The holiday season is just about in full swing. Most people are making their lists for what they need to get for the holidays, from gifts to holiday decor.
Personally I try and avoid stores, and most especially the mall, this time of year. I will go to the mall to stroll around and look at the decorations but I won’t do any shopping. The idea of standing on never ending lines does not appeal to me. I know I’m missing out on some great sales but I have yet to want or need something THAT BAD where I had to stand on line at 2:00 AM to get it for a good price.
I prefer to do most of my holiday shopping from the comfort of my own home. I much rather sit at my computer in my fuzzy bunny slippers (yes, I do have a pair), sipping coffee or hot cocoa, and surfing the ‘net to find what I am looking for. Many online shops offer free shipping and great deals so I don’t feel like I’m missing out not shopping at the mall.
Wouldn’t it be nice to not only do most of your holiday shopping online, but also help your local school earn money at the same time? Talk about a win-win situation.
In the past I have written about the importance of collecting Box Tops for Education. I am sure most people have seen them on products that they have purchased. Box Tops are found on a variety of products from Cheerios to Ziploc and from Green Giant to Betty Crocker. Take a moment and look through your pantry or fridge. I’m sure you will come across some Box Tops.
For a more detailed description of the Box Tops for Education program you can check out a post I did about it by clicking on this link, https://www.shescribes.com/2011/04/box-tops-for-education-its-more-then-just-a-piece-of-paper-giveaway.html. PLEASE NOTE that the giveaway appearing in this post is over.
Most people are familiar with clipping the Box Tops for Education labels off products and sending them into school with their child, but did you know you can earn Box Tops simply by shopping online?
Box Tops for Education has an online marketplace where your purchases are translated into Box Tops for your school. Shopping at the market place is easy and you don’t have to do anything more then simply shop. There is nothing to cut out, no forms to submit, simply shop like you normally do.
You will first need to have an account with Box Tops for Education. Signing up is free and you won’t get spammed but unwanted correspondence. You need to have an account so Box Tops for Education knows what school will benefit from your online shopping.
Once you have your account set up you can start shopping. You will need to visit the Box Tops for Education website first. Once you are there you will click on the “Earn” tab on the top task bar. Scroll to where is says “Shop Marketplace” and click. On the Marketplace page you can find all participating websites, websites that have special double Box Tops offers and more.
Some people might be under the impression that the stores featured in the Box Tops for Education Marketplace are places most people wouldn’t normally shop at. That is not the case at all. The Box Tops for Education Marketplace feature popular online destinations including…
– Walmart
– Victoria’s Secret
– JCPenney
– Ugg
– Children’s Place
– Walgreens
– Target
– Sephora
– Sears
– PetSmart
– Old Navy
– Kmart
– iTunes
– Avon
And many, many more. You will also find some lesser known online shops who carry some amazing products including I See Me, Game Fly, Fragrance.net, Cherry Moon Farms and the Giant Party Store.
In order to have your purchases count towards the Box Tops you will need to enter the websites through the Box Tops for Education Marketplace page. When you are on the Marketplace page you simply click on the retailer you wish to shop at and Box Tops for Education will forward you to their website. It’s THAT easy!
The Box Tops credits you earn range from .5 (half of a Box Top) to 25 Box Tops (or you can say “virtual Box Tops”) for every $10.00 you purchase. Take for example the Popcorn Factory. You earn 5 Box Tops for every $10 you spend online in their store (does not include tax or shipping). If you spend $30.00 your school will earn 15 Box Tops (5 Box Tops for every $10 spent). If you shop at Sears (2 Box Tops per $10 spent) and spend $100.00 your school will earn 20 Box Tops.
Each Box Top is worth .10 cents. That might not sound like a lot but if you do your regular online shopping through the Box Tops for Education Marketplace, and continue to clip the Box Tops off products you buy, they will really add up. If most of the families from your school did the same thing your school could earn hundreds, if not thousands of dollars each year through the program.
I have already started my holiday shopping using the Box Tops for Education Marketplace. I’ve purchased many things ranging from music to gifts.
One Marketplace store I shopped at was Current. They carry a lot of wonderful stationary products. They also offer gifts and decor too.
From Current I purchased a Snoopy Holiday Clock and an adorable “Welcome” mat. I bought these for friend’s of ours who just got married and moved into a new house. They don’t have many holiday decorations yet and I thought these would make a great gift. The clock plays one of twelve different holiday tunes at the top of every hour.
From the Current website I also purchased a beautiful fleece throw blanket as a gift for a family member. I wish the picture was better. It’s beautiful.
I also picked up some things for my home including snowflake window clings (they were buy one get one free on the Current site) and a fun Christmas Tree magnet set for our fridge. It’s cute. I’m tempted to put it on my fridge now.
