If you have a Meijer in your area, I just looked at their ad online..... They have a 12-pk of washclothes on sale for $2.49 (reg $4.99). If you haven't already gotten any washclothes for your shoe boxes, but intend to, these would be .21 a piece! Of course, I've only seen them online, so I have no idea what kind of quality they are. But, that's the cheapest I've been able to find them, so I just thought I'd give a heads-up.

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__________________
No outfit is complete without cat hairs!

~~~MsMiser

Thank You,
A great find for the shoe boxes


Would also be good for all those toddler wipe ups. We always keep a bunch of them in a kitchen drawer to clean up the little hands and faces. I like a clean one each time and we use a lot of them.

They are a nice size but towards the thin side - not papertowel thin but your not getting $15 washcloth for that price. I put them in last year.

This year I have Johnson buddies do you think I should add a washcloth also? I'm leaning towards adding one.

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Laura
Please visit my blog
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This is the regular sale price. I got some at Target too, that were thicker. Since this is one of the things they particularly ask for I always include a wash cloth.

BTW on a personal note, several ladies have volunteered to make some Barbie clothes so I can send the dolls I found on clearance with some modest clothes. People are so sweet.

Certainly that is up to you and your budget. I like to pack a bar of soap with a washcloth or small towel depending on what bargains I get. Yes those can be on the thin side (I have gotten deals when Target discounts and Walmart and BJ's as well) but I do think they are still very very useful. Generally remember it could be going to a child that has absolutely nothing. And many times what get they share with the rest of their family and it gives them such joy to be able to "give" something themselves. One story is of a child that got a box with 5 toothbrushes and was overjoyed because there were 5 in his family and he could share with them his prize.

But whatever you put in will be wonderful, and gratefully received.

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I'm not really familiar with the Johnson buddies. From what I found online, I gather they're a mesh/sponge thingy with a bar of soap inside. (Correct?) As rose13 basically stated, only you can determine what you choose, or can afford, to include in your shoe boxes. I don't always include washclothes because I don't always find them in my price range. But, $2.49 for 12 is really hard to pass up. As like rose13, I also prefer to include a washcloth along with a bar of soap. And if I can't find a nice quality washcloth at a price I can afford, then a lesser quality will have to suffice. I'm sure a thin washcloth is better than none at all.



I don't get to shop Meijer as often as I'd like because of the distance. Are you saying these washclothes are often on sale at this price?

How much did you pay for the washclothes you got at Target, and when did you get them?

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__________________
No outfit is complete without cat hairs!

~~~MsMiser

MsMiser,

I've often found them on sale for this price. I'm not sure when I got them at Target, probably in March or April. I did get some at Meijer too. On the other hand, with the price of everything going up, up, up these will probably go too.

I think I'm pretty much done buying for this year. I still have lots of stuff left after filling the number of boxes I had in mind. I still need some toothpaste, soap and toothbrushes.

Johnson Buddies are a bar of soap wrapped in material much like a washcloth. I've used them myself and like them but I think I will put both the bar and the washcloth in. thank you

__________________
Laura
Please visit my blog
http://mylifeinlaurasworld.blogspot.com/

Just came from Target.
There is an endcap with a huge selection of washcloths all bundled with ribbons. They were $2.99 for 12. I can't compare them with what you purchased as far as "thread count" but they were nice. There is a selection of color groups....browns, blues, greens, etc.


BUT.......Target dollar spot is 75% off today and I was able to get some socks, cute cloth bags, board books, a couple of flower stuffed toys, a couple of kitchen towels that could be used in the box, some children's cutlery sets (no knife, just fork and spoon) and a few plastic plates for children (2 for 25 cents).

After putting in what I consider my box "essentials" (toothpaste, toothbrush, soap, washcloth, comb, notebook, pencils, sharpener, crayons, stuffed animal, ball) then I get to play with whatever else I find on sale. Last week I got some cute hard plastic cups for 9 cents each from CVS 90% off summer.

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Rose13

I do this too. I hunt for stuff on clearance all year, starting right after Christmas. I just put it in a big box or two and then about this time of the year, I start filling the boxes. It's kind of fun, because I've usually forgot what I bought earlier. Lots of time I have things left over. Those I take to the collection place in a bag and they use them as fillers for boxes that may not have much in them.

The Target washcloths are nice.

