4th Shipment for Ordinary Grace

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If you are new to the Kidspired Creations community, then check out the work we do for Ordinary Grace.  You can also check out our 1st shipment, 2nd shipment and 3rd shipment to learn about each of the cancer warriors and their siblings.
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I have just mailed the 4th shipment of grace boxes for Lauren to fill with lots of goodies for FOUR cancer warriors and SIX of their siblings.  FOUR families with a total of TEN children whose lives are affected by this terrible disease.  Please lift these children and their families up in prayer as they make these extremely difficult journeys.

Being 9 months pregnant with Baby #3, I asked for some help in painting all 10 of these boxes.  I want to thank Jess R. for taking time out of her busy mommy schedule to help me finish these grace boxes!  Also, a HUGE thank you to our donors Jessica D., who covers the shipping costs involved with sending the boxes to Lauren in Tennessee, and to Jana W., who covers the cost of each of the boxes that are personalized for each child.  Your time and donations are a huge blessing to me, Lauren, and each cancer warrior and their families!  THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR CONTINUED PRAYERS FOR EACH OF THESE FAMILIES!!!  KEEP 'EM COMING!

  

Cancer Warrior Mia, age 6

Siblings: Charlie (5) and Genevieve (18 months)

Mia is battling Medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer

Cancer Warrior Elizabeth, age 5

Siblings: Bryce (9) and Kate (7)

Elizabeth is battling Lymphoma.

Cancer Warrior Shelby, age 7

Siblings: Zoey (7) and Harlee (5). 

Shelby is battling a rare form of cancer called LCH.

Cancer Warrior Caden, age 4

Caden is battling ALL (Leukemia).

(You must have a Caring Bridge profile in order to access Caden and Elizabeth's Caring Bridge links.)

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Update from Lauren, founder of Ordinary Grace via Ordinary Grace's Facebook Page on Grace kids who we have sent grace boxes to:

March 13, 2012
"I am heart broken to share the news that our Grace kid, Ava Nichols, has lost her fight with brain cancer at the age of six. I had the honor of meeting Ava the year before last and it is a memory I will never forget. Ava had an adorable smile and contagious laugh that captured the hearts of all who met her. Ava was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) in March of 2010 and fought long and hard for almost two years. Suffering a stroke last year, Ava faced many set backs but she never gave up. Please keep the Nichols family in your thoughts and prayers during this extremely difficult time."


April 5, 2012
"Urgent prayers needed for our Grace kid, Collin Henry: 'Super scary is what the last few minutes have been, his heart rate is over 200, fever is too high for the thermometer to read, shaking violently and screaming about his tummy hurting, kid is really wigging me out...I had to put a nurse on guard to keep Lacey and Patrick out so they wouldn't freak out if they saw him....kid totally wigged me out there! They did some labs, a stomach xray and gave some more morphine.'"  (Message from his family.)

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Cheap Wall Decor for Boys

It is super hard to find cute wall decor for boys, however, Hobby Lobby sells a car and a train white wall hanging that is super easy to paint on with acrylics.  Most often, you can find them on the clearance aisle in the back, but if not, they are located in the unfinished wood section and with a 40% off coupon found on their website, it's only a few dollars!  Add some tires, and some windows, maybe some fenders, rims, bumpers, door handle and voila!  A car to hang in a little boy's room!

3rd Shipment for Ordinary Grace

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If you have not yet read about Ordinary Grace in my earlier post, I encourage you to check it out and then come back and finish reading this one.  You can also check out the 1st Shipment and the 2nd Shipment for Ordinary Grace...  Enjoy!
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I just completed the 3rd shipment for boxes for Ordinary Grace.  This time, 9 boxes were shipped out for pediatric cancer patients and their siblings; 9 kids too many whose lives are affected by cancer. Hopefully these grace packages will bring smiles to 9 precious and beautiful faces.  Let's lift these families up in prayer as they face many ups and downs this holiday season!

