Operation Christmas Child

Looking for something new to do this Christmas?

Pack a shoe box full of Christmas gifts for a child. It's that simple and will make a huge impact on a life! Decide if you want to buy for a boy or girl. Choose what age child you want to pack your shoe box for. You can choose ages 2-4, ages 5-9 years, or you can go for an older child who is 10-14 years old. Fill it with all different kinds of gifts. You can choose school supplies, clothes, toys, or other fun items. Find something unique for a child. Make something special to put in your box. Send a handwritten note or photo of you and your family. I've been packing boxes with my kids for several years. It's something we look forward to doing together each fall. 

Some things to keep in mind when packing your box. I've got all different ideas below on what to pack, however some of the items that are in my pictures are no longer allowed to be sent. Rules change each year. You can refer to the Samaritans Purse Website for further information on what to pack, and what not to pack. You can also find drop off locations and dates in your area at the website. 

You will not be shipping your box to a specific child. Samaritan's Purse will take care of transporting your boxes overseas and handing them out. This costs money, and the price can change from year to year. This year, Samaritans Purse is asking for a donation of $9 for each box you pack. If you choose to pay online through their website, you can receive a tracking code to see where your box makes it in the world. 

Do Not Include in Your Box

Candy; toothpaste; gum; used or damaged items; war-related items such as toy guns, knives, or military figures; chocolate or food; seeds; fruit rolls or other fruit snacks; drink mixes (powdered or liquid); liquids or lotions; medications or vitamins; breakable items such as snow globes or glass containers; aerosol cans.

I've been filling boxes for several years. Each year I like to take a picture of what I find. It gives me ideas for next year, and it's neat to see what cool stuff went into each box. No two boxes have been alike. I've tried to pray each year and ask God what He wants me to pack. I believe these boxes speak volumes to the kids who receive them. Some boxes may just be full of gifts, others may be full of promise and provision. God knows the needs and desires of each child. I am believing that if I'm obedient to Christ, He will get the box into the hands of the exact child who needs it.

Here's some things I have packed:

BOY - Age 5-9 years old

• toothbrush, toothpaste, & floss
• bar soap
• pads of lined paper
• small composition notebooks
• pencils and sharpeners
• pens
• glow sticks
• football
• rubber balls
• candy
• stuffed animal
• glow in the dark dinosaurs
• personal letter and photos

• toothbrush & toothpaste
• Matchbox cars
• gum
• socks
• slinky Jr.
• tic tac toe game pad
• modeling clay
• watercolors
• small composition notebooks
• pencils
• sports erasers
• Superman washcloth
• Lego helicopter
• build your own airplane
• small puzzles

• toothbrush, toothpaste & floss
• combs
• bar soap
• candy
• Jacob's ladder
• slinkys
• baseball
• globe ball
• Lego car
• Webkinz stuffed animal
• Matchbox cars
• socks
• plastic dinosaurs
• mustache tattoos
• Star Wars stickers
• Batman bracelet
• Bible Heroes card game
• hat
• personal photos and postcard from where you live

• toothbrush & toothpaste
• combs
• rubber ball
• socks
• space stickers
• candy
• stick on mustaches
• bookmark
• Zootopia puzzle
• play dough
• magnetic play scene
• Matchbox cars
• wind-up train set
• dinosaur flash cards
• game of jacks
• wind-up toy
• Spider-man balloons

• toothbrush & floss
• combs
• socks
• squishy monster toy
• rubber band bracelet
• bouncy basketball
• Planes photo album
• Christmas puzzle
• Magnadoodle
• play dough
• play dough toys
• Matchbox car
• create a sticker scene

• toothbrush
• bar soap
• super hero stickers
• Lego board
• Lego men
• Lego bricks
• Whoopee Cushion
• Minecraft socks
• silly putty
• play dough & toys
• scented markers
• tic tac toe pad
• matching game
• small notebooks
• make your own airplane
• superhero watercolors
• snowman stacking crayon
• Star Wars cup

• toothbrush & floss
• bar soap
• combs
• Iron man magic towel
• Emoji band-aids
• Poop emoji whoopie cushion
• hot dog squishy
• small soccer ball
• socks
• Spider-man balloons
• Matchbox car
• toy dinosaurs
• matching game
• bookmark
• NFL Lego mini-figure
• Woody from Toy Story
• Toy Story stickers
• Robot finger fighters

