:: Softies For The Mirabel Foundation!

EDIT :: Softies For Mirabel Deadline is extended til the end of FEB 2012!

Hello!  How are you?  Are you well?!  Maybe you are new here?  Maybe you are not? Whichever it is, well or not well, new or not, WELCOME!  Today marks the beginning of our annual campaign Softies For Mirabel.  Softies are handmade soft toys.  Softies For Mirabel is a worldwide drive, collecting handmade toys for the children who are supported by The Mirabel Foundation.  This is our FIFTH year of collecting for the great kids Mirabel works with, and it’s going to be the BEST SO FAR, I think!


I’m giving you a heads up NOW, because we need you to make toys and get them to us by December 5th.  If you are a busy bee, it might take you a wee bit of time to get your toy (toys!?) organised, so it’s good to get a head start, right?  (Wait till we announce the Mailbox is open before you send us your toys, though!)


The toys will be exhibited in Melbourne (more about that soon!), so you can come and visit them later in the year, and for those who are not local, they’ll also be showcased on this very blog, as well as in this Softies For Mirabel online gallery!  After their viewing, The Mirabel Foundation will gather them all together and carefully pair each toy with its perfect Mirabel child companion, and the toys will start their new life with their new bestie!

This is the PERFECT solo or group project!  Are you part of a craft group? Make softies together!  Do you have a gang of ace people who care about stuff?  Make softies together!  Is your book club reviewing craft books next up (hint hint!)? Make softies together!  Do you know a primary or secondary school group who might like to be craft along? Make softies together!

Toys can be knitted, crocheted or sewn. They do not have to be super dooper professional looking.  They just have to be made with care and love and the sort of thing a child would want to buddy up with. Do make sure it’s not going to fall apart or lose its stuffing, though. No one likes to lose their stuffing!


Keep in mind that some toys will go to cute lil babies, so we need some without buttons and other choking hazards. But we also need some for older kids too :: so make the kind of toy YOU would love to receive. You can see some of the toys from previous years here (there are some great toys :: go look!!) There are some links to free toy patterns over here and also here and here :: if you have any links or toy ideas to share, you can do it here. Go wild, I say! You should upload an image of your toy to the Flickr group before you send it : Flickr accounts are FREE!


Don’t send your toys to us yet. I will let you know when the mailbox is open, as well as the mailing address and you can start sending then.  But DO start making now! Yes! Do that!  And take photos of your softie and add them to the gallery on Flickr so that we can see what is being made and how clever everyone is!   Keep in mind that they’ll need to reach us by December 5th.  (This is especially good to know for Overseas makers!)


The Mirabel Foundation is a really amazing group of people, headed up by Jane Rowe.  They support kids  who are affected by parental substance abuse.  They also support these kids’ parents and extended family.  Many of these children are unable to live with their parents, due to difficult circumstances or even the death of a parent (or both parents).  Some are in the care of elderly grandparents or older siblings.  You can read some of their stories here.   It’s stuff that no one should have to deal with, least of all kidlets, but Mirabel does not turn away. Nor should we. Nope.  Open your eyes, think about these great kids and do something to show them that the wider community thinks they are super special and capable of even more awesomeness.  Because these kids are already super awesome.


Please comment below if you would like to be part of our campaign.  And please keep an eye on this very blog to find out when the mailbox is open, and details of the Softie exhibition too!  I’ve put the Softies For Mirabel button in the top right corner of this blog. You can copy and paste the code or button on to your own blog or website to show your support, if you would like to!  Thanks to my pal Angela at Three Buttons for designing our logo!  Are you going to join in?!

xx Pip