Good old fashioned snail mail has always been a favorite of mine, ever since I had pen pals (thanks to American Girl, throwback!) in elementary school. I’ve also always loved stationary, making things for people (as you can tell by Stick & Stone Co.), and I especially looove doing cool things for my friends!
That being said, when I heard what rough weeks my two girlfriends back in the Northwest were having after talking to them last week, I really wanted to do something to cheer them up and take their minds off the stressful things they were going through. Normally I’d say hey let’s go out for dinner or drinks or have a girls night in, but since I now live 1200 miles south of them, snail mail would have to suffice <3
– H A P P Y M A I L D I Y –
how to put together a sweet surprise package!
H O W T O C R E A T E Y O U R O W N H A P P Y M A I L P A C K A G E:
1. THEME IT UP
First you need to figure out what kind of happy mail package you’re going to send. Is it for a birthday? To cheer someone up? To say I MISS YOU to a long distance friend? Just because? Pick your theme and then shop for items accordingly.
>> My theme for these two packages was to encourage and cheer up my two girlfriends (one of them has been helping her mom through chemo while working full time, the other has been stressed out with the amount of weddings she’s helping plan as well as plain ol’ needs a break from life.)
2. BUY CUTE AND SMALL ITEMS THAT WONT COST A FORTUNE TO SHIP
I bought things that I thought would help pamper, encourage, pretty-up, and cheer up my friends. Now you don’t need to BUY everything if you don’t have the money, you can always make stuff! Here’s what I sent out:
>> a sweet personal note from me to them > I hunted Pinterest for lovely words of wisdom that were relevant to each of their situations, printed them out, pasted them on pretty scrapbook paper, and kept them together with a paperclip I bent into a heart
>> hair ties from Anthropologie to a hand stamped name tag (similar ties here)
>> two gold foil girl drink pencils that I bought in a pack as part of a giveaway Stick & Stone Co. did last month for my birthday
>> a prayer I wrote for both girls on cute scalloped oval paper
>> I bought my favorite brand of tea (English Tea Shop) because you can never go wrong with cozying up to a hot cup of tea after a dumb day
>> a 4-pack of mini moscato bottles to send to Katie (I sent her two, and kept two for myself LOL)
>> the heavenliest smelling body lotion from the body shop for Lakinn
>> two journals I found at Marshalls that had fun quotes on the covers
>> two sweet sleeping masks that say LOVE and DREAM, in pink and green
3. THINK ABOUT THEIR PERSONALITY
>> For Katie, I asked her last week if she could have anything, what would it be in list form. And she said: “a boyfriend, a break, a better bank balance, a tattoo, a massage, some chocolate, a smaller waistline, and a night out where some cute boys will buy me some drinks.” I died haha!
PREACH IT GIRL.
>> Since I couldn’t take her out for drinks myself, I decided to mail Katie’s favorite wine to her instead! If you’re not sure what exactly to mail your friend according to what they might “need” then just ask what they could use and go from that list. And be creative! 🙂 That’s the fun part. An even more fun part is making sure your friends don’t know you’re sending them anything! I kept it a secret from my friends because surprises are more fun than not surprises.
>> For wrapping the bottles, I folded them up in sheets of tissue paper and tied the ends to make it look like candy
>> In Lakinn’s package I included a stamped penny that I got from Disneyland, because she works at the Disney store and is pretty much the biggest Disney fan I know. She really wants to work at DIsneyland, but says this isn’t the right time in her life since she needs to be with her family to support her mom’s chemo recovery. Even though my penny gift is small, I know it will mean a lot to her <3
4. ADD A PERSONAL TOUCH, TOO.
I added a sweet prayer for the girls, to encourage them and remind them that even in the midst of the worst storms God is always with them. I also wrote a note to each friend, and color coordinated their boxes too: Katie’s package was pinks/blues/yellows, and Lakinn’s was blues/yellows/greens.
>> Here are the cards I printed and pasted together, and kept tidy with paper clip hearts:
5. TISSUE PAPER AND STRING AND BUNTING OH MY
If there’s another thing I love, it’s FUN tissue paper and packaging! I love this vintage floral tissue, and the gold polka dot one is one that I use constantly to mail out my tassels in. I also added a cute DIY bunting so that when they open their package, it sits across the top! I took mini garland rope that I found at Michaels, cut out mini flags from colored tape, and folded them over the garland. Easy!
7. SEAL IT WITH BRIGHT PACKING TAPE SO IT STANDS OUT
I had this cool roll of polka dot packing tape left over that I had used for when I moved to Washington a couple years ago, so I used it to seal up their packages instead of boring clear tape. This says FUN before they even open them!
>> I also printed out cute shipping labels I designed using cute fonts, but I forgot to take a picture of them oops.
THATS IT!
>> Have you ever made a happy mail package for someone? If so, tell me about it in the comments! I hope this DIY gave you some inspiration to mail your own sweet surprise package to someone who could use it 🙂 <3 While I haven’t personally made a happy mail package, I can still offer some creative ideas for sending thoughtful surprise packages to your loved ones. Additionally, for those looking to streamline the packaging process for bulk orders, exploring machinery like ELITER Packaging Machinery can be a helpful solution. This equipment is designed to efficiently package items, making it easier to create and send multiple sweet surprise packages with a professional touch. It’s a practical option for those who want to spread joy through heartfelt mail.
Leave a comment