I was thinking about picking up some holiday cards too but I’m still not sure if I want to go with traditional cards or photos cards.
I had fun shopping for holiday decoration at the Giant Party Shop, also a Box Tops for Eduction Marketplace retailer. I have never heard of the store before. They have some really fun and very inexpensive decorations for all occasions.
Here are a few of the goodies I picked up. I’m sorry I don’t have the actual photos. My order has not arrived yet.
The items pictured above are cardboard cut outs, I am going to hang the snowflakes from the door frames. The tree is for my kid’s room. They want a Christmas Tree (I’m figuring they need a 4′ – 5′ tree) but Christmas Trees are too expensive. I thought a giant Christmas Tree cut out on the wall would be a nice alternative.
I am going to put the life size Santa cut out in the sliding glass window to make it look like Santa is waving to everyone outside. The Santa sled is going in the bathroom. We just redid the bathroom and the walls are currently empty. I thought this large cut out decoration would look nice in there.
Also from the Giant Party Shop I picked up these huge fake windows (plastic) to put in the kid’s room. These are 5 feet long! Wow!
My son loves snow and the Winter. I thought for the holiday season I could put the Christmas one over the TV to make it look like they are looking out a window. After Christmas I’ll swap it for the Winter scene.
Of course the holidays would not be complete without some holiday music. From Drugstore.com I purchased two 4-disc Christmas music sets. They have not arrived yet so I have to use a stock photo.
I also did some shopping Oriental Trading, also a Marketplace member. I know a lot of teacher’s who shop at Oriental Trading for classroom accessories, prizes for the students, stationary and more. It seems only fitting that a teacher shop online at Oriental Trading through the Box Tops for Education Marketplace so they could help their school too.
I actually found two gifts for my son on the Oriental Trading website. He LOVES weather. He wants to put on his own weather forecast show. I found a weather related bulletin board set from Oriental Trading that will be perfect for him. I’ll buy him a cork board too so he can put today’s weather (or this week’s weather) on the board.
I also found a weather map with reusable/repositionable weather stickers that he might enjoy.
For something fun for my kids I picked up pre-cut paper strips so they can make the Christmas countdown paper chain. Each day the kids pull a link off the chain so they can visually see how long until Christmas. My kids used to love to do this when they were younger. Now that they are older they don’t necessarily get as excited about the chain but it has become a tradition so they like to make one each year. Instead of cutting out the strips of paper I thought buying pre-made strips would be easier.
I’m still not done shopping through the Marketplace. I have my eye on some yummy holiday cookies on the Walgreen’s website and I’d like to get some holiday outfits for our Build-a-Bears off the Build-a-Bear website through the Marketplace. I am also thinking about checking out Sears, Kohls or Macy’s for a holiday outfit for myself.
So far I have earned a total of 47 Box Tops for my son’s school. That translates into $4.70 for his school. Think about how much money could be raised if every family shopped through the Marketplace. If 10 people could earn a similar amount of virtual Box Tops, $47.00 would be raised for the school. Imagine how many virtual Box Tops could be earned if 100 people could shop through the Marketplace and earn a similar amount of Box Tops. Most schools have hundreds of students so earning Box Tops, both virtually through the Marketplace and by clipping them off package, should be easy.
With so many stores found in the Box Tops for Education Market place I can get all my holiday shopping done, from gifts to decor and from yummy treats to entertainment. Knowing that my son’s school is going to benefit from my shopping it only makes perfect sense to do all my online shopping through the Marketplace. The Marketplace is available year round too, including the summer when school is not in session.
Be sure to check out double Box Top offers too. Sometimes Marketplace retailers will double your Box Tops earnings. You can also find special sales and discounts on the Marketplace page too.
To learn more about Box Tops for Education or their Marketplace please visit www.BoxTops4Education.com. You can also “like” them on Facebook, www.Facebook.com/BoxTopsForEducation.com and on Twitter, www.Twitter.com/BTFE.
Kimberly
*I received gifts cards to shop at the Marketplace in order to do this review. There was no other compensation. The opinions expressed are my own.
courtney says
wow sounds like i need to start with box tops! what a great detailed post.. thanks for the info!
MitchRodriquez says
I love the paper cut strips and that is a very cool way of having kids enjoy Christmas. Even as an adult I will be very happy to work this with my daughter. She sure will love this.
KL says
I signed up and shopped through the boxtop website at Oriental Trading. How do I get the box tops? Are they emailed to me or do they automatically go to the school? I haven’t received anything yet.
Julie L says
Our school has benefited greatly from this program! Thanks for highlighting it and encouraging your readers to use it.
Matt Ferrell says
Daily tweet #2:
http://twitter.com/#!/Matt_Ferrell/status/135486621721169920
animasou @ comcast . net