Operation Christmas Child // Packing Shoeboxes

This past week every order from The Next Step Store funded the packing and shipping of Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. Three Country Paintings were sold and two friends simply donated money toward the cause and as a result I was able to pack and ship EIGHT shoebox presents!

Four little boys...

and four little girls!

Here is the break down of the cost. The boys' boxes cost a total of $7.75 to fill...

... and because I splurged on the dolls, the girls' boxes cost a total of $14.75 to fill.

Last year I bought everything for the shoeboxes at the Dollar Store and it was affordable to do so but I wanted to buy things that would last a little longer this year. I decided to experiment by shopping entirely from Target to see how far my dollars would stretch there. As you can see I averaged the same price per box shopping from Target as I did shopping for the Dollar Store!

Tip: Buying items in bulk (like socks or pens and pencils) and filling multiple shoeboxes is the most cost-effective way to go, but even if you are just shopping for one shoe box you can keep the cost to $10 by shopping the $1 section of Target or shopping at the Dollar Store.

Thank you for supporting this cause by your purchases from The Next Step Store!
Whatever the cost, it is worth it for this...