Mrs. Pineapple, Pittsburgh
Age and Occupation: 24, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Student Affairs Administration
Engagement Date: August 4, 2007
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: April 14, 2008
Venue: The Rivers Club
About Me: Being a transplant from sunny south Florida I am learning to live with all four seasons while playing with our cat collective, line dancing, and doing a ton of DIY projects for our wedding (seriously, like a thousand)!
Blood Donors (and Brides?) Warm Hearts
July 3rd, 2008 @ 10:24 am by Mrs. Pineapple
When I was a teenager I had some weird passions. I never spent a day of my life on a sports team. I wasn’t particularly interested in school politics. And I quit my first job at Target so I could spend more time (not getting paid, but working longer hours) as a Girl Scout leader.
My biggest passion as a teenager was blood donation. For my 17th birthday I organized a blood drive birthday party. I made invitations and used my door-to-door cookie salesperson skills to invite the whole neighborhood. It turned into a huge bash with two blood mobiles and dozens of donors I had never met. After that I was inspired to keep trying to recruit donors and in college created a group called Carnegie Mellon Life Savers.
My sister called me last fall because she wanted to pick my brain about a new design project. The brief for this project was to design something to touch the hearts of people in a community of her choosing. Of course, I suggested she try to do something for blood donors. She made sixty fleece scarves embroidered with abstract blood related designs and a “Blood Donors Warm Hearts” tag.
Since the scarves were made out of fleece they required no sewing. I think that they are absolutely adorable, and much better than any of the cheesy t-shirts I have received over the years. And the tag? A perfect touch. So, since I helped her with the concept, I decided to steal the product.
My plan is to make scarves, in neutral colors, as favors for our guests. I am picturing them folded in half and draped over the backs of the chairs in the reception/dining room. (Scarves, candlelight, small 6-person tables - do you see my vision?)
The tag (which she screen printed onto an apron and cut out, then sewed on) would say something along the lines of:
Made with Love
Miss & Mister Pineapple
10.18.08
I wouldn’t go so far as embroidering them because I don’t want to get overwhelmed. Since it will be fall and many of our guests are from south of the south, I thought it would be a cute and warm favor.
What do you guys think? Am I getting in over my head? Will guests appreciate them?
25 Responses to “Blood Donors (and Brides?) Warm Hearts”
I love it, such a unique idea! I’ve seen a lot of pashminas {SO EXPENSIVE} but scarves are an affordable option and still nice option for a cover up! You can always use a scarf!
I’m not sure if you were planning on individually screen printing and cutting all your tags, but you can purchase custom embroidered tags online. The place with the smallest minimum orders (20) I’ve seen is http://www.charmwoven.com. It’s about $50 for 100 of them, I think.
I love the idea!
i love this idea, and even though it might not be applicable, wanted to tell you that i share your passion for blood donation. Awesome 
Very cute, I would appreciate such a gift. How many would you have to make? I would throw a fringe cutting party to get some cheap labor.
I would come to a fringe cutting party.
Great idea! i’d love to get one of those if i were your guest. how would you get the tags done?
Awesome idea, I think your guests will appreciate them!
I think that is an AMAZING idea. One can never have too many scarves!
Love them!
But better make it Mrs. Pineapple Oh, and of course make sure your bridal party spreads the word that everyone takes them home just in case there are any timid guests.
I think this is a great idea! I definitely something ppl can use again.
that’s such a cute scarf! i wish i got something like that than the tshirts whenever i donated. which reminds me, i’m way overdue for my next donation.
how fun! i’m actually scheduled to donate blood today and i’d much prefer a scarf for donating blood than tshirts, though we’ve had a run of movie ticket offers lately, which is appreciated.
i’m sure your guests would LOVE the scarves. it’s often chilly in SF, so i’m a big fan of layering. those from warmer climes often aren’t as prepared and it sucks to be chilly at a party.
Lovin’ it! I would be thrilled to get this as a wedding favor! Cozy, cute, practical.
That’s a great idea. You have until October– you should be OK if you start early!
love that! personalized but doesn’t take over (sometimes people go overboard with the personalization ya know?), practical and warm 
nice!
Absolutely great idea because a scarf is always needed.
This is just the most fabulous idea and YES! I think your guests would love and appreciate it! Definitely have a scarf cutting party with your girlfriends!
ohmygosh I love this!! I totallly want to steal this for my wedding… because my venue is small, about 6 tables have to be outside from the rest of the wedding… I’d love to put these on the chairs of the outdoor tables as a lovely consolation prize!! when you make them, can you blog or send me your pattern, or a how-to?? love it!!
blood donation is very important to my husband, too. in fact, he donated the day before our wedding!
so cute! yes do it, it’s something unique that you can really do to take advantage of not having a summer wedding.
ok then it’s on! Saturday: hot dogs and fleece day.
@tanya2s: great find! I was looking around for custom labels a couldn’t find any that were affordable. you win.
I decided to call around to t-shirt printing shops and see what they suggested. I found a shop that will make them for $36, not bad.
@lynn: of course! there will be a follow-up blog post
@skm: @Tea: @missm: @Ms Popcorn: Yay!
Great idea!! I made these as Christmas gifts one year and have to recommend that you use a rotary cutter and a metal ruler. I had a hard time with the fringes with regular scissors.
I’m going through the diy archives and just saw this! I am also nuts about donating, and can’t wait until valentine’s day to post a “blodd donation” themed valentine I made for Mr. T
[…] did 95% of the work for the scarf favors herself! Really the only thing I did was design the tags and draw the lines for her to cut along. […]
