Have you ever read Flat Stanley?

Flat Stanley is an adorable book about a little boy named (you guessed it), Stanley, who has a bulletin board fall on him (it's above his bed) and he wakes up flat. The cool thing about being flat is that he gets to visit a friend far away by being sent in the mail. Actually, many editions of Flat Stanley come with a rip out postcard of Stanley so you can send him in the mail too.

Why do I bring up Stanley? First, because it is an awesome book! Second, because there are a lot of cool flat things that you can send in the mail that will make someone's day! Just a little added something to an already great gesture (handwritten letter) - doesn't need to cost a lot or anything at all. Here are some cool ideas and some of my faves.

Flat stuff

• photos, postcards, hand-drawn pictures/doodles/cartoons.

• cartoons (from the newspaper or Internet) I like Savage Chickens: cartoons on sticky notes by Dan Savage.
• an article that is interesting or funny or totally relevant to someone's life (a great way to get more use out of that magazine you bought too - recycle/reuse).
• a favourite recipe - you can even get special notecards for this but just the thought of sending off a tried and true fave recipe is so great!
• stickers, temporary tattoos, rub-on transfers.
• coupons you can't use but know someone else who can (or just leave them on the shelf, in the store, by the product - how nice is that!).
• iron ons.
• a perfume sample (from a magazine) of someone's favourite scent.

Bumpier but still relatively flat (warning some of these may cost extra for postage)

• a favourite tea bag (love Good Earth for its spiciness and no caffeine, Lady Grey and Earl Grey - such a lovely couple).
• zines (available in cool bookstores like Powell's and on the 'net) I like Stolen Sharpie Revolution 2 and The Super Cat Crazy Dance.
• a few fun shaped sticky notes from your pad (hearts, stars, apples, whatever).
• a single serving drink mix - hot or cold depending on the season.
• origami or how-to instructions with a couple pieces of cool paper.
• soap leaves.
• facial masks or bubble bath in those little squishy envelopes at the drugstore.

Go stuff some envelopes :) and if you have additional ideas throw them in the comments attached to this post.

Mail alert:  3 x local (Surrey), 1 x out of province (Ontario), 1 x USA (Iowa), and 1 x international (Norway).
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Artists on the loose!

This past weekend I went away with my husband's family for a little ski

getaway and in between skiing and skating and tubing I commissioned three artists (my nieces - 5, 7, and 8) to work on some envelopes for me. This is a great way to make your envelopes stand out and if you have your own children give them licence to colour the mail. Or let your own creative juices spill out onto the page and doodle away - how fun for the postal workers! You could even give them a little shout out, "Hello, mailperson - you are doing an awesome job! Thank you for helping this letter get from A to B." A great way to make someone's day :) 

Just a short one to say - get the crayons out!

I think my sister-in-law, Jenna (a.k.a. Mom of above artists), did this one. Love it!







On a side note: Every Christmas I put a Christmas card in my mailbox, addressed "mailcarrier" that thanks them for delivering all of my mail and I slip in a $5. Starbucks card :) It's the little things.

Two local thank you notes (Delta, Surrey)
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Envelopes are exciting too!

I don't think envelopes get the credit they deserve. And quite frankly, letters without envelopes are just words in the wind or maybe, notes passed in class. Do kids still do this? Pass notes in class? I remember this fondly. But now it happens very rarely since the introduction of texting - notes are so passe and slow. Funny though I met with some friends from high school last month and one of the girls mentioned she has all of her notes from back then. The excitement it created was great - the other girls wanted to see them - nostalgia is such a temptress.

But really, think about all those old movies, or movies set in old times, (specifically war movies) - there is always someone who has a stack of tattered and worn envelopes wrapped in twine or occasionally ribbon that they have saved. The letters were simply too meaningful to part with.

So envelopes - they hold dearly our important words. They are also the first sign that something special has arrived! I went to the mailbox yesterday and found the most glorious green envelope. There were three other envelopes in there (two white, one brown) and it shined in stark contrast to their drabness. I bought a Valentine's Day card for my husband from a great little shop on Etsy called Lavish from Seattle, Washington. The seller sent it in the lovliest green envelope -what a treat! The card I bought is super cool too (Ryan don't look). She has some other really cool Valentine's Day cards in her shop (check it out). I have to compliment her on her writing on the envelope as well - so beautiful.

Of course I am already thinking about Valentine's Day (the holiday of love and cards, or is it love of cards?). The Lavish one is probably one of a couple cards I will give my husband - I can never quite pick out just one. There is a robot one coming soon :) But back to envelopes - they can say a lot. I love sending coloured ones - you can pick up bundles at your local chain card stores for a few dollars. I think after season they clear out what they have - I've picked up some great yellow, orange, pink, and red ones in the last year (usually bundles of 25). They really do make your mail POP!

A few other ideas to try: rubber stamps or even potato stamps, doodling, old school airmail envelopes (love these), fun postage stamps, custom address labels, and stickers.

If you have checked out my Etsy store, Paper Route, you know that I make envelopes too. I love to work with maps, sheet music, and used children's books. But anything that is bound for the recycling bin - magazine pages, dictionary pages, old posters, wrapping paper, and so on. It's easy to make a template - I'll write about this soon.

Mail is enroute to Kelowna (1), Ontario (1) and Norway (1).

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