Cassie Bustamante

living an ordinary life extraordinarily

Navigation
  • home
  • about me
  • home tour
  • project gallery
  • shop my home
  • Let’s Collaborate

The Gift of Happiness and Be CORAgeous Ornaments!

December 8, 2011 by Cassie 13 Comments

PinterestFacebookTwitter

I know I have been full of posts this week, but so many of them are holiday related and I only have so much time to post them!  And if I want you to have time to make one if you feel so inspired, then you need time, too.  So bear with me.

And by the way, JUST TODAY, after I posted yesterday about google reader not picking up on all these blogs I  started following…. they suddenly appeared today!  Hallelujah!  The Christmas miracle!

The gift of happiness.  Can you possibly give someone happiness?  Can you wrap it up, tie a bow on it, and put it under the tree?  Of course not.
But there are ways to teach your children and adults, too, what it means to be truly happy.  I personally believe this feeling comes from being grateful for what you have, and celebrating that.  Negative feelings often worm themselves into our emotional selves when we become ill with want.  I want my children to be content and see that what they have is enough- more than enough really.  And I also want to nurture in them a creative spirit.  Because of those desires, I created a gift for my entire family- gratitude journals.

I purchased 4 composition books, and covered them with brown packaging paper, using this method that I used to use to cover all my books in middle and high school.  I wanted to keep it simple and rustic.  So all I did to decorate them was add a glitter letter to each one, then completed writing the person’s name.  Then I decorated each journal using a sharpie with simple pictures that each person would appreciate.

Pin

Pin

This project was inexpensive and super easy, and I think it might be the gift I am most excited about giving my family this year.   I also added a special note to my family, and tied them all together with twine before placing them under the tree.

Pin

Pin

I also wanted to let you know about some adorable ornaments that are being sold for a wonderful cause.
I am sure you all remember my friend Heather and her adorable daughter, Cora, who was diagnosed with aplastic anemia last July.  You probably also remember that her older brother, Andrew, saved her life with a bone marrow transplant.  She is doing well, but is homebound these days, as she needs to stay away from germs and cannot risk any infections.   Heather has been keeping so busy taking care of Cora and her other two kids, but has also made it her mission to help those foundations that helped Cora.

I wanted to let you all know about an etsy shop owned by Pam Consear that is offering adorable “Be Corageous” ornaments in Cora’s honor. with $7 from each ornament going  to the Believe in Tomorrow Children’s House at Johns Hopkins. The BIT House provides an affordable and comfortable place for families of pediatric patients such as Cora.  You can read more about it here.  Heather contacter Pam to create ornaments to give as gift and then talked to her about the fundraiser, and Pam was on board.  Here are the “Be CORAgeous”  ornaments Pam created for the cause.

be CORAgeous lion ornament fundraiserPin

Thank you so much for your time and consideration and for helping those in need this Holiday season. I know that while I celebrate this season, I will be rejoicing that I have two healthy children who are able to sit on Santa’s lap if they want to, deliver cookies to neighbors, and not have to fear for their health in doing so. The children at the BIT house, and even those who have made it home such as Cora, cannot participate in those simple holiday joys. Please remember them. Thank you!

”hbcbutton”Pin

Related

Filed Under: Christmas

Subscribe for Email Updates!

« Button Christmas Tree & More
POWW Faves! »

Comments

  1. Katelyn says

    December 8, 2011 at 9:29 pm

    Love this idea, Cassie! After my mom passed away, I found a “grateful for” notebook that she kept. She only wrote in it for a very short time (now I know why I was never able to keep up with daily journaling…) but the things she wrote down are so priceless to me. It is truly sweet to look back and know how thankful she was for me and other things in her life. Something very dear to me for sure.

    Reply
  2. TwoThirtyFiveDesigns says

    December 8, 2011 at 10:04 pm

    Oh my goodness, love these!! Very cute idea. I feel more and more that we need to work on, with my kids, about being grateful for each day. So we have with our advent calendar, and it tends to get silly, but at least we are working on it and making them think about it!