 These Grace Packages will be sent to the following cancer warriors and their siblings
(Please visit the websites of those with links for updates):

Lilly, 2

Cancer Warrior

Wes, 5

Cancer Warrior

Ebin, 6 months

Sibling of Cancer Warrior Wes

Ariel, 5

Cancer Warrior

PJ, 10, & Isabel, 7

Siblings of Cancer Warrior Ariel

Collin, 5, & Patrick, 7

Brothers and Cancer Warriors

Lacey, 10

Sister of Cancer Warriors Collin and Patrick

 

 

 

My "interns" bringing shipping boxes up from my art studio.

Shabby Chic Accessories

Baby girl Olivia is due to arrive soon!  Her mommy's best friend got her some super cute accessories for her shabby chic nursery!

Kidspired's Creation:

Keepsake box

Headband and Bow Holder

  I added a green ribbon that hangs from the bottom 

to hold clips and bows.  

 

Many thanks to my friend Katie who came over for a playdate today.  

She helped with the kiddos and kept me company while I painted!

2nd Shipment for Ordinary Grace

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If you have not yet read about Ordinary Grace in my earlier post, I encourage you to check it out and then come back and finish reading this one.  You can also check out my 1st Shipment for Ordinary Grace.  Enjoy!
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PRAYER REQUEST FROM ORDINARY GRACE 5/24:

Our Grace kid, Ava Nichols, that we posted about previously has been transferred to the PICU due to a recent stroke and two long lasting seizures this morning.  Please, again, keep Ava and her family in your prayers.

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I have finished the 2nd order for seven more Grace boxes for Ordinary Grace.  Before I show you pictures, I want to first thank two ladies who are donating to help me cover the cost of buying and shipping these boxes.  Jana W. has volunteered to cover the cost of all the boxes that I have purchased for the Grace kids!  THANKS, JANA!!!  Jessica D. has offered to cover the shipping costs to get these boxes from New Iberia, Louisiana to Nashville, TN!  THANKS, JESSICA!  These ladies are truly awesome and have HUGE HEARTS!  Thank you so much!!!

Kidspired's Creations:

  

Kate, 7

Cancer Warrior who has recently relapsed

 Olivia, 9

 Sister of Cancer Warrior, Kate

Will, 5

Brother of Cancer Warrior, Kate

Trevor, 8

Cancer Warrior who was just recently diagnosed with Leukemia

 

Ethan, 12

Brother of Cancer Warrior, Trevor

 

Jack, turning 4 this month!

Cancer Warrior battling Stage 4 Neuroblastoma

Braden, 1

Brother of Cancer Warrior, Jack

 

Please lift these cancer warriors up in prayer as they battle this illness.  Also, please pray for their siblings who have to witness their brother or sister in pain.  Some are too young to understand, but it may be even harder for those siblings who do understand.  Pray for dear little Ava who is having a rough time right now and is being cared for by nurses in doctors in the PICU.  Thank you for your prayers!

Everywhere is Pink Pink!

Here is pink, there is pink, everywhere is pink pink!  Last year, Megan got married and she gave her flower girls a truly special and thoughtful gift (see my post about Megan's flower girl gift boxes).  I enjoyed painting the boxes so much that I added them to my collection.  That post inspired Lindsey, a bride-to-be, to get a storage box for her flower girl, Maggie.  Maggie's box was inspired by her very pink and floral bedding.

Kidspiration:

Kidspired's Creation:

1st Shipment for Ordinary Grace

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If you have not yet read about Ordinary Grace in my earlier post, I encourage you to check it out and then come back and finish reading this one.
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I have finished my first order of boxes for Lauren's "Grace Packages" that she will be shipping to pediatric cancer patients and their siblings across the world!  Though only 16 years old, she is truly making a difference in the lives of these fighters and their families through her organization, "Ordinary Grace."  Lauren, a huge advocate for childhood cancer, has recently flown all the way to Missouri just to participate in a 5K for Braden's Hope, a foundation that raises money and awareness for childhood cancer.  This girl truly amazes me!

