Saturday, October 24, 2009

Nettie and Friends


It has already been a fun Saturday, and it’s just barely past noon.

This morning I went out for breakfast with a nice bunch of strangers. We are the “Friends” of Nettie and Friends:

http://nettieandfriends.blogspot.com/

Nettie is a Special Ed kindergarten teacher in St. Paul. A few years ago she decided to sell some of her hand-made items, and put the money toward the special ed programs at her school. That first sale was quite successful, and took off from there. More people joined the cause. The sale eventually was moved to a local restaurant that hosts the show every year during the month of December. Last year they raised $7,000 for special ed!!

Nettie is energetic and contagiously-nice. We all met at the restaurant and ate together, and had Show and Tell of the items we made for the sale. This is my first time participating. If you plan to be in the St. Paul area any time in December, try to fit in a visit to the Egg and I Restaurant (University Ave at Hwy 280) and purchase some of the lovely items.

Nettie is thrilled that this money-raising effort has been so helpful to her local school programs. They have been able to take the kids on field trips, buy school uniforms, and help families when they experience a particular need or crisis (provide bed sheets, bus cards to make sure the kids make it to school, funding for continued hot lunch opportunity for each kid, etc. etc) I am proud to be able to help!

I donated one baby quilt, one small table runner, and six toys. It was going to be seven toys, but there was a cute little kid there to whom I gave a toy, so then I had only six left.

On a slightly different topic, I decided to donate my toys to several different programs this year:
1) prizes for kids at the Halloween party at my church (10/31)
2) bazaar at my church which raises money for mission work (10/28)
3) Nettie and Friends sale, benefitting St Paul Schools Special Ed (month of Dec.)
4) bazaar at my former church, also raising money for missions (11/07)

The Nettie and Friends sale is actually the last on the calendar of the above 4 events, but the due date for turning in items was today.

These are happy times, and as Nettie says, it’s exciting just to be alive!



the toys I put in the Nettie and Friends sale


the little girl to whomI gave a toy...
here she and her brother are playing with it



Feast your eyes on just SOME of
the beautiful items that will be
sold during the month of December.
There is much more, but you'll have
to visit Nettie's blog and see all the
items that are (or will be) posted at her Flickr account.




pins, ornaments, card holders etc etc






this large quilt will be sold
via silent auction - come and
bid on it!


look familiar?


large variety of purses and bags










hand-made wooden pens






my toys!









During breakfast, several women were knitting... do you suppose they are getting a good start on donations for next year's sale??

3 comments:

Sweet P said...

What a wonderful way to raise money for special ed! Good luck on the sale!

Michele Bilyeu said...

This is just a wonderful idea, all the way around! Love your quilt and the cute little stuffies..but you're right that darling little girl was too cute to resist sharing with!

BrendaLou said...

Loved the hats! How much? I should send my daughter to the restaurant to get one.