Dozens of Items for our OCC Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 7/23/2016

After church on Sunday I did some Operation Christmas Child shoebox shopping.  First, I stopped at Office Depot to get some of the penny deals (got the paper with the rebate to get up to the $5 minimum purchase).  We use the paper in our Handmade Coloring Books or Sketch Pads.

Then I ran to Dollar Tree to take advantage of their 10% off deal-I picked up the rest of the things I needed to pack sample shoeboxes based on my "3 OCC shoeboxes for $29 from Dollar Tree" blog post-got some cute things!  Plus a ball pump.

Also, I forgot to post last week that we got in on the Kmart washcloth deal, unfortunately with white washcloths-but at $0.03 a piece instead of $0.50+, couldn't pass it up!

We got an email from Kmart saying we'd get any reward points we used (up to $20, with restrictions), so I used my washcloth rewards (plus a few more) to get the below, I don't think I quite got all my points back, some must have been on clearance or something, but still a good deal, now just to be sure to use the bonus points before they expire 7/30.

Stopped by Hobby Lobby to check for the reported 80% off clearance.  I found these foam gliders, it worked out to 30 cents a glider

I also ran into Mighty Dollar to pick up some supper cute things we'd seen and Mom wanted to get while we could for next year's 2 to 4 year old girl boxes, plus I picked up a few more math kits for next year.

Also, we realized through a tip that the scissors weren't the ones Office Depot advertised, so we emailed to say we were disappointed it wasn't the same, and they gave us a partial refund, so that helps the packing budget! :)

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $45.11

Added to stockpile:

• 3 pencil sharpeners
• 3 spiral notebooks
• 3 pencil cases
• 9 erasers
• 1 ball pump
• 3 lined notebooks
• 2 plain pads of paper
• 1 coloring book
• 4 eraser & sharpener combos
• 4 pens
• 12 pencils
• 6 stencils
• 1 pack of crayons
• 3 combs
• 3 toothbrushes & holders
• 4 washcloths
• 3 balls
• 1 puzzle
• 1 bag marbles
• 1 waterbottle
• 1 totebag
• multible hair bands
• 1 board book
• 4 prisims 
• 1 baby doll
• 10 stuffed animals
• 10 pulling toys
• 3 math sets
• 6 gliders
• 1 Dinosaur
• 1 Hotwheel Track 

We include a stuffed animal or doll in each box we pack.  Want to know why?  You can read our thoughts here:  Why We Include a Stuffed Animal in All of Our Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

Office Depot Sales for OCC Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 7/16/2016

Everything we got this week for the Operation Christmas Child "Shoebox Stockpile" came from Office Depot this week.

From the loss leaders this week - pencils and pencil cases for a penny and crayons for a quarter

I got in on the 50 cent scissor deal while it was going on-I also had a $10 off $50, as I had to get $35 for free shipping anyhow, I got more.  So,  I got them for like $0.21 instead of like $2.20 a pair!  It's enough for a few years-but at such a good deal I thought it was worth getting ahead.

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $43.56

Added to stockpile:

• 3 pencil cases
• 3 dozen pencils
• 3 packs Crayola
• 200 scissors 

Wondering what the best brands of crayons are for Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing?  Check out our posts on Crayon Brand Coloring & Melting Tests.

Hygiene & Toys for OCC Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 7/9/2016

I got some needed, and some fun things this week for our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.

My biggest purchase was hygiene items at CVS (for more info on saving money shopping at CVS, check out my other blog Simply CVS.  They had two deals I took advantage of:

• IVORY BAR SOAP-buy 1 get one half off-spend $30 get $10 ECB with the coupons I had, it worked out to $0.22 a bar.
• ORAL-B TOOTHBRUSH 2 or 4 count get $4 ECB back, I found this 2 pack for $4.99, so about $0.50 per toothbrush, not the best price, but nice toothbrushes, and I feel the better the toothbrush the longer it'll last.

I also stopped by Dollar General-found a couple small Lego type kits on clearance, and found this Lincoln Log type kit as part of the 3 day sale 50% off, so it was $5.  Now, it's too big to fit in one box, but it includes 3 buildings, so I plan to build them, then bag them in three sets (with picture and instructions) which should make a fun, but able to fit, toy for 3 little 2 to 4 year old boys or girls.

Finally, saw these eraser pencil grips at a local dollar store, and decided to buy them for most of our 2-4 year old shoeboxes, thought it might help little hands learning to write.

Went back to the dollar store later in the week found this shirt, these 2 packs of flip-flops (originally $5.99) some extra ball inflating needles, cute Gund stuffed animals, and a cute friendship bracelet kit-has a little hardback instruction book, plus some floss and charms.