Kyra, age 3

Sister of a Cancer Warrior

Lena, age 4

Cancer Warrior

Ava, age5

Cancer Warrior

Luke, age 5

Brother of a Cancer Warrior

Shelly, age 6

Cancer Warrior

Hayden, age 12

Brother of a Cancer Warrior

Kaylee, age 14

Sister of a Cancer Warrior

Labels on the inside of each of the boxes.

I want to give a HUGE shout-out to my friend Jessica D. and her family.  I got this message from her the other day after I posted about Ordinary Grace:

Yesterday at lunch I was walking back to the office and found some cash on the ground. I couldn't find anyone around to ask if it was theirs or if they saw whose it might be. And it wasn't like there was a lost and found to give it to. So I put it in my desk and said I would think about someone/place to donate it to. It was only $7 so thankfully nobody lost a lot of money. As I was leaving for the day, I said a prayer for God to tell me who to give the money to plus additional amount from me. And right after that I checked my Facebook and saw your message....

She has since decided to cover the entire cost of shipping for these 7 boxes!  What an incredible blessing!  If you would like to help out in some way, please e-mail me at kidspiredcreations@gmail.com, message me on Facebook, OR better yet, contact Lauren at lauren@ordinarygrace.org.  I only help out by providing boxes and sending them to Lauren.  She is the one who fills them and sends them to cancer warriors around the world.  Any little bit helps!!!

A Great Gift Idea for Flower Girls

A few months before her wedding, Megan contacted me with a GREAT gift idea for her two beautiful flower girls.  She had purchased 2 sturdy, white cardboard storage/picture boxes and wanted me to paint them.

Her idea was to create a "craft box" filled with crayons, paper, pipe cleaners, glue, glitter, beads and other craft supplies to entertain her flower girls during all of the craziness the weekend of the wedding.  How clever?!?  To an adult, the pampering and waiting around on a wedding day can filled with fun and excitement, but to a little kid, the day can be long and boring having to watch everyone get pretty.

The Craft Boxes gave the girls something to do AND with a creative touch, they became cute decor accessories for their bedrooms.

Megan sent me the boxes and e-mailed pictures of their comforters to kidspiredcreations@gmail.com.  I quickly set to work...

Hannah's comforter was reversible, with stripes on one side, and large, bold circles on the other.  I do not consider these polka dots, because they are all in line with each other.  Polka dots, to me, are more random and do not have a pattern to their placement.

 

I decided to combine the stripes and the circles so that no matter which side of the comforter was showing, her box would definitely match.  Hannah's name is a palindrome - a word that can be spelled the same backwards and forwards - so I took this FUN tidbit and wrote the first 3 letters, and the same last 3 letters and faced them together so that no matter which way she looked at her box, it spelled her name!  Since learning about them in 2nd grade, I have always had a special place in my heart for palindromes :-)

 

Camdyn's comforter was quite different... instead of one pattern on one side, and another on the other, hers had a combination of many designs on the front of it.  Megan wrote this about the picture she sent, "Camdyn's comforter was pretty busy, so I tried to get all the parts of it, but you don't have to use all the separate designs."  Well, Megan, I took that as a challenge, my friend.

 

I really appreciate the time Megan took to make sure she took CLOSE UP pictures of each different design element in the comforter so I could distinctly make out the pink plaid; large, white flowers on dark pink; small, dark pink and white flowers on light pink; white dots on light green, and multi-colored stripes.  This was extremely helpful when trying to paint the box to match as closely as possible.

Oooops... I ran out of room for the stripes.  Looks like I didn't meet the challenge, but I got pretty close!

**In addition to craft supplies, these storage boxes can also be used to hold pictures, CDs, cards, memorabilia, toys such as cars or trains, makeup, nail polish... you name it!  They are also really cute as wrapping for gifts!  Imagine getting a gift inside a box that you can REUSE!  It's brilliant!

Thanks, Megan, for having such a great idea and for letting me be a tiny part of your special day!