Merry Christmas One and All !

Christmas Gift Suggestions by Oren Arnold

To your enemy, forgiveness.

To an opponent, tolerance.

To a friend, your heart.

To a customer, service.

To all, charity.

To every child, a good example.

To yourself, respect.” 

~ Oren Arnold

Dress Distribution #118 - For the children of Kenya to be handcarried by my niece

By the time you read this article these dresses are on their way to Kenya. Today my niece and family are leaving for Kenya and she will be taking with her the parcel below of 13 dresses to distribute to the lucky 13 disadvantaged kids in Nairobi -

and here are the 13 dresses in the parcel -

made possible by the following donors and sponsors -
1) Dress A Girl Australia
2) Elaine Klein
3) Colleen Mundt
4) Lyn Granger
To see individual images of the dresses included in the distribution, please click  on the image above or click here. 
Thank you to the donors of this distribution and my heartfelt thank you to my niece, Samantha for handcarrying the 2 parcels of 13 dresses.  Thank you for making a difference to the lives of at least 13 girls in Kenya, 13 lucky girls this Christmas. Much appreciated.

Dress Distribution #117 - For the children of South Africa Parcel #2 - Dec 2017

I will be sending a second parcel of 32 dresses to the children of South Africa but this will be posted in early Jan 2018 when there are less activities in both post offices of Australia and South Africa. Also, I am waiting for the first parcel I sent to be cleared at customs by Joan Adams of Morningstar Childrens Foundation of Welkom. The package has arrived yesterday but it needs clearance and it might take awhile. Once the first parcel has been cleared, this second parcel below will go.

and here are the 32 dresses in the parcel -

made possible by the following  dress donors and sponsors-
1) Year 8 students of Berkeley Vale High School
2)  Jody Clooney
3)  Yvonne Henderson
4) Monika Osvald
5) Year 8 students of St St George Girls High School of Kogarah 
To see individual images of the dresses in the parcel, click on any of the images above or click here. 
Thank you to the donors and sponsors for your generous donation especially to the Year 8 students of Berkeley Vale High School under the guidance of their school adviser Katrina Hill for raising the amount of $50.00 to help with the cost of sending the dresses to South Africa. It is much appreciated. Thank you.

Donation #9 - Donated by the Year 8 students of Berkeley Vale High School NSW

The last parcel for the year has finally arrived sewn and donated by the Year 8 students of the Berkeley Vale High School of NSW under the guidance of Katrina Hill.

Thank you to the Year 8 students most especially to Katrina Hill their adviser for helping these students make a difference to the lives of at least 15 disadvantaged kids. Thank you. Much appreciated.

Handmade Tote Bags Fundraising Drive Sale

If anyone is still looking for gifts to give this weekend, check out my handmade totes made from premium quality fabrics and fully lined with same fabric as the bag. For the everyday tote, it sells for $22.00 

and for the Christmas-themed totes, it sells for $20.00

All the fabrics used are from my personal collection. I thought it is time to use them and what better way to use them than these totes to help raise funds for Dress A Girl Australia. Check them out by a click on any of the two images above and they are also available in my shop in Dress A Girl Australia's facebook page.

Triple dresses sponsored by Jody

These three dresses were sponsored by Jody Clooney today. Proceeds from the sponsorship of these dresses will be donated to the Christina Noble Childrens Foundation's Clean Water tank project in Vietnam.

It is not too late yet and there are still lots of dresses left for sponsorship. Come on Board. Make a difference to the lives of these families in Vietnam before the year 2017 ends. To check out these dresses for sponsorship, click on the link below -

Dresses for Sponsorship for CNCF

3 Dresses added to my Dress Sponsorship Program

It was too hot and uncomfortable to be going out this weekend I decided to sew peasant dresses instead. And here are the three dresses I did and added to my Dress Sponsorship Program.

For $12.00 you can sponsor any of these dresses and help raise postage funds for Dress A Girl Australia's dress distribution to disadvantaged kids in 2018. Click on the image above to check them out and sponsor a dress. Help make a difference to a life of at least one child with your sponsorship.

Sharing the spirit of Christmas. Celebrate.

this is a nativity set i made in 2009 which is made of fabric and i only take it out from its box every year at christmas time and for the next 16 days only it is on display at my house so am also displaying it on this page to celebrate and share the spirit of Christmas.

