Serving With Smiles

Serving With Smiles at School

How can I be useful? Of what service can I be? There is something inside me, what can it be?”-Vincent Van Gogh

Many parents and teachers have asked about how to bring Serving With Smiles into their schools. We are excited to offer Serving With Smiles at School and here is an itemized list of things we would love for your school to donate!
Color Pencils, Crayons and small notebooks (4”x6”).
If you’d like us to provide an instructional assembly to teach the children about humanitarian work and making a difference in the world, contact Corinne Allen corinne@servingwithsmiles.com. If you’d just like to provide SWS with item donations via a school drive, we’d so appreciate it!

The Amazing Service Club at Shelley Elementary!

In 2012 they collected thousands of band aids and hundreds of crayons!

In 2013 the collected over 1000 toothbrushes and toothpastes!

In 2014 they collected 1023 bars of soap and almost 1000 washcloths!

What We Do:
Provide your school with an opportunity for the student body to be involved in service/humanitarian oriented activity.

Our Vision:

We can get a lot of things done when we work together. Children can get a lot of things done when given the tools. We come with a plan and the student council (parent committee) carries it out. Your student body, teachers, and families will collect items throughout a specific week that pertain to humanitarian kits. (hygiene, school or newborn kits) Example: a school kit includes pencils, notebook paper, colored pencils, eraser, scissors, and a ruler. The student council is given leadership skills by coming up with a plan to accomplish this task with help from staff members or parent helpers. All the items that are brought in to your school will then be taken to Serving With Smiles where it will be assembled by children at our projects and taken to places in need locally and throughout the world. We have watched schools grow in unity and awareness, teachers be inspired, families work together for a good cause, our precious children being taught and seeing right before our eyes…them learning the values and principles of hard work, compassion and leadership by doing.

What We Provide in the Process:

(Optional) A slide show presentation that tells the story of other children less fortunate than most of us that live in our area, and shares natural disaster stories. It also gives them a chance to “see outside the box” and hopefully give them feelings of gratitude for what they have. The hope is to also give them a desire to want to help and serve and know that they have something to offer.

B. Instruction to student council on how to carry out their responsibilities.

Name the schools program for their own

A skit to perform before the slide show presentation. (optional)
A collection process for the items. (Are they going to be collected in one central location, in every classroom, or in a few different places?) Also where, when, and how SWS is going to pick-up items.
A fun way to get the student body involved and motivated. (rewards, contests, etc.)
A marketing plan. How are we going to let the student body what and when we are collecting? (Announcements, posters, newsletters, flyers, etc.)

(optional) Flyers sent home from SWS for an invitation to the Serving With Smiles Projects. These are held 4 times a year. Children ages 6-18 come and assemble humanitarian kits and perform other various projects such as quilting, hat looms, bead geckos, ABC books, picture books, and baby blocks.

For more information contact Corinne Allen at corinne@servingwithsmiles.com

Bead Toy Geckos

Toy Bead Gecko Instructions from

“Serving With Smiles, Children Saving The World”

“As always, remember that quality is more important than quantity!”

Toy Bead Gecko Instructions from
“Serving With Smiles, Children Saving The World”

Supplies needed:
• Pony beads. 42 of (X) color & 23 of (0) color. Colors of your choice.
• Canvas type nylon, cotton cording or thin ribbon cut 45” long.
• If using nylon, melt ends with lighter and pinch before it cools.
• If using cotton, use elmer’s glue and 2 lg. eyed craft needles.
• Round toothpicks.

We would gladly accept any gecko bead donations you have made! Thank you!

This is a great picture to follow if you're a visual person.
If you like instructions, see below

Instructions:
• Row 1 & 2 – Thread on 3 beads of the “X” color and affix to center. Take thread end on the right side and feed backwards through 2 end beads. This forms the nose and row 2.
• Row 3 – On left side, thread on 0X0. Then take right side and go backwards through the same three beads. Pull towards nose. Slide in a toothpick and tighten strings.
• Row 4 – On left side thread on XXX. Take right side and go backwards through the same 3 beads. Pull towards nose. Slide in toothpick and tighten strings.
• Row 5 – On left side thread on XX. Take the right side and go backwards through the same 3 beads. Pull towards nose. Slide in a toothpick & tighten strings.
• Row 6 & 7 – On the left side thread on XXX000. Take the SAME thread skip the 000’s and thread backwards through the XXX’s. Pull toward head you have made. Repeat on right side.
• Row 8, 9 , 10, 11, 12. Thread same as row 4 with the following beads in each row:
• Row 8 – X0X. Slide in toothpick and tighten strings.
• Row 9 – X00X. Slide in toothpick and tighten strings.
• Row 10 – X000X Slide in toothpick and tighten strings.
• Row 11 – X00X. Slide in toothpick and tighten strings.
• Row 12 – X0X Repeat rows 6 &7
• Row 14 XX
• Rows 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23 thread just one X bead per row.

