Spur of the Moment Packing Party for 100 OCC Boxes ~ "On a Wing and a Prayer"

My daughter found out Wednesday night at AWANA that she was placed in charge of the Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing party planned for Wednesday the 20th.  That gives her 12 days for planning, hunting and gathering supplies and a day to set up the day before.  We feel like the plane with a motor out coming in "on a wing and a prayer."

Her first shopping run....she just had to run back to Sandy's
last night and grab 99 cent stuffed animals and a few other goodies.
(I think that is the biggest bag I have ever seen from a store.)

Now in our family, we shop all year for shoe boxes hitting sales and clearances.  We also tend to fill our boxes with MANY items, we always seem to find one more thing to go in.  Just going out shopping for 100 shoe boxes on a limited budget on the spur of the moment is new to us.  So the first thing we did was go to the

Dresses & Socks ~ Having Fun Packing Fillers for OCC Shoebox Gifts

Dress Made in Honor of the NC Rep for
Dress A Girl Around the World

I think I am addicted to sewing these pillowcase style dresses!  They are so fun, quick and simple to make, and so adorable.  I have always wanted to include more clothing in my Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes and these are perfect--they fold nicely into zipper bags--2 to 4 year olds I put in sandwich size and the larger sizes I put in quart size.  My husband found some toddler socks on clearance at Dollar General a while back when they had 50% off clearance items and picked up two packages for me.  Each pack has seven pairs of socks--this means I can include socks with 14 of my dresses.  I am having fun matching them up!

Check out this precious smile on a girl wearing a dress I made.  She received it this summer in Uganda thru Dress A Girl Around The World.  Perhaps it is these smiles that keep me addicted to sewing these dresses to tuck into my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.

You can see many of the dresses I've made in this series of posts:  Handmade by Cheryl.

Packaging Fillers for OCC Shoebox Distribution Center ~ Pillowcase Dresses

Click on image for a larger, clearer view, not sure why it is blurry.

I am working on packing pillowcase dresses as fillers for the Operation Christmas Child shoebox distribution center.  I have decided to tuck them into quart size ziploc bags (my husband picked up at Dollar General when they were 50% off the clearanced sticker price) and squeeze all the air I can out of them to make them as small as possible.

I have some mailing labels I got free after MaxPerks rewards from Office Max and found these delightful Christmas label templates in my Publisher program.  I'll stick one on each bag and pack them in boxes plainly marked with the same information on the outside hopefully making it easy for them to be used by the volunteers inspecting the shoeboxes at the Operation Chirstmas Child processing center.

I hope this tip is an idea someone else can use.  If you are looking for more tips for packing shoeboxes check out our series of Tips for Packing Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes.

And if you'd like to see more about the OCC processing center or the need for fillers check out this post:  A Day at the Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Processing Center.

DIY Crafts for Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes ~ How To's and Tutorials Index from Simply Shoeboxes

One of my favorite items to pack in an Operation Christmas Child shoebox is something I have made.  And because I enjoy designing my own patterns, I have written tutorials to share.  They include sewn, no-sew, crochet and upcycled.  Each crafting for OCC shoeboxes tutorial has step by step, illustrated instructions.

I also enjoy sending extra crafted items to the Operation Christmas Child processing centers as fillers.  If you are interested in donating handcrafted items directly to OCC click the banner on the right.

I've included some of my finished projects for shoeboxes at the bottom.

You can also find more inspiration and DIY tutorials thru the links on our Craft Linkies Page.  Many crafters share free instructions and

Mini Fleece Lovey Blankies ~ Great for 2 to 4 Year Old Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Gifts

I made a fleece pillowcase dress for a friend to give to a local little lady thru her church's Christmas outreach program and with the left over fabric I was able to make three mini blankies for Operation Christmas Child shoebox gifts.  I think a little cuddly can comfort a child.  After I finished the first one I read a story in Franklin Graham's new book, Operation Christmas Child: A Story of Simple Gifts, about a child in a war torn country who was left orphaned and was clinging to a blanket and singing to herself. That story certainly encouraged me to finish the

Guidelines for Submitting a "Behind the OCC Shoeboxes ~ Stories of Sharing" Guest Post

I would love to have you tell your shoebox sharing story here at Simply Shoe Boxes.  I love hearing how others are involved behind the Operation Christmas Child shoebox scenes.

If you would like to submit your story as a guest post here please follow these guidelines.  We will contact you to let you know when your story will be shared.

Write your Story

• Use an autobiographical form in 750 words or less.  
• First person.
• Keep paragraphs short.
• The use of bullets or numbered items helps break up a long post and keeps readers reading.  Use them if possible, if not it is no problem.
• Include items such as (you are not limited by this list, nor do you have to include these things):
• How long have you been involved?
• What got you interested?
• What keeps you going?
• Do you have a special memory from your involvement?
• Do you have a shoe box specialty?  Such as:
• Packing Parties.
• Crafting for fillers.
• Personally shopping for fillers.
• Personally packing shoe boxes.
• Are you a year round volunteer?
• Are you an OCC employee?
• Anything that details your story.
• How do you raise funds or gather supplies you need?
• Do you blog about it or keep a Facebook page?
• Include links to these if you do.
• Include images that illustrate your involvement.

Submit your Story

• Email your story in email form to simply blogs @ live . com
• Add Subject Line:  "Behind the Shoe Boxes Story"
• Attach your images to the email.

I have never done a series of quest posts and may run into problems I do not see, but as of now I plan to post every story I receive.  If I begin receiving too many I may not be able to post them all in a timely manner.  But we will deal that when it happens and I will let you know if I may not be able to post all that I receive.

You can read thru the stories already published here:  Why I Pack Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes.