This year I packed two bags for some teens in need. Here's what I put inside each:
How You Can Participate
If you're in Australia, you can fill a new or gently used bag with some essential items for a woman or teen in need over Christmas. Share the Dignity partner with many charities to make sure the bags are available for those doing it tough. They could be in poverty, homeless, or feeling domestic violence and your donation can help bring some comfort.
Bags can be dropped off at all Bunnings stores in Australia from the 15th November to the 1st December. (Starts today!)
What To Include In Your Bag
Once you have a new or gently used bag to donate, you can buy some things to fill it with. I'm always looking for things on sale or on special near the end of the year to include in my bags.
While there is a list of essentials needed in every bag, you can always add a little extra or two to your bag. The basics are:
shampoo and conditioner
toothbrush and toothpaste
body wash or soap
roll on deodorant
pads or tampons.
Ideas for extras you may want to include are listed on the Share the Dignity Website. This year I added gel pens, a colouring book, hairbrush, sanitiser and tissues as my little extras. I was so proud of scoring the colouring books at Kmart for just $4 each, and I picked up both bags on clearance too. I really hope the bags make someone smile this Christmas!
It's that time of year again! Share The Dignity are running their #ItsInTheBag campaign, encouraging you to put together a new or gently used bag with a few essentials and some special treats for a woman in need at Christmas time.
While Share The Dignity collect bags to distribute to teens as well as bags for mums and new babies, this year I picked again to do a standard bag for a woman in need.
What's In My Bag For #It'sInTheBag
A big bag, but it needed to be to fit everything inside! I packed all of the essentials - pads and tampons, deodorant, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, tooth brush and tooth paste. So that a woman in need at Christmas time has all the essentials everyone deserves. When times are tough sometimes even the basics are out of reach.
With the use of some Clinique items I got free as a gift with repurchase of my current moisturiser, I added in a few luxury items as well, to make whoever receives this feel special. Face wash, moisturiser, lipstick, and mascara. I added in some sunscreen too, and makeup remover wipes and a couple of face masks, along with a pretty necklace and of course a little Christmas card. Because everyone deserves to feel a bit of joy on Christmas, and to feel loved.
I've donated these bags for the past few years and it's become a staple on my Christmas shopping list, to look out for things someone might like to receive in a bag like this. If you're in Australia, you can donate your own bag at any Bunnings between 18th and 27th November.
You can find a list of the items required and suggested for each bag on the Share the Dignity website. And if you want any further inspiration, you can see some of the bags I put together in previous years below.
If you are outside of Australia, you can donate online to sponsor a bag, or you can find a similar charity in your country to support. Food banks are always grateful for donations too!
It's that time again! Share the Dignity is asking Australians to give back at Christmas and fill up a bag with some essentials and perhaps an extra special item or two to donate to a woman in need at Christmas time. This is the fourth year I've participated with #ItsInTheBag, it's such a fun thing to get involved with. I've shared how you can get involved below too, as you can start dropping your bags off to Bunnings this weekend!
This year I've packed a bag for a local woman in need to make her feel special at Christmas time. And I picked a nice big bag so I had room for a few extra pieces for her.
What's In My #ItsInTheBag Donation For 2021:
The past couple of years I've done a mums and bubs bag to help out a new mum in need. This year, I decided to go back to basics and just fill up a similar bag to what I did the first time I donated in 2018. This bag will be given to a local lady in need at Christmas time. Maybe she's homeless, maybe she's fleeing violence, maybe she's just having a hard time making ends meet and has reached out to a charity for help. Whoever she is I hope that this bag helps her see she's loved and worthy, and brings her a little joy at Christmas time.
This bag has all the basic essential hygiene items and a few extras. Things like tissues, a face mask, wipes, hand sanitiser, hand cream, a necklace, a journal and some pens. And I hope whoever receives this likes coconut, as you can see I ended up with a bit of a coconut theme going on! Almost everything was on sale. I stock up in advance, and don't shop all at once. Half price sales at Woolworths on beauty products are good for this, to add a little extra to the grocery shop, and the bag itself was a $8 bargain at Kmart with lots of room for everything.
If you can't make it to Bunnings between the 19th and 28th November, why not see if any local charities near you are collecting anything similar? A thoughtful bag of essential hygiene items is likely to be well received. Maybe your local library is already collecting such items, or your local food bank would appreciate some donations.
I've seen this idea by other names in other countries too - blessing bags, kindness bags, etc. You can research and see if there is anything similar where you live.
I'm not sure how many times you need to do something each year before it becomes tradition - but I'm glad I can do this for the fourth year in a row and that I have the avenue on this blog to share the donation drive with a wider audience. It makes me so happy when friends or family want to include things in the bag or have even put their own bag together to donate. My mum helped me with this bag, the little pouch was a great addition!
I plan to do this next year as well - are there any little extras you think I should include that I haven't this year? Or anything you considered a must-have when you donated something similar?