Notes:
• Before you tie off ends, tighten everything snug. Toothpicks will help enforce this.
• Tie off ends with a square knot – and-a-half (left over right, right over left, left over right again)
• Pull out toothpicks
• Put a bit of glue on knot and rub into the fibers with your fingers.
• If you use a cotton thread, put elmer’s glue on both ends of thread & rub in. This prevents fraying.

Quilt Instructions

Quilt Instructions from

“Serving With Smiles, Children Saving The World”

YouTube Instructional Video

“As always, remember that quality is more important than quantity!”

Courtesy of Amy Garner, Quilting Director

Approximate quilt sizes:

• Crib 45 x 60 Inches
• Twin 72 x 90 Inches
• Full 90 x 90 Inches

Supplies needed:

• Fabric. Cotton, cotton-poly blend or flannel (pre-shrunk). Only purchase tightly woven fabric. Sometimes stores will have sales on loosely woven flannel, but these do not wash well, so please don’t use this. Denim and corduroy are not recommended because they are heavy and slow to dry.
• Batting - 8 oz. bonded poly batting.
• Yarn - 3 or 4 ply acrylic or acrylic wool blends or heavy Cro-sheen. One average size skein will usually tie 3 baby quilts. Do not buy the sports yarn, baby yarn, silky or shiny yarns since they don’t wash well. “Chunky” yarns are difficult for children to use. Usually the regular, cheaper yarns work the best.
• Quilt Frame and 4 clamps.
• Large quilting tacks to secure quilt on the frame.
• Scissors for trimming yarn.
• Quilting needles - Larger eyes and sharper tips. Do not buy darning needles.
• Needle threader - Use solid metal kind.

Instructions for tied quilt:
“Pillow case method” is the easiest. With right sides together, lay top and bottom of quilt on flat surface. Lay batting on top. PIN (don’t get lazy) & sew 3 sides plus ½ of 4th side. Turn right side out & fold in and mend open space. Top-stitch around all 4 sides. Sew another row 1” from the edges to secure batting. This is so easy, because once you are finished with this, all you have to do is tie the quilt!
• Mark fabric with chalk to indicate where ties will be made. Keep about 4" apart.
*Secure quilt to frame.
• Thread yarn through needle until needle is in the middle, leaving 2 equal lengths of yarn.
• Start with Square knot for first mark. Leave a 3 – 4 inch “tail”.
• Continue in a line or grid pattern using a “down, then up” pattern, leaving only a ½” to ¼” (the smaller the better) stitch underneath.
• Tie a square knot by placing yarn in a large “C” shape above the line of yarn of the previous tie and then taking needle UNDER that line of yarn and tighten. Then, place yarn in a large “C” the opposite way, on lower side of line and pulling the needle from top, go under line of yarn and tighten. This should make a nice knot. Tighten and ensure that there are no knots underneath.
• As each grid or line is complete, trim yarn to 3 – 4” and roll quilt in to allow reaching the insides of the quilt.
• When quilt is tied, you are finished!

Approximate costs are: $4.00-$8.00 per baby quilt, depending on fabric. Wal-Mart sells quilt size batting for over $5. If you live in the Utah area, you can use a 40% coupon on Two for Tuesdays day at Roberts and pay only $3.57 for 2 crib sized batting packs! OR if you use a 40% coupon at Joanne's, get an entire roll of batting to make 6 crib sized quilts and the price is reduced to under $2 per quilt! Yarn = $2.87 per skein (Makes about 3 baby quilts). Thread = $2.00 per spool (Makes several quilts). Needles = $1.69 per package. Needle threaders = $1.69.

We would gladly accept your quilt donations! Thank You!

Hygiene Kit Instructions

Hygiene Kit Instructions from
“Serving With Smiles, Children Saving the World”
As always, remember that quality is more important than quantity! Thank you for helping in humanitarian work for people you will never meet. Your kindness touches hearts for good!

