Hutterite Garage Sales

Hello!  Usually at this time of year, garage sales have kind of wound down.  And for the most part they have. With the exception of the Hutterite garage sales, at least in our area.  Today I attended garage sales at 2 different colonies (Fairholme and Good Hope, both South West of Portage la Prairie).  And I managed to snag quite a few deals.

My favorite find of the day was the mens hats.  There was a huge box of them, brand new with tags.  They were asking 3/$1, but throughout my years of garage saleing, I've gotten the nerve to barter now and again. I asked the lady if she would give me a better price if I took 50 hats and she sold them to me for $12.  So that's .24 cents a hat.
There was also lots of bars of soap around, so I bartered at both colonies and got almost 30 bars of soap for about .25 cents a piece.
Socks and toques were a quarter a piece and I found a few miscellaneous things as well: a beanie baby (.25), a collapsible cup (.10), a bag of wooden beads (.25), a small toy drum (.25), and some wash cloths that worked about to .30 a piece.
I also always checked the free boxes and got free felt (see top left hand corner), that I can use for a craft I have in mind for shoe boxes and a new mens hat.
I have never really shopped garage sales with shoe boxes in mind, until this spring.  I have found the odd thing here and there, but overall, not that much.  You want something that's a great price, but also something that is or looks brand new.  You also want quality items, not just trinkets from a dollar store.
So if you have a chance to hit up a hutterite garage sale, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the things you can find.
Do any other areas have sales such as these?  Just curious!

Canadian Flag Lapel Pins

I always like to include something with the Canadian flag on it, in each shoe box I pack.  An easy way to let the recipient know which country the box came from.  The souvenir section of any store often has little items that can be bought, such as tags, stuffed animals, key chains, etc. 

I got these Canadian flag lapel pins in the mail today.  A great addition for a shoe box.  And best part is - they're free!  Just contact a member of parliament and they will send them out to you.

I think these would get lost easily in a shoe box, so I'm thinking it would be wise to maybe print out some card stock with a little message or Scripture on it and pin one of these on.
What other items have you come across with the Canadian Flag on it?

Trade Show Freebies

My husband attends various trade shows across Canada, as an exhibitor for our family business and I often tag along. Many exhibitors give away freebies, as promotional items.  With Operation Christmas Child Shoe Boxes in mind, I snag as many items as I can, that are suitable for packing in shoe boxes.

This last week, we attended the Regina Farm Progress Show.  While the show is three days long, I attended for a couple of hours and was able to snag these goodies:

Some items may be hard to see.  There's a hat, beach ball, regular and mini sized footballs, coloring books, stickers/tattoos, pens, pencils, a flat water bottle, notepads, microfiber clothes, reusable shopping bag and of course, I snagged the soap and personal hygiene items from the hotel room.
I plan to deflate the beachball, to pack as efficiently as possible.  I would also deflate the football and include a pump (which I would have to purchase).  The great thing about including`a larger sized ball (soccer balls are great too) is that a whole group of kids can play with it.  I think most, if not all, of these items would lend themselves well to a shoe box for an older boy.

OCC Fundraiser Lunch

Back in March, I organized a soup and dessert lunch fundraiser at our church, following the Sunday morning service.  We were able to raise over $800 for shoe boxes!  I hope to purchase items throughout the year, as I come across them at discounted prices.

Our church has a small congregation of about 150.  I put up a sign up sheet for most of the food donations and had no problem getting everything brought.  We had a very simple menu: chicken noodle soup and hamburger soup with buns.  Dessert was chocolate cake with whipped topping or white cake with raspberry topping.  Everything was delicious!  I had lots of offers of help from dishing out soup, to washing dishes and setting up tables.  It really was a team effort.  My hope is to plan a church wide packing party when the collection date draws nearer.
I would encourage you to raise funds for your own shoe boxes!  People are often more than generous when they know you're raising funds for a good cause.  Step out in faith.  :)

Winter Clearance

This is the time of year that stores clear out their winter merchandise.  Today at Wal-mart (Portage la Prairie, Mb) there was long sleeved shirts as well as toques (I realize this is a Canadian term!  What do American's call toques? Beanies?) for $1 each.  I especially loved the toque with a pom pom on it that says Canada.  Always neat to include an item or two that bear the name of the country the shoe box came from.  The sizes for all items tended to be more on the small size, with the occasional large size.

Some people question whether warmer clothing items like this, are appropriate for the countries they are being sent to.  I would answer yes!  Not all countries have warm climates...think of Russia for example.  Definitely some nice items to keep a child warm.

Happy shopping!

Donation

This last week I received a generous donation from a lady in our church.  She and her husband were moving to a smaller house.  She has various collection and one of the items she has collected over the years is beanie babies.  Not having as much room in their new house, she parted with some of her collection (23!) and donated them to be used in Operation Christmas Child shoe boxes. 

She has had a heart for shoe boxes for years and has encouraged me numerous times to keep up with promoting shoe boxes in our church.  Knowing that 23 children will have something soft to love on, is so awesome!  What a blessing!

Bouncy Balls

The party supply aisle is always a good place to find packages of multiples which work nicely in shoe boxes.  Last week I was able to find these bouncy balls on clearance at Wal-mart.  Regularly $2 for 6 balls, they were clearing these out for $1.  Which makes these .17 cents a piece.  Perfect to split between a few boxes.