Operation Christmas Child Packing Tips and Ideas

Well...it's almost the week before Thanksgiving so that means it's Operation Christmas Child National Collection Week!! I get questions all the time about what to pack in a shoebox.  You can check out the OCC website here to get some ideas but I thought I'd show you what we packed into one of our boxes this year.

The only things missing are a toothbrush and toothpaste - not sure how I missed those in my shopping trips but we'll pick those up tomorrow.  I shop all year round and keep a rubbermaid bin in my crawl space to corral everything.  I find that by shopping the clearance racks and back to school sales all year round I can put a nice box together without having to take out a 2nd mortgage!  I also find the dollar store to be a great place for stuffed animals, hair pretties, and small toys.  (However, you have to be careful because they don't always have the best price on hygiene type items and their school supplies are really overpriced.)  Oh, and Peanut wanted me to relay that I'm on his naughty list since I didn't bring one of those stuffed animals home for him.  He actually gave me the most pitiful looks the whole time I was removing all the tags on the fluffy creatures.  I told him I'd post a pic of him here to make up for my failings - not sure he is finding that much solace though.  Maybe if he's good Santa will bring him some fluffy lovies all his own and if he's really, really good they might even have squeakers!

Oh...that reminds me of something else.  For the most part I remove all the packaging.  I leave the packaging on the crayons and colored pencils because that is the best way for the kids to store them.  But the rest of the packaging gets removed and thrown away.  Most of these places the boxes are traveling to do not really have efficient trash removal methods and it also allows me to get more items in my boxes.  Have you ever realized how much trash is involved in the items we buy?  It will astound you when you really take the time to look at it all.

We use the plastic shoe boxes from Walmart (please don't buy those cheap ones from the dollar store - they end up breaking before they ever leave the country - spend an extra 50 cents and get one of the ones from Walmart or Target).  Also...I do not wrap the boxes.  I line the inside with a bright bandana or piece of fabric instead.  I have several reasons for that.  First is that I like to make everything in my box useable and the kids will get much more use out of fabric than they would the paper.  While Christmas wrapping paper is pretty it really won't last long and has a tendency to get messed up in the shipping process anyway.  Second is that I really suck at wrapping and it frustrates me to no end trying to wrap the lid and box separate.  If you choose to wrap your gift, please make sure you wrap the lid and box separate.  The boxes need to be openable (is that really a word?).  All boxes are opened at the sorting center to make sure there isn't anything problematic in the box (such as liquids, medicinal items, meltable or breakable treasures, or other such prohibited items.)

After you have everything in your box place your suggested $7.00 per box donation on the top of your items, rubber band the lid on, and attach your label on the end of the box like shown in the picture above.  I personally use the online donation option.  That way I can also track what country my box goes to via the barcoded label you can print out.  I also include a letter to the child with a couple pictures.  I place that letter in an envelope that is clearly marked "Letter for Child - No Money Enclosed" and I tape it to the inside of the lid so it doesn't get lost.

I hope these tips help you out with your boxes this year and if you've never packed a box before, I hope I've encouraged you to make a difference in a child's life.  We have been packing boxes for 13 years now and it's become a family tradition that we all really enjoy.

For more information on Operation Christmas Child or to find your closest donation location please visit the website I linked up above or leave me a comment here and I'll do my best to answer.

Boxed Note Cards

We are having a silent auction at work for charity so I've been putting some things together to donate.  I created this set of five A2 sized blank note cards and a card box.  The background papers on the cards are from a We R Memory Keepers paper pack called Simply Spring.  I stamped the critters from the CTMH Cuddly Salutations stamp set in Momento Tuxedo Black and colored them in with Copic markers.  I cut the scalloped circle (circle3) with the Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge at 2.75" and I punched the white circles out with a Fiskars 2" circle punch.

The card box is made using the envelope punch board.  The paper is cut at 9" square and punched at 3.5" and 4.5" on opposite sides and then just match up the score lines on the other two sides.  The paper is from a Paper Studio stack called Glasses, Staches, & Ties.  I created the belly band with some scraps from the paper I used to make the cards.  The sentiment is from the same stamp set as the critters and it's stamped in CTMH Pear ink.

I'm going to ask them to set the starting bid at $15.  I figure if it doesn't sell for at least that, I'll keep it and just give them a cash donation.  Those little critters took a little bit to color and I had to use my old lady glasses! *smile*

Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 11

Today's class was so very timely!  I had been coloring up this cute image from Karla Dornacher (unfortunately it was a limited time freebie and isn't available anymore but she has lots of other fun coloring pages so go check her out!) and I had all sorts of oopsies on it and figured I'd just have to print another and start over.  But...after watching the videos today I decided to try cleaning it up with the tips in class.  It turned out great!  You really can't see the Gelly Roll white pen after it dries - it even covers red!!

I further prettied it up with some Wink of Stella brush glitter and ball point pens along with my Gelly Roll white pen.

The card is a little larger than your standard A2 since I wanted to add a border.  I created the mat by coloring some white card stock with Copic RV55 to match the hearts in the image.  I also didn't have enough of the blues I wanted to use on the birds so I used the gray technique from earlier in class.  I also created the polka dot effect under the sentiment with another technique we learned - using the colorless blender.
Here are the Copic colors I used:

Everything is Better with a Friend!

I made this card today using the techniques from the Copics for Cardmakers Class I am taking.  This is the first time I've ever drawn in a background and this is the first I've ever made a single layer card!  I really like the way it turned out.

The stamp set is a hostess reward from Close to My Heart - #D1608.  The card is a little bit different size than I usually do but I really liked the extra white space and didn't want to cut it off.  It measures 6" tall by 5.75" wide.  I created the mat using a couple Copic colors from the image coloring.  I like the way it ties it all together.

Here are the colors I used:

Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 7

Today's class was all about using those difficult colors - whites, reds, and blacks.  I don't have many grays so the white flowers proved quite difficult to get the white look but I still like the way they turned out.  I really like how the red flowers turned out.  I haven't had much success with reds in the past but for some reason they worked tonight.  I've also determined that I really like coloring flowers - they are so very forgiving!

The little halloween robot turned out cute but again my lack of grays made things a little harder than I think they needed to be.

Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 6

I'm a little late with this post but it took me forever to color my critters yesterday.  I was really looking forward to the class because for some reason critters never turn out quite right for me.  And...last night proved to be very challenging as I expected.  My husband likes camo dog and I think I like the one I colored to resemble our dog, Peanut.

I experimented quite a bit and I also realized that I really need to invest in some more earth tones - I really don't have many which made the fox a huge challenge - hence the pink one at the end when I was just reaching for straws on possibilities.

Copics for Cardmakers Class - Day 5

Our class for this day was all about skin and hair.  I have the hardest time with both of those but I think my practice has helped quite a bit.  I also realize where I have some holes in my marker colors! I mostly used my Copics but I grabbed a couple ShinHan markers I have to see how they did.  I also experimented with all different colors of hair since I really don't have many of the earth tones.  I think I found some great combos for fire and some Halloween looks!