THE SHIRTS ARE FINALLY IN AND I PICKED THEM UP TODAY...EXPECT THEM TOMORROW!!! So excited and happy with how they turned out!!! My pictures are backwards because only the front of my camera works! But all my hard work payed off this week and I couldn't be happier with how they look. I have 2 more blankets left to make and I'll be finished! I'll attach pictures of the shirts and the finalized blankets too!:)

I've been super busy making all these blankets!!! It's been quite time consuming... it takes roughly 30-70 minutes per blanket!! I've also received a phone call this week from Zappias that the shirts are officially in the production and printing process so they should be done soon! I figured I would show everybody what I do to make my blankets. 
Step 1: take 2 pieces of fabric, 1.5 yards each and line them up together evenly all around the edges

Step 2: take an index card and put it over each corner. Cut around the edges.

Step 3: cut one inch strips all around the outer edges of the whole blanket. (Sharp scissors necessary)

Step 4: tie all these strips into double knots. WAHLAA all done!

This weekend Jo Ann Fabrics had a sale going on and 3 coupons available for use! So I went back and spent the remainder of the money raised and bought material to make three more blankets. I finished a total of 5 blankets so far and have 6 more to make. I need to figure out another way to raise some more money... right now another bottle drive is my best bet and most realistic given the amount of time I have left to complete this project. The shirts should be finished in about a week!! I'm really excited to see those and show everyone how cute the black patterns are!!! Here are most of them below:

 

Yesterday I turned in all tshirt orders to Zappias. We organized the lists and sent in all the orders to be made. They should be ready in 2 or 3 weeks time!!!! I had about 180 dollars left over from tshirt sales of 600 dollars. I took this money and spent 107 and dollars at JoAnn Fabrics yesterday and bought material to make 5 blankets. I made 1 of them yesterday with some friends and it turned out great!!! I have some money left over to go back and buy more once I finish these 5. I also need to find another way to make money for more blankets since my goal is at least 25-35...maybe another bottle drive?? I'm open for ideas!!!

This week has been crazy...longest week ever!!! My deadline for tshirts was this Friday but unfortunately a big percentage of people that signed up to buy a shirt backed out, forgot their money, or something else came up. I decided I would give everyone one last chance and extended the deadline until Monday so hopefully more will be sold!!! SPREAD THE WORD... So far I've sold 555 dollars worth of shirts!! I filled up about 4 or 5 order forms and would like some more support
!  I get to keep around 100 dollars towards the blankets and I also returned around 350 bottles and got 17 dollars from that towards the blankets! I've also been finding coupons towards the blanket fabric so hopefully I can make quite a few! I spent a lot of time this week organzing things and finalizing orders and collecting all of the bottles and cans! I couldn't do any of this without my friends and family and neighbors! they have been a huge help.

This weekend being Eater, all of my family comes into town. I'm going to try to have most of them buy a tshirt....so far I have about 30 or so shirts sold, but I was really hoping to have at least 50 sold. I'm really looking to my classmates for support and I hope people are asking their friends and family to buy a shirt and support my cause. I only get 3-5 dollars per tshirt towards making blankets so the more i sell the more i can help. I'm starting to collect bottles this weekend as well for money. All money and funds are due April 17th so that I have time to make the blankets and donate them. My sister and closest friends have been a great help so far with spreading the word and carrying order forms around. I'm hoping by next week I meet my goal of 50-75 shirts being sold.

Yesterday i went Zappias and got my price quotas for the t-shirts. I also got permission this morning to sell them so I can finally out my plan into action!!! Thank you Principal DiStefano!!!!! I also set up my own order forms and attached pictures if each shirt with a description of each style and design. They all come in S,M,L, and XL. There are three color shirts to choose from, white, black, and orange. Each shirt comes in short sleeve or long sleeve. They are all cotton material. However, the black shirts also come in the sporty meshy wicking material! They all range in price from 13-22 dollars. However, if a lot of people buy them the individual shirts will be cheaper! So please buy a shirt to not only support my cause but also to support our community and provide the homeless with some warmth!! I'm very excited to see the results. I gave order sheets to some of my friends to help me spread the word. Find Rachel Wesoloski, Abby Shaeffer, Tyler Panella, Brynne Pazzaglia or myself to order yours!!!!! The money is due on April 17th, 2015. You have until then to order yours!

Here are my shirts I have designed and the order sheet. They aren't the best quality, sorry. But, these are my final product and I love them!!! Please order them in person. I have posted these on here so everyone can get an idea of what I'm selling!

Orange: Short sleeve is: 13-15$                                                Long sleeve is: 17-19$

Black: Cotton Short Sleeve is: 14-17$                                     Cotton long sleeve: 16-19$
            Moisture/sporty material short sleeve is: 17-20$         Long sleeve: 19-22$

White: Short sleeve is: 13-16$                                                 Long sleeve is: 21-22$


The more people that purchase a tshirt, the lower the price of each shirt will be. Please support my project and our community!!!!

