Target Toothbrushes - Janelle's Surgery & Walgreens

Ok, so sorry this post is about a week later than it should be and I doubt these toothbrushes will still be available.  However, any that are left may be marked down further :)  Target clearance had 10 OralB toothbrushes for 4.98 which is around 50 cents each.  Last year I got the marjority of my toothbrushes free or for 25 cents each but this year I am just not having the same experience with couponing and clearances so I have settled for the 50 cents per toothbrush hoping to find additional deals that may be better during the year of course :)

Well, one of the reasons I did not post the toothbrush deal sooner was my daughter Janelle's shoulder surgery last week.  She is doing great by the way.  Well, when I was waiting during her surgery they placed me in a room with a woman who saw me crocheting and asked what I was making.  I explained how I had been using my mom's leftover yarn to make small purses for the OCC boxes.  She had heard of the boxes through Samaritan's Purse and thought what I was doing was great so we struck up a conversation.  I assumed she also filled boxes due to her interest but in reality she herself doesn't fill any but was quite aware of what small things like that can mean to an child who has very little to nothing to call their own.  She had lived in small rural areas in China for 4 years and mentioned how valuable a zip closure bag is to the people there because of the humidity.  I guess they store what is valuable to them inside to protect them from moisture.  So I thought I would include at least one in each box.  I purchased a large box of the gallon size at Sam's club.  She mentioned that the plain zip ones hold up the best because the ones with the little red sliding thing don't hold up as well because the red thing tends to break off after many many uses.  I really enjoyed talking with her because she was involved in marketing items that women in those small communities made so that they could receive some income for their families.  Too bad I didn't ask her name :(

Finally, this week I stopped at a few Walgreens stores in hopes of finding great clearance selections.  I found one lone doll for a little girls box.  She was around $ 3.50 which I can't afford for each box but grabbed this one hoping it would find her way to just the right little girl.  I won't be including the bottle because it contains liquid.



What I found at JcPenney's Today

These sets of bracelets were "Best Price" $1.00 each.  I got them free because I was purchasing other things for $ 8.00 and had a $10.00 credit card monthly reward certificate - I love those things now that they have prices that end with no cents.  Paid nothing - not even sales tax for any of it :)

Love to put plastic bracelets like these in the 2-4 year old little girl age group.

Meijers & Dollar General Finds

These combs are my very favorite to send in boxes because they have one end that has larger spaces between the teeth and one end that has smaller spaces and you never know what type of hair the child who receives your box will have.  They were on clearance at Meijers last week and I grabbed the last 7 which was nice but I am afraid since they are clearing them out I may have to find a new favorite comb.  I needed to anyway because even on clearance these are still $1.51 each.  Still - if I stop at any other Meijer stores I'll pick up whatever I can. 

The handkerchiefs were $1.00 for 2 in the Dollar General clearance aisle but their quality was not as good as last years there.  Still I love to give one in each hygiene kit.  There were Valentine items also on clearance for 50% off so there were packs of these heart shaped pencil sharpeners for 50 cents.  I always send pencil sharpeners in small plastic bags so it is easier for the kids to keep the parts together - especially in a case like these heart shapes because the clear lid didn't fit snug enough to always stay on if it was tumbling around with the other stuff in their box.

Michaels $5.00 Coupon Find

Thanks to my friend Kathy's facebook post I realized Michael's had a great $ 5.00 coupon off of a $ 5.00 purchase!  The coupons were only good for this past weekend but wanted to show what I found.  Ended up paying $ 2.12 for these four items with two transactions (roped Bill into helping).  I have never sent watercolors in a box before but had read on someone's blog that the kids like to receive them so I gave them a whirl :)  Hopefully I can find some extra paint brushes to include - Maybe I'll check out our new and improved Dollar Tree.

Christmas Shoeboxes - Meijers

Today I was at a Meijer's searching for the 3-packs of Ivory soap when I ran across these plastic boxes from Christmas.  They were marked down to $1.74 which is still a little pricey but I grabbed what they had.

Great Finds at JCPenney

Underwear can be expensive to find but today these were on clearance for just $ 1.00 each in the girl's section.

Also at JCPenney's today were these clearance washcloths that were 8 for $4.00.  I think 50 cents for a nice washcloth is GREAT :)

In addition to the clearance price I also had a 15% discount made available to me for completing a survey online after my last purchase there.  It's only good for one day of your choosing and you can only do one a month but I made good use of it today!

Hair Items - Walgreens

Here are a few hair accessories I purchased today for $1.09 each at Walgreens.

 My favorite way to send hair accessories is to separate them into color coordinated small bags containing several different types.  These small bags are from Hobby Lobby found in the jewelry making section.

 

Soap, Blocks & More Trucks

So at Meijers I was able to get some Ivory soap for about .70 per three-pack using a .35 coupon that was doubled.  I was happy with that :)

These gorgeous blocks were in Target's toy clearance section today.  They were $ 4.48 each.  I think they are wood.  I will probably split them up between four boxes.  While I was there I was thrilled to find the little vehicles I mentioned in my last post which had been         $ 7.98 now marked down further to $2.98!  I was able to get 4 boxes.  Ok, I'm not used to Target not having the same prices on items at differing stores.  Today, however, this larger version of the vehicle was $ 1.38  on clearance at one store but regular price of over five at another.  Was happy to get the clearance ones though.  The little taxi was like $ 1.18 in the same section. 

I was also lucky enough to purchase cherry flavored and Jolly Rancher candy canes at a Walgreens today and super great Christmas clearance.  Sometimes Walgreens is just my favorite place to look for deals!

