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

Elf on the Shelf Coloring Page

I wanted to give you some more of our Christmas coloring pages. It's been a busy time and we are all in the Christmas spirit. Everyone seems to love the Elf on the Shelf right now. We thought we'd join in with some Elf on the Shelf inspired coloring sheets.

You can feel free to use the coloring pages for your own PERSONAL use.  But please be kind and do not claim these pictures as your own or offer them for downloads.  It makes me sad to see my pictures on a coloring page website run by someone else.

Please enjoy!

I had to incorporate a quote from one of our favorite family Christmas movies! Buddy the Elf!

And to keep it simple... just the elf....

Origami Christmas Tree

I love finding easy, inexpensive crafts to make! I get excited and I just have to share them with someone. These origami Christmas trees are sooo cute! You could make an entire winter landscape with them, or your own mini Christmas tree farm. You can make them all different sizes too! You would just need to have different size squares of paper. The folding would be the same.

I found my square paper at Hobby Lobby. Since we are in the middle of the Christmas season, this paper book was 50% off. I only paid $3.50 for 48 sheets. That's a lot of Christmas trees that I could make!

You start by folding your square in half diagonally, making a triangle. Then you want to open it up, and fold in half again on the other diagonal of the square.

Open it up, and fold it in half again, this time making a rectangle. You could begin with this step. It doesn't matter which is done first, the diagonal or the rectangle folds. You want to open it up, and fold in half the opposite direction you just folded again.

After you have made both the rectangle folds and the diagonal folds, you are going to open the paper up, and fold in half between each of the folds you have already made. In the photo below you can see where to fold. The solid lines are the folds you have already completed in previous steps, the dotted line is the new fold you are going to make. Do this same thing to each of the remaining 7 sections.

It should start to stand up like a tree.

You are going to lay it flat, with two sections of 4 folds. In the photo I'm holding it open so you can see the four different folds.

This is what it should look like from the top when it is flattened into two sections of 4 folds. It resembles the Star Trek emblem! You are going to cut off the bottom of the tree on the line I have shown below.

Keeping it folded in half, you will cut small triangles out of each side of the tree. This is what makes your branches.

You can now spread the sides of your tree so that it will stand on its own. So cute! And SO easy to make! I'd love to make a whole forest of these trees. They would be perfect to put next to some winter cottages. I've always wanted to make a mini village, however I don't have the room to display it.

A friend of mine used them for table decorations at a Christmas party. What would you use these mini Christmas trees for?

Christmas Coloring Pages

I'm back with some more Christmas fun. I love sharing the artistic ability of my family with all of you. Everyone took part in making these beautiful Christmas coloring sheets.  If you'd like to save a bigger file size, be sure to click on the picture that you like before saving it to your computer!

You can feel free to use the coloring pages for your own PERSONAL use.  But please be kind and do not claim these pictures as your own or offer them for downloads.  It makes me sad to see my pictures on a coloring page website run by someone else.

**ENJOY!!**

My daughter drew these next two coloring sheets. Birds are a passion of hers, and she loves to make roses!

 I LOVE this picture of the Grinch that my 10 year old son drew. I think he is pretty proud of himself too. He spent a long time getting the Grinch to look just right.

My other son thought he was funny, and made several coloring sheets with "Deep Thoughts". This deep thought comes from the Lorax.

My husband made this sweet star coloring page. I like the simplicity, yet beauty that it captures.

I hope you have a very Merry Christmas season! I pray you are filled with the hope that only Jesus can bring.

If you missed it... here is a link to yesterday's Christmas coloring pages.

More Christmas Coloring Page Fun