Looking for opportunities to send a RAK (a random act of kindness) via snail happy mail? Below are listed some ideas for you. I get as much pleasure sending a card as receiving one and it doesn't matter to me whether I send or receive a card that's a commercially made or a handmade one, as it is the thought that counts, right?
For instance, I make cards and have had some designs published, but if I'm shopping at our local Dollar Tree, where cards are sold for 50 cents and I see a design I like, I'm liable to send a few of those out too.
- Are you catching events like anniversaries, baby and bridal showers, birthday, get well, graduation, holidays, sympathy, and weddings for your friends and family? Write the event down in your planner or on your calendar to help you remember to send them a card or letter.
- Contact your favorite card or craft magazine and ask them if they have the address of a charity to donate cards to. Or ask your favorite rubber stamp company if they know of one. Here are two called Letters of Love for the Elderly or Operation Christmas Cards for Our Troops .
- Send firefighters, your mayor and city council, police officers, or a soldier a thank you card for their service.
- Send a letter to 12 people this year, one a month. Tell them you are grateful for the positive influence they have had on your life and be sure to tell them what it was. I once sent a card to a former teacher who I heard had been diagnosed with cancer. She wasn't one of my favorite teachers nor was I her student pet, but she did teach me how to type and I thanked her for teaching me that skill, for I am using it today as I type this post.
- Mail a sunny physical card via snail mail to a neighbor on the right and to the left of your residence.
- If you are listed in a church or club organization directory, send a card to the people just above and below your name and address.
- I once had the ladies in our church shower my mother with cards the day her birthday fell on a Sunday.
- Send a card to a secret sister or pal or send a handwritten paper letter to a pen-pal.
- Send a decorated recipe index card to a friend's collection of recipes. Make it extra special by catering it to their dietary needs.
- Surprise your boss and send a card to them. (or send one to a co-worker). Praise them for a job well done! As the saying goes, catch them doing good!
- A friend donates small cards to her local meal-on-wheels and nursing home.
- Address a local picture postcard (or tourist brochure) to "You," slip it into a slightly larger food zipper baggie and tie or duct-tape it to a brightly colored helium-filled balloon. If you wish for a reply, slip a business card inside baggie with a post office box return mailing address. Pray over your happy mail and send it on its way by letting it fly away.
- Send a note-a-day of love to a friend who has just moved away for 30 days. I once did this for my BFF. She was a military wife and mother to several small children at the time. She said all those wonderful cards delighted her as she received them daily in the mail and she felt loved and less alone as she gazed on them scattered around her new home several states away.
- Have a shoebox party (no. 2) and designate all or half the postcards made and signed to send to a city mission for the homeless or missionaries your church supports. Have the party attendees donate postage stamps along with their shoeboxes.
- Send a thank you card to your custodian or maid service, daycare providers, dentist, doctor, dog groomer, hairdresser, your mail carrier, a nurse, your pastor, your Sunday School teacher and so on for their care of you.
- Surprise a friend or family member and subscribe to an old-fashioned magazine for them. My sweet husband subscribed to the Country Sampler Farmhouse Magazine for me last year. I didn't know he had done so until I received the first issue. Then if you like the magazine, send a Letter to the Editor and include several of your favorite local shopping stores or mail-order catalogs in your town. I have had several of those published in various magazines over the years.
- A former pastor of ours had a signing party at church. Once a month, in place of a regular Sunday evening service, we gathered around tables in the fellowship hall instead of in the sanctuary. He brought a list of names/addresses, boxes of cards, pens and postage stamps; we brought snacks, and we signed and sealed cards to mail out to birthdays of the month, members who missed services, missionary links, shut-in's, visitors and anybody else that pastor believed needed some cheer that evening.
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Any of the posts labeled "Card" here on my blog will give some ideas of card design, but I also have some favorite posts that accompanies this snail mail idea list, such as:
19. A Christmas Card Exchange idea
20. Card Storage
21. A Doodled Zine
22. Need some Sentiments for Cards? Here's some "Farm Animal Sayings for ATC's, Art Journaling Pages, Cards, and Scrapbooks"
23. Or would you rather use a poem? I've got lots here at Splitcoast Stampers website in a forum thread called "Need a Poem?."
24. We are a former homeschooling family. I created a unit study about the mail service for our son and along with it, he did a community service project at the same time. Here's the Paper Postcard Unit Study.
25. Quick Cards Designs
26. Tips on How to Watercolor the Art Impressions Way
29. I have a Happy Mail Playlist at YouTube. It contains videos of snail mail that I have sent to friends on YouTube. I enjoy making my friends happy and delight in watching their appreciation and joy for the goodies. There are general hashtags on YouTube for happy mail also, such as this one -- #happymail
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Not every card or letter will need inserts, but if you would like to add something extra special to one, here are several ideas for those.
1. For instance, we know of a young single mom who was in a serious car accident last year. Her grandmother asked that we insert Walmart Gift Cards into our Get-Well cards.
2. I taught toddler and primary Sunday School for several years. I sent coloring cards to my students about once a month to once a quarter. My kids were tickled to receive happy mail sent to them in care of their parents and sometimes I inserted small gifts such as artist trading cards, commercially printed Bible scripture trading cards, bookmarks, coloring sheets, coupons for food treats, church business card magnets, SS class photos, seed packets, sticks of gum, etc.
3. A nice monetary tip (15% of your total bill is customary) for your waiter or waitress.
I invite you to add any ideas that I haven't thought of as yet in the comments below. As the Bible says, it is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35). Grace and Peace to You!
