• August Snail Mail Challenge

    Make some time this August to send some amazing stuff. It will make you feel good, and your recipients will love you for it. Let’s send snail mail together! Tag your creations #tpkchallenge on Instagram so others can be inspired.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    A couple of days ago, I received the coolest letter in the mail from Albrecht Clauss. He had taken a paper fabric pattern, sewn some postage stamps on using a zigzag pattern, then put a letter inside. He then used a sewing machine to enclose the letter in the now-envelope.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    When I opened my mailbox and saw the letter, I was so excited to open it and investigate its contents — simply based on how cool the outside was. I freely admit that I am a “judge a book by its cover”-type of person.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    The letter inside didn’t disappoint, and I hope he doesn’t mind me sharing it here because I thought it was so cool:

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    After the enriching experience of interacting with Albrecht’s letter, I was reminded of how fun it is to receive snail mail. I mean, really, if you think about it, snail mail is superfluous now, which is why it’s so cool to receive it. If I want to tell you something, I could email you and you’d know what I wanted to say in two seconds. It wouldn’t take much effort on my part to send it, and it would take even less effort on your part to read it. When you send someone anything via snail mail, that person knows that you had to seek out paper, take time to write on it, scout out a stamp, and find a mailbox. Regardless of the letter’s contents, you’ve already said a lot just by making that effort.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    {The letter above was created using vintage magazines; for more information on how to make your own stationery, read my Handmade Stationery Set Tutorial.}

    I know people rant about how connected to technology we are all the time, and to an extent, I agree. I know I am being a total hypocrite because I am communicating this to you via technology, but, truly — when you write a letter, it’s a holistic experience. It’s taking real time to focus on yourself and your recipient, to be creative, communicate ideas and ask questions, to give someone you are fond of a great experience in opening and reading your letter or package.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    {Snail mail hack: tear the return addresses off of letters you have received to keep them on file for future reference!}

    That’s why I am proposing the August Snail Mail Challenge. It’s a new month; why not set a few small snail mail goals? I promise these are easily attainable, and I’ll hold you accountable on Instagram, where you can tag your snail mail creations with #tpkchallenge.

    Here’s the challenge in a nutshell, and explanations follow:

    1. Send a Short Letter or Postcard to a Friend/Family Member/Acquaintance
    2. Send a Medium to Long-Length Letter to a Friend/Family Member
    3. Send a Package to a Friend/Family Member

    The First Snail Mail Challenge: Send a Short Letter or Postcard to a Friend/Family Member/Acquaintance

    This will take you about five seconds to put together. If you have a postcard {or something that could work as a postcard} laying around, or just a 5″x7″-ish piece of paper and a small envelope, write a short note on it. It can be a “thank you” note, a “thinking about you” note, or a “sorry” note … whatever suits the situation and the recipient.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    My friend Morgan sends me postcards and short notes all the time. I love receiving them because they communicate to me that she’s thinking about me, and she took a moment to drop me a note. I prefer a postcard or short note over a text any day!

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    My personal goals in this department are to send thank-you notes to readers/friends in Italy and Qatar {sorry for the delay with the thank-you note, Gioia!}. I also want to send a nice note to an artisan friend in New Mexico.

    The Second Snail Mail Challenge: Send a Medium to Long Letter to a Friend

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    This is largely how I keep in touch with my college friends, and I can’t emphasize the benefits of this mode of communication enough. It sounds counterintuitive since, as I said, email is so quick — but when you don’t live in the same city, it can be tough to constantly think of things to talk about, so inevitably email communication fizzles out. Enter snail mail. I have two very good friends — one in Kansas and one in New York — whom I keep in touch with almost exclusively via snail mail. Because of snail mail, I can tell you at any given moment about their general life situations, and they could say the same.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    My personal goal in the second challenge is to send a long letter to a longtime friend in Denmark; we’ve fallen out of touch with written correspondence, so this challenge should help with that!

    The Third Snail Mail Challenge: Send a Package

    For some people, sending a package seems to be a daunting task. I was one of those people until I got a postal scale, which revolutionized my mailing world. To read in depth about the process of sending a package, read my Cookie Care Package Tutorial, which outlines how to send a Priority mail package for US readers.

    It’s so easy and cheap to send a first class mail package within the US. I apologize in advance if you are reading this from outside the US … because I don’t know much about sending mail from countries other than the US. But, chances are your country has a relatively seamless process for sending packages.

    My package-sending power kit includes my scale, packaging tape, and recycled padded mail envelopes {from Amazon purchases and the like}.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    I get the packaging tape at the grocery store, and the scale I purchased at a garage sale for $3.00. You can buy one on Amazon for $15.00, though, and it’s well worth the investment.

    To demonstrate how I mail packages, I am going to use an order that I received through the TPK Catalog {sorry, LeeAnn, if I’m spoiling the surprise for you!}

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    First, I weigh everything without packing it up so I can know if I have wiggle room with packaging. FYI: you can only send packages via First Class Mail if they weigh under 13 ounces. Since my ensemble only weighs 3.5 ounces, I don’t have to worry. If it were heavier, I may not wrap the package in brown paper, or make similar compromises to ensure the weight stays within the right range.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    Next, I tape the bubble mailer shut. You don’t have to use a recycled mailer, of course; you could always just buy one at the store. It’s really up to you!

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    I like to wrap all my packages in brown postal paper; I really like the clean look it gives. I also think on some level I was brainwashed into doing it by The Sound of Music from the time I was tiny … “Brown paper packages tied up in string, these are a few of my favorite things.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    Next, I weigh the package, which is a tidy four ounces.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    Now, all I do is go to Paypal’s Ship Now page, input my information/the recipient’s information, and print the label. The reason I use Paypal {versus going to the USPS website} is that USPS actually doesn’t offer a First Class Mail label printing service. You can only ship Priority/Express through their site. When you’re sending something relatively small that doesn’t have a time limit, it doesn’t make sense to pay $6.00 or more to send Priority. Furthermore, First Class Mail has tracking, and, in my experience, it gets there just as fast as Priority.

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    And that’s it! I put it all together, and it’s good to go. I just set it outside in the outgoing mailbox, and the mail person picks it up. Hopefully it’s that easy for you, too!

    Snail Mail Challenge | The Postman's Knock

    My personal goal in this challenge is to send a package of cookies to a college friend in Pennsylvania that we’ve fallen out of touch with. She loves sweets, so I’m going to include cookies, gummy bears, and maybe some Horizon organic milk packs. Nothing cultivates warm, fuzzy feelings like dessert! A word of advice, though: generally when I send food, I send Priority because there’s more of a chance the package will arrive quickly, and usually food weighs more than 13 ounces after packaging, etc.

    As you are trying to complete this challenge, if you need some guidance, you can read the topic prompts in my blog post “The Art of Snail Mail“. I hope you find these August goals inspiring … and your recipients will love your efforts in completing the challenge! Remember, if you have Instagram, tag your creations #tpkchallenge so others can be motivated by your efforts. Happy August, and happy snail-mailing!

    XO,

    Lindsey's Signature | The Postman's Knock