Hello and welcome to the\u00a0SIXTEENTH ANNUAL James Garfield Miracle!<\/strong>\u2002(HOW??) <\/p>\n \u201cWhat is the James Garfield Miracle?\u201d<\/em> you may be asking.<\/p>\n You must be new here.\u2002HELLO AND WELCOME.<\/p>\n 16 years ago I walked into an estate sale and fell in love with an ancient taxidermied boars head that seemed so damn happy to see me.<\/p>\n I did not buy him<\/strong>\u00a0and spent a week in light mourning. Then the next week\u00a0A MIRACLE HAPPENED\u00a0<\/strong>and James Garfield came into my life forever. (He\u2019s looking at me right now in my new office, in fact and he is older but still magnificent\u2026.as are we all.)<\/p>\n But Victor wasn\u2019t completely thrilled that we\u2019d spent $90 on a literal Christmas miracle of mangey fur and missing teeth so I decided that I\u2019d make\u00a0holiday cards of James Garfield<\/strong>\u00a0to make up for it and if I sold a couple dozen it\u2019d be like James Garfield was making us money.<\/p>\n But then everyone went crazy and James Garfield made more that week than I did in my actual job and so I decided that I\u2019d take all the money James Garfield made and use it to give presents to the kids of people who were struggling that year because I have been there in the past myself. And I bought gifts for the first 30 something people and then I ran out of money but then suddenly everyone in the comments were like, \u201cI WANT TO HELP A STRANGER IN NEED! LET ME BUY A GIFT FOR SOMEONE\u201d<\/strong> and that\u2019s how this suddenly became 16 years of a strange community project of strangers helping strangers anonymously and it\u2019s pretty damn amazing.<\/p>\n Over the years we\u2019ve had many different iterations of the James Garfield Miracle and the only real downside is that occassionally a scammer would slip in and ask for stuff for themselves, so a few years ago we decided to just give out teddy bears. Why? Because everyone loves teddy bears (hell, I love teddy bears) and if someone is going to go to the trouble to make an entire wishlist account for a teddy bear\u00a0they definitely need one.<\/em><\/p>\n So this year I am sending out 150+ teddy bears to kids right here.\u00a0<\/p>\n That\u2019s it. Just sweet, snuggly teddy bears. Well, not\u00a0just<\/em>\u00a0teddy bears because the teddy bears have eyes that babies can swallow (stop swallowing eyes, weird babies) so I\u2019m also adding a few other stuffed animals you can choose from if you have an eye-devouring baby or your child hates bears or Amazon sells out of teddy bears.\u00a0<\/p>\n But that\u2019s it. Simple. Easy. Not\u00a0perfect<\/em>\u00a0because in a perfect world everyone would get everything they need, but I\u2019d like to imagine that even people who may be disappointed that we\u2019re just doing stuffed animals will at least be happy imagining all the kids finding unexpected fluffy new stuffed animals in their arms this holiday. It makes me smile, at least.\u00a0<\/p>\n So, if you are struggling this year and you need help getting your child a present for Christmas\/Hanukkah\/winter solstice\/whateveryoucelebrate then I am ready to Santa Claus it up and drop one lovely plushie at your doorstep. And I will walk you through how to get or give one anonymously.\u00a0<\/p>\n Here are the links for the plushes you can pick from. Choose the one that best works for your kid:<\/p>\n Squishmallow Stitch in pajamas<\/strong><\/p>\n microwavable weighted cow plushie<\/strong><\/p>\n Pair of alpaca babies<\/strong><\/p>\n t-rex puppet<\/strong><\/p>\n Douglas hedgehog <\/strong><\/p>\n Glowing polar bear<\/strong><\/p>\n Soft elephant<\/strong><\/p>\n Dress and play Baby Bluey<\/strong><\/p>\n Squishmallow kodiak bear with bucket hat<\/strong><\/p>\n Currently these are all around $15-$25 each but Amazon can be wonky about changing up the prices when things start to run low so if I see that happening I\u2019ll come back here to add other choices to choose from to replace any that sell out or suddenly skyrocket in price from $20 to $180. (Wtf, Amazon?<\/em>) If I haven\u2019t bought you a stuffed animal it\u2019s probably because they sold out, jacked up the price, or you forgot to add your address so just come back and try again.\u00a0 I selected only stuffed animals that are prime eligible and have at least 20 or more in stock but if they start to run out I\u2019ll switch to something else that meets the criteria.<\/p>\n (Also, I use a lot of the profits I make on ads and stuff to buy toys for kids, and all of the royalties from the 2026 Bloggess Calendar <\/strong>go to this as well, so that means that if you\u2019ve even clicked on a link this year or bought an ad or a book, then you are the reason why I\u2019m going to be able to buy toys for at least 150 kids this year. \u00a0I\u2019m so grateful. \u00a0Thank you!