Mailbox Monday

So some super awesome people got my kids this super awesome mailbox for their birthdays (4 days apart...and 3 years too). Thank you Auntie Harmony, Uncle Dylan, Cohen & Everleigh!

Gift for Mom and kids - yep!

Wooden mailbox, letters and stamps
(that stick on with velcro).

Super Rad!

Have a great week everyone!

Mailbo[ok]x Monday

Books are good.

So I had completely forgotten about this book from my childhood and happened across it a few days ago in one of my favourite places (oh you know where) and thought I would share it with you for Mailbox Monday! It was a little trip down memory lane for me as I browsed through its pages. An old favourite is a great gift to give someone in person or in the mail.

Have a wonderful week!

A Little Reading Material...

Back in November I posted Snow Mail where I mentioned that I was "hand" making Christmas presents for my nieces (aged 12, 11 and 9) but it was top secret because it was before Christmas (clearly). So I thought I would take today's post to share what I made for them. My nieces like to read before bed and I wanted to "make" books for them to read before bed that was personalized for them. And then I thought they could trade after they had read their own.

I started with three journals. I first thought of the idea in January but didn't get started until September. My goal was to fill the whole book but I probably ended up doing about 50 pages (next time I will start earlier - which is why I am posting this now in case anyone else wants to give it a go).

Three Awesome Journals for Three Awesome Nieces!

I filled them with magazine articles, jokes, craft instructions, inspiring quotations, favourite photos, interesting facts, How to's, poems, comics, top 10 lists...all things I could have potentially sent them in the mail too. And all short, bite-sized bits so they could pick up and put down at their leisure. I did a lot of reusing and recycling - going through old magazines and catalogues & picking up more at my local thrift shop.

A few sample pages.

I even wrote each of these sweet girls a poem.

I had my husband draw a comic - his go to is always a skeleton (he says it is the one thing he can draw). He picked a sport each girl is involved in.

Soccer.

Gymnastics.

Swimming.

I also "spelled out" their names. Here is an example of one. 

J-A-Y-L-E-N

And while I wish I could have filled every single page (I just ran out of time), I'm not sure the journals would have been able to close if I had.

I'm happy to report that they loved them. The next day after Christmas they flew to India for 2.5 weeks so this turned into something they could read on the plane or during a layover. I know they liked them because when I went over to see them the other day my oldest niece asked if I could fill in the rest (aw that felt so good!). 

I'm thinking I'll do something similar (but start now) for next Christmas but this time I will do more of an interactive book with areas for them to fill out and things for them to do and so on. Right now I'm brainstorming and thinking word puzzles, journal entry type questions, scavenger hunts... I did something like this for my husband when he decided to go on a trip to Europe for the summer after we'd been dating for a short 4 months. He still has it.

He used the second half
as a journal for his trip.

A Sampling...

Lots of ideas if you want to start your own or if you want to just send a few things in the mail to friends. You could even start a journal and send it back and forth to each other - each filling in a few pages at a time (of writing, photos, or bits like I put in the books for my nieces). What fun!

707/1000 25 pieces of "heart" mail this week...and just like that I broke 700!

Advent Calendar Monday

This is the advent calendar I'll be filling this year - I'm absolutely in love with it! My husband bought it for me about six years ago. I just pulled it out and both my kids were super excited to check it out.

Christmas 2012

Here are some ideas for filling advent calendars if you are doing something other than good deeds or activities (of course, you could always do a combo of things too):

Kids:

candy bracelet/necklace - Hershey's kisses/Werthers - bite size chocolate bars - hot chocolate envelope - lollipop - Kinder Egg (not in the US) - whistle - harmonica - stickers - fun socks - fun shoelaces - Yo-Yo - Slinky - crayons - spinning top - earrings - fake tattoos - flexible headbands - mittens/gloves - erasers -  bouncy balls - little notebooks - lip balm - hair clips - knock, knock jokes - a candy cane - bubbles - cars - toothbrush (my daughter loves getting a new one) - a coin each day - stickers - lego pieces or mini-figs - puzzle pieces (we do this too with a magnetic Nativity puzzle - one piece a day & it goes on the fridge or inside of front door) - Tic Tacs - dot to dot page or colouring page - single serve Nutella package - a craft to make - a handmade coupon (movie of your choice tonight or choose a game to play) - ornament for the tree - scripture - treasure map - a coupon for a "coffee" date  (okay, maybe a hot chocolate date)

Look at these sweet,

Adults:

single serve coffee, tea, hot chocolate or cool drink - fun socks - Starbucks gift card (or other coffee/tea cafe of choice) - scratch and win or lottery ticket - bath salts - bubble bath - perfume/cologne samples - ice creamery gift card -  lip balm - earrings (jewellery) - sticky notes - tree ornament - chocolate - candy - Tic Tacs - nail polish - candle - car air freshener - travel size lotion - gum - mints - diamonds (lol, just checking to see if you are reading them all) - postage stamps (or is that just me?) - cool fridge magnet - a note that says something you love about them (actually that would be lovely everyday - forget all the other stuff just fill with love notes!).

sweet details!

One more Advent Calendar Monday to follow this one and then back to Mailbox Monday once December starts (and one by one those little doors open!).

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).
30/1000