School was canceled today due to snow. (I thought about titling this post "Snow What?") I can't remember what got me started, but I decided to clean out all the drawers, cabinets and the linen closet in our master bath.
It took me three hours.
I found a lot of expired products. I found a lot of duplicates stored in different spots. I swear, we aren't hoarders (really almost the opposite), but I found more little tubes of lotion from department stores, student gifts, and the dermatologist than I know what to do with. Check back in a few weeks when I have THE most supple of skin...
Operation Christmas Child has really been on my mind lately, and as I was organizing our bathroom, I came across something so random but a great use came to mind. What is it? Thread! For some reason, during his single days, Brad bought three little sewing kits like this one (sorry for the blur):
He also bought (only) one package of needles:
Most have gone untouched.
I've been hanging onto some Rx bottles for a while, and today I decided to use them to make mini-sewing kits for my age 10-14 girl boxes! Each bottle holds two (or more) mini-spools of thread, a piece of felt to house the needles, and three bottles even scored a needle threader.
Because boys get fewer boxes, the majority of my 2013 boxes will be for boys. However, I will put together some girl boxes, and any of these mini-kits I don't use will go into friends' boxes. I still have leftover thread and needles, so over the next few months I'll put more of these together. Add to my shopping list: scissors and small portions of fabric.
I love how Operation Christmas Child allows me to reuse something I have an abundance of!
A few months back, I started a Facebook group to keep my friends apprised/reminded of Operation Christmas Child Through the Year. Aptly named, its title is its purpose. This weekend, Brad and I decided it would be good to make it public.
I know this little blog reaches only a few people. But I thought I'd proclaim it here and ask you all to join.
Our church has a philosophy of bringing the Gospel to people here, near and far. This is the far I focus on. Each time an OCC shoebox is gifted, it is accompanied by the story of Jesus in the recipient child's language.
Over 100,000,000 shoeboxes have been shared since OCC started. What an amazing feat and impossible without God working through so many people. I love being a small part of this giving, and I hope you will too.
I've never been an early shopper, and lately I haven't done much shopping at all. But this week, with one year ending and one beginning, I'm formulating a plan. My plan is to buy things each month for Operation Christmas Child.
I'm excited to say I'm helping with a packing party in January at church. Yep, January. It's early, and those boxes will sit still for a while, but come November, they'll be added to a large pile. As a Christmas gift, one of my school parents gave me a donation for OCC, and I'll be using that money sooner than I thought to get some items for this middle and high schoolers' event.
I cannot wait!
Last night, I went to Target to go through their clearance items and Dollar Spot area. I focused on my goal of building boxes for 10-14 year old boys, and so while there I picked up a few things. A few girl things fell into my little basket too, but that's okay. I didn't go nuts, I kept my age range and environmental impact issues in mind--for instance, no markers this year. I found some coloring and sticker sets, bracelets, and toothbrush sets ($1.48 for two toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste).
(Poor areas have poor waste disposal choices, markers don't really ever get used up.)
While putting those things away today, I came across a Samaritan's Purse brochure I'd saved detailing how to shop by months. The guidelines are good ones, so I'll share them here with some notes from me (you know, 'cause I'm such an expert. Not!):
December
Seasonal gifts (on clearance, this is my addition based on the above shopping excursion)
January
Toothbrushes and toothpaste
(I make sure there is one of each in every box, can't send candy without dental care items!) February
Plush toys (If you're local, I have quite a stash, and I'll share!)
March
Hats, gloves, scarves
(on clearance by then)
April
Boy toys
May
Girl toys
June
Boy clothing items (socks, T's)
July
Girl clothing items (socks, T's, flip-flops)
August
School supplies
(Always send a sharpener with pencils, and only buy Crayola crayons!)
September
Soap and hygiene items
(No liquids! I hope to knit a washcloth for each box I pack. Lip balms. Hair brushes and combs, and hair ornaments are fun to buy.)
October
Hard candy
(Tootsie products, Starburst, and Skittles are great too! Avoid Jolly Ranchers, they really liquify when hot.)
To each box, I plan to add Lego, something musical, drawing paper cut to fit in the box, one handmade item and a tennis ball (What boy doesn't want a ball to play with? Tennis balls are less than $2.50 a canister.)
A photo of you and a letter of love must go in each box. This year, I watched a video of a little girl pouring over the photos in her box, and it made me cry.
As for handmade items, well, I hope to meet with friends to make something each month!
If you participate with OCC, please, share your ideas.
I think this song will be in my mind and heart all year as I work on this special project. Watch it, it's contagious..."Some say it moves like a Spirit!"
Love: I enjoy making things. Hate: I loathe clutter. I do not like tchotchkes (yep, that's how it's spelled). Once I have the experience of making something I'm either "been there and done that" about it, or I'm so critical I can't stand to keep it around because I find its flaws. I have donated many of my creations to Goodwill.
So with this ambivalence in mind, I went through my Pinterest boards a while back and unpinned a lot of projects.
That was a relief.
This past weekend I had an Operation Christmas Child box packing party. It was fun, and together my girlfriends and I created 35 boxes. I think most women there want to go forward with this. New to many, I heard, "Well, now I know what I'm doing, so next year..."
My friend Dori taught us so much about how to get the most into our boxes. She was an inspiration.
