My family always believed in charity and the biblical principle of "If you are blessed, bless others". In 2006, I wanted to do something for soldiers so I looked on the Department of Defense web site. I saw "Adopt a Chaplain" and thought it was a great idea. I am old enough to remember the Viet Nam war and to remember how badly the soldiers were treated when they came home then. I emailed "Adopt a Chaplain" and started sending goodies to a Chaplain from a guard unit in Arkansas.
Four or five months later, I saw a picture of a chaplain doing Easter services the year before and thought that for those chaplains who were used to wearing stoles in their civilian life, stoles would be a good thing to have. In researching liturgical stoles I found out that all of them that I could find were floor length and cost over $100. This is when I asked the coordinator of Adopt a Chaplain, Ben Ferguson, if the chaplains would like hip length stoles. The stoles started out rather crude with iron on decals of crosses. When one chaplain said he wanted something in a dull color because he didn't want to be a target in bright green, I started making the stoles in camo fabric. Two years ago my husband bought me an embroidery sewing machine and I started to be able to embroider crosses and unit patches. I have made stoles for every Christian denomination and for every branch of service.
When I started making hats I thought "Why not make small hats for the women in a military man's life?" My hats are small and I purposely don't charge much because I know that money is tight for many military families. These hats can come with a 3 in round frame that you can put a picture in or I can put a pin from the military branch or an embroidered patch from their branch or unit also on the hat most of the time. If it is a small unit I may not be able to. I am limited by the company I buy the patch downloads from but I have some of the big units like 1st Cav or 1st Infantry etc.
These hats are frilly and fun yet they honor your man. I see these hats being worn at a graduation or any kind of ceremony on base. If you want your man to find you in a crowd, this would also be a great way to do it.
For a very near sighted RN, this is my way of serving my country. (I tried to join up but because of my vision they wouldn't take me. I made the recruiter cry)
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1 comment:
Wow...what a great story ;)
Robin (CreationsAnew)
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