Something old new again.

I never got around to saying "Thank You" to the Bamboo Bunch for the lovely framed artwork and gift certificates that Hubby John and I were presented with last month at the Chinese New Year celebration. We have over the past five years helped out at this event. Every year HJ and I help with the serving of food, washing and clearing up of dishes and after all is done we help to take down the tables, chairs and decorations. We donate raffle prizes that I put together, with both new and previously enjoyed items, to help raise money. Tis year we donated about 30 raffle prizes.
The money raised is used for events for the children during the year and also for a foster child that the BB sponsors in China. HJ and I were called upon during this years event and presented with the gifts that were totally unexpected. We were so surprised. It was very kind of the board to remember us in this way. So THANK YOU to all those involved. Some of the raffle prizes had to do with a previous post in which I happened to mention that I had some beautiful, large, old calendars that I just couldn't throw away but I didn't know what to do with. You can read all that here. I meant to tell you that I thought of a great way to use those calendars. I got some peel and stick paper stock and covered the calendar date part with it. I used a stock that is called "Blockout" and nothing will show through once it is applied. Doing this made it easy for the pictures to still be viewed while the new owner of the calendar could use the covered part as a doodle pad, paint book or whatever. The calendars were put into the raffle prizes that I did up this year for the along with my usual jumble of this and that. I hope whomever won them were happy with them. Personally I thought my idea was a great way to recycle and make something old new again.

2011 Year of The Rabbit & a Thrifty Find

Holy cow....another month has passed by already! Where does the time go? I have been busy, busy, busy getting raffle packages all done up for our Bamboo Bunch Chinese New Year celebration. I have been hopping around like a bunny, here, there and everywhere trying to get everything finished up. The celebration is in another 2 weeks and I still have one more prize to wrap. Not to worry though, it will be done tomorrow night. What a relief that will be. Once the 31 prizes are gone I can have my living room and family room back. I'm not really complaining. I really enjoy doing up the prizes. I collect stuff all year round, both new and renewable items. I keep a keen eye out for really great bargains and for unique containers and then early in January I start wrapping everything up. I love collecting the stuff....I HATE wrapping it up. I'm not good at that and I find it a chore that I tend to put off as long as I can.
Silly me! If I just wrapped a prize up as soon as I had everything collected for it, it would be much easier. But that would make sense wouldn't it? Nope, I have to wait until the last possible moment and then drive myself nuts trying to meet the deadline. Oh well......I'm done for this year and I think that next year I might try something different. We'll see what happens. I do love to watch peoples faces, especially the kids, when they see something that they hope they win and they put their tickets into the box. When the winning ticket gets drawn there are always lots of smiles and that makes me happy. I enjoy that day/evening so much and am looking forward to this years celebration. Someone asked me last year why I don't do this as a business and I told them that then it would become work while now it's just fun for me. I already have a job and this is my down time. So you see, I really do like making up prizes for the raffle table.
Right now I am off to read a few of my favourite "Blogs that make me go Ohhh.....
It's been a while since I have done that and I do miss all of those blogs a lot! Hopefully I will get more time to do it this year. Last year was very busy for me and I seemed to be tired all the time. So far this year things have been much better. It will still be a hectic year I think...a lot of stuff coming up in the next 6 months or so. But not to worry....I feel like I have a lot more energy so I am hoping that it continues on for the rest of the year. So I won't post again until later this month. I will let everyone know how the "2011 Year Of The Rabbit" Chinese New Year celebration went/goes at a later date. Till then have a great February!
PS Speaking of prizes, I just have to tell you about the BEST bargain I have gotten in a while. The other night I was at Walmart and was heading to the checkout while clutching the bottle of shampoo that I had picked up. Hubby John was waiting out in the car and was explicit about instructions of 'DON'T BE IN THERE ALL NIGHT" or he might not be there when I came out. So I was a woman on a mission. There were a bunch of people blocking the aisle while they had a family reunion or something like that and so I veered off into a another aisle and once around the blockage I veered back into the main aisle that leads up to the checkout. Thank goodness I did that or I wouldn't have seen what I did. HOLY COW! There on a shelf.....right at eye level.....were beautiful Disney keepsake boxes filled with 40 individually wrapped cards. Birthday and all occasion.... 2 of each design. There was a box open already so I took a quick peek inside because I figured they were just cheap crap that I wouldn't want. I was stunned! They were absolutely beautifully made. I could not believe that these boxes of cards were only $5.00 each. I grabbed one and continued on to the checkout. I didn't know if I had enough money in my account but figured I could put the shampoo back if not. Anyway long story shortened; I got out to the car with my great find and then called my daughters and had Hubby John turn around and go back to Walmart. Once there I went back inside and grabbed three more boxes of cards. That left only the open one on the shelf and I am kicking myself for not grabbing it too! I was/am one happy thrifty lady who scored an awesome prize.

