The Artful Home: Make Art for a Good Cause

This is such a simple and lovely idea: Nance Miller, a teacher in Mill Valley, California, has created an art-exchange project called Art2Heart, which brings art to orphans around the world and then helps them create their own masterpieces.

Here's how it works: You (or your child) make a piece of art on 8.5-by-11-inch paper, and include the words "To my friend, from [your name]." It can be a collage, a drawing, a painting, or pretty much anything you like, as long as it's flat for easy transport and contains something figural, so that the "children can find some element they recognize in the work and find comfort in the familiar," Miller says.

Send your creation -- include a photo as well, if you'd like -- to Miller along with a stamped, self-addressed 9-by-12-inch envelope, and she'll give it to a child living in an orphanage or on the street in places such as India, Nepal, Burma, and Guatemala.

Miller will then provide the children with materials and guidance for creating artwork of their own, which she'll mail to you -- along with a photo of the artist, if possible -- upon her return.

As Miller says, "Living in an orphanage in India is a very small, hard life." Using art as a common language, "Art2Heart is about opening to children in need, brightening their lives, and letting them know that someone cares. It's about showing these children that there is a bigger, warmer world out there, and that they are a part of it."

The project is "an equal exchange that gives everyone -- whether you're an orphan in Guatemala, a student in San Francisco, or a CEO in New York City -- the opportunity to both give and receive on a very global, yet very personal level."

Miller will be distributing art to children Guatemala in mid-February, so get your creation to her ASAP. (Otherwise, it'll go with her on her next trip.) To participate, visit Art2Heart.