don’t have on comfy shoes, you might need to get some on because this blog hop will have you jumping from one blog to the next as a half-dozen of us Blended Bloggers share ideas for holiday gifts.

I am not necessarily known for my gift-giving expertise so felt a little reluctant to participate in this hop.  But thought maybe I could offer some gift giving ideas for those on your list who have almost everything.  My own family is quite blessed; my daughters have very good jobs, my brother and sister are both successful, and my 88 year-old mother is probably more capable than anyone I know of buying whatever she wants.  So giving gifts to these folks can be “tricksies” as my son-in-law Francisco likes to say.

Here’s some of the gifts I am thinking of giving to everyone I love.

My father worked for years at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in cancer research.  Sadly, the same disease he devoted his professional life toward trying to cure killed his three year-old grandson.  We have all been touched by childhood cancer in some way or know someone who has.  Consider buying an ornament, cocoa mix or Christmas card from St. Jude to help support families with patients at the hospital.  Or perhaps make a donation in the name of someone you love.

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  Your donations matter because:

Families never receive a bill from St. Jude for treatment, travel, housing or food — because all a family should worry about is helping their child live.  [source]

Please shop the giftshop.stjude.org, here.

When my nephew was fighting cancer, my sister wanted to keep family and friends updated on Andrew’s health.  Instead of trying to make numerous long distance calls or write letters to everyone, she created a webpage for him at CaringBridge.  We were able to see pictures, read updates, and leave messages for Andrew and Valerie on that page.

Here is a screenshot from Andrew’s CaringBridge page.

CaringBridge.com was created by Sona Mehring in 1997.  She explains:

…good friends of mine had a premature baby, and they asked me to let everyone know what was happening. Instead of making dozens of emotional and time-consuming phone calls, I decided to create a website. The same night their baby Brighid was born, so was the idea that became CaringBridge.  [source]

You can make a donation in honor of or memory of someone you love, by clicking CaringBridge.com, here.

Being ever the fashionista that you all have come to know, I wanted to provide you with a fashionable gift option and came across these darling cause bracelets available online at The Leakey Collection.

Founded in 2002, Katy and Philip Leakey are the owners and pioneers of the natural, African-made, sustainable jewelry and elegant, handcrafted products called The Leakey Collection.  [source]

All of the items in the collection are unique but the beads for learning are my favorites.

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What a great teacher (or librarian, huh? huh?) gift.

And how about these beads for healthy gardens and clean water.

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Shop for these very affordable, statement bracelets that make a real, life-changing statement at LeakeyCollection.com, here.

I don’t know about you but in the winter my feet are always COLD.

Brrrr.

Isn’t there some expression that says cold feet, warm heart?  If not, there should be.

Ha!  I guess there is!

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If your tootsies sport icicles during December and January, or maybe you know someone else’s that do, consider the gift of warmth this Christmas.

Check out SWAP Socks.  Where socks = sight.  But these are not just any ole socks.  SWAP Socks are intentionally mismatched socks…consider it pattern mixing.

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SWAPSocks.com was founded in San Francisco, CA at the start of 2014, with the bold idea of breaking the conventional mold of matching socks, while raising awareness and aid for the global eye health epidemic.  [source]

If you do laundry for multiple people, you know the value in having intentionally mismatched socks.  For years, washing machines and dryers have been eating single socks, leaving consumers with one sock short of a pair.  Now that worry is no more.  And for each pack sold SWAP Socks, through Seva Foundation, gives direct aid to visually impaired individuals by funding eye care projects that provide vital eye care services.

How about snagging a pack of these little cuties, here, for that spiffy dresser on your shopping list?

Other gift ideas for the person who has everything include:

• DNA test kits for family history buffs.  Available online through Ancestry.com.  “Uncover your ethnic mix. When your results arrive, you’ll see a breakdown of your ethnicity—and it may contain a few surprises. Then, you can start learning more about the places where your family story began.” [source]

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• Check out Legacy Box for digitizing home movies and photos.  “Fill your Legacybox with your memories. Any format in your collection, Legacybox can handle it. When your Legacybox is ready, just hand it to your mail man. Every kit includes a pre-paid shipping label.  In a few weeks, you’ll receive your memories back on DVDs or digital files if you add an optional thumb drive.”  [source]  On sale now, 50% off, with four pricing packages to choose from at Legacybox.com.

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• Maybe you can consider a gift from Heifer International.  The teach a man to fish philosophy in action! “Dan West was a farmer from the American Midwest and member of the Church of the Brethren who went to the front lines of the Spanish Civil War as an aid worker. His mission was to provide relief, but he soon discovered the meager single cup of milk rationed to the weary refugees once a day was not enough.  And then he had a thought: What if they had not a cup, but a cow?”  [source]  For as little as $10, you can purchase a share in a goat that will change the lives of one impoverished family forever.  A flock of chicks for $20. Visit their Christmas catalog, here, at Heifer.com.

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• That’s Caring gives happiness and helps fight hunger.  When you give a That’s Caring gift basket, tee shirt or onesie (for the elves on your list) to a friend or loved one, you’re really giving two gifts: one to your chosen recipient and one to a hungry child.  That’s Caring uses profits from the sale of its gift items to provide food for weekend bags given to children at food banks around the U.S.  Peruse the delicious cookie kits, wine and cheese baskets and clothing available through That’sCaring.com, here.

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When my daughters were little, I felt that it was important to provide them with opportunities to help those less fortunate than we.  They would sort through their toys to give to the U.S. Marine Corps’ Toys for Tots.  Or go with me to take treats and bedding to the animal shelter.  Sometimes the best presents we can give are those that give back, and keep on giving.

Hope maybe one of the gift ideas above spoke to you and simplified, if only just a little, your holiday shopping.  Would love to hear back from you.

Hugs and kisses,