Something To Put A Smile On Their Face | Operation Christmas Child 2015

Halloween is out of the way, Bonfire Night will be done and dusted by the end of next week so why not get a little Christmassy here on my blog today. Today i'm going to be sharing with you an initiative called Operation Christmas Child by the charity Samaritan's Purse. I'm going to put it straight out there, this is not sponsored. Blogging allows me to connect with people all over the world, therefore I feel it is my duty to share good things and thoughts in order to have a positive influence on those reading. Anyway, let's get on with this and allow me to explain a little more about it.

What is Operation Christmas Child?

Samaritan's Purse is the charity that runs Operation Christmas Child. Operation Christmas Child allows anybody in most countries around the world to send a shoe box full of gifts including hygiene items, school supplies and toys to a child somewhere in a less developed country to enable them to have a happier Christmas. If you'd like to find out more, just search Operation Christmas Child followed by where you live as each country has a different website with specific details on how to pack a box. For example, Operation Christmas Child UK. Or you can click here, if you're from the UK.

How to pack a shoe box?

First of all you should wrap your shoe box ensuring the lid and box are wrapped separately. You should then pop a label on top stating whether your box is for a boy or girl and which age range. I did a box for a boy and a girl, both aged 5 to 9.

Next you should fill your box with gifts, including hygiene items, school supplies and toys. However, I must make you aware there are some restrictions on what you can put in as these are going to be flown across the world, therefore you should avoid food, liquids and sharp objects. There are also some restrictions on toys such as war-related toys(soldiers, guns, knives), hand-made stuffed toys and playing cards. If you're unsure, click here to find a more in-depth list of what you can and can't include. 

Here I've included pictures and a list of what I've packed in each box, i'm sure you'll be able to tell but the first is for a boy(aged 5-9) and the second is for a girl(aged 5-9).

HYGIENE ITEMS

-Toothbrushes

 -Toothpaste

-Bar of soap and a flannel

-Comb/hair brush

SCHOOL SUPPLIES

-Notebook

-Ballpoint pens
-Pencils

-Colouring pencils
-Ruler

-Eraser and sharpener 

TOYS

-Train set
-Truck

-Animal figures

-Doll

-Jewellery making set

OTHER
-Hat/Scarf/Gloves
-Hair accessories

-Colouring/Activity book

-Sweets(best before date must be at least March of the following year) 

MAKE SURE THE LID CAN SHUT!

The only items missing are a colouring/activity book for both and hair accessories for the girl as I feel the box is a little emptier compared to the boys. You should also make sure that the lid of your box can close properly, you don't want to loose anything!

How much will this cost?

I know you're probably thinking this, how much is this going to set me back? 

Not a huge amount in my case, though it does depend where you shop.

I cannot recommend Wilko enough for hygiene and stationary items. For example for a two pack of toothbrushes it cost just 18p! I went for the bigger pack of pencils which cost 50p each, however they do have smaller packets for 18p so it depends on your budget.

For the toys, i'd shop around the pound shops. I have a few in my town so I went into each looking for appropriate toys, a hat and glove set and sweets. 

So far in total i've spent £16.09. You must also donate £3 for you box to be shipped, you can either include this within the box or you can pay online. I am going to do this online as they give you a barcode which you can stick in your boxes to track them. You will then recieve an email in the new year to find out where your box has gone!

Grand Total(2 boxes) = Under £25

Of course, I understand that not everybody has that much to give. You could just do one box, which would come in under £15 with the £3 donation included in that price. However, you could do a box with the basic necessities including hygiene items, some stationary with one or two toys, which would be even cheaper! I'm sure whatever you can give will put a huge smile on a child's face. You and your friends could also gather any small change/pocket money you have to create a box between you. There's no better feeling than doing a good deed! 

How do I send it off?

Once everything is in your box, including the £3 donation to ship it- i'd recommend putting an elastic band around it to keep the lid on and to prevent loosing anything from your box. You should then take it to your local drop off point. This can be done from today up until 18th November, so you've got just over 2 weeks to do so! You'll be able to find your local drop off point, here.

And that's it, you've done your good deed for the day and i'm sure you'll make a child very happy on Christmas morning! There's no better feeling!

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This post was a little different to what you'd usually see on my blog, but I hope you enjoyed finding out about an amazing initiative and I really hope some of you will go and look more into this. Of course, if it's not practical for you this year due to lack of funds or time then you can keep it in mind for next year!

I hope you've had a lovely week. Let me know what you think of this idea in the comments below!

♥   ♥   ♥

Stationary Haul | Back to School

Hello!
I've always loved stationary so there's no surprise that when shopping for 'Back to School' I got a little excited. Usually I would go a little crazy and purchase stationary that I didn't necessarily need but thought was cute so in the basket it went, but not this time! This time I picked up bits i'm almost certain i'll use, although I may need to go back for a few more bits as i'm not entirely sure what and how many files i'll need for the different areas within my course. So here's what I picked up...

I popped into Wilko as they usually have a good range of stationary, the basics and pretty ones at affordable prices. I wasn't overly impressed by the range of 'pretty' stationary as it just wasn't to my taste but I did pick up the basics which i'm more than delighted with the prices!

HERE

First up is this dark pink ring binder file, which i'm sure i'll use or it's just handy to have in case you may need a file when you least expect it. They had this file in a few colours, pink, white, black and I think blue, so will pretty much suit anybodies taste and at 50p you can't go wrong can you? This is the only file I purchased as I said, I'm not sure how many i'll need but i'll definitely be picking up some more of these. 

HERE

I'm almost sure you can't go supplies shopping without picking up paper, unless your school provides it of course! So into my basket went this Wilko A5 Project Notebook, with 3 dividers for different subjects or areas of your work. I picked up this as it was a bargain at £1.85 and was handy to have to take down my own personal notes in college of what I think may help me, rather than what I've been asked to take down.

HERE

Now this wasn't from Wilko as I couldn't find it in there, but I bought an nu: Craze A4 Notebook from B&M bargains at £1.99. I picked this notebook in particular as it has good quality paper to write on. Does anyone else feel like they write better when the paper is of a better quality? Yeah, I definitely fit into that category of people! This will be used to take down the notes I am asked to that will go into one of my files or portfolio's. 

HERE

That pen though...

Of course, you need something to write with! So yes, I have a favourite pen that were on offer when I went stationary shopping, score! These Zebra Z-Grip Ballpoint pens were sold in a pack of 5 for only £1.25, they're so nice to write with and are comfortable too when making lengthy notes as they have the cushion grip, so at £1.25 into my basket they went! Also they're black, my preferred colour to write in.

HERE

The last item from Wilko is this rubber, yes it has a little dog on it- haha! I didn't pick this up for the dog, I was in need of a rubber for my pencil case and this was the cheapest at 35p and one of the biggest there. I must admit they had another one with a floral design which I would have preferred but this was cheaper so why not?

Last but not least were from a small shop that pretty much sold everything! Just a packet of 5x highlighters for £1, very affordable and perfect for highlighting important notes taken, i'm just hoping they won't run out too quickly but for only £1, I can't complain.

That's it for my stationary haul, like I said I didn't go as crazy as I usually would so here are just the essentials that I think are a need for anybody in the last years of secondary school or starting college. I'm sure that i'll be popping back to Wilko or a local supermarket when I have a full list of stationary that I actually do need once I start back at college. Like I said in my previous Back to School post, here- I hope all of you have a great start to the year whether you're starting high school, GCSE years, college or uni and enjoy what you're doing!

Until next time,

Amy X