<\/em>)<\/p>\n The wishlists should be posted in the comments so (as always) if you want to buy a present for a stranger you totally can. \u00a0Or you can donate to\u00a0Project Night Night<\/strong>, an\u00a0amazing<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0organization that provides a tote bag, book, stuffed animal and security blanket to displaced kids throughout the year. \u00a0They are FANTASTIC and they have more requests than they can fill so I cannot recommend them enough. In fact, tomorrow I\u2019ll be donating $1,000 to them in your name. WHOOP!<\/p>\n SO\u2026if you want in on this\u00a0you have to read all the directions and stick to the rules or otherwise you will be set on fire and pushed out a moving plane<\/strong>. \u00a0Or maybe I\u2019ll just delete your comment and look at you with that disappointed look your mom gives you when she knows you\u2019re trying but are still fucking up. \u00a0One of those. \u00a0Here are the rules:<\/p>\n Okay, how do I do this?<\/strong><\/p>\n You are my special angel. \u00a0Just look in the comments and find someone who has an unfilled Wishlist. I\u2019m going to fill least 150 stuffed animal wishes but there are often more than I can handle. \u00a0(If there\u2019s nothing on their list when you click it it means their toy was already bought- yay!) \u00a0Buy their present and\u00a0make sure when you check out that you select their shipping address instead of defaulting to yours.<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0(It won\u2019t give you their full address but it\u2019ll tell you the town you\u2019re shipping it to so you can compare it to their comment to make sure you have the right person.) \u00a0If you try to fill a wishlist but it doesn\u2019t give you a shipping address to choose that means the person didn\u2019t assign a shipping address to their list so just delete their present out of your cart and go on to the next wishlist. \u00a0If it says \u201cthese are duplicates. \u00a0Someone else may have already bought this\u201d when you try to check out then someone else has already bought that stuff so delete it and try another one. I\u2019ll update the comments as I can to note which ones have been filled but it can get a bit backlogged when I\u2019m in the car, eat or sleeping. \ud83d\ude42 Please do not fill any wishlists that don\u2019t say the city the person lives in the comments, or any wishlists where the person doesn\u2019t stick to the rules, please. (This is one way we make sure that people are who they say they are while still giving them anonymity.)\u00a0<\/p>\n But what if I don\u2019t live in America?<\/strong><\/p>\n Check the comments because we often have Canadians and others outside the US who need help and I can\u2019t fill those lists because shipping kills me, so if you want to adopt a family this is a great way to do it.<\/p>\n You are my special angel. \u00a0Here are the things you have to know and if you do them wrong you\u2019ll get deleted so read carefully, okay?: \u00a0 You have to make a\u00a0BRAND NEW\u00a0<\/strong>wishlist today, you can only choose one stuffed animal per child to put on your wishlist, and it has to be one of the ones above. I\u2019ll walk you through it below.\u00a0Then just come to this post and leave a comment telling us the city and State you\u2019re in\u00a0(this location has to match what you have on your wishlist<\/em>), how many kids you have, and a link to your wishlist. \u00a0Do not make multiple wish lists. \u00a0Just make one. \u00a0One of the most important things\u00a0(people do this wrong every year so PLEASE do this part right)<\/strong>\u00a0is that you\u00a0have<\/strong>\u00a0to assign a shipping address\u00a0for this specific brand new wishlist.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019ve done it before or think it\u2019s on your profile. You have to do it for\u00a0this<\/em>\u00a0new wishlist specifically today or it won\u2019t let us send you anything. I\u2019ll give you the details on setting up the wishlist below.<\/p>\n What if I want to make wish lists to surprise other people who I think need help?<\/strong><\/p>\n Nope. \u00a0Because then we end up sending multiple things to the same people. But you can\u00a0totally<\/em>\u00a0encourage them to go online or help them make their own. This is for anyone struggling to get a toy for their child this holiday (and yes, that totally includes teens and adult children with special needs).<\/p>\n I\u2019ve never done this before. \u00a0How do I make a wishlist?