DIY Crochet Granny Square Lovey and Purchased Stuffed Animal Combo

A crochet lovey attached to a purchased stuffed animal is perfect for my 2 to 4 year old Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.  I include a stuffed animal and a lovey in every box, so combining them is fun and makes for a special, cute WOW item that can bring comfort to a child in crisis.

I have seen dozens of patterns online for loveys that included a crochet animal head.  Because of physical limitations, crocheting those causes much pain, but I was drawn to them just the same.  My solution was to design a lovey I could attach to the adorable stuffed animals I had in my shoebox stockpile.  I began by using the case of these that I purchased with birthday money.  The tags on them say for all

OCC Shoebox Stockpile Saturday ~ 3/9/2019 ~ No Money Laid Out

Didn't pick up much for our shoeboxes, but it sure is hard to beat the price...didn't spend anything from our shoebox packing budget.

If you have a CVS card, be sure you have it set up to get emails from them, and check EVERY email you get from them.  Of late, I've been getting ECBs to print or send to card in them...sometimes more than one a week!  So Sunday I sent one for $3 ECB to my card, and when I shopped on Tuesday I was able to get some Valentines items 90% off...these plus a few for a senior ministry-all free!

I also found this little lamb stuffed animal at Dollar Tree that "wanted to come home with me" haha!  So I used some of the money we've set aside from online earnings for impulse shoebox purchases. 

My mom also crocheted a lot of hats for the DIY Quick to Crochet Child's Beanie Hat Pattern out of yarn we had laying around, so no financial expense.

Spent from shoebox packing budget: $0

Spent from cash or gift cards earned or won online: $1 
Saved $19.00 or 100%

Saved thru clearance:  $16.20 
Saved through email ECB: $1.80
Saved through money earned online: $1 

DIY Quick to Crochet Child's Beanie Hat Pattern

When crafting for my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes I look for quality and speed (since I make over a hundred of each item each year).  This quick to crochet child's beanie hat was designed with ease and speed in mind.  I used simple stitches, double and single crochet, and a large hook with medium weight yarn [size 4].  Simply Soft yarn is a lighter weight size 4 yarn so it took more stitches to make each hat, but it is my favorite yarn to work with as it glides easily thru my fingers, is soft and has a nice sheen.

I also like Simply Soft made up with an I hook as it makes for a looser, more open finished design.  Since I don't know what countries my hats will be sent to, I like lighter weight, less "warm" hats.  That way if they go to a cold climate and the child has nothing, it will still provide more warmth than they had or they can wear it under a hooded coat for added warmth.  But in a warm climate with, what to the

Saving Money for Shoeboxes through Ebates

If you follow this blog, you know we like to find ways to save money on shoebox items to be able to pack more and better boxes.  One easy way we like to do that is through rebates when we're shopping anyways. By the way, this post contains affiliate links which I'd love you to use if you're going to give Ebates a try.  They won't cost you anything to but I may get a small commission if you act through them which gives me more time to dedicate to this blog.

Often we do this through Swagbucks (you can read more about that on my other blog: How to start saving at Swagbucks).  But another way that is easy and often you get more back is Ebates.  And now is a great time to try it as you can join free and get a $10 gift card after your first purchase of $25 or more.!!  And with how we shoebox shoppers like to hit clearance, etc-imagine what we could get with say a $10 Walmart Giftcard?  If you're unfamiliar with Ebates, here's how it works online

• Sign Up is Free
• Shop as usual but first stop at Ebates and click thru the link to the store you want to shop at.
• Check Ebates for coupons for your order, too.
• A percentage of your order total will be added to your Ebates account 
• Then when it builds up to enough in your account they'll mail you a check.

So, if this interests you, why not try it out?  Join free and get a $10 gift card after your first purchase of $25 or more.

Operation Christmas Child Shoebox for 5-9 Year Old Boy- 2018

I enjoy packing sheoboxes for kids around the world through Operation Christmas Child and I like looking at photos of shoeboxes others have packed, so I'm sharing some of mine.  This is one I packed for a 5-9 year old boy.  OCC requests that we use normal sized shoeboxes, this one is right around the size of the old GO box-about 300 cubic inches.  I was happily surprised at how much I could fit in with the large stuffed animal!

If you'd like ideas for other ages be sure to check out my posts on OCC shoeboxes from 2018 for: Girl 2-4, Boy 2-4, Girl 5-9, Girl 10-14, & Boy 10-14 (will be updated with links as I post those boxes, until I do, here's a link to all the shoebox examples posts). 

NOTE: Different countries have different restrictions on what can be packed in an Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes due to customs. Be sure to check the guidelines from your national organization before packing!

What went into the OCC shoebox gift (Items with ** are on the list of "Wow" items):

• Hygiene Supplies:
• 2 Toothbrush 
• Soap
• Soap case 
• Washcloth
• Comb 
• School Supplies:
• Pens
• 1-Red
• 1-Blue
• 1-Black
• Pencils
• 3-regular
• 5-decorative 
• Sharpener
• Eraser  
• Spiral notebook 
• Mini composition book
• Ruler
• Kids Answers Magazine
• Magnifying glass
• Art Supplies:
• Crayons
• Multi colored pencil
• Stickers
• Large coloring book
• Pad of plain paper 
• Cars Maze
• Practical items: 
• Pencil bag
• Whistle
• Clothes:
• Hat
• Socks
• Bandanna
• Toys 
• To play noisily or others
• Frog hopper game
• Marbles
• Card game
• Ball  
• Frisbees
• Jump Rope
• Flute
• To play with quietly alone
• Hotwheels type car
• Prism viewer
• Top
• Animal figurines
• Lenticular card
• To "love"
• Stuffed dog** 
• Personal correspondence (not pictured)
• Family photo 
• Letter

I know sometimes one of the hard things of packing shoeboxes is making things fit, and people have found it helpful to see how I've packed in the past, so here's a video of me un-packing it to show how it fit.

DIY Ribbon & Bead Necklaces for Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes

Upcycling items into quality crafts for Operation Christmas Child is a great way to pack shoeboxes on a budget while enjoying the creativity of crafting.  Suzanne, from Sew Delightful, creates simple necklaces for shoeboxes from costume jewelry and ribbon.  She shops estate sales and thrift stores for deals on the jewelry as well as bulk beads and makes hundreds of unique, one of a kind, necklaces.  She also uses purchased pony and other beads she finds on clearance.  Suzanne is very generous and ships many of them to us to use in our shoeboxes each year.

We shared an unboxing video on Simply Shoeboxes YouTube when two of Suzanne's boxes arrived in the mail; and interest was sparked in the necklaces.  I decided to share a quick overview here and on YouTube (see video below--it shows more of Suzanne's designs) so others could enjoy seeing them and making some of their own.  This is a great project for groups to do together -- even good for children to be a part of.

Add brightly colored new beads to duller upcycled ones.

Ribbon Necklaces Using Upcycled Costume Jewelry and Plastic Beads Tutorial