12 Days of Kindness| Mrs. AOK, A Work In Progress
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12 Days of Kindness Ideas

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12 Days of Kindness

A few weeks ago my ten-year-old stayed home from school because she wasn’t feeling well, the two of us sat and watched HGTV while she guzzled down cups of green tea. I folded clothes and blog planned while I sat with her watching a Love It or List It marathon in the early afternoon. While I was blog planning she turned to me and said,  “What if you do 12 Days of Kindness? I think that would be a great idea not only for us, but for your blog friends to spread some holiday cheer, too.” Umm… that’s a genius idea, my little love bug! She then started listing a few good ideas. Some of the ideas she listed were things we have already done in the past and some are ideas we want to do this season, especially #7.  I was going to do this as a daily post, but I decided I better condense this into 1 post, so you can get planning for the next 12 days. 🙂

12 Days of Kindness| Mrs. AOK, A Work In Progress

1. Make a simple DIY sugar scrub for your postal carrier and leave them a thank you note.

Happy Mail for the Postal Carrier| 12 Days of Kindness

Candy Cane Sugar Scrub

 

2. Who doesn’t love cookies? Consider baking a fresh batch of cookies for co-workers or your children’s teachers. Add some tags with ribbons or twine wrapped around cookie boxes.

Homemade with love printable| Mrs. AOK, A Work In Progress

3. Have your children pick out a toy to donate to a local toy drive.

Toy for toy drive

4. Fill stockings and deliver them to a local women’s shelter. I loved this sweet idea Tamara and her sweet daughter, Scarlet, came up with.

Holiday Giving

5. Be a candy cane elf!

When we moved to South Carolina we had to spend our 1st Christmas in a small apartment (corporate housing), we made the best of it. We decided to spread some holiday cheer by putting candy canes on all the apartments in our building. The kids LOVED doing this. 🙂

Candy Cane Heart

source

6. Fill those kettles!!

Have your kiddos go on a scavenger hunt for loose change and let them fill the kettles to help The Salvation Army.

Salvation Army Red Kettle

7. What can I say we’reRedbox lovers, how about handing out hot cocoa and a Redbox promo code.  🙂

You can usually find codes for Redbox through deal sites or if you sign up for their texts and emails.

Did you see the printables we made for our Random Acts of Kindness day + Redbox? We made some more for the holidays 🙂

Hot Cocoa + Redox Printable| Mrs. AOK, A Work In Progress

 

8. Happy Mail!

Send holiday cards (invite link) to friends and family with meaningful messages. I love when the holiday cards come rolling in.

Holiday Card
Tiny Prints Holiday Card Collection

 

(Tiny Prints offer ) Affiliate Link

 

9. Fill a bag full of groceries and take them to the food pantry. Wednesday night, after my son’s concert, we went to the grocery store.  When we got there, there was a group of kids freezing outside of the Safeway taking food collections for the local food pantry. We took their list and gave it to our kids, we let the kids pick a few items, they filled a bag. It didn’t cost us much, baby food, peanut butter, jelly, cereal, tuna, stuff like that.  You may also want to donate your time helping at a food drive. Many schools have signups for kids to donate their time. I’m going to be a proud mama right now, my daughter (13) was a food drive helper yesterday and I couldn’t be more happy that she is sharing her time helping others. 🙂

Grocery-Bags

10. Take care of you.

I know many of us work every day to make life better for others, but the best way to do that is to take care of ourselves. I am going to admit something that I’m honestly quite ashamed of, but it’s the truth, and I keep it real here: I haven’t had a check up in over a year. I’ve been to the doctor, but I haven’t had a full check-up, and that’s actually unlike me. With the moves and my new doctor leaving, I just dropped the ball. I’m vigilant when it comes to my kids’ health as well as my husband’s health, but I need to do the same for me.

Being proactive when it comes to our health can be a lifesaver!

This is where I want to introduce you to the lovely and incredibly strong Heather Von St. James. Heather is a survivor! 10 years cancer free! 🙂  Heather wasn’t feeling like herself, her breathing was short, she felt tired, she could’ve chalked it up to being a new mom, but she didn’t. Heather was proactive with her health, instead of waiting things out she went to see her doctor. After numerous tests, she was given a grim diagnosis. She was told, “do nothing, you’ll have 15 months” 15 MONTHS! Her daughter wasn’t even a year old. She decided to do something (she was also told treatment may only give her 5 years), but with advancements, great doctors, hope, and experimental procedures, we have Heather. She was diagnosed with malignant pleural mesothelioma, because she was in contact with asbestos, from her father’s work jacket. I encourage you to read all 7 parts of Heather’s POWERFUL story AND MAKE AN APPOINTMENT! That’s on my to do list. Thank you, Heather.

Heather Von St. James| Hope| Survivor|

 

I hope  you will spread some holiday cheer!

Happy Holidays!! XOXO

**If you would like to print the printables just click on them and print. If you have any problems, you can email me and I’ll send them to you. 🙂 xo

Would you like some more ideas? You can find more ideas for acts of kindness here.

30 Random Acts of Kindness RandomAOK Mrs. AOK, A Work In Progress|Join the Kindness Challenge!!

 

*This post contains affiliate links.

 

 

 

ThredUP Inc.

22 thoughts on “12 Days of Kindness Ideas

  1. Minh

    December 14, 2015 at 6:36 am

    We don’t get our mail delivered to our home so I never thought of leaving a present in the super mailbox for our mailman – thanks for the suggestion! My daughter’s school does a few things that we try to participate in as well. Such a nice tradition to get involved with. Thanks for sharing.