Bears For Huggin & Trucks For Play

Today at Goodwill I found these great bears for the boxes - Two are actually brand new with tags and three of them are like new.  Just need to find a bow for the little white bear.  Got all five for about $2.00!  The big brand new GUND was 64 cents!  The other bears were each 30 cents.  Gotta love 40% off days at Goodwill!

These trucks on the other hand were $5.00 at Biglots for the three.  Not as great a price as the stuffed animals but the best I have seen for these.  I LOVE them for the boys ages 2-4 category because they are safe for 12 months and older and very sturdy.  Target also had these on clearance a few days ago but they were $8.00 for 4.  I think the normal price I was finding them for at Walmart before Christmas was 5 in a package for $10.00 so I will check back at Target to see if they go down further in price.

Target Candy Canes

I think McKenna and I went out Friday evening and found Target's Christmas clearance at 90% off.  That made candy canes about a penny a piece.  We got more than we will need just in case there were broken ones or nibblers (McKenna for one).  I have never included candy canes before because of their shape because I tend to stuff the bags of candy in small spaces in boxes after everything else is packed but this year I plan on using those half size pencil boxes for hygiene items (not the soap) so I think these along with some smarties or lolly pops will fit in nicely.

75% Off Walmart Clearance

I was so happy to find these cups today at Walmart.  Most of the cups ended up being about .10 each except for the Snoopy ones which were about .25 each but I can never resist that cute little beagle!  I think I found about 440 traveling to 3 different stores.

Kohl's Sale Washcloths

These washcloths were on sale for $4.99 - a package of 8.  They are pretty thick for their price.

2012 Christmas Clearance

Jingle Bell Stick - Meijers 75% off Christmas sale = $1.50 each.

These sound great when you shake them. 

 Probably not recommended for the 2-4 age group for safety reasons.

Manicure Set - Meijers 75% off Christmas sale = $ .62 each.

Great sets for kids in the 10-14 age group.

2011 Favorite Box Finds - Part 2

Here are some of my favorite boxes we packed this year.

GIRL Ages 2-4: I love this box because of the cute mouse I found brand new at a garage sale for .50 and the blanket she's holding found at Hobby Lobby as a display sample of knitted yarn that was no longer needed so it was in their clearance section.  The flower hand towel was found at Target during their Valentine's Day clearance.

BOY Ages 2-4: I love the xylophone found at a TJMaxx and the Office Max bag that was donated along with several others by a cashier at that store when I explained why I was buying other things for the box.    The second picture shows an O Ball that I love to send when I can find them affordably.  I think they are great for young kids because they are easy to grab.  Also they can be stuffed with other things while packing the box.

GIRL Ages 5-9:  I loved finding the rectangle shaped water bottles.  They fit well into the boxes and we loaded them up with all the little stuff in the box.  I think this one held among other things a jump rope and spoon.  Also there was a lavender boa found in the craft area of Hobby Lobby.  Also included were a bag of pony beads and a bag of pretty yarn.

BOY Ages 5-9:  Found these UNO cards at Target last year for $1.00 it was a special promotion of some kind.  Also, when I'm at Hobby Lobby and have a 40% off coupon I like to pick up a Duncan YoYo like this orange one.

GIRL Ages 10-14: This is one of my favorite boxes because the clearance Easter bunny from  K-Mart is incredibly SOFT! But the main reason this is one of my favorite boxes has to to with the headbands just in front of the bunny. My 4th grader used her "classroom bucks" earned during the school year to "purchase" them just for the boxes during her classroom's year-end auction.

BOY Ages 10-14:  Lots of fun stuff including a plastic whistle found in the party supply section of Dollar General.

2011 Favorite Box Finds

Here are some of my favorite groupings we began to put together before we packed the shoeboxes.  I used plastic bags designed for jewelry parts (Hobby Lobby) when there were small items that I wanted to stay together.

STAMPING CRAFT KIT

I love these half size pencil boxes found at Walmart for .10 each during the school supply clearance.  Used them here for a stamping craft kit.  Also used left over scrapbooking paper to punch out tags for a small booklet. Always included plain paper in the box if it held a stamping kit also as well as colored pencils and a sharpener.

FISHING KIT

We also put together some fishing kits which included a spool of line, rope to hold fish, small net and bobbers (all from Walmart), a small clear container (Hobby Lobby - designed for coin collectors) with nail clippers and various hooks and lures.  Finally,  a muslin bag to hold it all (Hobby Lobby) with a shower curtain hanger to attach the net to the bag.

MARBLE BAG

I really fell in love with these muslin bags from Hobby Lobby, this smaller version was perfect I thought for a collection of marbles.

SEWING KIT

We used the coin container again here to hold safety pins and nail clippers for the sewing kit which also included buttons, small scissors, thread and needles.  The small cloth bag (Hobby Lobby) is closed with a large safety pin decorated with ribbon pieces.

FLASHLIGHT LANYARD

A small LED flashlight with extra batteries and a fun lanyard attached.

HYGEINE KIT

When the size of the shoebox allows with other contents considered, a regular size pencil box can hold a good amount of hygiene type items such as double-bagged Ivory soap, a washcloth, comb (my favorite choice because one end has large separations between the teeth and one end has small), underwear, socks, emery board, toothbrush, toothpaste and a handkerchief (Dollar General clearance price was .25).  When space in the shoebox doesn't allow for this size pencil box, the half size is great actually for everything except the washcloth and soap which was squeezed in the shoebox separately.