More Flip-Flops! Old Navy $1 Sale June 30th!

On Saturday, June 30th, Old Navy is having a one day only sale on their flip-flops. ONLY $1.00. These are good quality flip-flops. I have them in 4 different colors and practically live in them during the spring, summer, and fall. They last! Great for a shoebox since you never know when or if the child will ever get another pair. Many of them will probably end up wearing them year-round and these definitely stand up to some wear!

Family Dollar: 50 Cent Flip-Flops!

Family Dollar just posted on their facebook page that they have sandals for women, girls, and boys for only 50 cents each until July 8th! Incredible sale! Probably the earlier you get there the better before they are gone. I love putting sandals in the Operation Christmas Child boxes because they don't take up much space and some of the kids have NO SHOES and walk the streets in bare feet. These sandals are so cute. I know any little girl (or boy) who gets a pair would love them!

Alligator Sewing Kit: Perfect for 10-14 Girl Boxes

This is by far one of my favorite crafts to make for the shoeboxes. It is so easy and you can make a lot of them quickly and inexpensively! Last year, I made a bunch to go in the 10-14 girl boxes. I changed a few small details on mine. I didn't use the green puff balls for the eyes, I just glued the eyes straight onto the top of the felt, and instead of sequins for the nose, I just drew two dots with a black permanent marker. I also did not have zig-zag scissors, so I just cut zig-zag teeth with regular scissors. It still looked just like an alligator! And to fill them, I bought larger packages of needles, pins, and safety pins and split them amongst the alligators. I also included several of the small bobbins of thread. I found a 20 pack or so at Dollar General for just $1.00. It had about 20 different colors in it. I placed each alligator sewing kit with extra thread into a ziploc bag and labeled it "sewing kit". 

Here is the link with full instructions on how to make the sewing kit if you would like to give it a try: 

http://familyfun.go.com/mothers-day/mothers-day-cards-gifts/mothers-day-gifts/alligator-sewing-kit-660573/

This one is so simple, it would even be a great craft for teen girls to make to put inside the shoeboxes. 

Way To Go Kids!!! 120 Operation Christmas Child Shoeboxes!

The VBS kids are amazing! As soon as they knew that our mission was Operation Christmas Child, they rallied together and filled the collection bin... overflowing I might add! Altogether, they brought in enough items to fill 120 shoeboxes!!! WOW! We set goals for them at 40, 60, 75, and 100 shoeboxes. They blew those completely out of the water! Their rewards? They got to cover the youth sponsors (Devon, Kevin, and Dan) in syrup, chocolate syrup, bacon bits, and feathers... throw pies in their faces... and then they had to jump into a pool of slime! (Pictures to follow) The kids came up with most of their rewards on their own! GROSS! But they loved it! Way to go kids!

And the part that I love most? Every one of these boxes represents a child that will get a Christmas gift AND hear about Jesus because of the VBS kids!

It's not too late to sponsor one of these boxes to be shipped at $7.00 each! Lisa will be set up in the back of the sanctuary on Sunday or let me know if you want to sponsor a box. We will also have VBS CDs and some soda and candy available at the "6th day of VBS" if you want to help support Operation Christmas Child.
Also, YARD SALE at my house on July 13-14th to raise shipping money for the boxes!

These boxes are not yet packed! We will be packing the boxes with the VBS items and any other items the congregation collects on Sunday November 4th after the church service! JOIN US!

More Dollar Tree Shoebox Shopping

I was so excited about some of the items I found in the Lincoln Dollar Tree this week. There are 12 packs of combs which are great for all of the boxes and 4 packs with 3 brushes and a mirror. The mirror can not be sent in the boxes because it's an open mirror, but three brushes for $1.00 is a GREAT price for full size hair brushes. I especially think these would be great for the 10-14 girl boxes.                       

There are some adorable small stuffed animals and some toddler utencil sets with 2 spoons, 2 forks, and a travel case that are ideal for a 2-4 box of either gender!

My favorite sighting though was in the clearance section on the back wall of the store. Sandals with flowers for 50 cents!! and some checkers and snakes and ladders travel games that 5-9 or 10-14 boys or girls would enjoy also marked down to 50 cents!!



VBS Day 3: 37 Boxes!!!!

Oh my goodness! Kids, you are astounding! It was awesome to see the collection bin overflowing tonight with shoebox items! So far, there are enough items to fill 37 shoeboxes! That is 37 children that might otherwise receive NOTHING that will now get a wonderful gift, thanks to you!
Don't forget you can sponsor a box (or more than one)  at the registration table for $7.00. That covers the shipping cost for the box and the Biblical storybooks that the children receive with their box.

There is also soda, candy, and VBS music CDs available. Come to the park and purchase these items to help support Operation Christmas Child!

