Bead for Life

I am pretty sure I blogged about this last year, but it's worth repeating. Bead for Life is a great organization that helps poverty stricken regions of Africa. The organization not only gives people jobs, but the money earned helps to pay for food, medicine, and education. I discovered this group through my sister-in-law three years ago when she gave me a necklace for Christmas. She gave me the blue three-strand one pictured above. Last year my daughter gave me the purple long, single-strand one for Christmas. It's not the best picture because I just tossed them onto a pillow, but the website has lots of pictures of the different colors and styles. However, if you click on my picture, it enlarges and you can see the detail in the beads.

If you're looking for a unique gift for someone this year, consider these. They have necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and even loose beads for you to create your own. They even have gift bags for $1, which is what Nichelle gave me last year. They also offer the chance to host your own bead parties. The prices are so reasonable too, so these make great Christmas presents. What's really cool about these beads is that they're made from recycled magazines, calendars, cereal boxes, and pamphlets. They have a new line called Katoga that uses different colored beads in a variety of shapes and sizes. You can visit their store here, or click on the link above to read more about who they are and what they do. Christmas is going to be tight for a lot of people this year, so I wanted to mention these again because they make great gifts that not only help other people, but are also affordable. In addition, they're really pretty and unique. Each one will be different.

I had to laugh when I got my necklaces out this morning to snap a quick picture. All twisted up in my blue necklace were my black hoop earrings. I've been looking for these for months! I thought I lost them when I was out of town. I had them all along, and in a drawer I open quite often. Talk about a "d'oh moment" for me! Also, thanks to everyone who wished me well yesterday. My neck is still really sore, but I slept better last night. No bear dreams, thank goodness. I did wake up to it being rainy and really windy, so there's my answer more than likely. My head usually starts up right before the winds, so I should have known. I took a Dong Quai last night and that seemed to help a little. Thanks again ...