Thursday, March 12, 2015

An amazing charity and a fabulous giveaway!

Words cannot describe how excited I am for this post!  Lauren, the founder of Beds 4 Kids, contacted me awhile back and shared her charity's mission with me. I absolutely adore her and what she is doing!  Here is her story and how her charity came to be....(get the tissues out because it is a tear jerker)...

  "Beds4Kids was founded on this thought – “If I die today, where did I leave my mark? How will I be remembered?” A little harsh, right? But it is a thought that we should all try to process. I was only 18 at the time this thought began to haunt me. I couldn’t shake it. So, I did the only thing I knew to do. Pray.
 
A few weeks later, I went to see a movie with some friends, “The Blindside.” You may have seen, or heard of it. Little did I know walking in to the theater that my life was about to be changed. Forever. The whole movie is very moving, makes you want to help, be a better person, etc, etc. But, there was one particular part that hit me like a ton of bricks! This is just a brief breakdown of the scene, but the well to do Tuohy family in the movie adopts the less fortunate Michael Oher. They prepared a bedroom for him in their home. Full of stuff that most all kids today have. TV’s, game systems, desk, bed, etc. Normal stuff right? When they show him his new room he says to them, “I’ve never had one of these before.” They ask him, “A room?” And Michael says, “No. A bed.”  At that moment I felt the tears begin to fall, and I knew that I was supposed to ensure that many kids as humanly possible had a bed to sleep in.
 
I won’t bore you with all the details, but let’s just say thanks to God, my family, and mentors, who began Beds4Kids. A nonprofit organization providing beds to kids and teens in need.
 
This is how my story began, and this is how I plan to leave my mark on our world. Where will YOURS start?"
~Lauren G
 
I will be the first one to admit that it is easy to take for granted the fact that my daughters both have warm, cozy beds that I get to tuck them into every night.  I absolutely love Lauren's idea and was so excited when she contacted me to collaborate with her on her next project!  

In order to take Beds 4 Kids to the next level and bring in money to support her cause, Lauren came up with another amazing idea...THROW.

THROW = "Together Helping Reach Our World."

From their website:
  "THROW is a pillow company that is changing the world. We create more than just pillows. We create dreams. With each pillow sold we are helping provide a bed to a child in need, giving these kids a place to sleep tight and dream big!
The future starts in your dreams, so dream big!"


You can check out their website by clicking HERE!  Make sure and follow them on Instagram to keep up with their latest designs by clicking HERE!



Here area few designs from the always growing collection, custom designs are also available:





How fun are those pillows...and that is just a small sample of them!

Lauren was so sweet and offered to make a custom THROW pillow for each of my girls.  It took me weeks to research the quotes I wanted to use but I came up with the perfect quotes that fit their personalities.  I sent Lauren the quotes and sent her pictures of the color schemes in my girl's room and she did the rest.  I knew the finished product would be amazing but when I received them, I was speechless! These pillows will be something we treasure for years to come!

My 17 year old daughter is an avid reader, the smartest person I know, prefers a laid back lifestyle, will be leaving Texas in a little over a year to head to Colorado for college and you will never find her without headphones in her ears listening to her favorite music....


My 7 year old is a sweet soul who always cares about the needs of others first, wears her heart on her sleeve,  can usually be found drawing someone a pretty picture or card, is always twirling or skipping around the house and has the biggest heart for someone so little....


I cannot even begin to tell you how much I love these pillows and the fact that I got to pick out the quotes that were perfect for my girls makes them so special to all of us!  I cannot wait to order more!

Now the fun part....GIVEAWAY time!!  Lauren wants to giveaway a customized pillow to one of you.  You get to pick the quote and work with her to create a one of a kind pillow just for you!  How amazing is that!  See the Rafflecopter entry box below to enter.  Good luck!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

53 comments:

  1. I would love to keep it! We are hoping to buy a house within the next month or so :)

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  2. Wow amazing company! Thinking of quotes now!

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  3. Love the pillows and the cause!

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  4. These are so cute. I think mine would say carpe diem

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  5. So adorable and such a great cause! I would love one for my boys' bedroom. They are little adventurers!

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  6. Too tough to choose a quote now as there are so many beautiful quotes out there. I would love to have this for myself!

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    1. I know, it took me weeks to find the perfect quotes!! :) Good luck!!

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  7. What a fabulous charity! I would do a quote that I found on Goodreads, and I would do it for my daughter who is graduating college next December: "Go out into the world and do well. But more importantly go out in the world and do good." Minor Myers. (I thought I had commented before, but perhaps it didn't take. If it did, please disregard one of them--same person and same quote.)

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    1. That is a great quote! Love it and best of luck with the giveaway!!

