I am constantly adding to my OCC stockpile. Between deals, freebies, and finding new yet unwanted things in my home, I can accumulate quite a collection in a month. Here are the items that I have collected in the moth of June. Last month's McDonald's toys were mini Beanie Boos, so my brother and I got some Happy Meals and saved the toys. I think that they will be great if a box is too full for a stuffy but still needs something to love. My family and I did some (very late) spring cleaning, and we found quite a few new items that none of us wanted. These stickers are some examples of that. Also from the spring cleaning I found some school supplies. There is a coloring book, pencil pouch, crayons, and an eraser. Because school just let out, there was a bunch of unused school supplies that was no longer needed. Here we have four black ink pens, a blue ink pen, a pencil, and six red pens. Lastly from the spring cleaning is some toys. There is a polar bear figure, My Little Pony figure, a lizard figure, and two Hot Wheels. There is also an unopened magic towel. I made a few things for my 2-4 boxes. There are two DIY pencil pouches (tutorial coming soon) and two DIY 2-4 notebooks (tutorial here). The last things that I have for this month are arcade prizes. There is a Hot Wheels, two foam dice, and a silly face notebook. That is all that I have for the month of June. I am super excited for the July haul because the back to school sales are coming up. What did you find this month?
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I want all of my boxes to be full with a variety of high quality items. To help ensure that all boxes are the best that they can be, I have a system of checks and organization. This is the process of packing a box. Step 2: The next step is sorting. I have four possible categories that an item could be: school supplies, hygiene, useful others, and toys. I have a few requirements for each category that must be in a box for it to be complete, and the useful others section is optional. This box has a plush bear and duck as some of its toys, some crayons, paper, and pens, and a toothbrush, tissues, and wipes for hygiene. Step 3: Next, I make a sticky note for the box. The note says only what it needs to meet my requirements for the box at its age level. The boxes will all still need some more items to be completely full, but those are not as specific so I don't write them down. This box still needs some stickers, a note, and a bar of soap. Step 4: The next step is trying to pack it in a box. I always use GO boxes for Operation Christmas Child (post on that coming soon), so I keep one handy to try it in. Packing it helps me to see about how many items I need to add for a box to be full. Step 5: Remember that note? It said that to check off all of the boxes, the box needed a note, some soap, and stickers. After a little while longer of collecting items, I have all three of those items to add to the box. Step 6: After I add the items, I pack the box again to see if the added items made a large difference. In this particular box, the three new items did not take up much space. In some of my other boxes, however, the additions can almost fill the box. Step 7: This isn't really a whole step, but in between packing and adding items, I store the boxes in Ziploc bags. They take up less space than keeping them in the boxes and fit better in a drawer. I also label them with the age/gender and sometimes the theme. This way, if I get a nice blue washcloth, I can easily see from the outside that this box could use it. Of course, I still need to add items to this box, pack it permanently in a GO box, add a label and rubber bands, and drop it off at a collection site, but this is my process for year round packing. I like it because it makes it easy for me to see what I need and what colors I need it in (if I have the option). It also gives me more time to change things around to make all of the boxes better. Do you pack year round? Comment down below!
Every time I go on vacation, I make it a point to collect as much stuff for Operation Christmas Child as possible. This past week, I visited Disney World in Orlando, Florida and this is a haul of what I collected. Between the parks, downtown Disney, and the hotel, I collected quite a few stickers. I got some crayons and coloring packs at restaurants while eating out. These are great for boxes for older kids that might not have room for a big pack of crayons. I kept the pens and notepads from the hotels. These notepads will most likely be given with another notebook or paper item as they are rather small. I saved the extra bars of soap from the hotel. I like that four of them are packaged in airtight bags. It really helps to keep the smell from going everywhere. I still will put all of the bars in a ziplock bag before sending, though. I asked for a birthday pin for my brother in the parks but instead they accidentally gave me this. I decided it might be a cute addition to a box, so I saved it. That is all that I collected on this trip. I am going to a wedding in a few weeks and hopefully that will be better for shoeboxes. Comment down below if you collect for shoeboxes while on vacation!
Every year, when I get ready to host my Operation Christmas Child party, I like to set some goals. I use these goals to help me stay on track and improve the quality of the boxes that I pack and send. These are my goals for 2017.
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