A Snail Mail Guide
January 27, 2018
Snail Mail is like THE ACTUAL BEST THING, we're blessed in this time of modern electronics and instant contact but the worn beauty of letters on paper remains so much more meaningful. It's almost like magic. The stack of worn letters each speaking their own message, encapsuling a time that you will never live again. Words that maybe someday will be found by your children and theirs, or words you will bury in your heart forever along with the paper they're on. So where does one start with Letter Writing? While I am yet a beginner, I have a few tips and tricks that will jumpstart you or add sparkles to your snail mail :) Let's jump in, shall we?
1 //
When at loss for words
Sometimes there's not much of
excitement happening in your life, or more realistically barely anything
interesting enough to even fill a page. That doesn't mean you can't write a
letter. What I like to do is search up questions or think them up. ( e.g.
"If you could live in any era what would it be?" or "What is one
of your best childhood memories?" ) I answer the questions and then ask my
friend to answer them too. Not only is this loads of fun it also builds up a
friendship and tells you things about each other you might otherwise not
know.
Other fun stuff to do include
recommending music or books and telling your friend what you thought of
them. If you are a writer, write a short story...this is an incredible
opportunity to explore that tantalizing book prompt and share your writing.
Enclose poetry or quotes.
Same hobby? You could share recipes
or recommend products ...inform of sales going on. (me and my friend love
shopping and getting deals so we're always telling each other which stores are
the jackpots :) Talk about fandom stuff or share some crazy pinterest au's.
Sometimes life is heavy on your
heart, and it's so much easier to get it out on writing than face to face. Even
though me and my best friend see each other three times a week, we bring each other
letters. There's something comforting about putting your heart out into a page
and seeing it all there, not confused by dialogue. You see a part of each other
you don't otherwise.
2 //
Embellishment
Okay, you may be able to write an incredible email but you can't doodle with ink in the corners and insert dried flowers. THAT'S WHY LETTERS ARE SO GREAT *emerges into blog with piles of printed out pictures from pinterest, metallic pens, paper bags, paint samples, flowers, washi tape & magazine cutouts*
^^ That up there, my friend is your list. Go as simple or as fancy as you'd like. If you have a polaroid camera use photos from it. If you draw well, sketch something. Print out things from pinterest or pictures you've taken lately. If you have cute stickers, use those too. Just don't go overboard and stick to a theme. To get more visual ideas, I would strongly suggest heading to pinterest and typing in "aesthetic letter ideas" or "journal ideas". Even though you aren't writing a journal, some journal tips are interchangeable with letter writing.
3 //
Because you're extra
Who doesn't love getting a little surprise along with their letters, I'd be the last to say I don't :"). Here are some great things to slip in with the letter and things you can send in a package at times.
- tea
- candy (be careful with anything that melts, reserve it for cold winters)
- very small jewelry or a token
- bookmarks
- little fandom stuff
- photos or drawings
- a book you loved, even if you find an extra copy in thrift edition it just adds to the charm (add little notes to your favorite parts for a even more personal touch)
- stickers / pins / patches
- glitter bcs seriously...GLITTER (just make sure it's well enclosed :)
- for all the daredevils and mischievous souls: a single dare on a piece of paper or a cryptic little note that's gonna lead to something or someplace
- give the letter a scent, with a gentle perfume or just enclosing flowers
I'm so sorry that this week's post was late! It was all scheduled until I realized my wifi was out all day...can we all just go back to the past? :") I mean but then I wouldn't be able to know you guys and yeah that would be an issue :P.
How are you all? How did you like the post? Talk to me! <3
Gracious words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
(Proverbs 16:24)
34 comments
I love writing letter. I didn't do social media until after I was sixteen, so before that I was an avid letter writer, writing at least two a week, sometimes way more! I love seeing others who still do it ;)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of letters, on my latest blog post I am trying to rally people together to send a card or letter to an WWII veteran who's turning 94 next month! I'm also giving away a signed copy of a book he wrote :D
Lovely post! So glad to see there are still many who write letters ;)
keturahskorner.blogspot.com
That's so cool! It's a lost art and that's a shame, I think letter writing is the best thing ever!
DeleteOops! I may be to late and I would love too but being a minor and my parents not being to comfortable with providing addresses, I'll have to decline :(
Me too! It's so nice to see who's out there along with me ;) xxx Thank you for your sweet comment.
I haven't written many letters...I did when I was younger but it was only to family. And they were rather boring...wish I had read this when I was writing them!
ReplyDeleteI loved this post, Anna!!!!
Catherine
catherinesrebellingmuse.blogspot.com
Psst Catherine!! We should start doing this!!
DeleteLilah
Honestly in the past for me it was the same. Thank you Catherine!
DeleteAND YES OMW, You should both write letters...you have no idea how much fun it is, me and my best friend do it and we have such a blast, we always enclose tiny little surprises for each other and funny doodles :)
This post has inspired me to do something different: Letters to my future descendants. Writing little entries of life and lessons I've learned and sealing them in an envelope, all the while putting them away to be passed down through generations? That would be amazing! Or maybe a journal of life and having future generations read through it. It would be amazing. And it would keep the art of writing things by hand alive because only God knows just how advanced we'll be in the future. I think people need to take a step back from technology. Technology is a great tool and I'm so happy to have met so many amazing people through it. <3
ReplyDeleteBut, we also rely on it too much, something I've learned not to do recently.
Beautiful post, as always. I love your aesthetics! They're amazing!!