Sharing what's in my bag for Share The Dignity #ItsInTheBag! I've done this the past couple of years in order to support local women. The Share the Dignity charity aims to ensure all women across Australia have access to sanitary products. Each Christmas they run the It's In The Bag campaign, where you fill a new or gently used handbag with some essential products and special gifts for a woman or teen in need.
This year, the same as last year, I've decided to do a mums and bubs bag. I've filled a nappy bag with a lot of essentials and a few special treats to let a mum to be or new mum in need know she is loved at Christmas time.
My decision to do a baby bag again this year was made thanks to a special gift with purchase Priceline had on. If you spent $39 or more on participating brands in store you got a baby bag filled with samples and full size baby care products. The perfect thing to start off my donation! The video shows how I fit everything inside and what I included:
As you can see in the video, the bag is a good size and I fit quite a lot into it! I made full use of all the pockets to ensure that as well as covering off the essentials for mum and baby, I included a few extra treats. It breaks my heart to think that there are mums across Australia who due to circumstances outside their control are facing a Christmas alone with their new baby. Maybe they are homeless, maybe they are in a domestic violence refuge, maybe they are living in poverty, maybe they have fled from extreme weather and have nothing left but the clothes on their back. I hope this bag brings a little bit of joy. There are many stories that Share the Dignity have on their site and socials to demonstrate how much of an impact this small gift can make.
How You Can Help:
There are so many ways to get involved:
This year, you can sponsor a bag if you don't have time to source all the products yourself. Your donation will be used to build a mum and bub bag, teen bag or woman's bag for Christmas.
You can put together your own bag of essentials - the list of required and optional extra items is on the Share the Dignity site. Pay special attention to the exclusions list if you are using the Priceline deal as part of your donation this year like I did - not everything in the bag is suitable to donate, and I had to remove some items. The deal is no longer available online but there are some bags still in stores.
If you're donating a bag, drop it off at your local Bunnings between 20th - 29th November. Following all local coronavirus precautions and restrictions of course.
Share to raise awareness - you can follow Share the Dignity on Facebook, they have a lot of helpful tips and ideas for putting together a bag, and lots of info graphics to share. Like this one, which shows what to include in your bag:
With 2020 being a tough year for a lot of people, I really hope this bag makes a difference for one mum and bub and makes her feel special at Christmas time. If you have the ability, there are so many ways to give back this year - donate your time or money to your favourite charity, donate to It's In the Bag, or find an organisation in your country doing something similar - these are sometimes called Blessing Bags in other countries. You can see my woman's bag donation in 2018, and baby bag donation in 2019 for more ideas.
Have you participated in #ItsInTheBag or a similar donation drive before? What extra pieces did or would you include in your bag? I'll be doing this next year as well and I'm always open to new ideas for what to include!
Note: I was not paid for this post. As always all thoughts, opinions and images are my own.
Two identical outfit formulas for today's Weekday Wear Link Up, but outfits for two very different days! Both a winter staple formula of skinny jeans, blue scarves, v-neck tees and cardigans. Accessorised with my Louis Vuitton Neverfull tote bag.
Wore this for a very fun day at Wellington Point! We were lucky to get there when the tide was out so we could go for a walk out to King Island after lunch. When the tide is out, a sand bridge appears all the way from Wellington Point right onto the island. It's the first time we've been able to walk out there with both boys since my my now 4 old was a baby. The tide has not been in our favour before. The kids enjoyed exploring the island although I did regret the walk the next day - while it's a short walk at a couple of k's there and back, walking on sand is a bit rough on my injured knee, even though I took my shoes off to do it.
I wasn't sure what the weather would be like as last time we were there it was cold and windy - so I picked a light cardigan, my navy scarf and a fun pair of magenta skinny jeans. I really like these magenta jeans with blue and the grey cardigan was a good neutral. I thought the white birds in the print matched the white v-neck tee well too! I didn't end up taking this cardigan off - it was a warm day but the sea breeze meant I kept my arms covered. Although it was busy on the beach it was nice everyone kept their distance!
A bit of a darker outfit for this cooler day! With the wet weather we headed to our local shopping centre for a bit of a browse and to pick up a few groceries. This was before the recent COVID cases in Brisbane, we are back to shopping online 99% of the time now! But it was good to get some presents for an upcoming birthday party, and treat ourselves to some new books (the kids got some Disney ones) and a Boost juice. They had a colour burst promo on so I decided to try the blue smoothie - not only was it delicious it is the first time I'd have a blue smoothie and I had to get a pic as it matched the blues in my outfit so well!
The Stella McCartney heart print scarf was a bit of matchy-matchy too, with the black in the print matching the black v-neck tee. I liked the navy cardigan with the scarf too, even though they are different shades of blue I think it worked well. The burgundy jeans added a little extra colour and the Louis Vuitton neverfull bag carried all of our water bottles and some snacks for the boys, as well as all of my essentials, so I didn't need to carry the baby bag as well.
