Operation Christmas Child - 4

My finds for this month for Samaritan's Purse - Operation Christmas Child. You can find the information about them on their web site.

I've been collecting items throughout the year to make 15 boxes. The boxes are almost full! It's been a really fun project. My kids love to help me shop for the kids and pack the boxes too. I let my daughter help me fill the girl boxes and my son fills the boy boxes.



Some of the items I found this month...
- crayons
- books
- little ball maze puzzles
- skipping ropes
- candy
- Sudoku puzzles
- little toy animals
- magnetic game
- hair combs
- hair ties for the girls
- pencil cases
- kazoo



Keep in mind if you are packing your box... It is helpful to put the soap in a bag and the candy in a bag. Remember if you are sending candy it MUST be HARD candy (baked candy ie Werthers, not just packed sugar ie. rockets or gum). This is a customs regulation.

I got a box of 50 ziploc baggies for a dollar and was able to bag everything separately. This saves them the trouble of having to bag it when they are checking through the boxes in the warehouse.

Operation Christmas Child - 4

Here are my finds for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes I'm making.
I took advantage of some back to school sales.



I got Pencil Crayons (with sharpener) for $1.24. I got packs of paper for 25 cents. I also got some packs of pencils and I bought Rubbermaid boxes to put everything in.

Operation Christmas Child does provide boxes, but I just thought it would be a useful item for them to have a good sturdy box. When I was volunteering last year, I asked about different shaped boxes (or backpacks) and they don't mind at all if people use them. I even saw a really nice TOOL box that was packed with stuff for a boy. And some people used backpacks too!

Some things to remember when packing your shoeboxes:
- don't send anything that will break (mirrors, glass, etc)
- don't send any liquids (not even shampoo or toothpaste)
- the ONLY type of food or candy you can send is HARD candy!
- NO USED items
- nothing that will scare or harm a child (no toy guns, etc)

These are SHIPPING REGULATIONS that Samaritan's Purse must abide by in order to deliver these boxes to other countries.

If you want to check out this fun project to help kids you can look at the link here (this is the Canadian site, but I believe they also do this through the US)

Operation Christmas Child - 3

Here are my finds for Operation Christmas Child this time.

If you want to find out more about Operation Christmas Child by Samaritan's Purse you can find it here.

I would like to make 15 shoeboxes this year. I have been buying things here and there throughout the year. These shirts were only $3 or $4 each.
I also found stencils which I thought could be a fun thing for them.



Boy shirts in 3 different sizes for 3 different age groups.



Girl shirts in 3 different sizes for 3 different age groups.

Operation Christmas Child - 2

I went shopping with my kids to get some more stuff for Operation Christmas Child - shoeboxes. Here's what I found this month...



- soap
- bandages (this was an idea I got from when I volunteered this year)
- balls
- activity books
- stuffed teddies



I wanted to show you my cute safari. I couldn't believe it - they were on sale - less than 30 cents each! I find it hard to find nice little stuffed teddies for $1, so this was sure a great find!

Here's the link for Operation Christmas Child if you need it.

I'm finding it really fun to do this throughout the year. Then I can look for sales and be able to make more boxes!

Operation Christmas Child - Month 1

I haven't been making any cards in the past week or so so I've been absent from blog-land. However, I wanted to share a different project with you today.

This year I had the very fun priviledge of being able to volunteer at the Operation Christmas Child warehouse. (What was even more special is that I got to go with my neice!) Anyways it was lots of fun and I'd love to do it again sometime.

I thought that this year I will try to make more shoeboxes. If I spread the cost over the whole year then I'm able to make more! (My goal this year is to make at least 15!)

I thought I would start with some Boxing Week shopping to see if I could pick up any specials. I was able to find a few things...



The things I found this month - notepads, pens, erasers, puzzles, teddies, stickers, toy cars, candles, wash cloths

The good thing about shopping for so many you can get cheaper prices by buying packages with multiple items/package.

I organized myself by first choosing the age/sex and how many of each I wanted to build. Then I wrote a list of things I would like to find and hopefully the price I am aiming for. All the things I bought this month I was able to find at the price I hoped for or in most cases, even cheaper!



I got lots of fantastic ideas while volunteering. I'll keep on showing you what I find as the year goes on.

I hope you're inspired create some of your own shoeboxes! If you don't know what I'm talking about it's Samaritan's Purse - Operation Christmas child project. I've participated for many years already and I LOVE doing it.

If you've made shoeboxes before and have some great ideas of what to put in there - please comment and share your thoughts with me!