Alternative Gifts

Got someone on your gift-giving list who loves to read, but has a ton of "TBR" (to be read) piled in little mountains all over the house? Bet they would love a gift that provided a literacy instructor for teaching adults to read in Haiti. Maybe your 80 year old grandmother has enough shawls and knickknacks and would love to be part of a program in Peru that aids old women in passing their stories and wisdom to others. Give a goat to your boss. Or just donate a where help is needed most. I've bought lots of gift through Alternative Gifts International. I like that I can pick the project so I know what organization is getting the money. There isn't a barrage of mail from the AltGifts, either... just the one catalog a year. Give something different this year.

Pittsburgh Plus

Pittsburgh Plus is up. Now I just have to make sure I post to it as often as possible.

Buy A Friend A Book

When I first saw the above link on WestOfMars, I thought, "Yeah... nothing new with doing that. I do it all the time." Follow the link and discover there is a bit more to it than just buying a book. Lots of rules, though not too difficult to follow. Not sure I'll get involved since finances are thin (this starving artist thing is not fun), but I like the idea. Susan (WestOfMars author) did a contest to find a new friend for the next gifting spree. Cool idea.

WrapSack!

Oh my goodness! I was shopping at Whole Foods today and at the checkout they had these cute little cloth bags to use for wrapping, an idea I have loved for a long time since they can be used again and again, however these come with a tracking number so you can send a gift, the receiver logs it at the site, then they use the bag to send a gift to another person, and so on. Like BookCrossing and Postcrossing. I bought one to send off to a random person through postcardx and plan to buy lots more. This will be fun!