Bloggers Give Back

George Herman House got decorated for the Holidays!

2011-12-19T21:43:00.000-08:00

I've had a little secret that I've been wanting to share - our AWESOME landscape designer, Carson Arthur, not only has designed us a beautiful plan for the garden [more coming up on that soon!] but he went above and beyond...Carson decorated the front of George Herman House for the Holidays on a special for Steven + Chris on CBC. YAY!!! The house is estatic with how it looks and the video is great. Click here to view the video on CBC.ca

Follow Carson on Twitter at @CarsonArthur

Carson Arthur - Our Landscape Designer

2011-11-27T21:36:00.000-08:00

Thanks for the patience that all of our sponsors, and donors have shown as we get this project moving along! Although we haven't posted as much as we would have liked in recent months, a LOT has been going on behind the scenes to make sure that this peroject we set out to do in the Spring of 2011, got accomplished. If you read my blog, you will have seen that we welcomed on board the VERY tallented Carson Arthur as our Landscape designer for Bloggers Give Back. And, since welcoming him on board, things have been moving FAST. I can't wait to share with you some amazing things he has already done. Please join us in welcoming Carson (@CarsonArthur on Twitter) and stay tuned for more info on this amazing project - as we transform a garden for George Herman House. xo Lindsay @littlehouseblog

Read more about Carson by clicking Read More

"Carson Arthur started his television career as a behind-the-scenes prop coordinator for a national garden call-in show. Very quickly, Carson turned an opportunity to host his own show into a landscape design staple. With international coverage, Carson has become a voice of environmentally friendly landscape design on a global scale. By addressing outdoor challenges with a keen sense of style and a passion for eco-consciousness, Carson continues to reinvent the definition of gardening.

With his first series, Room To Grow, Carson created inspired outdoor spaces for homeowners and taught a generation of viewers how to increase their own living spaces by expanding outside. Following on the heels of his first success, Green Force provided Carson with the opportunity to take on some of the largest challenges associated with urban living. Carson and his team travel throughout a large urban center and tackle some of the most depressing, under-utilized, and forgotten spaces around us turning them into parks and beautiful art installations while using environmentally friendly techniques and products.

Carson takes pride in where he lives and what he does. As the spokesperson for both the Canadian Diabetes Association and for BluePlanet Environmentals, Carson has made the most of his television career to date by being active in helping to develop a better understanding of green living within a social context. When not in the dirt; building, planting or creating, Carson keeps himself busy with his own lines of patio furniture and gardening tools and as the principle designer for Carson Arthur Designs."
From CarsonArthur.com

Summer Break....

2011-07-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

It's somewhat quiet over here. But things are still happening behind the scenes. Stay tuned because the best has yet to come! xo Lindsay

Photo via

June 6th, Mini Makeover

2011-06-20T20:52:00.000-07:00

George Herman's garden started like this when we took on the project...

On June 6th a group of us got together to do a Mini Makeover. From 9am to 5pm bloggers, one blog reader, plus some little kids, got together to all pitch in to cleanup the yard. We thought that we'd give the women something to enjoy for the Summer - thanks to the Home Depot Canada Foundation, Ikea Canada and Tonic Living.

And this is what we turned it into ....

To read some of the bloggers posts on the day, visit their posts below:

Lindsay @ Little House Blog: Click here to read her post
Jennifer @ Rambling Renovators: Click here to read her post
Vanessa @ Decor Happy: Click here to read her post
Jennifer @ The Kitchen Chronicles: Click here to read her post
Victoria @ Monster Mum : Click here to read her post

A special thanks to The Home Depot Canada Foundation for their donation of gift cards to help us purchase plants, planters and garden items for the Spring cleanup. @IkeaCanada for donating the AMAZING outdoor furniture, that was not only gorgeous, it was a bonding moment for us as we sat together and built the sets. And to @TonicLiving who donated all of the beautiful outdoor sewing and cushions, and fabric!

Ikea Furniture Delivered!

2011-06-02T11:53:00.000-07:00

Peter and Aubrey, Lindsay's brother and husband, moved the furniture down. Thank you boys!

