If you read this blog, you know I like to shop year-round for my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. You might wonder why I work so hard to do that, so I decided I'd make 3 sample boxes with the deals I found throughout the year in 2016, and show the boxes one could make with that. You can see I figured you could fill with the basics Three OCC Shoeboxes for $29 from Dollar Tree, and here's an example of a shopping trip I did from that list. And that's a great option for those with limited budget who only want to shop at packing time. However with shopping year-round one can save a lot of money and pack even nicer boxes! I spent less than $7 to fill these three shoeboxes with items that would retail at over $100.
Here's a breakdown of how everything that went in, how much it was worth retail (some are best guess/I can remember, forgot to write everything down), and how much it cost:
If you read this blog, you know that I like to shop year-round for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes; picking up things as I find deals on them/they catch my eye. For an example of more of our normal boxes here are the ones we packed last year for: Girl 2-4 years, Boy 2-4 years, Girl 10-14 years, & Boy 10-14 years.
But, not everyone is interested or able to do it that way, so I wanted to see what one could do if one just went to a dollar store, I picked Dollar Tree as they seem to be located pretty much everywhere in the USA. I came up with a plan to fill 3 OCC shoeboxes for $29 from Dollar Tree. I decided to test that plan and did some shopping at Dollar Tree.
Here's what I got to fill 3 boxes, one for each age group of girls:
Here's an Operation Christmas Child shoebox we packed for a 5-9 year old girl this year. This shoebox was 342 inches cubed, for comparison, a GO box is 306 inches cubed, so it's pretty close in size.
NOTE: Different countries have different restrictions on what can be packed in an OCC shoebox due to customs, and 2016 is the last year for candy in the USA. Be sure to check the guidelines from your national organization before packing!
What went into the shoebox gift:
Here's an Operation Christmas Child shoebox we packed for a 5-9 year old boy this year. This one we packed in an OCC GO box, we use a variety of types of shoeboxes.
NOTE: Different countries have different restrictions on what can be packed in an OCC shoebox due to customs, and this is the last year for candy in the USA. Be sure to check the guidelines from your national organization before packing!
What went into the shoebox gift:
Here's an Operation Christmas Child shoebox my aunt packed for a 2-4 year old boy this year. This shoebox was 360 inches cubed, for comparison, a GO box is 306 inches cubed, so it's pretty close in size. Here's one of the 2-4 boy OCC shoeboxes she packed in 2015.
NOTE: Different countries have different restrictions on what can be packed in a shoebox due to customs, and this is the last year for candy & toothpaste from the USA. Be sure to check the guidelines from your national organization before packing!
What went into the shoebox gift:
Here's an Operation Christmas Child shoebox my mom packed for a 2-4 girl this year. I thought I'd share what she put in in case it was of interest to others. This shoebox was 348 inches cubed, for comparison, a GO box is 306 in3, so it's pretty close in size. Here's one of the 2-4 girl shoeboxes she packed in 2015.
NOTE: Different countries have different restrictions on what can be packed in an Operation Christmas Child shoebox due to customs, and this is the last year for candy. Be sure to check the guidelines from your national organization before packing!
What went into the OCC shoebox gift:
If you read this blog, you know I like to shop year-round for my Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. You might wonder why I work so hard to do that, so I decided I'd make 3 sample boxes with the deals I found throughout the year in 2016, and show the boxes one could make with that. You can see I figured you could fill with the basics Three OCC Shoeboxes for $29 from Dollar Tree, and here's an example of a shopping trip I did from that list. And that's a great option for those with limited budget who only want to shop at packing time. However with shopping year-round one can save a lot of money and pack even nicer boxes! I spent less than $7 to fill these three shoeboxes with items that would retail at over $100.
