Blankets for the Troops

I would like to share with you an exciting project that I have been involved with for several years.  Once a year, a bunch of dedicated volunteers get together for a blanket-making marathon for Blankets of Hope.  January 2013 will be the 7th year in Bowie, MD and to date, this group has made over 1,400 blankets!  These blankets are sent to the Landsthul Regional Medial facility in Germany for distribution to US soldiers who are ill or injured.

Each handmade blanket gets a hand-made, hand-written note attached to it from the folks who made the blanket.  As an avid stamper and card making enthusiast, I enlisted my stamping friends from all over the world to help make 300+ notecards every year.  I can't tell you how rewarding it is to see how passionate my friends from ALL OVER THE WORLD are to supporting our troops!

This year I am hoping to provide at least 400 notecards for the project.  If you would like to help, please leave a comment and tell me how I can reach you.  Here are the particulars:

The notecards must be 4-1/4 x 5-1/2, single panel (not folded) and on sturdy cardstock.  You can add layers, embellishments, stamp, ribbon -- anything you want so long as it is securely affixed (these blankets have a long way to travel!).  The general theme should be THANK YOU -- they can be patriotic but certainly don't have to be!

Each notecard needs to have a large eyelet attached to a corner so that we can tie them to each completed blanket.  The Eyelet Outlet (www.eyeletoutlet.com) has been very supportive and generous -- they are donating 500 eyelets to the project.  If you don't have access or know how to add an eyelet to your notecards -- just make sure that you leave me a bit of room in one of the corners -- and I'll add the eyelets to your cards! 

The only other requirement is that you leave enough room for a short note from the blanket makers.  If you want to sign the back of your notecard -- that's great!  You might also want to add where you are from -- I'm sure the soldiers appreciate knowing a bit about the volunteers who make the notecards and the blankets!

Here are some pictures from years past so you can see the blanket making in action -- and get a peak at some of the notecards that have been made.  (Not all of the notecards comply with the new guidelines -- lol!)