Today I finally got around to putting my tshirts into action. I went and asked the principal if I was allowed to be selling these UE shirts. He is supposed to be getting back to me soon. I also went down to Zappias and got some price estimations for my tshirts. The prices vary for each style and color shirt. It also depends on how many tshirts will be sold. I'm excited to see this process happen. I really hope I get permission soon so I can ask my friends to help me sell them to my peers!!!

This week hasn't been extremely productive. However, I've talked to a few of my friends' moms and they have said they will ask their coworkers and friends of friends to save their bottles and cans for me to collect and cash in. They've also said they will try to sell tshirts for me when I establish official prices and designs. I'm also still working on the designs of the shirts too...  it's hard to find designs that everyone will like so I'm trying to make a few available. I've started having my parents and a few friends save their bottles for me and i hope that eventually I'll have a plentiful amount. I plan on establishing prices within the next few days to a week. 

I've decided to make t-shirts and try to sell them to help raise money! I'm very excited with the designs I've come up with and I'll attach the pictures of them below. I'm going to make almost all of them available in either orange black or white in a variety of styles and prints! They are just beginning ideas and I will be doing more work on them before finalizing the designs. I need to figure out how much it'll cost before i put a price on them, I'm going to check prices sometime this week. I really need my classmates' support with this and anyways who doesn't love an extra t-shirt?! I also plan on setting up a community bottle drive on an upcoming Saturday... or I might just do it myself with my friends and family. I'm very excited to finally get things moving faster!!!

A few more ideas have come my way this week. I might ask a few local restaurants if they would be willing to donate a few gift cards for a gift basket that I could sell raffle tickets for. I could sell these raffle tickets at spring fling maybe and get my own table. One of my friends also suggested that I could sell UE t-shirts that I could make myself. I could make one and show people them and have an order sheet and make how ever many that people order. I'm going to ask around this week and see how much of this I can do. Hopefully it's successful!!!!

This week I have accomplished so much. I've contacted people on ways to get started with my fundraising, I've asked my family for extra ideas, and some of my friends have even helped me contact the right people. I've finished another blanket, it's Boston Red Sox patterned and I plan on making another one this week. I'm beginning to get in contact with local boy scouts and the leader thinks that they may be able to help me reach out to the community. I'm thinking either a bake sale or a local bottle drive...should be interesting!! My aunt has been a big help in helping me come up with new ideas and giving me advice. I'm much more confident in my project now that i have started achieving some of my goals. I'm uploading many pictures since I have finally figured it out!

This week has been especially productive and successful as well. Though I have much more work to do, this week has been a great start. With the week off from school, I've had more time to focus on this proejct. I raised 50 dollars so far by having my mom and grandma take in a donations jar to work. This is enough to make at least 2 blankets! I'm excited to see where I'll be next week and I plan on going to get the fabric to make the first two blankets sometime within the next few days. My next step will be trying to find somewhere that I can have a bake sale or collecting bottles and cans to raise money. It will be a lot of work but I'm excited to see what I can accomplish within the next few months.

I have had a few problems with uploading my pictures with each blog. I'm going to try and figure out a different way to upload the pictures. I also want to explore the blogger site so I can find new ways to improve my blog.

This week I have continued making my list on ways to raise money. I have also talked to most of my family about donating to the cause and they seem pretty interested. I have also started to select what kinds of patterns I'd like to use to make the blankets. I still haven't selected a shelter yet...I haven't really found many at all. I'm anxious to start raising money and I really hope I am successful in my project. My 3 top ways I plan on raising money is going to be through donations, collecting bottles and cans, and a bake sale. If by the end of March I don't have at least 150 dollars, I'm going to try to also find another way to raise money.

So far this week, I have started a list of ideas for ways I could raise money to get the supplies I need to make blankets. I also started researching some of the nearest homeless shelters. I set a goal that I wanted to make 15-35 lap sized blankets to donate. I have also calculated an estimate as to how much money I need to raise in order to achieve my goal. (I need 1 and 1/2 yards per each side of the blankets making it 3 yards of fabric in total per blanket. The price per yard is 5 dollars on the 50% off sale. Regularly, each yard costs $9.99. So, we can say the average cost per yard is about 7 dollars. If we take 7 dollars times 3 yards, we get 21 dollars per blanket. 21 dollars times 15 blankets (at least), brings my total money to raise to at least 315 dollars.) I'm thinking that I'll raise money by doing some of the following things:

~Make and sell dog treats
~have a bake sale
~ask for donations
~collect bottles and cans
~sell blankets and charge 30 dollars per blanket and make a profit
~ I could even ask Jo Ann Fabrics if they do a discount for orders in bulk

I still have some brain storming and planning to do before I

take action, but I'm confident in my process. I'm excited to see how far this project can take me and how it will effect my life.

For my 20% project, I plan on coming up with ways to start fundraising. I will start by asking for ideas and making lists of ways to raise money. I will then take the money that I raise and put it towards fabric to make blankets to donate to a homeless shelter. I want to make a difference in my community and help those in need. 

~Hayley