$810 valued #HopeForMoms Giveaway

I'm so excited to bring you this year's giveaway, and just in time for Mother's Day! It runs for one week:

05.05.14 - 05.12.14

International Princess Project's Mother's Day project, #HopeForMoms is partnering with Beyoutiful Hope to bring you this week's giveaway!  We are giving away two gift voucher packs which are valued at $810 total!  Jas and I entered an ethical fashion contest and won, so we want to share some of the gifts with you through this giveaway. International Princess Project was gracious enough to provide a Punjammie and Luxury Towel for this giveaway!

International Princess Project is a for-profit social good business which provides sewing job opportunities to survivors of human trafficking in India.  They sell Punjammies and lounge wear online.  The point of this giveaway is to collect #HopeForMoms statuses for International Princess Project.  With these #HopeForMoms statuses, Internatinal Princess Project will create a multimedia video for the mothers (who are survivors of human trafficking) in the sewing centers.  You can read more about this project in their most recent blog post.  

PLEASE follow the information in the Rafflecopter entry carefully if you want your entries to count!  In order to enter, you have to send out a word of encouragement to the women sewing the Punjammies by creating something (youtube video, picture, tweet, facebook) with the #HopeForMoms hashtag in it. For each #HopeForMoms hashtag, $1 will be donated to help International Princess Project fund the opening of a new sewing center in India! This contest is only eligible to those with mailing addresses in the USA.  Look below to check out the two prize packs!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Prize Pack 1

1 Piece of Jewelry - up to $500 value

1 Pair of Punjammies - $35 value

Prize Pack 2

1 Dhana Ecokids Giftcard $250 value

1 Luxury Towel - $25 value

Ethical fashion giveaway | Eco giveaway | jewelry giveaway | Gift card giveaway

Stop Trying So Hard To Try

" Beyoutiful Hope means that as I grow in experience and learn

 in this world, I will always strive towards God as the me

that He created... not the me that the world created."

Vintage Beaded Vest | Thrifted (garage sale)

Tank | borrowed

Pants | Anthropologie (made in USA)

Boots | Borrowed

Glasses | Firmoo (1st pair free!)

Bangles | so old, I don't even know

__________________________________________________________________

Many of my friends, both female and male, have body image problems.  Sometimes this group includes me. Either we want less fat, more muscle, a different face, or some other change to who we are at the moment. But within this group there is the group of people who complain for the sake of complaining, and those that complain and then take action steps to make a change. The first group may complain but will then do something to make a difference, like eating healthier and actually exercising. This second group of people are so caught up in complaining that they allow their complaints to create a barrier to change.  This results in nothing actually happening. These people hold themselves back from change by allowing their fears to consume their objectives. I've been on both sides of this mindset...

This past Lent I gave up complaining. It actually made a difference. Instead of complaining, I tried to replace each complaint with a moment of gratitude towards God. That was hard, and honestly, I was not 100% successful! However, this Lenten sacrifice made a difference within myself and how I outwardly look at myself, in regards to body-image.

It's so exciting because I am truly starting to appreciate how I look and how I move as a young woman that does not define herself by the art she performs or the sport she plays. I'm not an old lady and have not undergone any substantial physical change, but since I was younger and in ballet I have always wanted to have a ballet dancer's body. Looking at me, that is obviously not even possible, haha.

"I am now trying my best to just focus on me. So that I can 
be the best me possible. If God created me wonderfully and beautifully,
 I had better take advantage of that, right?"

I am working on understanding how to make the healthiest lifestyle I can, with time for eating, exercising, watching TV, and enjoying life. This new focus, and my experience over Lent has helped me appreciate myself more, and change my mentality.  By God's grace, I'm beginning to more and more love the person God loves, that's me (and you)!  I hope you will take time to replace your complaint with a gratitude towards God, and through this, grow in how you look inward and outward.


Smiling from Within More,
Christine


P.S. If you feel like this post would help a friend who has ever felt this way, please feel free to share it!