~Ivie
Ivie Writes
IVIE, that's a genius idea. Whoa, I seriously need to do that. That could even possibly be formatted as a book...letters to my children/grandchildren. Right now one of my friends and I are keeping a journal where we exchange notes/tokens/fandom stuff as a friendship thing and we were contemplating what would happen if someone found it after we died. :P Writing in all forms is just the best thing ever.
DeleteAnd you are so right about technology, it really gets in the way sometimes! It can be so hard to balance the two out even though it can be a blessing. (I mean how else would I know you? that would be missing out on a lot xxx)
Thank you so much Ivie xoxo your comments are always the sweetest encouragement to me!
loved this! snail mail is awesome. and I like doodling bible verses on a separate piece of paper for people to keep, too. and decorating is one of my fav parts. USE ALL THE WASHI TAPE xD
ReplyDeletegreat post <33
sarah » the introverted extrovert
YES GIRL YES <3 <3 <3 And *high five* to another snail mail enthusiast, we need more of us in this tech world. :")
DeleteI use to have pen pals! It was so much fun, but sadly we all got busy. :/
ReplyDeleteThis reminded me of the fact I need to pick it back up again. ^_^
Aw, believe me I get the struggle. It's one or the other sometimes.
DeleteYou totally should though, it's honestly worth it <3
OMW ANNA THIS POST + THE JOURNALING POST RESONATE WITH ME SO MUCH. I started letter writing as a seven year old when my best friend moved out of town (and we are still in touch) and I have had ... like maybe ... 15 "penpals" in my whole life and LETTER WRITING IS A HUGE PART OF ME. Nowadays I email a lot more but SNAIL MAIL IS SO SO SO PRECIOUS.
ReplyDeleteAlso guess what? My most recurring dream is that I GET SOOOOO MUCH MAIL IN THE MAILBOX BUT THEN I ALWAYS WAKE UP BEFORE I GET TO READ ANY. Like what?! Whyyyy???
- lisa @ inkwell
ALSO LOOK AT THAT HEY I WAS ABLE TO LEAVE A CLICKABLE LINK! Go me!!
DeleteOk whoops don't touch that link it's not correct XD
DeleteHey, Lisa. To leave a link, you can use this (I added spacing to make sure it didn't actually leave a link. No spacing happens except at one part.)
Delete< a href = " https:// your blog address/ "> blog name < / a >
The real space only happens between a and href. Hope that helps and I wasn't too confusing. :)
OH MY GOODNESS LISA YOU ARE A TRUE VETERAN, you should make a snail mail post like SERIOUSLY. It is isn't it??? Snail mail beats email any day (minus the speed but STILL)
DeleteAnd what a mean dream!? xD What I wouldn't give to receive a pile of letters *sighs dreamily*
I LOVE SNAIL MAIL!!! Thanks for the tips! I might us them with my pen pal....
ReplyDelete<3
ME TOO!!! I'm glad this could be of use to you :))) Thank you so much for the sweet comment <3
DeleteI love letters! I have recently asked people to send them letters. It's been fun writing them! I am so glad you wrote this post now I have more letter ideas!!
ReplyDeleteSimply Me
Snail mail is sneakily coming back and I'm so glad to see that! That's wonderful Vanessa! :) I always run short on ideas and most of these sprouted from pinterest so I had to share the goldmines. xxx
DeleteThis is such an awesome idea, Anna!:) Handwritten letters can so fun to receive or send to people.
ReplyDelete-Quinley
Oh my goodness they are so much fun! And thank you so much Quinley :)
DeleteI love snail mail tooooooooo! <3 And omw, I LOVE these fantastic little tips. I shall have to incorporate them in some of my own letters!! ^.^
ReplyDeleteFabulous post, Anna!
Lila @ The Red-Hooded Writer
WOO, best snail mail buds *high fives* :) I'm glad you liked these!!! And thank you so much for reading and commenting! xox
DeleteI LOVE snail mail-it always makes my day! =) Thanks for these lovely tips, Anna!
ReplyDeleteMicaiah @ Notebooks and Novels
Same!!! Thank you for the lovely comment Micaiah :)
DeleteHi Anna... Would you be interested in swapping blog buttons with me? (Sorry that I'm asking this here - the comments section on your blog buttons page wasn't working...)
ReplyDeleteThe link to my blog button is http://towerofjoy.blogspot.com/p/button-swap.html
Absolutely I would love to! And no worries, I haven't been able to fix it yet :/ technology!
DeleteI loved these ideas, Anna! XD They're so fun. I have a couple of pen pals, and now I want to use these ideas when I write to them. :-D Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteThank you MEM! I'm glad you could benefit from these, AND YOU ALSO ARE IN THE LEAGUE *sweeps aside cloak to motion to a secret snail mail clubhouse* xD
DeleteI LOVE THIS POST.
ReplyDeleteI'm new here, but I've been reading your old posts and they're so gorgeous and aesthetically pleasing. I love your style!
This post might be my favorite thus far, though. I love, love, love snail mail and am just getting back into it - and this was so helpful and fun!
<3
Zane | Simple Impossibilities
Eep!This is such a sweet comment Zane!
DeleteI'm so glad to see someone new on my blog and A SNAIL MAIL LOVER AT THAT. I love it too! I haven't ever quite been into it until now but I love it!
I'm definitely gonna have to check out your blog even though I am so often absent from the blogosphere these days! :)
I miss having a pen pal *cries*
ReplyDeleteAw that's a bummer! :( I spend years wishing for one so does that count for understanding how you feel? :)
DeleteHi! Thank you so much for your comments, they always make my day. I allow anonymous users to comment on my blog, but any crass, profane, pointless criticism and mean comments will be deleted. Remember to check back or click notify because I reply to all of my comments!
Have a Blessed day <3