My Sister's Scarves

When my sister, Nancy, first lost her hair from chemo in 2005, I started sewing scarves...

and I didn't stop for five years.

I thought I was making the scarves to help Nancy but I realize now that I was doing it to help myself  too.

.

The sicker Nancy got, the more I sewed...

Nancy had a scarf for every occasion...

for her favorite cat...

 her favorite team...

and for every holiday.

Her 3rd grade students loved the fact that "Mrs. Tufts" always had the perfect scarf for every classroom party!

She kept them pinned to a little clothesline in her bedroom.

 I made so many scarves that Nancy couldn't possibly wear them all...

 so we began to make scarves to donate to other women going through chemo.

Monday night, Nancy's husband, Aaron, stopped by...

to bring me Nancy's scarves.

Holding them flooded me with memories...I held my nose to them to try to smell Nancy...to feel her with me again.

A few days have passed. I think I'm ready to let go of Nancy's scarves. Tomorrow I'll wash and iron them to donate to the Maine Womens' Cancer Center.

And while I'm at it, maybe I'll finish all the rest of them that are cut out and ready to be sewn up...so that other women can wear them.

I think Nancy would like that.

In loving memory of my sister, Nancy Tufts

1952 - 2010

Plates...Not Just for Dinner Anymore!

I love plates...old, new, chipped or crazed...they seem to speak to me.

I also love hunting for plates...like these which I recently found at Goodwill for $2.00 each. They're not particularly old but I love the red color...

and welcoming message on each one.

 I'm especially drawn to red and white transferware plates and... 

like many of you, enjoy hanging them on the wall. These are in the dining room.

Talk about frugal decorating...the plate hangers cost more than some of these flea market plates!

This is a little grouping over my daughter's bed...we bought these sweet little purple plates at a B & B in England...they bring back happy memories.

Last Saturday night I decided to arrange some plates over our bed. It's amazing how many ways you can drive yourself crazy trying to lay out just  six plates!

And here they are on the wall. (DH finally noticed when he slid into bed and asked sleepily, "Are those plates above my head?")

After DH  fell asleep under his plethora of plates, I headed to the computer to relax with my favorite blogs...only to find that sisters Erika and Miriam at Be Book Bound had just published this photo. I love  how these red and white plates look in their dining room.

So of course I had to click around see what other bloggers had done with plates. Aren't the colors in this arrangement wonderful? They make me long for spring! The photo was posted by Melaine at My Sweet Savannah.

Now that I have my plates arranged...at least for now...I want thank all of the bloggers who took the time to send me craft and fundraising ideas for our team to use to raise money for the American Cancer Society at this year's Relay for Life.

Aren't these ribbon pins adorable? This sweet idea was sent by Laura...

Who also sent this...Yum!

Thanks as well to bloggers Patty, Kathy and Vickie for sharing your ideas. It seems I may baking cookies for Relay this year...

At least I've got plenty of plates to put them on!

This post is happily linked to:

Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors
Show Off Your Cottage Monday at House In the Roses

Wizard of Oz Ideas?

Tonight is the Kick-off for our local American Cancer Society Relay for Life. Our theme this year is "The Wizard of Oz"...

And we're looking for fundraising ideas.

Our team members will need Ruby slippers sneakers, of course. These were on Esty but were sold by the time I found them.

I think we'll try to make our own. One of my favorite blogs, Modge Podge Rocks, did a post this month on using Modge Podge to apply glitter to shoes...sounds messy but maybe worth a try.

The planning committee has already ordered miles of yellow construction tape to mark off the high school track  "Yellow Brick Road" and we're snapping up costume patterns at JoAnne's Fabrics.

Now for the hard part...coming up with really good fundraising ideas. There is so much amazing talent in Blogland...I'm hoping some of you might have some creative new ideas for us. We're lookng for things we can sell fairly inexpensively along the track...

And hoping to find projects that are:

1. Quick & Easy

2. Thrifty (I'll be donating the supplies), and

3. Related to the Wizard of Oz theme or to Hope/Cancer awareness/walking)

The Art teacher at my school makes earrings similar to these. I'm wondering about buying beads wholesale and making some. A purple ribbon is the color of Relay but we could also make pink and teal ones. I just wonder if they are too labor intensive and whether we could make a profit on them?

We were also thinking of making or selling things people need when walking...lanyards, shoelaces, etc. Any ideas?

 

Our team may also have a Silent Auction or raffle. Any ideas for larger items that might be popular at this kind of event?

I'd love to hear your ideas. Nothing is too wacky for us to try if it will raise money to help people with cancer. (Anyway, by 3:00 a.m. we'll be looking for "wacky" to help us stay awake!)

Can't wait to see what you come up with! 

Thanks,