The holiday season is all about giving, yet it has been a tough year economically and budgets are tight. Fortunately, Rings & Things offers a voluntary donation program for employees where a set dollar amount is deducted from each paycheck. At the end of the year, owners Russ & Dee match the deducted funds and give the money to charity. Each employee chooses which charity to support. So, for example, just $2 per bi-weekly paycheck translates into a $100 donation!

Yesterday our HR manager sent out the grand total: through this humble program, Rings & Things employees donated more than $10,000 to charity in 2011! It is really exciting to see a those few dollars we end up not even missing each month add up to something so substantial.  The nonprofits selected this year include:

Spokesman Review Christmas Fund ~ 2nd Harvest Food Bank ~ ACLU Foundation ~ Alzheimers Association ~ Anna Ogden Hall ~ Cancer Patient Care ~ American Childhood Cancer Organization ~ Doctors without Borders ~ KSFC ~ KYRS ~ Living Tongues Institute ~ Las Hermanas ~ Meals on Wheels ~ Planned Parenthood ~ SCRAPS ~ SNAP ~ Spokanimal ~ Union Gospel Mission ~ Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery ~ YFA Connections

Christmas is just days away, but to make them easier to find I also wanted to post a recap of the 12 Days of Christmas Jewelry Designs. There’s always next year to plan for, plus many of the techniques are adaptable to any occasion!

Day 1 – Swarovski Crystal Christmas Tree Earrings

Day 2 – Bottle Cap Baubles

Day 3 – Lampwork Glass Bead Zipper Pulls

Day 4 – Beaded Snowflakes

Day 5 – Swarovski Crystal Holiday Light Charms

Day 6 – Family Keepsakes

Day 7 – Faux Stained Glass Soldered Ornaments

Day 8 – Mini Ceramic Cookies Charm Bracelet

Day 9 – Hinged Picture Frames

Day 10 – Velvet Ribbon and Bead Bookmarks

Day 11 – Stamped Metal Gift Tags

Day 12 – Brass Fairy Door Sandwich Pendants

Happy holidays everyone! ~ Cindy

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I must admit, I’m a tiny bit disappointed – while many of our employees dressed up in great costumes for Halloween, none of them used beads! But still, the winning costumes are worth sharing. There was a three-way tie for 2nd place:

Polly took her inspiration from Dia de los Muertos

Terri is the grandma no one wants to mess with: Grambo!

Melissa just had a rough time getting to work today ... wait, that's her costume! Fortunately she wasn't actually hit by a car!

Gretchen was the craziest cat woman ever! Bags full of kitties and leopard spot eye makeup really put her costume over the top.

Happy Halloween everyone!

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While not everyone believes in the metaphysical healing powers of gemstones, it is hard to argue with the emotional benefits of creating something pretty to wear with friends while dealing with the decidedly un-pretty reality of cancer.

A few of the designs created at the cancer patient retreat.

We just received a lovely thank-you note from Margaret Nowak, an Art Therapist with the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. Margaret recently hosted a retreat for women with gynecological or breast cancers. One of the activities was making jewelry, and Rings & Things was happy to donate some of the supplies. Due to the Susan G. Komen Fund and other fantastic organizations, everyone knows pink is the official color of breast cancer awareness, but I hadn’t realized that turquoise is the official color for gynecological cancers.

Margaret wrote: “The women loved making bracelets and necklaces.  They all chose a theme for their jewelry that often centered on healing. I do have some beads left which I will use with patients who are here receiving chemotherapy treatments or are in the hospital. A small bracelet made during a treatment or hospital stay can leave a huge impression on someone dealing with cancer.  Know that Rings & Things is appreciated for bringing a little bit of pleasure to what might be an unpleasant day for someone dealing  with cancer!”

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