Teddy Bear Puppets Give Comfort and Aid to Children in Need

Thank you Frances M from New Jersey, The Garden State.  I was surprised to see New Jersey known as The Garden State, as I would tend to think of southern states having more flowers.......but hey, still interesting.  Frances has taken the knitting and crochet pattern posted here some time back and made it her own.  Look at these adorable teddy bear puppets.  So very cute.  I'm sure these will be a nice small feature for a child spending the night in a shelter.  The beauty of them being small is that when families move about, which they do; the little puppet can easily come along.  I am sure these will comfort to 3 children in need.

Frances has also included the every popular cotton washcloths that have so many purposes in the shelters, with those living outdoors in the elements; as well as those transitioning into permanent housing.

Thank you Frances, please keep up the good work. 

**The counts on our progress bars are current. All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Crocheting for Bridge and Beyond Helps Homeless of ALL Ages

Thank you Jeannette T for this thoughtful donation of crocheted goodies to aid the homeless in Ohio.  Bridge and Beyond is able to help people in need because of good people like yourself.  Jeannette has included cotton washcloths and scarves, sized for the kiddo's...possible teen with the brown one.  Thank you Jeannette, and please keep up the good work.

AND...look, she's included one of the hand puppets.  I posted about this with some links to patterns, HERE.  While we perhaps don't need hundreds of these, having some for kids that are having a hard time adjusting to being in a shelter sounds like a wonderful idea.  Sandie P, another of our helpers here on Bridge and Beyond made the suggestion that they could also be made with cotton to be used as a washcloth for young kids........another good idea.

Here's a link from RAV, with a crocheted pattern, looks to be the same as Jeannette's.  It's a free pattern folks, so take a look.  And here's the knitted version.

**The counts on our progress bars are current, the percentages not quite. I'll not be figure the percentages with each update of numbers, but will be updating again next at least by the 20th. I have in fact made a reminder not on my cell phone for the 20th of each month to do percentages. If we're at a milestone, or I just have extra time I may do it more often...but certainly at that scheduled time.

** All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Puppets and Personal Care for Homeless

This little puppet was photographed some time back and previously posted here on this blog, but I thought I would revisit it with you all.  Look how cute it is.  This one is knitted, but would think crocheting one would work just as well.  Puppets, certainly aren't going to keep people warm, but wouldn't it make a cute item for small children spending a night in a shelter?  Small, soft, and perhaps comforting.  Something I presumed to be easier for families to hold onto as they move about from day to day with temporary shelter situations.  Might it be an item that would help a child through the night of uncertainty?  This is something I would suggest we strive to make tons of, but something I do think would be nice for the shelters to have on hand. 

When I spotted this on my blog from some time back, I didn't see a pattern for it, but will do some looking around.  In the meantime, looking at it might be enough for some of our experienced knitters and or crocheters to wing it and make one.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-knit-a-teddy-bear-hand-puppet/


If above link works, it's to a video and what looks to be very similar pattern for a puppet.

Here's a link to a free pattern on Ravelry.  You can create a free account there



Personal Care items is something men, women, and children need and use all year long.  There are used by folks living out in the elements, as well as those who obtain a night in a shelter.  AND they are needed when families transition from shelter living to a permanent housing situation.  Personal care items can be purchased, and collected whenever you visit hotels on business and or vacations.  Shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss, mouth wash, combs, chapstick, shaving cream, razors, sunscreen, female products, soap are some of the items we donate all year long.  These are also items that non knitters and crocheters can help with.





**The counts on our progress bars are current, the percentages not quite. I'll not be figure the percentages with each update of numbers, but will be updating again next at least by the 20th. I have in fact made a reminder not on my cell phone for the 20th of each month to do percentages. If we're at a milestone, or I just have extra time I may do it more often...but certainly at that scheduled time.

** All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.

Puppets, Food for Thought?

Spotted this cute little Teddy Puppet the other day on a u-tube video.  I saved the picture and tried to write down the directions, the video was really very poorly done, so ...need to go and re-check.  But, let's think out loud.  People knit and crochet cute little stuff animals, though it's not something I've suggested we do in the past...young kids aren't a our primary focus here on Bridge and Beyond.  My first thought was these could be cute, not need to be stuffed, and I think something that could be a fairly quick project???  But, then I thought......puppets, I never purchased a puppet for any of my 3 nephews when they were young, or years later when my daughter was young, or eons later when my nephews had children...........so the question is, as cute as I think this is, would it be used?  Do kids play with puppets?  Would it be helpful for the first couple of nights say in family shelter?

Please hold nothing back folks in your comments...is this a good idea?  Is it a waste of time and yarn?  I also plan to chat with our contact person at Homeless Families Foundation to get her take.  Is this something a social worker might use to chat with a child who doesn't want to chat vs something a child would actually play with?

I try to make our focus here on Bridge and Beyond warm items, things that will help keep people alive,  make them less miserable either out in the elements or in a not so warm shelter...so this isn't that.  I don't want to go to far a field; but thought it worth us all discussing it.

Have you ever purchased a puppet for a child?  If so is it forgotten or played with?

Did you all notice...yesterday Bridge and Beyond hit 1500 blog posts!  What a milestone.

2015 DONATIONS:
Hats: 191
Scarves 73
Mittens/Gloves/Wrist Warmers: 45
Slippers: 63
Rain Poncho's:  53
Cotton Washcloths: 115
Afghans: 8
Socks: 126
Cowls/Hoody Combo's/ 17
Shawls 1
Misc: items like personal care and things don't fit into above categories aren't counted

**edited to say we've heard back from 1 of the two people I wanted to touch base with.  We will not be making these for Homeless Families Foundation, please see nice explanation below in the comments.  Checking on the other contact person and will update as I know something.

All donations regardless of size and number are valued. All donations are appreciated. The Power of One is awesome, and when we work together The Power of One becomes The Power of Many.