Thanks rose13, I'll have to check out my Target to see if they have the washclothes you found. I did go to look at the 75% off dollar spot Thursday, but there really wasn't much left at mine. All I got was some bubble bath for my niece's x-mas stocking. They did have 1 pack left of the kids plates, but it never even crossed my mind to get them for the shoe boxes. (*hitting myself in the head*) And I'm sure they'll be gone when I go back. That's why I like to find out what things other people are finding to put in their shoe boxes, sometimes it just never dawns on me until the goodie is gone. (LOL)

I ended up NOT going to Meijer to get the washclothes. I decided against it because I could price match at WM just about everything I intended to get at Meijer (5 minute drive vs. 40 minute drive). Plus, quite often when I go to Meijer they're out of most of the sale items I went there to get anyway. And even when I get rainchecks, they often expire before I have a chance to get back up there and use them. I sure wish they'd move closer to where I live. They were going to and even purchased the land, but they decided to hold off on building because it wasn't profitable enough at the time. That was about 3yrs ago.

Anyway.... I went to WM the other night and found some things on clearance. I got a pair of boys twill Garanimals shorts for $1.50 (reg $4.50), 2 boys T-shirts for $1 each (reg $5), and 2 pair of boys cargo shorts (olive camo) for $2 each (reg $9.88). They had a whole rack of the cargo shorts, but I only got 2 pair. They're nice shorts for $2 and they were such a good price I couldn't resist, but I'm concerned because they're camo. PLMK what you all think. Do you think the olive camo cargo shorts would be considered too military or war related? Should I NOT include them in my OCC shoe boxes?

WM also had some of their cheapy .88 toys marked down to .50. They had the 2-pk of the 'Magic Grow Towelettes' (A terry cloth that's compressed into a 2" disk and expands to a 12"x16" towelette when put in water.) with colorful pictures of sea creatures on them. I figured the "fun factor" of the 'Magic Grow Towelette' might be more exciting to a child than a regular washcloth, so I got 6 packs of those (12 clothes total). But, if my Target has the nice washclothes for $2.99, I may take these back and get the Target ones. I also got three 2-pks of children's sunglasses and 6 of those small magnetic drawing boards (like Magna Doodle, but smaller and simpler). They also had the 3" rubber balls marked down to .50 (reg .88), but I already have a bunch of rubber balls that I got from Dollar General on clearance (.05 to .30 each).

Speaking of Dollar General!!! I forgot to post what I found last weekend! (sorry) I was so tired that night I meant to post the next day and forgot. If you're familiar with the stuff they had on clearance the last couple of months when it was 70% and 90% off, you MIGHT be able to find some of the items now for 1-cent! (If you have the time and are willing to hunt.) At the 1st DG store I went to I found a full-size Nerf-type football (all the way at the bottom of the ball bin), a 3" rubber ball and a couple of the Fast Wheels toys.... all 1-cent each! I also got a couple of toddler T-shirts (4T), 1 boy & 1 girl, for $1.25 each (reg $2.50 each). I was afraid the T-shirts wouldn't stick around to get marked down any further, so I bought them at 50% off.

At the 2nd DG store I HIT THE MOTHER LOAD! This particular store is generally messy and less organized than the others, so I figured I'd get lucky there. (LOL) When the items went on clearance, they should have pulled everything to be marked down and then put it in the clearance isle. But, since the employees at this particular store are more concerned about standing around and talking than actually doing their jobs, I suspected I'd find lots of stuff that got "missed" when it went on clearance. I went through half of the stationery isle (piece-by-piece) where they have the story books, stickers, coloring books, etc. and found 47 items for 1-cent each!

Including tax, I paid 50-CENTS for everything!!!

I got these magnetic play scenes (like Colorforms, except they're magnetic instead of static) for 1-cent each (reg $2) -- 2 dollhouse scenes w/mom, dad, kids, furniture etc. & 5 prehistoric scenes w/dinosaurs. I got a big/fat coloring book for 1-cent (reg $3), also............

5 ~ story books
10 ~ board story books
1 ~ pop-up story book
1 ~ lift-the-flap story book
2 ~ coloring books
6 ~ packs of prismatic/lazer stickers
2 ~ tablets of stickers (over 400 stickers each)
4 ~ 25-pc stationery sets
1 ~ memo pad
1 ~ journal
2 ~ necklace ink pens
1 ~ magnetic shopping list (for me)
2 ~ packs of poly dividers w/tabs (for me)
1 ~ 2-pk letter openers (for me)

When I was shopping for this stuff I had a general idea of what I was looking for, so I filled my cart with items I suspected were going to be 1-cent and took it to the register and had them price check everything for me. They weren't thrilled about it (LOL), but if they'd done their job and been more thorough pulling the items when they went on clearance, I wouldn't have had to do it for them. Actually, I enjoyed finding all these bargains.

If anyone else is inclined to go on a "scavenger" hunt for 1-cent items at DG, let me know and I'll post the specifics (book titles, etc.) to make it a little easier for you.



Wow! Why do my posts always look like I'm writing a novel?


