Organizing My Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Stash

So, you've decided to shop for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes year round, and pack a few-great!! ...but what do you do with it all year? Well, this is what we're trying this year.

We are hoping to pack around 50 shoeboxes this year (it's not about the numbers, but the children, which is why I don't often share our number, but for this post I thought it would be helpful).  And we tend to pack similar things in all our boxes-they're not identical, but have basically the same-same hygiene supplies and categories of school supplies, but different colors, games, toys, coloring books, etc.  So, to start organizing this year (this is kind of my first year organizing the stash) the first thing I did was make the lists from what my family has told me they wanted to pack.  I also took an inventory of what we had left over from packing last year and hadn't sent as fillers or have gotten since we packed.  Then I made a budget spreadsheet and assigned a price to each item based on how much I thought we'd spend on it.  Then I put in how many we needed based on the list, and how many we had in stock to be sure our budget would cover it.  It looked good. So we decided to go ahead with the goal of 50.  And shared the list with everyone, so we know what we're shopping for.

We happen to have a spare room in our house that isn't used often, so we decided we could lay out the bankers boxes and tubs of supplies in there, and when

Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Packing Lists - 2016

UPDATE 2017:  No candy or toothpaste allowed.

I've been trying to get organized for shopping for next year's Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes we will be packing.  I still need to do a little more work on the organizing of the stock before I post on that...I'll edit this post when I do so to give the link for that.  But I did make a tentative list of what we need to shop for/are planning to pack, and thought I'd share it in case anyone was interested.  

I divided it between what all boxes-regardless of age or gender-would get, then the additional things that will go in certain ages.  These are just draft lists and may change slightly depending on what we may find, have donated, learn more

Behind the Scenes: A Peak at My Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Messes

It is fun blogging about my Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing!  I get to bring you lovely images of finished items and neat shoebox stockpile organization.  All beautiful and organized.  It's like I enter a shoebox dreamland whenever I am blogging.  But then I always return to reality.

I walked into my Operation Christmas Child shoe box stockpile hallway the other day and thought, "if they could see me now!"  I could hardly walk thru it at all!  I have been ordering a lot of items thru Kohl's and Toys R Us because of large gift cards I won on blog giveaways.  My daughter has carried them all downstairs for me -- after I dug thru them all to look them over.  So those and a few other local purchases fill the aisle!

Then I entered my laundry/sewing room...well, let me take you on a tour.

Using Google Documents to Record OCC Shoebox Stockpile

Because we have several shoppers on our Operation Christmas Child shoebox team we need a way to keep track of our purchases.  By using Google Documents we can all access and update it when we get more shoe box items.  It can also be brought up on a phone in the store before a purchase is made to be sure we don't over buy certain items.

Click image to see it larger.

Breakdown:

• Estimate of how many we need is at the top (guessing on approx. 100 boxes)
• Total on hand is next (line 4) 
• Updates automatically each time a number is added in lower line.
• Shopper records date/name/specifics & number.
• Each category has its own page.

As the year proceeds if we are close to our goal for 100 boxes in all categories I will go in and increase the number needed on line 3 and we will keep shopping.  I am hoping this system keeps us from having 200 stuffed animals and only 50 toothbrushes when it comes time to pack.  It is also to help us not to overbuy when we find a great deal.  I'll let you know how it works out.  Meanwhile, if you missed my earlier posts on how we are organizing our purchases you may want to check them out here:  My Shoe Box Stockpile Organization.

Organizing Storage--New Shelves: Preparing for 2015 OCC Collection Part 3

Christmas came early to my house!  And not only in the Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts we packed.

I outgrew my laundry room shoe box stockpile storage. 

I shared a few months back about my Shoe Box Stockpile Organization in my laundry room.  How I sort everything into Banker Boxes throughout the year as I shop and craft.  This year I outgrew that space and went looking around my basement for additional room.

There is a long, wide hallway beside the furnace room.  It is along the back wall and is mostly hidden from the living area -- well, sort of hidden. Nothing a couple of curtains wouldn't fix.  I thought it would be perfect for shoe box stockpiling with at least twice the storage I currently had.

With that large of a space I needed an economical way to "shelve" my boxes.  I didn't just want to stack the banker boxes from floor to ceiling as I don't have the strength to be moving them to add

Divide & Conquer: Preparing for 2015 Operation Christmas Child Collection Part 2

For years we have shopped and picked up whatever bargains or fun things we could find and then divided the goods by age group when we packed our Operation Christmas Child.  We knew shoeboxes for 10 to 14 year old boys were the least received so we tried to lean heavily in their direction when purchasing items.  There were also several items that we always put in each box, but beyond that we would fill the shoeboxes with whatever we had.  This year I wanted to do it a little different. I wanted to "divide and conquer."

I discussed it with family members and they agreed.  We would each choose one age group and gender and be in charge of making a list of items we wanted to include. This way it wasn't so much "my" project, but "our" project.  It would be a simple way to divide the decisions of what is important for each group.  Each packer will make the final decision for their group and it won't matter that we

NOT Setting Goals: Preparing for 2015 OCC Collection Part 1

As I begin to prepare for the 2015 Operation Christmas Child collection week (a year away) you would think the first thing I would do is set a goal.  But I am purposely NOT setting a goal.  Well, not a goal with an exact number of boxes to pack anyways.  My goal for 2015:  to pack as many shoeboxes as possible without tallying them.

The main reason I am choosing to not set a goal for the number of boxes I will pack is because I want to look at the individual box, not the whole.  I want to think about the ONE child who will receive the ONE box I am packing.  I am a "numbers" gal, so I tend to forget about the humanity behind the

My Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Gifts Stockpile Organization

When we moved into our new home I immediately claimed the large downstairs laundry room as my Operation Christmas Child packing and crafting room. I have my sewing machine & cutting table set up so I can easily sew my pillowcase style dresses and other goodies to tuck inside my OCC shoebox gifts. My husband added the ceiling tiles so my room would be neater and cleaner and added extra lighting so it's nice and bright to work in.

There were a couple of storage closets in our new home with this white wire shelving inside that we did not want to keep so my husband removed it.  EUREKA!!  Perfect to put up around the top of the

Organizing for Packing Shoe Boxes All Year Long

With national collection week behind us, those of us packing shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, are ready to begin thinking about the boxes we will give in 2014.  By shopping and crafting all year long we can pack our boxes for less and either pack more or pack them fuller.  I wanted to share a simple way to organize your shopping/packing to be able to keep up with your fillers for those of you packing a few to several boxes.  If you are planning on packing several dozen or hundreds check out this spread sheet I made a few years ago: Shoebox Supplies Check Off List--You can print them off, tuck them in a notebook and check them off as you shop all year and you will know when you have enough of each item.

Find your empty shoeboxes--ask shoe stores & stores like Kmart with

Dreams of Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Stockpile Storage

My family has been discussing the advantages of moving closer to town for quite some time, but we really love our country living.  We also know that it won't be much longer before my mom needs to move in with us and this old farm house is not conducive for that arrangement.  Our church has grown so large that they offer "in home connection" groups for Bible Study and "connecting" personally with one another in smaller group settings and we have wanted to host one but our location and home are not a fit for that.  So for these three reasons we decided it was time to get serious about looking for a new house.  And of course room for Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing was a consideration.

Our plan was to make a list of must haves, give it to an agent and if they found a house with all the stipulations we would seriously consider it (the list, including a