I have the honor of hosting the first day, but don't forget to check out the other's blogs today, there might be some hidden gems and/or surprises on their blogs today, too!
First, I want to share a freebie with you today. Then I want to tell you how you can win some fun prizes from yours truly so don't leave before you read about that.
We are always looking for ways to keep Christ in Christmas around our house. I find that giving service to someone else instantly reminds me of what Christmas is supposed to be all about. Here's an idea you might try. Find a family or individual that you think needs a little holiday lift and do a 12 Days of Christmas service project for them. If you want to do the 12 days before Christmas, you'd want to start tomorrow (the 13th) to end on Christmas Eve. You could prepare a different treat to leave on their doorstep each day or find other simple acts of service to do like shoveling snow or washing cars. Do it anonymously if you can!
Here's a little freebie to get you started with this project. It's the first tag in a series of 12 Days of Christmas Tags I'm working on right now! On each of my days to host, I'll be giving one of these tags away as a freebie. Stay tuned for how you can win the whole set of tags!
Boring but Important Legal Stuff: My terms of use are included in each zipped download. If you have any questions about how you may use this file, please read it. By clicking to download the file, you are agreeing to abide by the terms. If you'd like to share it, please don't. Rather, send your friends a link to this blog post. Once it's no longer available as a freebie, you might be tempted to share it with someone. Please don't! 'Nuf said!
This design will only be up for today, so be sure to grab it while you are here! Click to download your favorite file type:
SORRY! This download has expired! You can still enter the drawings (see below) through December 22nd!
Okie dokie, now you've gotten your freebie for the day, are you ready to hear about the prizes you could win from me?
Here are the prizes:
1) The whole set of 12 Days of Christmas Tags
2) $10 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs
3) $10 Michaels Gift Card
4) The December VDBC Grab Bag (or a $7 gift code to Sam & Hailey Designs if you have already purchased it)
How can you win them? On the 12th Day (that will be the 23rd for our little blog-fest) I'll hold a drawing for each one of the prizes (that's four drawings in one day... I think I can handle it!). All you have to do to enter is comment on my blog to enter. You can comment on my blog on each of the 12 days so you'll have up to 12 entries in the drawings! Each day I'll have a new thing I'll ask you to include in your comment so keep an eye out for that. It's as simple as that!
Today's comment requirement:
Leave a comment with an idea for an act of service or kindness you could do (or have done) for someone else at Christmastime!
Be sure to include some way to contact you in case you win the drawing (for example, your VDBC forum name, your email address, etc.). If you don't, I might not be able to get your prize to you!
Have a fun 1st Day of Christmas! Be sure to hop over the Chris's and Ileana's blogs to see what they have going on today!
Time to get crafty, people!
41 comments:
I gave some money to our local food pantry, so that families in need can have some meals
Thanks for the freebie Jan. I donateto the wounded warrior project and donate to food for the poor.
~Elizabeth Amanda scramper75
Thanks for the freebie Jan. I donate to the wounded warrior project and food for the poor. I plan to make donations every year to both.
~Elizabeth aka scramper75
Thanks for the freebie. We bought a few gifts for our local family assistance program and also a gift for our elementary school angel tree and then we cut wood for an elderly lady in our church so she will have heat during the cold winter months here in Montana.
Love the file. I print extra coupons for Michaels, Target etc and hand them to someone who doesn't have any.
very cute freebie - thanks!
An online craft supply vendor I use gives items to customers she knows are having tough times; I contribute funds to support her efforts. May seem trivial, but I think we all know what a stress reliever and escape our crafting can be, so I feel I am helping someone make things more bearable. BTW, Jan, I love your files and have loyally followed you. Made the matchbox advent calendar for DGS (6 yrs old) this year and he's loving it! Thanks sooo much for that one.
Our family loves to bake treats and drop them secretly at friends and neighbours houses. Fun for us and treats for them! TFS!
I really like your first day file...I think simple but elegant describes it well. Our church supports a family in need and a local food pantry and we participate in both projects. I also really like to give to the Salvation Army bell ringers-nostalgia maybe! And pet shelters too! scrapbookernana@aol.com
Thank you so much for the freebie! Very fun! This year we are giving money to a local family that had no insurance and the husband has cancer. We have also instigated a "Gifts for Jesus" at our house and are doing around 30 different service activities with the kids...some bigger than others in hopes of helping them learn it's more about giving than getting. So far they have been really responsive and it's been fun. Things like helping Great Grandma (94) set up her Christmas tree, treats to neighbors, doing chores for a sibling etc. It's been fun! Merry Christmas!
Thanks for the file. Every winter our neighbours take turns shoveling the snow from the sidewalks of those that are unable to do this.
LOVE IT!!!! My act of kindness is....
My daughter lost all of her Christmas decorations, (Ex Husband stole them all) these were decorations that she had years before he came along! So...I am making her an ornament a day, for the 25 days of Christmas.
Lynn McNally
mysoaplady@cox.net
Thank you so much for the beautiful freebie!!
We own the only taxi service in our small town. We give free rides to families in need during December. It's not much but it does give these families that are dependent on the taxi service to get around a little extra in their pockets during the holiday season.
