Showing posts with label Giving. Show all posts

Sashka -Review

I just purchased more arm candy. I love anything with a beach vibe. I am obsessed with the glass beaded rolled Nepal bracelets. I have several made from different Nepal artisans. That's why I'm excited to be part of SashkaCo's. advocate group.

SashkaCo. offers beautiful hand made jewelry that is delicately created in the valley of Nepal by artisans with passion, skill and love in putting together these one of a kind bracelets. Each piece is created using the worlds finest glass and sterling silver beads. My first purchase of more to come is this beautiful clear/white and gold beaded bracelet.


With every purchase made, proceeds go to empower Nepali artisans to rise above poverty through fair trade. Women earn a living wage that exceeds local minimum wage and get a fair price for their goods.

.....and you get to wear a beautiful bracelet like me! I love how these roll on bracelets are light weight and have just enough stretch to roll over your hand and onto your wrist. They wear good whether your sleeping, working, swimming or working out.


I like wearing mine best in the summer where they can be seen stacked on my arm with several other colors. I get a lot of compliments on my Nepal bracelets and they often become a great conversation piece.


Visit SashkaCo. today and purchase your very own one-of-a-kind bracelet. They even come in plus size and all bracelets are backed with a 100% guarantee.


This product was purchased by me, for me. 
Reviews and honest opinions are all my own. 
I may receive a small commission with each purchase.




Gifting

Hope everyone is ready for Christmas! It will be here in just four more days! I have to say that I am officially done with my shopping. I finished up two weeks early this year.

I have two brothers with kids and wives and a sister. Nick has two brothers with wives. We used to all exchange gifts. That was really hard. I love to give and wish I could give everyone something special but each year it would get more stressful trying to find the perfect gifts. Half of the gifts were left unneeded or unwanted. We finally decided to only buy for the kids and our parents and that made things a lot easier and more fun. The adults now enjoy time together sharing recipes and stories. It’s also more fun to sit back and watch the small kids open gifts. Teenagers, not so much. Haha.

Me and Nick do not swap gifts anymore. We spend it all on our daughter. It’s not much, but since our monies are usually tight, we would rather give her the things she needs and we enjoy doing something special together after the Christmas bustle.


Our daughter is twenty seven but at Christmas shes twelve. Haha. Ever since she moved out after college, at Christmas she will come home and spend about five days with us. She still has her own bedroom and walks in the door as if she still lives here full time. We will do some baking, and get our nails done for Christmas. On Christmas morning she will wake up to presents under the tree and gifts scattered from Santa. I told Nick that the first Christmas we have after she gets married (someday) will be sorta heartbreaking. I already made it through her driving away, going to college, and living out on her own. Now I have to go through her being someone else's joy on Christmas morning one of these days (soon I think). Meanwhile, I'm gonna enjoy it while I still can. 

Do you swap gifts among a big family or just buy for a few?
Do you and your spouse swap gifts or go out instead?

If you are alone this Christmas, my heart goes out to you. I pray you can find peace, joy and love in those around you and in yourself. 
If you know someone who is alone, I hope you will share the joys of Christmas with them. 

Merry (Almost) Christmas.


Crochet Chapstick Cozy

I took a break from big crochet projects to do some small things. I have been busy Christmas shopping, wrapping gifts and tidying up the house for Christmas.

Speaking of wrapping gifts, every year I wrap up some little gifts for the girls.
“The girls” are my daughters friends. One is her roommate and one is her best friend from college. The three are inseparable. Every year they pick a night during Christmas to set out a little tree , pull out the Christmas movies and bake cookies. I make sure they have some little gifts under their tree to have fun opening. They are addressed "from Santa". 

This year I got each one of them a planner, some beauty accessories then added a chapstick to top it off. My daughter is always looking for her lost chapstick, so an idea hit me. I decide to crochet each of their chapsticks a little chapstick cozy (aka holder). 

I told Nick my plan and he gave me a funny look. “You just watch me” I said as I flipped open my iPad and searched for a pattern.

Bingo! I found several different patterns, so I had to decide which worked best for me.
After fiddling around with my yarn and crochet needle, three tiny chapstick cozies were born. 


I showed them to Nick and he was surprised. He thought they were rather cool.
I finished the cozies off by adding a key ring to the top and packed them neatly with each gift. 


My daughter texted me once they opened their gifts. They giggled and thought the crochet cozies were the best. 

It was just a little something fun to add to the mix. Now maybe my daughter can keep up with her chapstick and leave mine alone. 


Crochet Chapstick Cozy (free) pattern can be found HERE.

Rice Love Bags

I have been searching of a cute bag to carry on day trips or beach trips. I like the Bohemian look sometimes especially in the summer. There is Just something about the mix of colors and fun natural feel this style has to offer, so when I came across RiceLoveBags I immediately fell in love with the look of these back packs.


I’m a little skeptical about things I find online or social media. When I see something I like, I will dig into it to make sure it’s legit. I want to know where my money is going and what companies I shop from support. RiceLoveBags caught my attention first with the look of the bags and then their cause.


For every bag purchased through RiceLoveBags, a family is fed. How cool is that? 
In India, 37% are below the poverty line and living on just 1.25 a day.  For a low income family, rice is the primary source of calories. 
These bags are made in India by using real recycled rice bags. Every bag they make, 1 kilo of rice goes toward a family. Once they have 20 bags, 20 kilos are then given to a hungry family. 


Once the bags are made, they are shipped to a warehouse in United States. So by the time you get your bag, a family has been fed. Each bag is one of a kind and has a tag attached with a special code to go online and look up the family you fed. You can read their story along with a photo. Though RiceLoveBags focuses on feeding families, they also feed older women, widows, and single mothers. 


When I received my backpack bag, I was amazed at how well it was made and how big it actually was. It was soft, the colors were vibrant and it was lined with a soft cotton fabric. I also worried my bag would have a burlap smell, but it didn’t. I love my bag and it makes me feel good that I was able to put food on the table of a hungary family. Every time I use my bag it remindes me how fortunate I am to be able to purchase this bag while others feel fortunate to just be be fed. 




“Buy a bag. Feed a family”
Use coupon code: LILIDI_MEO at checkout and get 20% off