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s pretty quick and easy if you follow the formula. \u00a0I\u2019ll walk you through step by step<\/strong>:<\/p>\n On Amazon<\/strong>, click on \u201cAccounts & Lists\u201d (on the top right), choose \u201cCreate a list\u201d from the dropdown. (Sometimes it\u2019s under \u201cyour lists\u201d if you can\u2019t find it.)<\/p>\n Create a brand new list and name it \u201cJames Garfield 202<\/strong>5\u201d then click \u201ccreate\u201d. This will give you a blank private wishlist with nothing on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n On the right you\u2019ll see a button that says \u201c\u2026<\/strong>\u201c. \u00a0Click on that and choose \u201cManage list<\/strong>.\u201d \u00a0Change \u201cprivate<\/strong>\u201d to \u201cPUBLIC<\/strong>\u201d so we can see it. In the \u201cdescription\u201d part just put how many kids your list is for.\u00a0\u00a0YOU MUST ADD YOUR ADDRESS FOR THIS SPECIFIC LIST<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>so\u00a0click on the drop-down for the shipping address and change it from \u201cnone\u201d to your address.<\/strong>\u00a0PLEASE DON\u2019T SKIP THIS PART.\u00a0 Please make sure that all the checkboxes at the bottom are UNCHECKED. That means make sure that \u201ckeep purchased items on your list<\/strong>\u201d and \u201cdon\u2019t spoil my surprises<\/strong>\u201d are\u00a0NOT<\/strong>\u00a0checked. \u00a0Now go back and double-check every single thing in this paragraph. Is it all good? Awesome! Click \u201cSave changes\u201d.\u00a0<\/p>\n Now just go shopping for one of the above stuffed lovies for your kiddo. \u00a0When you have the one you want click on the \u201cAdd to list\u201d drop down arrow on the right (it\u2019s under where the price is) and then select your \u201cJames Garfield 2025\u201d list. \u00a0Click \u201cview your list\u201d to make sure it\u2019s added. If everything is right you should have your stuffed animal(s) on the wishlist page and when you click on the \u201c\u2026\u201d button again it should say that your wishlist is public and your address should show up in the same box and double check that \u201cdon\u2019t spoil my surprises\u201d and \u201ckeep purchased items on your list\u201d ARE<\/strong>\u00a0NOT<\/strong> checked. (People will see the city and state you are in, but your last name and the rest of your address is hidden.)<\/p>\n If you have another kid just go back to the list and pick a present for them and add it to the same list.<\/p>\n When you have one stuffed animal for each kid in your wishlist copy the link to your wishlist. Now you go to the comments below and leave a comment saying how many kids you have, what city and state you are in, and a paste in the link to your wishlist. \u00a0That\u2019s it!<\/p>\n So for example, a comment from me would look like this: <\/p>\n \u201cHi. \u00a0I live in San Antonio Texas, and I have one kid who would love an elephant. Here\u2019s my list:\u00a0 https:\/\/www.amazon.com\/hz\/wishlist\/ls\/3CX4A420GS5MG<\/p>\n Thanks!\u201d<\/p>\n Now\u2026go shopping. \u00a0Happy James Garfield Day!<\/p>\n PS. \u00a0Please please please double check before you hit the submit button that you have assigned a shipping address to your wishlist, that it\u2019s \u201cpublic\u201d and that your comment has a link to your wishlist, the city and state you live it and the number of kids you have.<\/strong>\u00a0Love!<\/p>\n PPS. This is one of my favorite things to do each year but it isn\u2019t perfect. Every year some boxes go missing. Some get delivered after Christmas. Miscommunications happen. But I\u2019d rather try to do something small and wonderful even if it isn\u2019t perfect. Thank you to every single person who asks for help, to every single person to who helps and especially to those who have done both. Every year we have people who\u2019ve been helped before who are so happy to help this year, or people who\u2019ve helped before but now need help themselves. I know what it feels like to be in both of those places and I\u2019m wishing love and light to every single person who reads this.<\/p>\n PPPS. When you choose something for your wishlist make sure it still says \u201cdelivers before xmas\u201d because some of the things may sell out and not restock in time. \ud83d\ude42 As of the time I\u2019m writing this all the stuffed animals arrive before xmas but if they start to sell out and have to restock it might cause your stuff to come in later. I\u2019ll try to keep adding other options if things start to run out.<\/p>\n Happy holidays, y\u2019all!<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thebloggess.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Screen-Shot-2021-12-13-at-1.12.32-PM.png?resize=750%2C565&ssl=1\")
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<\/figure>\nIF YOU WANT TO GIVE:<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Like this:<\/h3>\n