The @IkeaCanada furniture was loaded up from its temporary storage spot and transported to George Herman House, waiting to be built next Monday! As Frank comes up with a grand plan for the garden, the Bloggers have decided to do a "Spring Cleanup" on Monday, June 6th and install the Ikea furniture, so the women of George Herman House have something to enjoy this summer. :) Stay tuned for photos from the spring cleanup day!

The Home Depot Canada Foundation

2011-05-12T07:24:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce that The Home Depot Canada Foundation has donated a generous amount of Home Depot Gift Cards to the Bloggers Give Back, Backyard Makeover project! Please join us in thanking the Home Depot @HomeDepotCanada. Stay tuned for some awesome posts on our shopping trip to the Home Depot!

IKEA Outdoor Furniture + We need your input!

2011-05-06T07:29:00.000-07:00

Look at what was just delivered to our temporary holding spot for George Herman House--- Ikea Outdoor Furniture! Yippeee! IKEA delivered 8x ARHLOMA armchair with pad, 1x ARHOLMA table/stool , 2x LACKO table , 1x FALSTER table and 2x FALSTER benches. A BIG THANK YOU to IKEA (@IkeaCanada) Click here to visit Ikea's outdoor collection online.

So here is what we're now going to do. We're going to add some fun fabric to the outdoor set using Tonic Living, and we need your input!

Tonic Living is donating 2 Bench cushions for the long Falster Benches that go with the Dining Table, and also 4 throw cushions for the ARHLOMA chairs. But, we want YOUR input.

How to Help:

1. Visit Tonic Living and see their outdoor fabric collection

2. Come back here and pot a reply to this post and let us know what we should use for the seating bench and throw cusions. If you have a blog you can even blog about it and show what YOU would pick and give us a link to your blog in a blog reply so we, and others can see your choices.

Deadline for ideas: Wednesday, May 11th

On Twitter? So are our sponsors. A BIG thank you to @IKEACanada for sponsoring ALL of the furniture @TonicLiving for the fabrics and sewing service! Want to send all of us a message, be sure to include #BloggersGiveBack in a tweet so all of our bloggers can see it!

Letter from one of our Auction Winners...

2011-05-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

Although our Bloggers Give Back Auction has ended, our winners are getting their winning items in the mail. One of our winning couples sent a lovely letter that we wanted to share.

"The package put together by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra for the Bloggers Give Back Auction was truly outstanding. Last Saturday night we were treated to a sumptuous dinner at La Fenice followed by a magical selection of French Romance pieces performed by the TSO at Roy Thomson Hall. We felt totally pampered. Imagine having a lovely romantic dinner and then being treated to a first class performance in special box seating! The package also included a cookbook written by the chef who inspired the menu at La Fenice and a multi disc library of TSO live recordings. It was an evening to remember." Nancy S.

Photograph by irenesuchocki available on ETSY by clicking here

Dove

2011-04-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

Dove Canada http://twitter.com/#!/DoveCanada) sent this box of goodies for the women of George Herman House to me this past week. My house smelt soooo beautiful, fresh and clean. I think I'm going to just keep Dove bars of soap hidden throughout the house for its lovely scent. I spent this weekend putting one of each of the items in gift bags for the 10 residents of the house.

I've always loved Dove for their wonderful message at building self esteeem in women (Visit their Campaign for Real Beauty here) It's heartwarming when companies come together to help support George Herman House in every way possible, even with some wonderful products to help make the women feel special.
@DoveCanada on Twitter

Online Auction, Now On!

2011-04-12T17:55:00.001-07:00

Stay Tuned

2011-04-07T21:17:00.000-07:00

We have some exciting news to share. Check back next week for an update on our Garden project, and some new information including a date for our online auction. Interested in being on our update list? Sign up here.

Photograph, Pink Lilacs fine art photograph 8x8 by SweetBlue on Etsy Buy Here

Bloggers Give Back Auction

2011-04-07T08:02:00.001-07:00

Blogger: Whitney

2011-03-31T13:12:00.000-07:00

Take a peek at Whitney's amazing post over on her blog where she worked with watercolours as she came up with a vision for the garden. We love how passionate our bloggers are about the project - spending time on creating visually amazing and thoughtful posts. Click here to see the post.