The afternoon just warmed my heart. Of course, we were working and talking so much, I only took one photo--after everyone left, and that photo is even missing a few of the boxes...
My friend Lynette's are missing from above, she used Michael's photo boxes for hers. How cute is this?
While sandwich eating (inhaling) and net surfing during my ten minutes of lunch "break" on Tuesday, something caused me to decide I should now craft for others. I can't remember what I saw, but I started web searching and reviewing pins for projects with a purpose in mind.
Now I hope to make a few things each month for my boxes for '13, starting with these:
I couldn't find marbles this year, and at the last minute I remembered they sell them at Party City. However, I have learned NOT to go there the weekend before Halloween. Perhaps I could do this next weekend for my class boxes...
I'm pretty excited about this, and I'm looking forward to getting started.
Also, I found a great OCC reference site, I think Dori had shared it with me before, but I came across it again. Operation Christmas Child might turn me into a coupon user yet...
There are all sorts of things on Pinterest and the Web in general about Fall "bucket lists." Now, when I think bucket list, I think of compiling ideas of what I'd like to do before I die. I don't have a bucket list, and in response to a post on my old blog, some of you confirmed you don't have one either.
However, one of the cute things I saw was a banner that included a fall fun list. I wanted to make one, but as my mental list grew, time to go through my craft stash and cut and paste dwindled. Technically it's still summer, but autumn is pressing down, just a handful of days left...
Here's a list that's all over Pinterest, so all over I couldn't find the right source to attribute it:
There's that word "Bucket" again. Eek! (I know it probably means fall will kick the bucket for the year, but I still don't like it!)
And here's what I meant by banner, because for the life of me I can't find the photo I liked--though this one is cute for other reasons, I might have to have my kids make it:
So, put those together and you have the groovy idea I just don't have time for--a bannered (Spell check, what do you mean that's not a word?) autumn fun list.
What I've decided to do is to list my hopes for fall activities here, and then I'll come back to this post to line out what I've done. It's not as cute, and my banner in my head was so durn cute, but it gets the job done in a less Martha Stewart way.
Ta.
Da.
Ellie's Autumn Fun To-Do List
('cause you really don't want to know about the unfun stuff!)
Attend my friends Amy and Jon's weeding
Dance until I have a blister
Hike a state park (amended to a county forest preserve
Get Brad to a football game--H.S. counts Read four good books (amended to four so-so books)
Buy helmets and bike ride on the Fox
Wrap candles with burlap
Walk 50 "fast" miles on my treadmill in October
Go canoeing
I will add to this idea if anything else occurs to me. With the craziness of the school year still happening, it's nice to have fun to look forward to no matter how it's delineated.
What are you up to this Autumn? Do tell, maybe your fun will be added to my list as well!
Late last summer, right at back-to-school time, I was stunned to learn of the sudden death of my blog friend's son. Jack Donaldson went out to play one afternoon when there was a break in days and days of rain, slipped into what was usually a tiny creek but now was a swiftly flowing body of water and died.
I was debilitated by grief for my friend whom I only know via the internet. I had read all sorts of stories about Jack and his sister Margaret on their mom's blog, and I had only just viewed the back-to-school photos she posted.
Beyond prayer, I felt like I had no comfort to offer her. I needed to do something, but what?
In time, Anna asked for Jack to be remembered in gifts to Samaritan's Purse and especially to Jack's favorite charity, Operation Christmas Child. My class had put together a few boxes the previous year, and then last year with Jack in our hearts we packed up more. I did my own box, a box for an older boy. Anna guided me, when I asked, with ideas of things Jack would have liked himself or things he would have put in a box for a boy his age. In the box I included a note about Jack along with a picture of him.
Also late last summer, at the same time, my friend Jenn began in earnest her fundraising to adopt a child from Haiti. To say she has a heart for Haiti is an understatement. She very much would like to be a mom, and I helped her a bit in some of her efforts.
Stay with me now, please stay with me.
Last night, my friend Dori sent me a link to a Samaritan's Purse website, Opened this morning, it was a collection of pictures of children in Haiti receiving Operation Christmas Child boxes. She told me to scroll down to the photo of a child holding a Snoopy wrapped box. You see, at my Christmas in July party, I had covered our craft table with some blue Snoopy paper, and she thought she recognized it...
The photo from Samaritan's Purse
She was correct. It was the same paper from the party, leftover from the paper I used to wrap the box I thought of as from Jack to "my" boy. It was the same size box (my son's sized shoes). Could it be?
I wept, I laughed, I shouted to call Brad into the office, I contacted Anna, I sent Jenn the link, I praised God! I went to school and smiled all day at the thought of it all.
Jack + OCC + Haiti = God at work. There is no other explanation.
This post was recently linked to a post on Anna's blog promoting OCC. I was touched by that, and I welcome all visitors. However, one commenter pointed out that this box could not be Jack's box because of the age marked on the label. I enlarged the photo to determine she was most likely correct. Then I wrestled with what to do about this post.
I have decided to keep it up. I've decided that when I pack boxes this time around, I will think of Jack AND the boy/young man in this photo. Both their smiles continue to warm my heart and are great examples of God's love. We must continue to reach out to others, and I reach offering a shoebox in memory of Jack.