It has a big empty place in the back-plan to fill it with floss, beads, and other supplies to save room and make it even better! :)

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $20.48

Spent from gift cards I earned or I won online: $30.29

Added to stockpile:

• 80 bars Ivory soap
• 4 Oral-B toothbrushes
• 2 Lego type kits
• 1 Lincoln Logs type kit (plan to split between 3 boxes)
• 24 Eraser pencil grips

Each Saturday Sarah shares our additions to our OCC stockpile.  You can see the whole series here:  Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ Adding to Our Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Stockpile.

Walmart Shopping for OCC Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 7/2/2016

My dad and I ran into WalMart to check out the school sale for our Operation Christmas Child stockpile and for him to look at the fishing line for the fishing kits we're making for his 10-14 year old boy shoeboxes.  Had good success-my store didn't seem to have the school supplies out in the seasonal area-that looked more like 4th of July, but they still had the roll-back prices so I got some notebooks for 17 cents each and Crayolas for 50 cents [check out our Crayon Brand Coloring & Heat Stress Tests].  My dad also found some fishing line at a good price he liked.

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $9.28

Added to stockpile:

• 35 spiral notebooks
• 2 boxes crayons
• 1 spool fishing line

Check out How to Fit a Spiral Notebook in an Operation Christmas Child Shoebox.

U.S. Toy Order for OCC Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 6/25/2016

I placed my first order from U.S.Toy this week for our Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.  Here's what I got:

That's just the overview, I plan to post photos of the individual items with reviews.

I also had some ECB from CVS from previous shoebox purchases that I needed to use up before they expired, so I picked up this t-shirt, $2.50-nice soft fabric, hopefully they'll still have some left if/when they go on clearance.

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $15.93

Spent from gift cards we have earned or won online: $52.06

Added to stockpile:

• 1 T-shirt
• 1 foldable Nylon Kite w/Pouch
• 6 jump ropes
• 5 dozen "activity packs"
• 4 dozen pen necklaces
• 8 dozen pencils
• 4 dozen pencil sharpeners
• 7 dozen stencils/rulers/etc
• 1 dozen mind teasers
• 1 dozen Mini Metallic Maracas
• 1 dozen wave maze puzzles
• 1 dozen prisms
• 1 dozen kazoos
• 4 dozen plastic tops
• 5 dozen blowouts
• 2 dozen stuffed snowmen [ Check out Why We Include a Stuffed Animal in Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes]

We like to pack themed shoeboxes.  If you'd like to see some of the ones we did in the past check out the posts in this series:  Themed Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes.

Donation Week on Operation Christmas Child Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 6/18/2016

Well, I was on vacation with just one carry-on for 10 days, so I didn't have room to pick up anything, but this week was a different story!

Started out by coming home to unpack a box of donations from Suzanne from SewDelightful!  It had a fun variety of things-handmade dresses, toys, school supplies, etc.  Always fun when others come along side with our packing!

My sister, who is a church secretary, brought these home for us to use in shoeboxes, they seem to have been a promotional item that was donated to our church, when our church didn't end up using them.  Dozens of golf towels!!  They're nice sized, yet don't take up too much room. They seem sturdy, and have a built in brad to hang from nail, trig, etc. If you have connections to golf things, it might be something to ask for-overstocks of old, yet unused, promotional golf towels.

My sister and I had to run some errands today, and I scored a couple things for shoeboxes:

This flamingo was PERFECT as my mom is making a flamingo themed 2 to 4 year old girl shoebox, plus it was Gund brand which means it should really last well-that was what my favorite stuffed animal was as a child for over a decade, and he held up just fine!

And then at a thrift store I found a somewhat ratty tin, but it had these 7 wooden peg  toys-6 never opened, I like new for $2 total!!  So it works out to like $0.30 a piece-similar, but not as nice quality ones are sold at Dollar stores for $1 a piece, this is why I love shopping year-round everywhere for boxes-you get nicer items for less money!

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $3.21

Added to stockpile:

• 7 dresses
• 60 pencils
• 70 pens
• 9 wooden crafts
• 3 stuffed animals -- Read Why We Include a Stuffed Animal in Each Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes
• 6 whistles
• 7 misc toys
• 14 sunglasses
• 7 peg games 
• Plus dozens of
• Pieces of jewelry
• Baseball cards
• Golf towels

We like to craft as well as shop for our shoeboxes.  If you do too, we have shared lots of illustrated patterns.  Check them out here:  Crafting For Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes Tutorial Index.