Items needed:
• 2 – 16 x 20 hand towels
• 2 combs (preferably with no sharp ends)
• 4 toothbrushes
• 1 toothpaste
• 2 bars of soap
• 1 gallon-sized zip-lock bag
• 1 label/tag identifying the assembly team. For example, we have a tag that we insert in bag that says, “Made with love from the children of Serving With Smiles in American Fork, Utah, United States of America”

How to assemble properly:

1. Place 2 towels together laid out flat.
2. Fold towels widthwise in half, so it is long and narrow.
3. Now fold lengthwise in thirds and place inside gallon ziplock bag. This creates a pocket in the towels to place the rest of the items. You want to keep items protected so they don’t puncture the plastic bag.
4. Place 2 bars of soap on one side of pocket, on top of another, and next toothbrushes, toothpaste & combs (upright).
5. Put the label on the outside of the pocket so it is visible.
6. Forcing the air out of the bag is harder than it seems. First, hold the bag against your body as you force the air out and keep it tight while you seal the bag. Next, make sure to keep it in a flattened, tight situation or the air will creap back in making the bag susceptible to being punctured or popped. We try to do a marathon run of “stuffing” the kits into boxes as fast as possible and then immediately sealing the boxes so the bags can’t inflate. Make sure to immediately label number of kits inside box.

Pasted Picture Book Instructions

Children's Picture Books from “Serving With Smiles, Children Saving The World”

“As always, remember that quality is more important than quantity!”

Courtesy of Carol Anderegg, Picture Book Director
“As always, remember that quality is more important than quantity as these books will be used in real schools for real kids!”

Supplies needed:
• 8 x 11 ½” white cardstock paper
• Plenty of magazines to choose pictures from. Try magazines that specialize in pictures of “things” not “people”. Some options are the National Geographic, Better Homes & Gardens and school magazines, etc..
• Good Scissors
• Acid-free glue sticks
• Acid-free sheet protectors
• Yarn
• Gallon ziplock baggies

Instructions:

• Carefully choose pictures according to subject matter such as: spring, fall, summer, winter, mountains, forests, swamps, water, fishing , swimming, beaches, tropics, ocean, deserts, prairies/plains, jungles, farms, gardens, plants, harvesting, the body showing 5 senses, school, studying, learning, reading (child’s level), “let’s pretend”, space, domesticated animals, music, dance, etc...
• Animal pages need to be calming and interesting, not scary or strange. No animals killing or being killed.
• Include pictures of people (especially children) being active in any of the above recommendations.
• DO NOT USE PICTURES OF HOLIDAYS, FLAGS, POP CULTURE, WESTERN CULTURE THEMES, RELIGIOUS THEMES, MILITARY, SCARY ANIMALS, MATERIALISTIC THEMES, MOVIE STARS, MODELS, CELEBRITIES, SPORT CARS OR COMMERCIALS.
• Remember these will be for children, so make it conducive to learning, enjoyment, beauty and imagination!

• Keep to ONE subject per page!
• NEATLY cut out pictures according to category and place each category in a gallon-sized, ziplock baggie so they are ready for pasting
• Glue stick pictures on ONE side of cardstock. Fill page, overlapping pictures when needed, but make it very pleasing to the eye, neat and meticulous.
• When dry, place 2 pages, back to back in sheet protector.
• Each book is made of about 40 pages/20 sheet protectors.
• Securely tie 3 pieces of yarn into 3 holes of sheet protectors and you are finished!

We gladly accept your donations! Thank you!

Value Bracelets instructions

Humanitarian Value Bracelets from

“Serving With Smiles, Children Saving The World”

courtesy of DeAnn Sabey, Value bracelet director

“As always, remember that quality is more important than quantity!”

Supplies needed:

• 4, white (or clear), blue, red, green, orange, yellow and purple 6mm beads/per bracelet=28 beads on each.
OR
• 3, white (or clear), blue, red, green, orange, yellow and purple 8mm beads/per bracelet=21 beads on each.
• 1 mm elastic stretch, clear cord (about 1 foot/bracelet)
• 3 x 5 ziplock baggie/per bracelet (purchase bulk at www.restockit.com)
• Glue gun with glue sticks
• Copy Value bracelet tag below to put in baggie.

Instructions:
The best and most secure way to tie off is NOT a square knot. Tie right over left 5 times in a row and pull tight with each tie. Put a very small drop of super glue on knot. Cut threads off leaving about 1/8 inch of thread. Please don't put in bag until super glue is very dry. Leave overnight to dry before placing in bags.

