Cute for a Cause

I ran out of time to make a treasury again this week.  Between getting my consignment orders ready, preparing for the holidays and hurting my back (again!) I ran out of hours.  But, not to worry.  I found something really cute on Etsy yesterday that I couldn't resist showing you.  

This little plush Hello Kitty headband from munchikitty is so adorable!

The best part about this headband is that all of the proceeds will be donated to Charity:Water!  This makes me very happy.  :-)

Don't forget...all the money made from the sale of Rio at Dreaming in Craft is donated to Charity:Water, too!

Have you ever donated any of your art or crafts to charity?  I would love to hear about it.

Have a great day!

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day.  Normally I would try to come up with an environmentally friendly craft project to share with you.  Today I decided to do something a little different.  Charity:Water posted this new video on their website in honor of Earth Day.

I feel like sometimes we forget that this is going on all over the world because we are so caught up in our own lives.  We don't have to worry about having clean water.  It's just there.  So many people have never even known what clean water is.  And the worst part is this is such an easily solved problem.  We just have to be willing to help.  That's where Charity:Water comes in.  They build wells in places where there is no clean water with the help of donations from regular people like us.

Some of you already know this but or my new followers...

I made a plushie in honor of Blog Action Day last year.  His name is Rio.  

I will donate all money made from this plushie to Charity:Water.  If you are interested in purchasing one he is available at Dreaming in Craft on Etsy.  If you live in the Austin area I will always make sure to bring Rio to shows with me as well.  I hope that you will consider helping Charity:Water raise money to help bring clean drinking water to the entire world.  If you prefer, you can donate directly to Charity:Water on their website.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Earth Day.  Did you do anything fun to celebrate?

My Charity: Water

Hello everybody!  I just wanted to stop by to let you know that I made a button for my Charity: Water page.  If you would like to donate to help build a clean water well you can just click the button on the sidebar. 

If you would like to read more information about Charity: Water before you donate you can click the the button below.

This project means a lot to me.  I have talked myself out of starting a Charity: Water campaign for a couple of years now and I finally found the inspiration to go for it.  I would love to raise as much money as possible and your help would be amazing.  And remember, we only have until January 15th!  EEKS!!  :-)

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I'm off to get ready to go see Beauty and the Beast in San Antonio today!  I'm so excited!  I got to see Rent at Zachary Scott Theatre here in Austin on Wednesday, too!  Two musicals in one week!!!  My musical loving heart almost can't take it...almost!  ;-)

Rio

In honor of Blog Action Day 2010 I decided to make a new plushie!

Meet Rio!

Rio is a clean water drop.  He loves to travel and dreams of seeing the whole world one day.  But right now there just isn't a place for a clean water drop like Rio in some parts of the world.  Will you help make Rio's dream come true?  There are lots of ways to help. 

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Charity: Water started from Scott Harrison asking his friends to donate $20 towards building a well instead of buying him a birthday gift.  One small gesture built a well and will save the lives of a comunity for years to come. 

$20 can give clean drinking water to one person for 20 years.

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This morning I decided to start a fundraiser with Charity: Water and try to raise enough money to build a well.  That's $5000.  And I have three months to do it.  I am always so ispired to see crafty people using their gifts to help out in some way.  I would love to see how much we can raise as a community for this cause.  Of course my inspiration to do this hit me at 5:30 this morning when I didn't have time to set it all up! So, I will set up the fundraiser today and post it on my blog tomorrow so anyone who wants to take part and donate can.  I'm not asking for any huge amount of money from you. Just if you have a little something to spare.  It means a lot to me...and Rio!  ;-)

I don't have my Etsy shop up and running yet, but plan to be ready after the holiday craziness.  In addition to my regular items I plan to make more Rios and have them for sale.  All money made from any Rio sales will be donated directly to Charity: Water.

If you would like to learn more about the Charity: Water organization before you  commit to donating money you can click the picture below to go to their website.

One in eight people on the planet do not have clean drinking water.

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I'll be back tomorrow with my 365 Project and the information on how you can donate to help us build a well.  :-)

Blog Action Day 2010

Jennifer Connelly in charity: water Public Service Announcement from charity: water on Vimeo.

Today is the day I normally post my 365 pictures for the week but I was lucky enough to hear that October 15th is Blog Action Day.  This is a day where bloggers from all over the world pledge to talk about a certain environmental issue.  The issue today is water so I decided to talk about an organization that I feel does so much to help with this issue around the world. 

I heard about Blog Action Day from Charity: Water.  This is such a great organization that raises money to build clean water wells in parts of the world where there is none.  As Americans we take clean water for granted.  Some people have never even tasted clean water in their entire lives!  People are dying just because they only water they have is dirty and contaminated so it makes them sick and sometimes kills them.

I recently read an article posted on facebook by Charity: Water about a boy named Tariku that really touched me so I thought I would share it with you.  Tariku was a four-year-old boy from Ethiopia who was adopted by an American family in Colorado Springs.  Tariku's mother told a story of a trip the family took to the World War II Memorial in Washington D.C. not long ago.  Tariku saw the water fountain and leaned down to drink it.  His mother stopped him because the water was "dirty".  After she thought about it for a second she realized that Tariku had never seen water that clean before he came to America.  All of the water he drank in Africa was much more dirty than the water in the fountain.  We use water for decoration like it's an endless supply and some people are dying because they have no water to drink. 

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Tariku's mother asked him if he would be willing to give up birthday presents for his fifth birthday and instead ask for donations to build a well in the community he lived in when he was in Africa.  He did and he made $5000 in one week.  Amazing!  The well was built and he was so happy to see his community drinking clean water at last.  His family plans to continue this tradition with Tariku every year for the rest of his childhood.  Just think of all the clean water they are able to share with people.  It's pretty inspiring. 

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The thing that I find so amazing about Charity: Water is that they don't ask for large amounts of money.  They know not everyone can do a lot to help.  They just ask that everyone give a little.  It adds up.  The founder of Charity: Water, Scott Harrison, was just one man who wanted to do something to help.  Now he has started an entire movement to change the world. 

charity: water promo featuring "Time Bomb" by Beck from charity: water on Vimeo.

I encourage you to visit the Charity: Water website and educate yourself.  If you feel led to help they are a great organization to support.  You can also find a lot of information about water around the world and see what other bloggers have to say about the water crisis by visiting the website for Blog Action Day.

Since this is a crafty blog and not a deep world issue news blog, I thought it would be fun to come up with a craft project with a water theme to it...sort of.  I didn't come up with some big world changing idea.  I just stuck to what I know and love.  Can you guess what it is?  I plan to post my little water themed project and a little something special to me this evening so be sure to check back!  My 365 Project will be back on Saturday morning.  :-)