South Africa parcel posted today

Despite the 41C heat today, I drove to the postoffice to post the parcel to South Africa (Dress Distribution #116). The parcel will probably take between 10-14 days to get there but am keeping my fingers crossed that it will arrive before Christmas. Pictures of the distribution will be posted if and when they are available. Click here to access the postage receipt. 

Dress Distribution #116 - for South Africa - Dec-2017

Its 3 years today that I was able to send a parcel to South Africa. Today I am sending 35 dresses to the Morningstar Children Centre in Welkom for the children of their foundation. Here is the parcel which I am sending today and hopefully gets delivered before Christmas day -

and here are the 35 dresses in the parcel -

made possible by the following donors -
1) Marlene van Zetten
2) Yvonne Henderson
3) Elaine Klein
4) Anne McGinnes
5) Lyn Granger
6) Year 8 students of St George High School of Kogarah
Thank you to the generosity of the donors of the dresses. It is much appreciated.

18 more days to go to support CNCF's clean water tank project

A fabric christmas tree do not need to be hanged on a christmas tree. You can also let it stand on its own like a real christmas tree. You can use a box, a tin can or a small ceramic bowl as its base just like on the image below. I used a handmade mini bowl made of porcelain as base of the fabric christmas tree and the small tree is adorned with buttons with christmas messages.

Check out what christmas fabric trees are still available by a click on the image above and if there is anything you like, please make a purchase. Proceeds from the sale of the fabric trees will be donated to the Christina Noble Children's Foundation's Clean water tank project for 100 families in Vietnam. The countdown to the end of the year has started. Barely 18 days more to go to help support the Christina Noble Children's Foundation's fund raising for clean water tanks for 100 families project in Vietnam. Share the spirit of Christmas to a very worthwhile cause. Thank you. 

Peru parcel has arrived!

A bit surprise considering it is Christmas time and normally parcels get delayed but the parcel has arrived in Peru. My friend Julia Griselda Chuquitaype Quintana was so excited about its arrival that she sent me a message in Spanish. This is the picture of the 2 parcels she has received and her message in Spanish -

The spanish message from Julia reads -

"Gigi, llegaron!!! Este domingo lo envio a la Selva peruana. Gracias por tu apoyo. Dios te bendiga muchisimo!"

which reads below when translated in English -

"Gigi, they arrived! This Sunday I send it to the Peruvian jungle. Thank you for your support, God bless you very much!"

Lucky me I understand a little bit of Spanish. And it is the Peruvian jungle that caught my attention. The last time I gave her dresses to give to the kids in the jungle was in 2014 (bout 3 years ago) when a few members of our family and I visited Peru for the Inca Trek. I met her for a few hours the day before we left for Cusco. It would be nice if she and her team can provide me with pictures but if not it is still ok. At least I know the parcel has arrived and I know where it is going locally. 

Dress Distribution #116 - for the children of South Africa

I try to make sure (for as long as I have the necessary funds) that the dresses I collect and the sponsored dresses are distributed to as many different locations as I can possibly can so some of the dresses from the 2017 Christmas Collection will be re-allocated to a new dress distribution (#116) for the children of the Morningstar Foundation of South Africa. This parcel will be sent by the end of next week. Click on the link below if one is interested to know which dresses have been allocated so far.

Dress Distribution #116 - Children of South Africa

More handmade christmas stockings to help the needy

This is another batch of handmade christmas stockings which were designed and made specifically for Dress A Girl Australia with the hope that it would sell and help raise funds so I could continue my charity work of providing clothing to those who are in need in hand-picked locations around the world.

I still have several left of these handmade christmas stockings and are being sold individually or in packs of 2 or 3 from my Dress A Girl website. Click on any of the images below to check them out. One christmas stocking sells for $10.00 which is inclusive of postage cost. Other designs can also be purchased individually.

 For two stockings, it sells for $18.00 which is inclusive of postage cost.

 For a pack of 3, it sells for $25.00 which is also inclusive of postage cost.

Making a purchase of these handmade christmas stockings will help provide clothing to those in need. Let us make a difference in this world to disadvantaged kids and make this world a better place. Thank you.

Another fundraising item - Santa Hat and Candy Cane Christmas Brads for your cardmaking needs this Christmas

Another fundraising item for the new year 2018. If you are into cardmaking then these unique Santa hat and candy cane brads could be for you for any of your photo card christmas greeting card projects. 