Navy scarves go with so much! For something a little different you can try wearing them with colourful jeans instead of the classic blue denim. It's a good way to add more colour to a classic jeans, tee and cardigan outfit in winter.
Weekday Wear Linkup #82
Welcome to the Weekday Wear linkup! A linkup for you to share your weekday outfits - whether that is office wear or stay at home mum wear - if you wore it on a weekday, you can link it up!
Guidelines: 1. Please link to a specific outfit post, not your blog homepage. 2. Link back to this post so others can find the link up. 3. Follow your host Away From The Blue on Bloglovin, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook or YouTube. 4. Add up to two posts and be sure to visit and comment on as many other posts as possible to get some weekday outfit inspiration! Optional: tweet the post you linked up with the hashtag #weekdayWearLinkUp so I can retweet!
A special what's in my bag post today as I'm sharing what I have pulled together for Share the Dignity's It's In The Bag Christmas campaign!
Share The Dignity provides sanitary products to those in need across Australia and every year at Christmas time they have the drive to donate a little more than just pads or tampons.
A little more about what's in the bag and why is in my video!
I had so much fun putting this bag together! As you can see, it had to be quite a big bag to fit all the essentials in it so I went with this pink and grey Kmart gym bag. Nothing else was big enough! I had forgotten just how many things you need as a new mum, now my youngest is 3 and a half! I ticked off all of the essentials from the list for mum (things like breast pads, maternity pads, shower gel, shampoo and conditioner) and for baby (nappies, wipes, nappy balm). With the little space I had left I added some extras for mum, like a hairbrush, lip balm, tote bag and of course a little hand written card.
I can't imagine being a new mum at Christmas time in a shelter or homeless and so I hope that this bag helps a little. While I picked up a lot on sale spreading my shopping out over time, I also picked up things we use and love at home for the boys. I've shared my review of the Mater baby products before on the blog when I collaborated with them, but this post, like last years It's In The Bag post, was not paid for in any way and I purchased the Mater products myself.
Ways You Can Help
Share The Dignity has some great ideas about what you can put in your bag to give to a woman, mother or child in need. See what to put in a bag for a lady, teen or new mum. You can donate your bag at your local Bunnings from Friday 22nd November to Saturday 7th November.
If you don't have a new or gently used bag to donate to the Christmas campaign, why not take part in the sanitary products drive in April or August next year?
If you're not in Australia and still want to help women in need, have a look and see if there are any charities in your country that put together blessing bags. Similar things I found on google are blessing bags in the US and bags of kindness in the UK.
What You Can Include In Your Nappy Bag:
There are so many ways to give back at Christmas time. If your heart aches for men, women, children, mothers, animals or families in need, Christmas is a great time to give back. I loved being able to do a little something for a struggling mum this year and hope in some small way it brings a little joy at Christmas time.
I'd love to do this again next year too! Have you done something like this before? What should I include in my next bag?
A what's in my bag post with a bit of a difference!
You might recall I mentioned a very inspiring and moving talk by Rochelle at the blogger's brunch a few months ago. Rochelle runs Share the Dignity, a charity that aims to provide women across Australia with access to sanitary products.
Just grab one of your gently used bags you no longer need, or buy a new one, and fill it up to give to a woman or girl at need over Christmas. It's an impactful way you can help women who are homeless, at risk, or experiencing domestic violence. You fill it with new essentials like pads or tampons, other hygiene products, and little (non-food) treats to let a someone in need know they are being thought of at Christmas.
I shared the bag I chose to donate in the video below, along with what I filled it with and why!
The Gabi bag was an obvious choice! As I discussed in the video, it's my kind of bag with multiple ways you can wear it. I love bags you can wear multiple ways! Someone will be thrilled to get this at Christmas. (Checkout the video to see what it looks like worn).
Each of the handbags available for purchase on the site is named after one of the women who have been helped by the campaign. The Gabi bag is named because of a lovely lady who donated to the campaign in 2017. Gabi herself was homeless the year before and had benefited from the campaign, and she wanted to give back the next year.
Gabi's story is so inspiring and shows you that you don't need a large budget, just a large heart to get involved with the campaign.
Ways You Can Help:
Why not shop the share the dignity website to find some Christmas gifts? The majority of the bags and clutches are PU faux leather and vegan friendly, and all proceeds help fund the charity programs.
Share the campaign with your friends/family.
Start putting a bag together of your own to donate. See my tips below.
What Should You Include In Your Handbag Donation?
As well as the items you saw in the video, these are some helpful suggestions for things you could include.
Start buying now so that you can take advantage of sales and specials on products to make the most of your budget.
Try Kmart or eBay for cheap but cheerful accessories, look out for specials on hygiene products at Priceline and don't forget you can pick up some extras with your weekly shop at Coles or Woolworths, both have a good selection of products and often sales.
You will be able to drop off your donation between 16th November and 2nd December 2018, so you have plenty of time to get shopping.
Have you donated to #ItsInTheBag before? What did or would you put in your bag?