Gung hee fatt choi.

Whew......it's done....they're gone....and another thing is stricken off my "2010 To Do" list.
Thirty one raffle packages assembled, wrapped, labelled and shipped off.
One of the groups that we support is called "The Bamboo Bunch". This group is comprised of families that have adopted children not born in Canada. China, Thailand, Korea and Vietnam, are the countries where most of our forever family children were born. We are the lucky ones to have been privileged to bring a child from there to here. The adoptive mothers and fathers want to ensure that their sons and daughters are aware of their birth heritage and so they celebrate the various cultural holidays by getting together and having Chinese New Year & Harvest Moon celebrations, summer picnics and Christmas parties. They also do many other events during the year that Hubby John and I don't participate in. One of the bigger events is the Chinese New Year party. They have a raffle table to raise funds, a craft table for the kiddies, a yummy Chinese Food buffet, Chinese fan and scarf dancing performed by some of the little ones from the "Bunch", and a martial arts display along with the Chinese Dragon dance. Very dramatic, noisy and a lot of fun, especially for the kids. We love being able to see the children changing as they are growing up. Look how this one's hair has gotten so long, did you notice how that one's teeth have come in or out, look how tall he/she is getting. Getting back to my opening statement, Hubby John and I have donated raffle prizes again this year for the Chinese New Year celebration. I work really hard on collecting items during the year and then putting together the gift packs which are used for the raffle table. I really enjoy doing this. It is a true labour of love. It's fun getting something like a large previously used bowl, (of course it is clean and not cracked and is food safe) adding a new wooden spoon, a cake mix and some new cupcake papers, a previously owned cake cookbook and glass cake plate and putting it all together in clear wrap then adding some ribbon and ending up with a great raffle item. This year I am very excited to see how the raffle packs are received. I think the biggest draw will be the two "Girls Surprise Treasure Boxes". They are meant for girls 8 years and older and have all kinds of goodies stuffed into a pretty little box. I had a lot of fun finding new and gently used items for some lucky little lady. I even did a "Boys Only" bag this year. I am sure that it will also be a hit. There are items geared more for Mom and Dad too, like the cake and popcorn packs along with a beauty basket pack and a dish washing pack that contains tea towels, dish cloths, dish soap and scrubbies. (That one always is a big draw). I will be watching to see which items are well received this year and 'will be taking notes for what to do or not to do for next years raffle. (I have already got a few things ready and in the holding box for the 2011 celebration.) There are lots of raffle packs to buy tickets for and I hope that means they will raise a lot of money. This year they hope to raise enough money to sponsor a child from China for a year (and hopefully longer) through "Love Without Boundaries" . This is such a wonderful organization that helps in making a difference in the lives of orphaned children in China. So lets hope it all goes well and that the raffle does even better than last year.
"Gung hee fatt choi......Congratulations and be prosperous" or as we say here in Canada, "Happy New Year!"