Make & Share Random Acts of Kindness

by Mique Provost

The Random Acts of Kindness movement started in the 1980s. It is attributed to Anne Herbert, a peace activist who wrote a challenge on a restaurant place mat: "Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty." Today the movement has spread around the world.

Make & Share Random Acts of Kindness is a unique compilation of step-by-step projects and quick & easy ideas for practicing acts of kindness in your life through cooking and crafting. Some ideas include decorating a reusable plate and using it to share homemade sweets with a stranger or neighbor, or putting together "Blessing Bags" with uplifting message cards to give out to those in need.

Mique Provost is the founder of the immensely popular craft and cooking blog Thirty Handmade Days. She first started doing Random Acts of Kindness in honor of her oldest son who has autism, and she received an overwhelming response when she encouraged her readers to join her. In this book, she gives readers completely new crafts, recipes and projects, complete with her popular design templates. Readers young and old will love these inspiring ideas to spread joy and help make the world a kinder place.

Genres: Crafts, Nonfiction

192 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 24, 2015

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I xeroxed A LOT out of this book!

I got several practical ideas for doing things for family, friends, and co-workers, as well as some neat ideas for Community Service for an organization that I volunteer with.

At the back of the book are "Tear-Out Designs," which I again xeroxed that are colorful graphics / notes to include with your projects.

These projects are not hard to do and each project comes with some brief information about the project, supplies needed, detailed instructions, suggestions for sayings, kindness quotes and more!

There are also colorful pictures showing this kindness throughout the book!

FABULOUS!!!!!

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has some really cool and unique ideas. Definitely recommend it if you're trying to come up with something new to try for someone, or possibly even for yourself.

[Stella · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author started doing random acts of kindness for her teenage son with autism. She also has an online blog, according to the author blurb at the end of the book. This book is well intentioned. Some of the ideas sound fun and I like that Little Free Library gets a mention. But honestly not much here I’d have done with my children or would want to have gifted to me by a neighbor. We did several years of Grinchmas activities (grow your heart three sizes by doing good deeds throughout December) and there are great resources for that sort of thing online.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great ideas with tear-outs/reproducibles in the back. The fishtail friendship bracelets, just one of many ideas, were exactly what I was looking for: a simple, contemporary bracelet using embroidery floss. The directions for the fishtail pattern do not have accompanying pictures, but a quick online search could solve that.

[goatmilksoda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a really cute book with some good information and ideas, unfortunately, not only did I not read it at a great time, but a lot of these felt specifically pushed towards children. I feel like kindness is something we need to push throughout our lives and shouldn't just be limited to a family thing.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whenever 2020 got me down I tried to look around and do some thing for others. This has always been my go to. We did this the summer D broke her arm. So I loved that this stemmed from her sons birthday.

It was nice that some ideas could be spur of the moment and some took some planning. Well organized & the tear outs in the back are great.

[Elaine Mazzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute book with lots of ideas for “random acts of kindness”. Geared more toward families but there were ideas for every age group.

[Tina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the RAK movement and i love being crafty so this cute little book does a great job combining the two and inspiring us to be creatively kind everyday.

[Miss Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did a teen Random Act of Kindness program. We made crafts to give as gifts (random acts of kindness)

[Nancy Kennedy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Craft books are generally not my thing! I don't have a creative bone in my body when it comes to making projects or gifts. But this is a great book for someone who wants to make things yet needs some help. Along with the ideas in the book, the back section is filled with cut-outs to include as tags, labels, inspirational quotes and graphics. The author has done a lot of the work for you!

In the book are suggestions for ways to create things to make others happy. There are projects to make for veterans, special needs children, hospital patients, friends and family, and much more. Some are whimsical -- like Ding Dong Donuts -- and some are practical, like hospital socks or a first aid kit. Children are encouraged to think of how they can be kind to others on their birthdays. And parents have a page of ideas for making lunch box notes or sharing acts of kindness on date nights. For those who like to make gifts in the kitchen, there are a few recipes for simple things like fruit dip and lemonade.

All in all, this is a very inspirational book filled with simple ideas for families to put into practice in their daily lives.

[Katharina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not even going to start...

[Kandice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very inspiring!

[Julia]

Some cute ideas.