Happy Mail For A PenPal! - #SendALetterDay

I was trying to think of something more 'interesting' for this hashtag, but figured that actually sharing some happy mail I'm sending along with a few of my personal tips when it comes to sending mail, might be helpful.

I've been out of the routine of sending letters to my penpals for a while now. My journals took over at one point and when MyGreenCow became my full time job I had to focus my time into other creative hobbies that I found myself being more motivated about. I basically had too many creative hobbies, and not enough time to do them all!

But I'm slowly getting back in the groove of things with happy mail, and I have missed it a lot. Saying that, the past couple of months I have been a little MIA from my penpals with everything that's been going on. But I am getting there, and I'm excited!

I wanted to share this not so 'super fancy' piece of happy mail. As much as I love sending out a flip book or something that I've spent a while creating, I do love putting together a simple but fun piece of mail. 

My go to for this is just the letter, and a little pocket of goodies. It doesn't have to be super decorated and packed full of things. I do my best to keep my letters to the 'letter' sizing that Royal Mail have, not just to keep costs down, but it also restricts me from going too over the top on decoration etc.

The little pocket of goodies tends to include some fun bits and pieces from my stash. In this one there is a few pieces of ephemera, some sticky notes and some mini envelopes. Sometimes I don't include a whole pocket of things, I might just pop a few flat pieces inside the letter. I think for things like goodies, you just have to talk to your penpal and see if they are wanting to do lots of goody swapping, or if they would prefer to focus on the letter writing. 

Personally I like shorter letters (1 or 2 pages) and a couple of goodies, with both sending and receiving. I don't have the time to sit and reply to a letter for hours on end, I'd prefer to be able to write a reply to someone in half an hour or so. 

There's no right or wrong length to a letter, just make sure you and your penpal are on the same page.

Envelope decorating is probably one of my favourite parts of creating happy mail. I think it's because I know that this part of the letter will put a smile on any postal workers faces too (well I like to hope!).

With all the bland, beige envelopes passing through the system everyday, I feel like it's nice to just make a little effort on the outside to break up all the blandness. 

You do have to be considerate of placement of stickers etc. Make sure you leave some space for the address label, the stamps and if you're sending it abroad then an airmail sticker and sometimes a customs form. 

One of my personal must have tools for happy mail is a set of weighing scales and one of these postage rulers! I have used this thing so much since I've had it. It's handy to be somewhat prepared for how much things will cost to send, before I get to the post office. 

I sometimes buy stamps in advance, and use the online postage calculator Royal Mail have. That way I don't have to go to the post office to buy stamps and send things, I can just pop them in my nearest post box.

You can find these rulers for about £5 on ebay if you search 'postage ruler'.

The ruler I have has two slots, one for the 'Letter' size and one for the 'Large Letter' sizing (I'm not sure if there's something similar for those of you who aren't in the UK).

Do you sending happy mail?

- Daisy X

*Please note, no products featured were sent to me for the purpose of this blogpost.

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