sidewalk chalk neighbor gift idea & free printable

I'm hoping that this little project might lift your spirits 

during this really weird/sad/crazy time like it did mine today ♥

it started a few days ago with a box of sidewalk chalk ...

i saw everyone on social media talking about how they were using chalk to decorate their sidewalks with uplifting messages or just pretty pictures since families and neighbors are out in huge numbers everyday walking and enjoying any spring-like weather just to pass the time and get out of the house... and anyone who lives in our neighborhood knows that people are ALWAYS outside - quarantine or not - we have so many little kids, dog owners and runners/walkers in our one mile huge loop of a neighborhood - so our neighborhood is usually pretty active even during normal circumstances... 

so i picked up a box at target (while i was getting essentials ... everyone just please relax ... please - slight eyeroll here) because i knew that it would put a smile on at least a few faces who walked over our sidewalk over the next few days (and then it rained of course - hello, upstate NY + April) so i recruited my girls to go chalk up the sidewalk & make it pretty ♥

we got out there and the sun was shining, within a few minutes it was like my spirits were automatically renewed just by being outside, for an hour, breathing in God's fresh air and soaking up His sunshine ...

 it got me to thinking about how we can watch the news, talk to neighbors and overhear things in the grocery store check out line that the enemy then uses to ever so quietly & slooooowly crack the door open, allowing fear to creep into our minds & hearts ... right?  we start to let ourselves be dominated by the what if's and the maybe's 

that give life to fear & self-reliance ... 

but then all of a sudden being outside in the wide open of God's creation ... you realize that there is nothing to fear. He made all of this. the sun will rise in the morning and set again tomorrow night, virus or not, quarantine or not, constant barrage of fear-mongering news broadcasts or not ... because He is in control - He's got this - this didn't catch Him by surprise - it didn't sneak up on Him like whoa where'd you come from kinda thing - this was all sifted through His hands.

He's behind & before us - His thoughts are higher - our names are graven on His hands - He knew what we looked like even before we were thought into existence ... 

so i'm thinkin' He's got this too.

as we were chalking up a storm the idea came to get a few more boxes of chalk for some of the houses with little kids on our street - in hopes that they would decorate their sidewalks too and then what a fun walk around the neighborhood that would be for everyone :)

surprisingly but kinda not (insert another small eyeroll here)

 like flour toilet paper and chicken breast (that's what's hard to get here at our grocery store what about you all?) sidewalk chalk is really hard to find online - and again not surprisingly, sellers on amazon are trying to sell this 48ct. box of chalk for $40!

so i scoured the interwebs and found that my local staples & walgreens stores had quite a few boxes left in stock and they were offering curb-side pickup! bonus. so check your local office supply stores, drug stores, targets or walmart's - buy online and pick up - i'm sure you'll be able to find some!

and of course i had to make a cute tag for these neighbor gifts (that in all honesty me & my daughter ding dong ditched ((or just ditched without the ding or the dong)) at each of the houses and then made quick getaways afterwards:P) there's just something about giving gifts in secret - am i right?

i love leaving something, catching someone off guard and letting it be found in the quiet of their own thoughts & emotions - i know in times past i've found something that has brought me to tears and i thought how did someone know this was just what i needed?

so! dive into those ribbon stashes, tie some bows onto those cardboard box handles and 

click here or on the image below to print out these tags and share with your neighbors :)

super cute graphics were from these two etsy shops

https://www.etsy.com/shop/LisaMarkleSparkles

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JaxandJake

and so at the end of today, we had successfully delivered 6 boxes of chalk up and down our street and when my daughter went out to ride her bike in the afternoon she came back so excited to tell me that all the little kids that we had delivered chalk to, had decorated or were out decorating their sidewalks with the cutest pictures and notes ♥ and some of them had even come to the front of our house and written a note in chalk thanking us for the gift :)

and just like that a small thing like a box of chalk brought so much joy to our house and now neighborhood 

AND had lifted my spirit more than any other thing had done this past week.

(even more than when i found a six pack of TP at the grocery store :)

find some chalk, print out these tags & let this do the same for you this week friends!

as always - much love