Jody :-)
aerynx at gmail dot com
Thank you so much for the adorable tag. I try to get an Angel from the local Walmart but I did take toys to our Church for children for Christmas. My church is awesome about helping people and I try to help as much as possible.
Thank you for letting our friends at Silhouette Plus about your wonderful blog hop, and for your generous and beautiful tag! I made a chicken pot pie from scratch for our 85 year old next door neighbor who hasn't been able to cook since a fall two weeks ago. I learned yesterday she has eaten nothing but sandwiches all that time, so I treated her to a hot meal and a loaf of homemade bread, and will notify her other friends of her predicament.
Thank you for the nice freebie. We have bought goats and cows for families through World vision. Also we have been blessed to help with gift giving to needy families. It is a blessing to give and keep the meaning of Christ in Christmas.
I rpowl the Mall and watch for an elderly couple just usually sitting and watching the shoppers. They are easy to find in Arizona. Then I go to Paradise Bakery and purchase a gift card for them to have a nice lunch together on me. I usually get free cookies when I get the gift card and I give these to them also. It is so warming to see how this small act can make them so happy. One couple told me last week "you would do this for us?" Sweet huh.
Small packages left in some of our elderly folks mail boxes.
I don't want them to feel they have to "return" the favor so they never know who it came from.
Thanks for the file.
It is wonderful.
**U**
Nance
When going through a drive through I will pay for the car behind me. I love to do this on Friday's at Starbucks. I will often watch for a car where the driver looks like they could use a lift, emotionally or financially and pay for their meal. It is a small thing that you can do every week, and brighten someone's day. -Georgia
Thank you for the freebie. We are not well off ourselves, so we try to go through our stuff and donate anything we no longer need to the Salvos, so they can help others.
my kids us to get angels off the angel tree and also give up their old toys..I make boxes and cards for the troops overseas
I have been actually doing this today. I have a "non-crafty" but very interested in crafts friend, she has no craft supplies. I invited her over and we have been making and planning ornaments and Christmas decorations all day. She had fun, is coming back to "finish" some projects we started tomorrow. It's great to make something for someone, but the fun of making stuff yourself I think is good too!
Thanks so much for the freebie. I wish I could say I did this and this and this for this year but we are currently one of the unemployed as of Aug. We do however help our neighbors who are elderly by taking care of things when they are away, taking them meals and any other odd things they need done. I always find we get back way more than we give :)
Thanks for the adorable tag! I make cards for ShareACard's annual Christmas Card project.
I volunteer at my town's Senior Center to teach Christmas cards to the Seniors. They love making homemade cards for Christmas, so much so that we are now doing Valentines!
My friend and I always make Christmas cake to sell. She is going through a divorce this year and didn't have time to do it. Another friend came and help me. I still gave the friend who usually help me many cakes to sell. It helped her a lot to start in her new appartment.
I really like this line of files. You could pay it forward and pay the toll or the tab for the person behind you.
Renae
rpcrafter at gmail dot com
Thanks for the freebie! I always donate lots of toys to toys for tots, and give pet food donations a local animal rescue group.
Thanks for the cute freebie! I bought a few items for families in our ward that need a little extra this year.
Thank you for the freebie. I love to do anything that involves senior citizens. My dad is 87 and I see how much things mean to him so I try to do something for another senior in my neighborhood all the time (but even more at Holiday time).
Thank you for the free file!
We donate canned goods to our Angels Attic drive.
slovett2@gmail.com
We usually do the angel tree at church. It is kids of parent(s) that are incarcerated in our area. We thought we wouldn't be able to do that this year because we don't attend that church anymore. But, we were able because I had lunch with the lady in charge of the program.
Thanks for the freebie, Jan. I love it! I plan on sending clothes to a local church for families in need.
I donate to the Salvation Army and food pantries. I also try to pick a family in need and send a gift card to a local grocery store.
Thanks for the freeies, Jan.
I plan on giving to a family who recently lost everything in a fire!
Every year my dh and I make an effor to brighten up the holidays for others. First, we adopt a family who si struggling through an organization here. We buy the gifts for the children and provide the groceries for their holiday meal. Alos, I make ornaments and Christmas earrings. My dh and I put on a Santa hat and we go around to various restaurants and stores to spread holiday cheer by giving the ornaments and earrings to all sorts of people as a random act of kindness. The smiles of joy are our true Christmas gifts.
Great idea Jan. We always make 2 boxes for the Christmas Child organization. We also donate items to any ministry our church is sponsoring - could be jail ministry, fair ministry, Crisis Ministry Assistance, etc. We try to keep our ears open for people who need help.
A classmate of my daughter just lost his father right before Thanksgiving. His younger brother in 3rd grade found their father dead on the back patio. I know the Mom (who is a schoolteacher also) from the class parties. I think I am going to make extra batches of Christmas Cookies & leave them on their door step. Maybe with a gift certificate if I can swing it. My HD has been laid off almost 11 mos.
Kathy OH
Thanks for the freebie. Donate to the food bank in our area.
I do all the cooking when I visit my parents for Christmas. Gives my dad a break.
Also someone in line in front of me at Starbucks didn't have enough change for their purchase and I gave it to her.
Alison
fourkidstwocats at msn dot com
The Salvation army is always on my list. Also we volunteered to cook and serve our needy community through our church. Anit Nay
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