Bloggers Give Back is on StyleatHome.com

2011-03-27T20:12:00.000-07:00

Take a peek at our mention on StyleatHome.com by Amy, who happens to be on our Blog Team! We love Amy's mood board and her great writeup of our project on the blog. Thank you to Amy and to Style at Home for the mention. Click here to visit Style at Home's blog.

Blog Crew Mood Boards Featuring IKEA and Tonic Living

2011-03-24T19:27:00.000-07:00

1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

6. 7. 8.

9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14.

Vote for your favourite!

It's purely for fun, and the winning designer gets a high five from everyone the next time we see them. We'd love to know what YOU think we should do with the Garden!

Pssst: Want to see the original posts and bigger images of the mood boards? Each blogger has a number beside their name. The numbers below each set of pictures, links to that persons blog.

Garden Shots (Before)

2011-03-20T18:41:00.001-07:00

Here are some recent shots taken of the yard now that the snow is gone. First up is a aerial view of the yard. Notice in the top left hand corner of the photo is a little alcove.

Aubrey taking measurements of the yard....Here he is in the alcove.

Looking back at the house.

Want to see more photos? Check here for the George Herman House set in Flickr.

Meet our Bloggers: Jennifer from Rambling Renovators

2011-03-20T11:43:00.000-07:00

Our Blogger crew is pretty well known, and are pretty fantastic when it comes to DIYs, Renovations, Decorating. Check out Jen from Rambling Renovators on the Nate Berkus Show. Click here to see all of our other bloggers that are on our crew!

Would you like to sponsor part of this project? Shoot us an e-mail at aubreyandlindsay@hotmail.com.

Our Bloggers - Tim Lam

2011-03-18T06:55:00.000-07:00

Our bloggers are pretty awesome. Check out Tims condo on the Steven and Chris Show! Meet our other awesome bloggers here!

How a project like this starts....

2011-03-17T19:55:00.000-07:00

Sponsor: Ikea - Outdoor Furniture

2011-03-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

We are VERY excited to announce that Ikea would like to donate the outdoor furniture for our backyard makeover! How AMAZING is this!? Let's all give Ikea some love at @IkeaCanada. We look forward to working Ikea outdoor furniture into our makeover!

Welcome

2011-03-11T15:49:00.001-08:00

Please join me and a group of awesome bloggers in transforming an overgrown unloved garden into a beautiful oasis for a charity here in Toronto.

Who we're helping: George Herman House, a Home in Toronto that assists women living with mental health issues. The home provides a safe, nurturing and encouraging home for the women, established to help empower them and assist them in making a transition into independent living. They had a request on their website for help in turn their garden into a space for the residents of the house and we want to make that happen!

Our Goal: To turn the garden into a space where the women can go and relax during the summer months. It should be low maintenance so the women aren't burdened with upkeep, but a place where they can put some love into it, and go to unwind and enjoy.

How You can Help: We need help financially, ideas, and product and even help on a renovation day in the Spring or Summer. Are you a company that could donate paint, lumber, or outdoor furniture or financially support us? Are you a blogger like us, and want to help get some awareness to this? E-mail AubreyandLindsay@Hotmail.com with how you think you can help. This is a team effort!
*Product donations are eligible for tax receipts as George Herman House is a registered charity.

Who is participating: Myself and Aubrey, Jen from Rambling Renovators, Vanessa from Decor Happy, Maggie and Rob from Ok, Now What? and Lisa from Wicked & Weird, Sarah Gunn (Yummy Mummy Wall Candy Blog, Amy from Eye See Pretty Can we add you to the list? You can help in fundraising, manual labour, or even just helping get the word out.

Twitter Hashtag: #BloggersGiveBack

Pictures of the space currently

Please send me an e-mail to aubreyandlindsay@hotmail.com if you would like to contribute somehow!

FINANCIAL DONATIONS
If you would like to contribute financially towards our outdoor project, you can mail a cheque made out to George Herman House to the address set out below. *Please make sure you write on the cheque that the funds are specifically for "The Healing Garden" so that the funds are dedicated towards our project. A tax receipt will be mailed to you.

George Herman House
158 Madison Avenue
Toronto, ON
M5R 2S5
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I (Lindsay) have a personal connection to this house, knowing someone who greatly benefited from the program that George Herman House offers. I do not have any other connection, other than seeing first hand the value that it has for our city.