    Reply
  3. Lisa @ Turning Tables says

    December 8, 2011 at 10:11 pm

    I love your journal idea!! You are definitely a mommy that I look up to and I definitely plan to follow your lead. Those ornaments are adorable and are for such a good cause 🙂 truly awesome!!

    Reply
  4. Ali Richardson says

    December 8, 2011 at 11:14 pm

    You already know how much I love those journals. They are going be so fun to look back on when your kids are grown. Those ornaments are gorgeous and awesome!! xo

    Reply
  5. Gwen @ The Bold Abode says

    December 9, 2011 at 12:17 am

    What a brilliant idea! Super economical and heart-warming…

    I had the same issues in my Google reader, and today, dontcha know, all those missing blogs are there! Hooray! Hopefully they are back for good…

    Reply
  6. deborah@confessions of a craigslist junkie says

    December 9, 2011 at 1:15 am

    A lovely idea Cassie, and an especially important lesson for your kids.

    Reply
  7. Allison says

    December 9, 2011 at 1:39 am

    This is such a special gift for your family, Cassie. You are an amazing mom and woman! I have a gratitude journal that I have written in every morning for the last almost 19 years. It’s such a wonderful start to my day and truly reminds me of the many blessings I have in my life. I will pop over to the ornaments!

    Reply
  8. Anna@Directions Not Included says

    December 9, 2011 at 3:29 am

    I love everything about this post. Everything. The journals and the ornaments. Off to go to get one or a few. And I should make these journals for Ray and me.

    Reply
  9. Rita says

    December 9, 2011 at 3:31 am

    Cassie I love this notebook idea. I think it’s the simple little things that are the best gifts!! You’re a precious mother of those two lucky children 🙂

    Reply
  10. Rosemary@villabarnes says

    December 9, 2011 at 5:11 am

    I love this post Cassie. Love your notbook idea, and the journey of Cora. There were lots of prayers on her, including mine. I had the same issue with Google, BTW.

    Reply
  11. handygalstudios says

    December 9, 2011 at 7:30 am

    Thanks for featuring our ornaments! It’s been such an honor to work with Heather on this project, and I’d also like to give her older kids credit for coming up with the lion design. They’d previously used it to make t-shirts, so I just did my best to translate their fresh, simple, and very sweet image into clay.

    I live in California and have only “met” Cora, Heather, and their family through emails and photos, but joining “Team Cora” has been a special addition to my holiday season this year.

    Cheers, and thanks for the shout-out, Cassie!
    Pam Consear (the Etsy shopkeeper)

    Reply
  12. Amy of The Salvage Collection says

    December 13, 2011 at 2:25 am

    i’m heading over to buy a “cora-nament” now as we have a niece who benefitted from the johns hopkins medical community, as well. what a beautiful ornament and idea.

    love the notebook idea, cassie! very inspiring… as usual!

    Reply
  13. Sabrina says

    January 2, 2012 at 9:13 pm

    I made a Gratitude Journal today! Thanks for the inspiration!!
    I posted it at my blog…

    http://superfluouslysabro.blogspot.com/2012/01/gratitude-journal.html

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Hi, I’m Cassie!

I believe that you don't have to spend a lot of money to live a beautiful life and be your best self.  Here you will find budget friendly ideas to live happily, healthily, sustainably, and most importantly authentically.  We all get one chance at this life, and this ordinary girl plans to make hers extraordinary. How about you? Read more...
Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email Rss Bloglovin

Categories

Disclaimer

This blog does not share personal information with third parties nor do we store any information about your visit to this blog other than to analyze and optimize your content and reading experience through the use of cookies. You can turn off the use of cookies at anytime by changing your specific browser settings. We are not responsible for republished content from this blog on other blogs or websites without our permission. This blog uses affiliate links.

Connect

Hi! I'm Cassie.

Mother, wife, shop owner, blogger, writer, incurable diy-er, furniture painter, coffee and wine drinker, friend. Seeking happiness and passing it on. Read More…

Recent Posts

Privacy

© 2023 · Foodie Theme Customized by This Bold Girl · Built on the Genesis Framework