Value Bracelet tag:

"Values to live by for a good, happy life!"
       Prayerful, Thankful, Kind,
     Smart, Clean, Helpful, Honest

"Values to live by for a good, happy life!"
       Prayerful, Thankful, Kind,
     Smart, Clean, Helpful, Honest

"Values to live by for a good, happy life!"
      Prayerful, Thankful, Kind
     Smart, Clean, Helpful, Honest

"Values to live by for a good, happy life!"
        Prayerful, Thankful, Kind
       Smart, Clean, Helpful, Honest

"Values to live by for a good, happy life!"
          Prayerful, Thankful, Kind
        Smart, Clean, Helpful, Honest

Humanitarian School Kit Instructions

Humanitarian School Kit Instructions from
“Serving With Smiles, Children Saving the World”
“As always, remember that quality is more important than quantity as these kits are gratefully used by so many in need!”

Supplies Needed:
• 4 unsharpened pencils
• 1 box sharpened or unsharpened colored pencils (approximately 7” long, at least 12 pencils per box).
• 1 pair blunt nosed scissors (metal blades).
• 1 pencil sharpener.
• 1 rubber pencil eraser (appr. 1” x 2”).
• 1 straight edge ruler – 12”, with metric.
• Glued or spiral bound notebooks/pads to total appr. 450 sheets (please do not include more than 6 notebooks/pads)/ Sheet size 8 ½ x 11”, 8” x 10 ½”, 8 ½” x 11 ¾” .
• 1 durable cloth bag made of heavy fabric. (Sewing instructions are available). About 14” x 18”. Handles should be 24” x 3 ½” long or use 1 ½” webbing.
• 1 - 1 ½ gallon ziplock baggie.
• Small card identifying the creator of the kits. We make a label that says, “Made with love from the children of Serving With Smiles, in American Fork, UT, USA”

Instructions:
• If you have spiral notebooks, make sure to place them inside school bag, along with everything else. The spiral notebooks will tear the plastic of the ziplock baggie.
• Neatly arrange supplies with notebooks together and smaller items in front, inside school bag and then place inside baggie.
• Place card on outside, so it can be seen.
• Hold bag against your body and securely SQUEEZE air out of bag and seal thoroughly.
• It is very important to not let air seep back into the bag, so you must put finished kit into a tight space. We always fill completed kits into a small box with other completed kits IMMEDIATELY and then seal/tape the box promptly.
• The bags really do inflate very quickly and if they aren’t promptly packed tightly, they will inflate, which could cause the contents to get wet or pop.
• Label box with amount of kits and type of kits inside.

We gladly accept donations! Thank you!

Humanitarian Newborn Kit Instructions

Humanitarian Newborn Kit Instructions from “Serving With Smiles, Children Saving the World”
“As always, remember that quality is more important than quantity! These kits are very precious to new mothers & the babies that use them!”

Supplies Needed:
• 1 ½ gallon ziplock baggies
• Infant gown made from lightweight 100% cotton or knit. NO OTHER FABRIC WILL WORK! Sizes newborn – 6 months. Open gown with no zippers or buttons. Follow Available pattern if needed.
• 1 double receiving blanket made from cotton flannel or lightweight fleece. Or 1 sided medium fleece. 36” x 45”. For double sided, sew 10” square in center to keep secure.
• 4 diaper pins (not safety pins)
• 4 diaper cloths. Flat fold made of birdseye or diaper flannel (100% cotton) about 25”
• 2 bars of non-allergenic or Ivory soap
• 1 pair baby booties or newborn socks
• Small card that states who kit was made by. We put a tag that says, “Made with love from the children of Serving With Smiles in American Fork, Utah, USA”

Instructions:
• Fold blanket, infant gown, diapers into rectangular shape to fit inside baggie
• Place pins, booties, soap and card inside, so card is seen from outside
• Hold bag against your body and securely SQUEEZE air out of bag and seal thoroughly.
• It is very important to not let air seep back into the bag, so you must put finished kit into a
tight space. We always fill complete kits into a small box with other completed kits
IMMEDIATELY and then seal the box promptly.
• The bags really do inflate very quickly and if they aren’t promptly packed tightly, they will
inflate, which could cause the contents to get wet or pop.
• Label box with amount of kits and type of kits.

We gladly accept donations! Thank you!

ABC Coloring Books

See instructional video and instruction printout

for personal use below. Enjoy!

SWS wherever you are!

Can't come to a project? You can do what we do wherever you are! We are sorry, but our raw supplies are reserved for our projects, so we don't hand those out, but if you can donate your finished product to us, we'll make sure they're included in our humanitarian kits that we donate to children all over the world.