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__________________
No outfit is complete without cat hairs!

~~~MsMiser

Kroger has Aquafresh toothpast for $1 this week. With coupons even cheaper or free!

I called OCC and asked them about the camo cargo shorts. They said "nix" on the camo. I bought them because they were nice shorts and such a good price. I guess camo is so common around here that it didn't cross my mind when I bought them, but afterwards I started to worry maybe it wasn't such a good idea. I guess I'll be taking them back.

Thanks slw1 , I'll have to check and see what Aquafresh coupons I have, if any. I've at least 50 bars of soap, but I still need toothpaste & toothbrushes (haven't asked the dentist yet), flute recorders (or harmonicas) and some more packs of the assorted combs. I know I've got at least 6 packs, but that was before I found all the toys and such. I'm sure I'll be filling a lot more boxes than I anticipated, so I need to get more combs. And the candy I'll get after Halloween.

Other than that, I still need boxes..... I'm having trouble finding the right size. When I ask the shoe stores they tell me they don't have any and they won't "save" them. And money's been really tight this year so we haven't even bought any shoes. I don't know what to do about the box situtation and it's starting to stress me out. The time keeps drawing closer and closer and I'm afraid I'm not going to have boxes (or at least enough) to pack my stuff in. I checked around to price some totes and found some 15/16-qt plastic storage totes at the DG for $2.50 each, which is a really good deal..... but still, I don't know if I'm going to be able to swing that. Those of you who pack 20, 50, 80+ boxes..... Where do you find that many shoe boxes?! Most years I have trouble finding just 9! HELP PLEASE! I need suggestions! I'm starting to get a knot in my stomach.

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__________________
No outfit is complete without cat hairs!

~~~MsMiser

Relax MsMiser, This summer for VBS we needed shoeboxes for a craft. I asked people in the church to bring in some empty shoeboxes and I told them the more the merrier. I got over 100 boxes! Some were way too small so I got rid of those. We used about 25 in VBS and I took the rest home. So my suggestion is to ask your church members. Or ask another church in your community. Or put out a request on Craigs List. Ask family or friends. There's lots of boxes looking for homes.

BTW, a friend emailed Samaritan's purse and found out that scissors are acceptable in the boxes. Rounded point for the children through age 9 and regular for the older children. I didn't know this, so I was happy to find out.

Every year I have been making more than the last. This year I am hoping for 60-80 boxes. Some friends have been giving me some shoeboxes already, but the majority I get from large shoe stores. There is a Bass outlet store that is so accommodating. I can usually get 10 each time I go. Then I got some from MJM which is like a shoe warehouse store. Payless said they would give me some, but I would have to go at the end of each day before they close and they would never know how many......it got to be inconvenient so I didn't get much from them. I'd say start now and ask everyone you know.

One church I work with gets the boxes, wraps them and hands them out to their congregation. And another buys all the plastic boxes from their deacons fund and gives them out.

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You gals are wonderful, you're always so helpful and inspiring.

slw1, I'm so far behind on my coupon clipping that I don't even want to talk about it. (LOL) I still need to look for Aquafresh coupons for the Kroger deal. I hope I have some because I think I may have my toothbrush shortage solved.

I've never done Walgreens Register Rewards before, but I think I'm going to try it tomorrow. I saw in their ad they have a Reach toothbrush and/or 30-yd Reach dental floss on sale for 2/$5. Right above that it says - "Buy 2 Reach products, receive $5 in Register Rewards at checkout. Good on your next in-store purchase." And, some other MC posters mentioned the Crest Pro-Health Rinse is on sale for $4.49 and you get a $4.50 Register Reward on that (sale & RR ends 9-27-08). To my understanding..... If you use the $5 RR that you got from the Reach toothbrushes to purchase more toothbrushes, then you won't get another RR. BUT! If you use it to purchase the Crest rinse (along w/another .51 or more item), you can use the $4.50 RR you get from the Crest rinse to purchase more toothbrushes. (Since the toothbrushes are 2/$5 and the RR is only $4.50, you'll have to pay the .50 diffence.) Of course you'll pay tax for these items, but they'll still be really cheap. So, basically, you just keep going back-and-forth between buying the toothbrushes and the rinse using the RRs until you have what you need.

BTW, I stopped in an out of town $1 store today and picked up another 3-pk of childrens toothbrushes (small head for the 2-4yr olds), 6 more packs of asst sized combs, and 4 baby blankets that are made out of the same material as the Vellux blankets (See blanket here.). I'm going to put the blankets in the 2-4yr olds boxes, they look big enough for a small child. If not, I'm sure someone's baby will be able to use them. They also had a 6-pk of toothbrushes at that $1 store, but the heads looked really big and it didn't say what firmness they were, so I took that to mean "hard"..... therefore I didn't get them.

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__________________
No outfit is complete without cat hairs!

~~~MsMiser