'Chairity'-for Branded
My mom showed me this sofa in Australian Vogue Living a while back, and we both thought it would be a great idea to copy. How easy would it be to buy some old furniture, have it redone in canvas, give some kids some sharpies and let them go crazy on it?
My mom and I both quickly realized this project's potential to be a very fun way to raise money for many different charities.
We immediately got in touch with my aunt, Sidney Aldridge, a pediatritian at Cook Children's Hospital here in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Sidney Aldridge initiated the idea that Cook Children's Hospital was in need of a Palliative Care program at the hospital, and now that this program is well under-way, Sidney is very involved with it's fundraising.
We were not aware of what exactly a Palliative Care program was at first, so here is Dr. Sidney Aldridge to tell you in her own words...
There are now many little patients who are living longer and better because of our advances in medical technology but they do live with very complicated medical problems, and many will unfortunately still die at a young age. As you can imagine, this is a very difficult journey for these little children and their families.A new specialty has emerged in Pediatrics to help these most special patients called Palliative Care. The Palliative Care team would like to provide support for a family at the initial diagnosis, then all along the course of that child's life, and finally, help the family prepare for their child's death.The Palliative Care team helps the child with symptom and pain relief, and also provides much needed psychological and spiritual support for the child, their siblings and parents during these very difficult times. The team consists of physicians, nurses, social workers, child life specialists, psychologists, and spiritual leaders, such as ministers, priests, and rabbis. The Palliative Care team wants to help a little child live as well as possible for as long as possible, and then help make the end of that child's life be as pain-free and peaceful as possible.As you can imagine, it takes very special people to be able to practice Palliative Care. This kind of treatment requires hours and hours with each patient and family, and is not adequately funded by insurance companies. We rely on wonderful charity organizations such as the Careity Foundation here in Ft Worth to provide this much needed care. The Careity Foundation has an amazing charity event, a Western-themed Gala called "Branded" here every August to raise money for our new Palliative Care program here at Cook Childrens Medical Center, and they have provided us with immeasurable support.
The project got more exciting for us when we were invited to the hospital to bring our chair to the kids.
The chair in progress!
We even got some unexpected help from a pony on roller skates.
The final product looks great, as you can see!
We put four coats of lacquer on the chair to seal the scribbles.
My mom and I have both been so excited to share this fun project with our readers-my mom has also posted about this on her blog Atlantis Home
The chair will now be auctioned off at the annual Branded event.
For more information, visit their website.
Again, thank you Dr. Sidney Aldridge for helping us get involved in this event!
We look forward to doing more projects like this-in fact, we have three more chairs in the works!
We plan to auction some smaller chairs on eBay in the near future-we'll let you know more as this project develops.
Awww that is soo awesome!!!
Good luck with making a lot of money for the charity! Its good to see people doing things for other people :D
That's really thoughtful of you and your mom!
This is a great idea, and looks amazing! Congrats!
what a great idea! hope it's auctioned off for a lot! what's the starting bid?
Awww what a great idea guys! It's always nice to see when people give back :). Tried looking on the site, but do you have to be present to bid/win?
-Andrew
http://meandmarisa.wordpress.com
Great idea. The chair would look good in my appartment :D
Wow that turned out really good, great idea
Wonderful action, when I look on this chair's pictures and colurs I fell ... well happy ( this word can't show my really emotions :p)
You and Your mom must be really great personalities.
:)
How great!
it turned out pretty well.
and it's great to do anything to help out kids :)
Amazing, both the cause and the chair! Such a fun, creative way to raise some money for charity.
Wow, this is a beautiful project, great idea, so generous and sweet.. congrats :)
what a wonderful idea, the chair looks amazing!
wow it really turned out great! i actually love it more than the sofa! i'm happy to hear that you'll continue this endeavour. :)
Great idea, Jane! I am in charge of fundraising at a non-profit in Fort Worth, and we so appreciate when people in the community get involved - especially with unique ideas. I love your blog, keep that passion alive...Branded is such a great cause, and maybe I'll see you there!
What an incredible idea -- and it turned amazing!!!!
This is such a wonderful idea for such a great great cause. Not to mention that that chair looks fabulous!
This project is amazing! I really wish you the best of luck with it
Thats such a lovelyyy idea and amazing of you and your mum to organizee
Looks great tooo :)
The chair came out absolutely beautiful and what a sweet and thoughtful way to donate to a cause :-D
This is fantastic!
This is just awesome! I love it, thank you for sharing it with us!
what a beautiful project! i love the organic nature of childrens artwork. what a whimsical peice, perfect for any playroom or living room!
I will be thinking about this beautiful chair all day and wondering what you and your mom will come up with next. I love the chair and would like to try this technique sometime!
This is such an amazing idea.
You and your mom are such beautiful and giving people!!
This is so awesome!
I was wondering...
Can you still use the chair to sit in after it is lacquered or would the pressure make the finish on the canvas crackle and peel?
Thanks for sharing!
That's so cute! It turned out so perfect, and for such a good cause! A really great a idea, I hope it brings in a ton of money for the program. The kids must have a lot of fun too, they're actually ALLOWED to draw on the furniture!
This is actually Gorgeous. Wow.
There you go, Saving the world.
omg they're amazing!
I have fallen in love with the chair
kisses
what an amazing job, the chairs looks awesome!
What an excellent idea!! I love how creative the chair looks, with added touches from each of the kids. You and your mom have such big hearts! : ) Keep it up, I'm sure the children truly appreciate this!
it's awesome to see you guys doing this! the chair turned out great!
Jane,
This is such a beautiful and unique idea- one that I would love to recreate in my own area! I'm actually a founding member of a fashion club at my school, and although this doesn't have too much to do with fashion, we are always looking for new, fresh ideas to raise money for organizations and charities. Thanks for sharing, and good luck!
-Sarah
What a fantastic idea!! Such a great cause, and I bet the kids had fun doing it too :)
That is actually very pretty! Lovely idea!
what a great idea - i love how you saw something, you were inspired by it, and made it into a great cause!
xox
www.froufroufashionista.blogspot.com
that's just brilliant. that chair looks absolutely lovely! the kids and the pony must've been so happy to have that chair to decorate.
What an absolutely brilliant idea! And the chair looks magnificent!
xx
that chair is 100000x times better than the one in vogue! The kids are so creative and so colorful! I hope it gets auctioned for a ton of money! It would look amazing in a playroom.
Such a great cause. You guys are doing great stuff xoxoox
how weird, my aunt has a room in her house where the decor is very similar to this! I think she had it "professionally" done though because she only let me put my initials on a canvas stool. :/
xx
that is an absolutely outstanding idea and the chair camp out beautiful!!!
xxoo
It looks great! What an amazing job you guys did. I'm really glad to see that apart from being a style icon you're also a very sweet person. Congratulations!
xx
A thoughtful project and a beautiful result.
Sweet! Good cause and fun results! :)
congratulations on finally doing something for other people with yr money, time and privilege.
This is an AMAZING project! I love the chairs and helping a good cause!
amazing. i admire you and your mother very much.
oh that just breaks my heart :( that was great of you, though, and the chair looks amazing