Santa Hat measures about 1.25cms (H) x 2cms (W). Candy cane brad measures about 1.75cms (H). Take a picture of yourself, kids and/or family, attach the brads on the picture where applicable (head and hand) and there you have a special and unique Christmas greeting card to give away to family and friends. You can also adhere your photo to a blank christmas card so you can write your own personal message inside the card. Here is a sample of a card I did with my two nephews wearing santa brads -

and another card I made where I printed a picture of a jolly Santa surrounded by candy canes and stars. I covered the candy cane images on the fabric with candy cane brads.

Be adventurous on your christmas greeting cards this Christmas. Check out these two brads and if you think you can make something out of it that you know the recipients will treasure forever, then please make a purchase. Just click on any of the images above. Your purchase will help make a difference to some kids....one small dress at a time.

Dress A Girl Aus Christmas Cards

I know you can do a lot with digital cards. You can put sounds to it and make it more attractive and fun to read and/or to watch. But being me who loves handmades I still prefer the old and traditional cards to make my Christmas greeting more personal and special. And this is why I have this set of special Christmas cards made for my charity work. Proceeds from these cards I saved up and use to pay for the cost of sustaining my charity work which is self-funded. I use the funds to pay for the cost of distributing dresses to different locations for the new year for I believe there are disadvantaged kids who deserve to own a new dress. Please help me make a difference to the lives of these disadvantaged kids by purchasing any of these christmas cards to send to family and special people in your lives.

1) a fabric dress adhered to the card that represents what my charity work is all about

2) a donation card for any charity organization on behalf of someone

3) a christmas message of happiness and hope to anyone in your list

4) a christmas tree shaped by the words of Dress A Girl Australia's goal to make a difference to the lives of disadvantaged kids.

Each card comes with a matching white envelope for easy gift giving. There is a blank inside panel for your personal message. Click on each of the images above for more details. You can buy a single card or in packs of 10 or in any number you want. Prices of cards are inclusive of postage costs. Check them out.

Donation #8 - 2017 Christmas Collection from the Year 8 students of St George Girls High School of Kogarah

Received today a parcel of 18 dresses made by the Year 8 students of St George Girls High School of Kogarah under the supervision of their Year 8 adviser Miss Kristi Stiskala . 

These are the students responsible for making the 18 dresses as previously published.

Again, thank you to Kristi Stiskala for inspiring these kids to help make a difference this Christmas and of course to the girls for a job well done. Thank you. Your donations are much appreciated.

4 Dresses sponsored by Marlene Van Zetten

Today was my lucky day. I received a christmas card with a cheque donation to Dress A Girl Australia and I am donating the proceeds of the cheque to the Christina Noble Children's Foundation(Australia) for their Clean water tank project in Vietnam. Also I have allocated the four dresses below as  Marlene Van Zetten's contribution to Dress A Girl Australia's 2017 Christmas Collection. 

Thank you, Marlene, for your generous donation. Thank you for adding 4 more smiles to this world this Christmas. Much appreciated.

2 sets of dresses for sponsorship

24 days before Christmas. Join me in sharing christmas smiles with disadvantaged kids this Christmas. Two sets of dresses have been added for sponsorship,

Click on any of the images above to check them out and if you feel liking making a difference this Christmas, add them to your cart and sponsor. Full proceeds from the sponsorship will be donated to the Christina Noble Children's Foundation (Australia) to help them raise funds for their Clean Water Tank project in Vietnam. A tax receipt will be issued under your name with your sponsored amount as your donation amount. To know more about the Clean Water Tank project of CNCF, click on the link below -

Clean Water Tank Project of CNCF

Keen to make a difference this Christmas

They did their best to learn how to sew in their textile classes and aimed to meet the final cut-off of 30th of November to make a difference in the lives of a few disadvantaged kids this Christmas.
1) The first group of students under the supervision of their Year 8 adviser Miss Kristi Stiskala are from St George Girls High School of Kogarah.

 2) The second group of students under the supervision of their adviser Katrina are from Tuggerah lakes Secondary College Berkeley Vale Campus. 

The dresses they made are on their way and will soon bring christmas smiles to the lucky disadvantaged few who will be recipients of the dresses they made this Christmas. My heartfelt thanks to Katrina and Kristi for inspiring these kids to help make a difference this Christmas and of course to the girls for a job well done. Thank you. Your donations are much appreciated.