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  8. I tried to comment and not sure it posted!! This pillow would be for my sweet eleven year old who is the epitome of kindness. She is "a wild child, rebel soul with a whole lot of gypsy"! If more people woke up every day ready to extend a hug, a smile, a second chance and a word of encouragement, this world would be a better place!! Love the throws and love the cause!! Great work and God bless!!

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    1. Sounds like my 7 year old and I totally agree with you! Thanks for stopping by and best of luck!

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  9. AMAZING organization! My oldest son was born in Romania and lived in an orphanage. Remembering picture of the children and their sleeping arrangements is horrible. And so sad of thinking of your own community with the same problem. Thankful gor those that have a vision and ability to make a change.

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  10. This pillow would be for my sweet, kind-hearted, sensitive, spirited, amazingly special middle child, who is 14. I have been raising three girls on my own for ten years and she is the one who challenges me, rewards me, and makes me laugh each and every day. She has a super special soul. Her pillow would say: Happiness is a Choice. I recently shared that with her and she just told me this morning that she is living by those words every single day. Being a teenager is tough. I'm proud of her for choosing to have a good attitude.

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    1. Love this!!! Best of luck to you and keep up the good work!

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  11. oh my gosh! i love these!! i would probably choose to put this pillow in our main living area for a daily reminder!!! so many ideas! love this!!

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  12. I love love love these pillows. So sweet! I would create one for my living room.

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  13. I would absolutely love one of these pillows customized with "Mi Casa Es Su Casa" (My house is your house) for the metal and wood bench in my entryway!!

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  14. This part of the movie always gets to me as well. I take for granted that my boys have somewhere safe and comfortable to sleep every night.
    These pillows are a great idea!

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  15. I'd design one for my best friend. I don't know what quote I'd put on it...I'd have to ask for her favorite

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  16. I would choose to do one for my granddaughter who will be 2 on April 1, but was born premature and we were not sure she was going to make it, but she is a fighter and doing wonderful now! So I would struggle between the quote: "let her sleep for when she wakes she will move mountains" or "though she be but little, she is FIERCE!"... And I'd want "her verse" we prayed over her incubator many many days early on, the simple but strong Romans 8:31-- "If our God is for us, who can be against us"?!?!!!!

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  17. The pillow would be for my hubby.

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  18. Thanks for introducing us to this great charity! The pillows are all great, not sure which quote I would choose!

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  19. What beautiful pillows and such a thoughtful giveaway. I would pick one for my granddaughter it would say Londyn my saving grace! I always tell her that and she says no my name is Londyn.. So cute.

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  20. It would be for my 7 year old daughter. And not to steal your idea, but your daughters quote fits my Scarlett perfect!

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  21. Love the pillows! I would love to do one for my daughter and my son.

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  22. I have seen so many cute "Mr & Mrs" pillows lately and want something similar for our bed. I'd like it to be more personal though so this is perfect! I would put a quote from The Notebook on it as that's one of our favorites and the quote was a little part of our wedding. My husband and I each wrote a letter to the other to be read individually before our wedding ceremony. Without knowing, we each closed our letter with the quote "If you're a bird, I'm a bird."

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  23. I would keep it and use a quote from my great grandmother :"When we live, we live in clover. When we are dead, we are dead all over." It was a reminder to cherish and enjoy each day.

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  24. I would use the pillow for my for my dear friend's nursery for her newborn. The pillow would probably say "fearfully and wonderfully made". :)

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  25. So many options of things for it to say! How would I even decide?!

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  26. The quotes on your daughters pillows are awesome!

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  27. My daughter would LOVE these! We're getting ready to redo her bedroom so I would let her choose what to put on a pillow. Fun!

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  28. I love the "The Adventurer" throw pillow. It would look super cute in my bedroom. (bedroom makeover in progress)

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  29. Love the pillows! Amazing giveaway!

    -Brittany welter

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  30. Love these!! We just redid our bedroom so I think I would get one for our bed.

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  31. I would love one for my daughter's new big girl room. Her name is Charlie and she is 2!

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  32. I love her story and her reasoning! She is very inspiring and can't wait to shop her site.

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  33. Oh wow what a beautiful company! I absolutely adore the b&w pillow and that quote?! So awesome! Would love to win! Xoxo

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  34. I would love to win this! These are beautiful.

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  35. Love these & what a great cause! My husband & I are about to buy our first house so I would absolutely love one of these pillows as I'm preparing to get "decorate" crazy!

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  36. I would have it say "Let It go" in honor of me trying to let go of perfectionism.

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  37. I would get a pillow for my 16 year old daughter!

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  38. I would love to design one for my 13 year old daughter who feels deeply and just got to move into her own room after sharing with her sister for 10 years!

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