How to Pack More into Less Space in an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox ~ Guest Post

One of my greatest "trials" in packing Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes is fitting in everything I want to send-lol! So, I'm always trying to figure out how to get one more thing in. I love to hear other's ideas on the subject, and as there doesn't seem to be much out there on fitting more in OCC GO shoeboxes, I decided to start a series of posts on it. The first is a guest post I asked Amy Lukens to write!

How to Pack More into Less

You Really Can Fit a Lot into the Preprinted Boxes.

By Amy Lukens

Just as any of you reading this, packing shoeboxes is my passion. I am an Operation Christmas Child Area Coordinator in the Upper Midwest Region and have been packing shoeboxes for over 15 years. Lots of practice and natural spatial awareness have helped me to figure out ways to pack a lot in a little shoebox.

Before I go any further, I want to point out that this is how I pack my boxes. It is not the “right” way to pack. God has placed certain items on my heart to pack or not pack. He may have placed different items on your heart and that is perfect. The shoeboxes go to a variety of children with different needs and wants. Also I do pack mostly in OCC’s Preprinted boxes, but I will also pack a slightly larger box if needed. Certain items like teenage boy’s tennis shoes will not fit into the Preprinted boxes no matter how much you try. I will pack a little larger box such as a 6qt plastic box if necessary.

Here is how I pack my shoeboxes:

1. Remove packaging!

Clearance Deals for OCC Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 9/3/2016

 I got some fun items for my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes at Dollar General's 50% off clearance last weekend:

I also found sum "summer" toys on (unmarked) clearance 75% off at CVS-so 75 cents a piece.

I also forgot to include this photo last week.  I found these at Walgreens 90% off for 69 cents a piece. I know that's more than say the 17 cent lined paper notebooks at Walmart, but these were so nice, I thought it would be worth more-almost a WOW item for some of my 10-14 year old girl shoeboxes.

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $7.29

Spent from gift cards  I earned or won online: $4

Added to stockpile:

• 9 water bottles
• 1 Lego type kit
• 6 sheet stickers
• 1 construction vehicle toy
• 4 sets jacks (could be split into 8 sets if needed-1 ball and 8 jacks each)
• 1 yo-yo
• 3 nice journals

If you are interested in tips for packing, check out our series of Tips for Packing Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

Slow Week for Our OCC Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 8/28/2016

I picked up another package of of the cute toddler baseballs on clearance at CVS.

I picked up a package of envelopes from Walmart to add to the oldest age group's boxes.

I got some mechanical pencils free at CVS.

I was able to hit a couple Dollar Generals to take advantage of their 50% off all clearance deal.

I also picked up some items for the shoeboxes I'm tasked with shopping for a packing party with the kids at my church...posted some of that on the Simply Shoe Box Facebook page.

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $6.30

Spent from gift cards I have earned or won online: $5.95

Added to stockpile:

• 5 toddler baseball
• Package of envelopes
• Package of mechanical pencils
• 4 water bottles
• Decorative pencil
• Package of whistles
• 2 packages of stickers
• 2 Lego type kits

We have shared several ideas on Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Stockpile Organization for those of you interested.

Crayon Brands Coloring Test for Consideration in Packing In Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

At this time of year there are a great variety of prices of crayons at back to school sales:  from fifty cents to as inexpensive as a penny.  So many choices...how to choose!  We want to send nice things to the children in our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes, but we don't want to spend money just to get a name on the box.  So I decided to do some tests.

We tested five brands for both coloring quality and resistance to heat (that they might experience in transit).  The brands we tested were Crayola, which you can normally get for $0.50 at Walmart & Dollar General during back to school sales,  Cra-Z-Art, normally $0.25 during back-to-school sales at Walmart,  Playskool which can be found at Dollar Tree and other dollar stores for $1, and  Dollar General offers a brand I*Magine often 3 for $1 or $0.33/$0.34 a piece at Back-to-school sales.  Also at Office Depot I got some Scholastic brand for $0.01.   All those prices are for 24 count except Playskool that is 36.  For those who are concerned about manufacture location:  most are made in China, Crayola is made in the USA or Mexico, you'll have to check the package.  (This post contains marked affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links)

Now crayons exact make up may change from year to year, or from batch to batch, especially cheaper ones that may have less stringent controls, but this is the best info we can give you.

Edit to note: these were tested in 2016-how different brands make things can change over time.

First, how do they color?

Everyone has different preferences in coloring tools.  For instance, I prefer gel pens and hate ball point pens, but other members of my family like ball point and don't

School Supplies & Clearance for OCC Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 8/20/2016

My sister and I both were able to stop and pick up the penny deals at Office Depot, I only got a photo of mine, though, but we got double of this for our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. I'm waiting to decide on whether or not to send this brand of crayons until I do some more tests on it's quality.  UPDATE:  we did a melt and coloring test on several brands of crayons.  Find them here:  Crayon Brands Review.  This brand melted the most easily so we donated them locally instead of packing them in our shoeboxes.

I stopped by Dollar General and picked up a few of the Summer toys marked 40% off...they rang up 66% off (no clue why).  So I picked up some more, then when I went to another one and picked up a couple things to test the clearance, and it wasn't on clearance at all! ...odd!!



I also picked up some of these cute toddler baseballs 50% off at CVS

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $10.71

Spent from gift cards earned or won online: $3.74

Added to stockpile:

• 16 jump ropes
• 1 par work gloves
• 1 butterfly toy
• 1 kite string 
• 5 toddler baseballs
• 60 pens
• 6 pencils sharpeners

If you are wondering what other types of things to pack in a shoebox check out this post:  Filler Items for Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes.

School Supplies for Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 8/13/2016

My sister and I were both able to stop by Dollar General and use their digital coupon for $5 off $20 school supplies for sale items, so ended up with all this for our Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing.

My sister had just signed up for Dollar General digital coupons, and got a $1 off any $1.01 purchase, used it to pick up a pack of combs and a jump rope that was 40% off with the other summer toys.  These are both great for my 10 to 14 year old girl shoeboxes.

We also both stopped at Office Depot and both picked up the poly notebooks and mini boxes (for fishing kits).  Check out two ways to fit a spiral notebook in an OCC shoebox.

I also stopped by Mighty Dollar to pick up some more of those super cute foam animal puzzles I found last week.

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $40.12

Added to stockpile:

• 40 boxes of 24 Crayola Crayons
• 13 boxes of 12 Crayola colored pencils 
• 14 packs of 18 pencils
• 1 pack of 3 combs
• 1 jumpropes 
• 6 mini boxes
• 6 poly notebooks
• 4 sets of foam animal puzzles (8 animals per set plus 2 scenes)

We include crayons in almost every Operation Christmas Child shoebox we pack and wondered which were best.  We did some comparisons in both coloring and melting.  You can find them both here:  Crayon Brand Reviews.