VBS day 2: 10 Boxes

Day 2 of VBS and the kids have brought in 10 shoeboxes worth of items! It's so exciting to see some of the things they are picking out for the shoeboxes!

Here's our meter. Prizes at 40, 60, 75, and 100 boxes!!

 And here's the collection box for our items! Bring your toys, shool supplies, and essentials and place them here so we can count them up!! You kids are awesome!!

VBS In Full Swing!

VBS is in full swing and our collection for Operation Christmas Child Items has begun! Even though most of the kids did not know what our mission was, we collected enough items for 3 boxes ;) Yay! Thanks kids. That's three children who will receive Christmas gifts from you. Can't wait to see what the rest of the week brings!

Don't forget, at the registration desk, you can sponsor a box or as many as you want for $7.00 each! That will cover shipping the box where it needs to go and the Biblical materials that are included with each box. Let's see if we can reach any of our goals of 40, 60, 75 or 100 boxes this week! Prizes at each level!!!

Dollar Tree Shoebox Items

Dollar Tree is a great place to shop for items for Operation Christmas Child boxes. I like to pick up at least one item for a shoebox everytime I go in because it's only $1.00! I can usually spare that with ease! Recently, I was looking and came across some great items. My favorite is the 5 pack of toothbrushes with caps! Only $1.00! That's only 20 cents for each toothbrush.

I also really liked the GIANT Coloring and Activity Pads because they were about an inch thick with coloring pages, but they are the half size coloring books that would fit really well on the bottom of a shoebox without having to be bent.

There were LOTS of other items that can be included in the shoeboxes! Since everything is $1.00 at Dollar Tree, you can go wild in there and not spend much :) Some of my other Dollar Tree favorites include the small stuffed animals, small footballs and bouncy balls, and slinkys. You can also generally find a small selection of tools, and sewing and craft supplies that make great additions to the 10-14 boxes.  

Dollar Tree is a great place to take the kids with a shoebox and let them buy items to fill their shoebox or let them buy a grocery bag full of items to donate for the boxes for packing day. Take this list of Suggested Items with you if you are not sure what to get!

Water Bottles and Backpacks

As we prepare for VBS next week, I wanted to give you a few ideas of some items on sale now that would be great additions to the Operation Christmas Child boxes. Since we are collecting OCC items for VBS, I thought this would give you some ideas if you want to shop before VBS week. I was at Walmart this weekend and found these awesome water bottles for only 98 cents. My favorites were the ones with a shoulder strap because many of the children have to walk miles just to get water. This would give them a container that's easy to carry back and forth.

There was also a great 97 cent section at Walmart. There were notepads and toys and totebags, and these drawstring backpacks that are absolutely adorable and would fit so nicely into a shoebox and won't take up a lot of space leaving LOTS of room for other items ;)

There Are Gonna Be Some Clean Kids!!

Today, I set out to collect 100 empty shoeboxes and a few bars of soap. Within the first hour, I had 103 empty shoeboxes thanks to the guys at Tradehome on the Bloomington mall who have been saving them!

I also figured since I was headed to town, I would stop at a few hotels to see about getting some bars of soap for our boxes. So, with six letters in hand explaining who we are and what we are doing, I began my journey. First two stops, no manager available. Third stop, 80 bars of soap!! Yay! Fourth stop, no manager. Fifth stop, JACKPOT! The Marriott in Bloomington just switched brands of soap and had several cases of soap that they can no longer use. Over 700 bars of soap!! You read that right, 700!!!! They were so excited to give them to me because they were going to have to get rid of them. They are the small hotel bars, so we can put several in each box! I am so overwhelmed and overjoyed! There is more than enough soap for 200 boxes ;) I am so excited!

Thank you Tradehome Shoestore and Marriott Hotel for your generous donations!!

Save Your Happy Meal Toys!!

It's Summer! The kids are out of school and now we are responsible for feeding them lunch every day. I know as a busy mother, myself, that often times, it's easiest to just get them a kid's meal at a fast food restaurant and they can eat in the car on the way home so that you don't have to cook when you get home! Many of us also go on vacation and plan to eat on the road so we can get to where we are going faster, but what do you do with all of those Happy Meal toys that you really don't need or that your child plays with once in the car and decides they are done with?

DONATE THEM FOR OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD BOXES!

Those little toys that often take up too much space and we put in a box marked "FREE" at our yardsales just to get them out of our house can bring so much joy to boys and girls around the world, many of whom have never had a single toy of their own.

Our VBS Mission

I am very excited to announce that the mission for VBS this year will be Operation Christmas Child!!! The kids will be collecting items to fill boxes. They will also be watching videos and learning more about Operation Christmas Child during mission time. It's so much fun to see the kids get excited about giving to other kids. I can't wait until VBS!!!! Now, to find and wrap 100 shoeboxes in the next two weeks... or get 100 shoebox tubs donated... ;)