BOY - Age 10-14 years old

• toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss
• bar soap
• combs
• pencils
• colored pencils
• Star Wars notebook
• tic tac toe game
• candy
• play dough
• baseball
• Superman bracelet
• socks
• Star Wars hat
• Star Wars action figure
• slinky
• personal photo and postcard from where you are from

• toothbrush, toothpaste, & floss
• two baseballs
• socks
• tape measure
• screw driver set
• bookmark
• combs
• Minion band aids
• baseball game
• candy
• wind-up toy
• Star Wars puzzle
• shape puzzle game

• toothbrush & floss
• socks
• combs
• tape measure
• screw driver set
• baseball
• fidget spinner
• sketch pad
• watercolors
• twistable colored pencils
• UNO game
• mini Jenga game
• rubber band bracelet
• make your own boat
• Star Wars playing cards

• toothbrush
• bar soap
• mechanical pencils
• small composition notebooks
• sticky notes
• index cards
• calculator
• sand timer
• UNO game
• socks
• Black Panther t-shirt
• two baseballs
• Superman fidget spinner
• pizza flavored lip balm
• glow bracelets
• tic tac toe game

• toothbrush & floss
• bar soap
• combs
• socks
• deodorant
• first aid kit
• flashlight & batteries
• marbles
• glow in the dark yo-yo
• slinky
• bookmark
• composition notebook
• colored pencils with 3 sharpeners
• colored gel pens
• Monsters Inc. photo album
• Beyblade Burst Turbo

GIRL - Age 5-9 years old

• toothbrush & toothpaste
• socks
• candy
• tic tac toe game pad
• headband
• Minnie Mouse puzzle
• cupcake playing cards
• small fairy doll
• sticky notes
• small composition notebooks
• mechanical pencils
• bunny stationary set
• modeling clay
• watercolors
• slinky Jr.
• jump rope
• Princess lip balm

• toothbrush, toothpaste & floss
• hairbrush
• bar soap
• socks
• candy
• mini slinky
• headbands
• Wonder Woman bracelet
• globe ball
• Bible card games
• jump rope
• hat
• personal photo and postcard from where you live
• Webkinz stuffed dog & cat

• toothbrush, toothpaste & floss
• combs
• bookmark
• small doll
• candy
• cat notebook with pen
• hair bows
• play dough
• Frozen balloons
• magnetic play scene
• socks
• jump rope
• memory card game
• watermelon flavored lip balm

• toothbrush & floss
• socks
• hair bands
• hair brush
• jump rope
• small doll
• Christmas puzzle
• Kinetic sand
• My Little Pony
• My Little Pony bracelet
• My Little Pony paint with water book
• create a sticker scene
• Princess photo album

• toothbrush
• bar soap
• hair brush
• socks
• owl stuffed animal
• Paw Patrol cup
• play dough with toys
• build your own airplane
• VeggieTales silly bandz
• silly putty
• sticky hands
• rubber band bracelet kit
• small notebooks
• felt doctor kit
• scented markers
• snowman stacking crayon
• matching card game

• toothbrush
• floss
• bar soap
• hair brush
• headbands
• magic towel
• bath bomb
• Barbie band-aids
• Princess cup
• Princess playing cards
• Pink baby doll
• socks
• Princess stickers
• notebook
• pencils
• matching game
• Sofia magic paint
• Hatchimals puzzle
• bookmark

GIRL - Age 10-14 years old

• toothbrush, toothpaste, & floss
• bar soap
• socks
• small composition notebooks
• pencils with sharpeners
• colored pens
• flag notebook
• owl stickers
• two chap sticks
• headbands
• candy
• cup
• cow stuffed animal
• personal note with photo

• candy
• scarf
• necklace
• headbands
• emery board
• fingernail clippers
• chap stick
• bird playing cards
• butterfly blank note cards with envelopes
• bicycle notebook
• mechanical pencils

• toothbrush, toothpaste, & floss
• manicure set
• bar soap
• headband
• hairbrush
• makeup bag
• compact mirror
• eyeliner/eyebrow pencils
• lip gloss
• eye shadow
• candy
• fluffy socks
• flower notebook
• flower blank note cards with envelopes
• hat
• stuffed animal

• toothbrush, toothpaste, & floss
• fluffy socks
• nail files
• fingernail clippers
• hairbands
• hairbrush
• bookmark
• sewing kit
• small coloring book
• markers
• colored pencils with sharpeners
• owl blank note cards with envelopes
• sunglasses
• small purse
• candy
• wind-up toy
• scented sachet

