After the 9:00 morning service at our Lutheran church, my daughter and I stopped by a store.
I was running out of the acrylic yarn that I use for the Mother Bear Project, and I needed more…
Marigold and Mario (my daughters crochet aminekos) are turning up everywhere aren’t they? Now they’re on the new Red Heart yarn…
We stopped at Michaels first, since I needed eyes to complete the Red Angry Bird I’m making for my five-year old nephew. While there I decided to check out their yarn; sometimes they have great deals. Turns out I came at the right time, since the Red Heart Super Saver yarn was only $1.89. It’s usually $2.99 at Michael’s. Red Heart yarn is cheaper at Wal-Mart. I grabbed seven skeins, thinking I’d stop by later in the day, and really clean up… in hindsight I should have bought more.
I was thrilled… since this now meant I didn’t have to stop by Wal-Mart just to pick up the yarn, however, when I walked up to the cash register I faced a slight problem…
The Red Heart yarn was ringing up at the regular price; $2.99. Wait… what? I told the cashier that it was on sale, She shook her head, “No, it’s not. I mentioned the sign, and so she sent another employee back to check. That employee came back, nope she didn’t see it either, and so I went back and pointed it out to her.
That sign was easy to overlook, whoever had put it there, had tucked it in a spot where it didn’t stand out, and so the one day sale on yarn which should have been removed yesterday, was still there today about twenty minutes after the store opened.
The good news is that Michael’s did honor, the lower price, and with the additional yarn I already had I have enough acrylic yarn; to keep crocheting bears for The Mother Bear Project for quite some time.
Many thanks to the cashiers at Michaels in White Marsh, Maryland, being polite, and honoring the advertised price.
This lovely girl lives in Namibia, and seems happy with her crocheted bear.
Why am I choosing acrylic yarn for crocheting amigurumi bears?
The Mother Bear Project sends crocheted and knitted bears to children…
The Mother Bear Project is dedicated to providing comfort and hope to children affected by HIV/AIDS in emerging nations, by giving them a gift of love in the form of a hand-knit or crocheted bear.
The simple gift of a hand-knit bear with a tag signed by the knitter has touched children with the message that they are unconditionally loved.
The last thing their caregivers needs to be concerned with is ruining the bear by washing it incorrectly; with some of your delicate fibers this can be an issue. Acrylic fiber is durable, and can be washed at any temperature either by hand or tossed into a washing machine. Perfect!
What I’ve been forgetting to do, is to take pictures of the crocheted bears I’ve already made for this organization, and sharing some of them here at Celebrate Life. Although this isn’t the normal way I volunteer, I do believe this is the perfect chance for some kindhearted crocheters and knitters to help those in need..
How can I participate in the Mother Bear Project?
If you crochet or knit, and would like to make bears to send to this wonderful organization, stop by the Mother Bear Project website, learn how you can donate your bears to help children in need.
Phillipians 2: 3-4
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
In my early twenties, I had a hard time giving the things I’d create to people I didn’t know. Those items were my babies, some items (such as the cross-stitched afghans) took a while to create. And so I created only items for friends/loved ones. What changed that? It’s hard to say, but I know that…
One day I thought about the amazing things that strangers have done throughout time; Soldiers fighting for us, and in many instances giving their lives so others they don’t even know might have freedom, civil rights supporters doing the same thing, organ, and blood donors, the list is endless of what some people will do for perfect strangers… and it made my hangups (about making crafted items for those I don’t know) seem a bit selfish. This wasn’t about anyone else, and what they were doing; it’s how I viewed what I wasn’t doing…
Although these children are far away, I’m thrilled that I can help out in some way, and perhaps put a smile on their faces too… Thanks Mother Bear Project!
It’s a chilly Sunday in Maryland; it’s about 45 F. It’s Spring here, but it doesn’t feel like it. We have a fire going in the wood stove… later today I’ll be curling up next to my daughter and crocheting some bears.
Photo Source: Mother Bear Project
Ah!!! That blue bear your girl’s holding is so pretty! My missus was into crocheting once – table cloth but most/all of the time she never finished what she stared. She was a bit better at cross-stitches and managed to produce some nice stuff.
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Hi @suituapui, She’s not my daughter; she’s one of the children that receive the bears. 🙂 Hmm… I better put a caption under her so people will know that.
You’re right the bear is pretty, and I loved the big smile on her face; such a pretty child.
I love cross-stitch, but haven’t done that in years.
Aynaria recently posted..Versatile blogger award, linkage, and seven things you might not know about me…
Those bears are really cute. It is evident that they take a lot of time to make. I can see why you would be hesitant to give them away to strangers. Sometimes I have a hard time giving away stuff too. But then, I know one reason God has blessed me is so that I will be able to give things away to others, whether it is time or money or a combination of both.
Hi @Jason Dexter@Bible Studies Online, That’s a great way to look at it; these days I don’t have an issue giving things to strangers, in fact it’s something I enjoy doing, because as you mentioned God has blessed me in many ways.
When I was in my early twenties (about twenty years ago) I did. I still did a lot volunteer work, giving my time to help those in need, but giving something that took me a while to create? Back then that was not going to happen, but God did work on me and showed me numerous examples of people giving to those they didn’t know. My parents were on that list.
Aynaria recently posted..Versatile blogger award, linkage, and seven things you might not know about me…
[…] I make a variety of items for charity organizations, like Lutheran World Relief and the Mother Bear Project. I rarely know the recipient of these charity item, but these organizations I support are […]
[…] donate to local charities, but I do send items to people in other countries. I crochet bears for The Mother Bear Project. Donated crocheted and knitted bears are distributed to children, with HIV, in third world […]
[…] been gifted with acrylic yarns for the various ministries where I crochet and knit things; The Mother Bear Project, and making chemo and preemie hats for a local hospital. The organizations where I donate items […]