    1. MrsA0K2001

      December 17, 2015 at 3:27 pm

      You’re welcome! Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. Let me know if you end of leaving a little something for your postal carrier. 🙂
      I love that the schools are teaching kindness and community- we need more of that.
      XOXO

  2. Karen

    December 14, 2015 at 9:45 am

    I really like the idea of the gift filled stocking to give to a Women’s Shelter. I have to look up some in my area. My two friends both work for a VA Hospital and we were just talking how some of these veterans have nothing. One of my friend’s clients is a woman who served our country and now lives in a shelter with her two little kids. She does not even have a stroller! I’m trying to get some stuff together to give to my friends for the VA. It’s really sad!

    1. MrsA0K2001

      December 17, 2015 at 3:29 pm

      I loved Tamara’s idea too.
      My friend works for the VA, too. You’re right it’s hard to hear some of the stories of our heroes. My friend has gone above and beyond for her vets buying them shoes with her own money. I think it’s wonderful that you’re getting things together for the veterans at the VA. Thank you!!
      XOXO

  3. Nina

    December 14, 2015 at 10:53 am

    I remember one time giving away Christmas treats to our neighbors as well as our postman. We handed it to him and he was overjoyed. It really was such a beautiful gift to give, not because we gave away candy but that he was delighted we thought of him and were thankful for him. I also love writing and reading sincere cards during the holidays. It’s so easy to send off pictures to your address book, but I love reading the ones with handwritten letters too. For my kids’ teachers, I plan to type up a long letter for each one writing how much we appreciate them and all they’ve done for our kids!

    1. MrsA0K2001

      December 17, 2015 at 3:32 pm

      Seeing the delight on someone’s face when they feel appreciated and thankful, is such a gift in itself, right? My daughters when they were younger use to wait for the mailman and run out to give him hot cocoa, it became a thing for them. If we made cookies, they wanted to run them out. I miss those days… time flies.
      You just reminded me I have to get the teachers cards written up. THANK YOU!
      XOXO

  4. K. Elizabeth (YUMMommy)

    December 14, 2015 at 12:53 pm

    Such a great idea! I love volunteering charities and Moo’s school during the holiday time. It’s this time of year that both are usually swamped and their staff is spread thin. And last week donated clothes and toys to one of our favorite local charities.

    1. MrsA0K2001

      December 17, 2015 at 3:33 pm

      Thank you! I love volunteering at the school too, I think the kids love it just as much.
      Thank you for sharing kindness this holiday season 🙂
      XOXO

  5. karen

    December 14, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    love all these ideas…especially the women’s shelter and food pantry! I also put myself last and know people need me to be around for a long time, I need to take better care of myself.

    1. MrsA0K2001

      December 17, 2015 at 4:01 pm

      Thank you, Karen.
      I think as moms, we’re so good at taking care of others and sometimes forget ourselves, it happens to the best of us. I think we deserve the gift of health this year 😉
      XOXO

  6. Heather - Dallas Single Mom

    December 14, 2015 at 4:10 pm

    These are all such great ideas and it really gets everyone into the spirit which is what this season is all about.

    1. MrsA0K2001

      December 17, 2015 at 4:05 pm

      Thank you, Heather!
      XOXO

  7. Akaleistar

    December 14, 2015 at 5:11 pm

    So many amazing ideas! Love the gift for the mail carrier 🙂

    1. MrsA0K2001

      December 18, 2015 at 12:36 pm

      Thank you!
      xoxo

  8. Corina Ramos

    December 15, 2015 at 2:06 pm

    Love these ideas! And you’re a life saver! I decided to make a scrub for my sisters-in-law but couldn’t find a recipe…so thank you for sharing your candy cane sugar scrub! I hope I don’t mess it up…I’m not crafty at all, hehe.

    I love the idea of giving our letter carrier a gift and leaving it in the mailbox. Thanks for the ideas! If only we could do this all year long…

    Have a great day hun!
    Cori

    1. MrsA0K2001

      December 18, 2015 at 2:04 pm

      Did you make the scrub? Oh my gosh, if you did you’ll have to let me know what you think. I love minty scrubs 🙂

      I always leave something for the mail carrier, I always think about my tia who has been the mail lady for her area for years. She has a permanent dip in her shoulder from carrying her bag up and down the streets. She is one super fit lady. 🙂
      XOXO

  9. Tamara

    December 15, 2015 at 5:28 pm

    Aw, you liked my idea! Or should I say, Scarlet’s idea.
    Thank you, thank you.
    I’m really inspired by the whole list. I am becoming familiar with Heather’s story and it’s a big reminder.
    Also the Salvation Army one!!

    1. MrsA0K2001

      December 18, 2015 at 2:10 pm

      I loved Scarlet’s idea!! 🙂
      Heather story is such a strong one that embodies hope, love, and family.
      XOXO

  10. Bev

    December 16, 2015 at 8:16 pm

    So many wonderful ideas! Thanks for sharing 🙂

    1. MrsA0K2001

      December 18, 2015 at 2:10 pm

      Thank you, Bev!
      XOXO

  11. Leigh-SimpLeigh Organized

    January 3, 2016 at 11:12 am

    Too bad Christmas has passed…these are great ideas. I’m sure me and my daughter can come up with some creative ways to still pull this off without the holiday theme. Next year we’ll attempt this for the 12 days after Christmas! Thanks!

  12. Katy

    November 5, 2018 at 10:10 am

    Well this has certainly inspired me and gotten me in the Christmas mood! I loved the candy cane elf idea!

    #MMBH

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