• toothbrush & floss
• manicure set
• hairbrush
• socks
• headbands
• Shine Bright notebook
• sticky notes
• markers
• mechanical pencils
• twistable colored pencils
• adult coloring book
• emoji notepad 
• origami kit
• bracelet

• toothbrush
• bar soap
• pantyliners
• makeup bag
• hairbrush
• headbands
• emery boards
• manicure set
• eye shadow
• playing cards
• Shine notebook
• elephant photo album
• panda socks
• sticky notes
• adult coloring book
• colored pens
• markers
• embroidery floss & bracelet
• cross stitch kit
• flamingo wall stickers
• typewriter blank note cards with envelopes
• 2pk fragrance sachet

• toothbrush
• bar soap
• hair brush
• hair cutting scissors
• manicure set
• first aid kid
• hair rubber bands
• bookmark
• socks
• Phase 10 game
• Sudoku puzzle book
• mechanical pencils
• cookies and milk pad of lined paper
• flower blank note cards with envelopes
• kinetic sand
• snowman spatula with snowman cookie cutter

I Love You, Dad ... Fill in the Blank Book

The past couple weeks I've been working on a fun gift idea for dads. Father's Day is soon coming, and this is a great heartfelt gift idea. I made a book like this for my mom on her birthday, and she loved it. It's a good idea to bring some tissues because it's sure to bring a few happy tears. 

If you would like to download the Dad Fill in the Blank book click here, or you can scroll down and pick and choose which pages you want to print. I tried to make a lot! I'll come up with some more fun corners and words for the new books, and probably repeat some of these for the new books. I'm going to make one for daughters, sons, husband, wife, grandparents, etc. It's such a neat gift idea that the person will really treasure!

You can see the directions for how to assemble to book here. 

Feel free to use the pages for your own PERSONAL use.  But please be kind and do not claim these pictures as your own or offer them for downloads.  Feel free to mix and match between books. Use whatever you like, throw away what you don't like.

I made a blank page, so you can personalize it however you see fit. Or leave it out if you don't have any ideas you want to put down.

You can view or print the MOM Fill in the Blank book here.

I Love You, Mom ... Fill in the Blank Book

This is a little late for Mother's Day, but still a perfect gift to give to mom any time of year. A long time ago I bought my mother a fill in the blank keepsake book to pass down to me. It's full of things that happened during life and prompts to share stories. This book is a similar idea, however it's a gift for YOU to GIVE to Mom.

I partnered with my daughter, and we came up with a sweet printable together. This was no easy feat. I had to do a lot of brainstorming, and I even cheated a little and Googled a few lines to finish for the book. I had so much fun with this project that I decided I'm going to make one for fathers, daughters, sons, husband, wife, grandparents, etc. You can check back here later for more fill in the blank books!

You can download the full Mom Fill in the Blank PDF file here or you can scroll down and pick and choose which pages you want to print. I tried to make a lot! I'll come up with some more for the new books, and probably repeat some of these for the new books.

I printed the pages on the BACK side of letter size scrapbook paper. You could print it on solid colored paper, but I wanted some fun prints for the extra pages to scrapbook photos of me and mom through the years. You could also print these pages double sided so your book is a smaller thickness.

My daughter drew several corner designs for these pages. We've already been brainstorming and starting on the corners for the other books. For boys we have some outer space corners, and a cute train to go along the top and bottom.

After you print the pages out, you will want to cut each page in half on the horizontal line and assemble in whatever order you would like.

To bind the book, you could staple in the middle. Or you could cut the book again down the vertical line and pile the pages on top of each other. I opted for something a little different. Whenever I bind pages together, I like to use my sewing machine. My sewing machine can handle quite a few papers, and it seems a little more professional to me than staples. You could use colored thread. I just went for white this time. If I make another I might use a color thread, or I might print the cover on some colored card stock.

You can print wallet size photos to add on the scrapbook paper!

You can feel free to use the pages for your own PERSONAL use.  But please be kind and do not claim these pictures as your own or offer them for downloads.  Feel free to mix and match between books. Use whatever you like, throw away what you don't like.

I made a blank page, so you can personalize it however you see fit. Or leave it out if you don't have any ideas you want to put down. 

I'm sure Mom will love the book! It might even bring a few happy tears!