Because YOU matter bags - homeless care package - GIVING BACK - IDEAS on how to fill - Service project - hygiene kits

I'm doing a series of great ways kids can get involved with giving back. These are all activities we've done at home or with a large group. 

Here are my five categories we'll be involved with this month and I'll post ideas for each one.

ENVIRONMENT
ANIMALS
RETIREMENT RESIDENTS
FIRST RESPONDERS
HOMELESS

Because you matter bags are little care packages.

This is easy for little kids to help put bags together.

WHY DO THIS?

I'm sure you've seen someone on the side of the road with a sign asking for help. A lot of times I don't have the means to give money. This is a way to give them something they might need. A small care package or hygiene kit.

We keep a few in the car in case we see someone in need.

We purchase travel size toiletries when they're on sale and save sample size snacks and coupons.

Things we include in bags:

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Floss

Shampoo

Conditioner

Soap

Deodorant

Wet wipes

Small snack bar or crackers

Candy (nothing that melts easily) or gum

Gift card/coupon for food

Fabric shopping bag

Lotion

Chapstick

Socks

First aid kits (homemade) - alcohol wipes, q-tips, cotton balls, and individual Neosporin cream. 

I found these clear bags at our local HEB on sale.

Added flossers, homemade first aid kits, and a treat of non-melty candy.

Snack sample and restaurant coupon or gift cards.

Cloth grocery bags are a high demand item.

Rolled and attached to each bag with a rubber band. 

For women use an old purse and fill with feminine products along with the list above.

Bags can be filled with anything. 

Often we hand out toiletries so the kids filled bags with cookies, note pad, pen, deck of card, snack, and a mini flashlight. 

I love these bags the volunteers made. 

I also have awesome friends that save their hotel toiletries. We pass them out downtown to a highly populated homeless area.

OTHER IDEAS

Make hats and scarves during colder months.

Don't know how to knit? No problem.

I purchased knitting looms at Micheal's to make hats. They sell a scarf loom but we haven't tried it yet.

We made a joke that we were Friday night party animals.....knitting party animals. :D

So easy and the boys loved them.

Knitting in the car.

Notice his ring?? It's the decoder ring from Santa's message about family time. He still wears it. :)

Knitting while out to dinner.

He even took the loom to school to knit. We ended up knitting for not only the homeless, but for refugees. Our local library had a month long drive to collect hats and he turned in 12!!!

Please share other ideas!

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How to CLEAN a dry erase board - What WORKS?? - Restore a white board - ERASE EVERYTHING

We had a dry erase board in desperate need of cleaning!


VIDEO TUTORIAL HERE

I first tried:

Eraser - NOPE (haha)

Dry erase board cleaner - NOPE

Dry erase marker to color over the writing & erase - Made it worse (see the brown in the right bottom corner)

Time to search the internet! Oh gosh, so many suggestions and EVERY post said, "IT WORKS!"

 I decided to try out several suggestions so I could have at least one thing I knew worked.

I took the board off the wall since I wasn't sure how time was needed for everything to work. Some people said 10-20 mins or longer.

Things I tried:

Hand Sanitizer

Hair Spray

Alcohol (only had 91%)

Peroxide

Pam

Toothpaste

Other things I've heard works but didn't try:

Febreeze

Let sit for 20 minutes

WHAT DIDN'T WORK

Peroxide

Pam

Hair Spray

WHAT WORKED

Alcohol

Toothpaste

Hand sanitizer (which is 70% alcohol)

Results

1. Alcohol (91%) - This worked the best by far, without waiting and erased completely clean. It's only 91% alcohol so I'm sure 99% would be even better.

2. Toothpaste - Worked amazingly but ONLY where I waited for 20 mins. Plus, it was kind of messy but it worked so well I would be willing to cover the board and wait. 

3. Hand Sanitizer - This worked great as well being 70% alcohol, but didn't get the really old writing off. It cleaned super easy but still left residue. 

I ended up using 91% alcohol 

WOW!!!! It came off so easy and I didn't think this board would look this good again. Plus I can clean it easily while still on the wall. I started writing on it before taking a picture of it completely clean.

Thank you for stopping by!