Since having kids, Easter is my favorite holiday. I love all the secrets surrounding Easter — who doesn’t love secrets?? The hiding of the eggs, the finding of the eggs, the mystique of The Basket. In our family we like to do a treasure map for each of the special Easter prizes. I tea-stain the paper and burn the edges to make it look old, then draw the map with familiar landmarks so my oldest son can find his. (My youngest is still too little and would sooner eat the map than read it.) I love making the secrets for my son and he loves discovering them.

Today’s challenge is all about secret notes. Who in your life could benefit from a little surprise or two? Or make it more than one person! Put notes in the kids’ lunchbox or backpacks. Slip a note in your spouse’s pocket. Put a note in a favored colleague’s desk drawer.

Whoever gets it and wherever it ends up getting hidden, make sure the note is light, playful and fun. (Important safety tip: if it’s a naughty note to a Significant Other, be sure it won’t be found by someone else!) You can even do a series of notes over a few days. Or start a new tradition of doing a secret note on the same day every week. Make it an inspirational quote, a made-up fortune or just a “good job” note.

If you’re feeling particularly ambitious you can do a scavenger hunt type note. The first note will tell them where to find the second note and so on until they get to the last hidden note. Another variation is the encrypted note. If your recipient isn’t a cryptographer, be sure to hide the encryption key where they can also find that!

Have fun with this one! Post back and tell me what kind of cleverness you got into!

Tags: challenge, letter writing, letters, mystery mail, scavenger hunt, secret notes

This is how geeky I am. I nearly hopped out of my seat squealing “woo woo woo!” when they had a segment on Good Morning America about gifts you can give people for Christmas if you’re having hard economic times. One of the ideas was writing a letter.

Mellody Hobson mentioned in the segment that she got the idea from Oprah who said that one of the greatest gifts one person can give another is a letter. She also mentioned that once when asked what Oprah would be getting Denzel Washington for Christmas, she said she would be writing him a letter!

So, it’s never been an easier time to simulate the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Forget high fashion, forget upscale homes and cars. Just write a letter!

(Just FYI, the summary of the segment that I have linked to is not nearly as good as the video. She elaborated much more on the letter writing. I’m sorry I couldn’t find a video version of it.)

Tags: denzel washington, gift, gift idea, good morning america, letter writing, letters, mellody hobson, News, oprah, oprah winfrey

I have a confession. I’m not a big fan of holiday mail. You’d think being passionate about mail would make me thrilled with any kind of mail, but I’m just not. Most holiday mail feels too obligatory, too forced.

The amount of mail I get between January and October is a fraction of what I get during the holidays. I get mail from people I barely know. I get mail from friends who never write me. I get mail from business associates. Mostly they are cards with a pre-printed message and a signature. Sometimes I get cards with NO signature! I get the impression that people are sending cards because that’s what people should do during the holidays.

Well, I say “Bah humbug!” I say it vehemently, fervently, passionately, strenuously, and well… repeatedly. I say it not because I want to be a big Christmas killjoy, but rather I want to radically reform holiday mail. If you love sending out holiday cards, please do it! But do it in a way that is meaningful, thoughtful. Don’t do it because it’s an obligation you must discharge. Honestly, nobody is fooled.

There is a solution to make your holiday mail memorable and extraordinary once again. All you have to do is make it personal.

First of all, let’s review your Christmas list. Start by dividing it into three sections. In one column put those you genuinely care for and want to be in touch with. In a second column put people you need to send holiday cards to in order to maintain healthy business or social relationships. In a third column put all the people who are 1) on your list because you’re on their list and 2) all the people you send cards to because you feel like you have to.

Next get pen and put a gigantic X through the third column. The two columns left over are your new Christmas list! If you’re worried about suddenly not sending cards to someone on the list, most likely they won’t notice. (Especially if all you did was sign your name to it.)

Now that you’ve got your new list you can begin the cards. This will take longer than just signing your name, but the great thing about these cards is you don’t have to put a date on them. You can start in October or November, or if you’re really concerned about how long it will take start them in July. Nobody will know the difference as long as you mail them in December.

Address all the envelopes and stamp them. Get all the tedious stuff out of the way so once you’re done with the writing you can just stuff the envelopes and seal them. Think of the first person on your list. What is special about the person that makes you want them on your holiday list? The great part about holiday cards is they’ve done most of the writing for you. On the blank facing page of the card all you need to come up with are two little lines. Just two! Feel free to write more if you want, but at least two (or one really long one) is enough to make it look like you’ve made an effort.

Below are two lists of examples you can use as a starting point, one for casual and business acquaintances and one for closer friends and family. By the end you will see how little it takes to turn drab into fab.

For business cards:
• I’ve really enjoyed working with you this year, especially on Project XYZ. Can’t wait to start back at it in 2009!
• Can you believe it’s Christmas already? It seems like we should still be in the 1st quarter. Have a great rest of the year.
• I had fun working with you this year, but let’s not have another copy toner fiasco like we did over the summer!
• You’ve made a great addition to our office. I’m really glad to have you on my side.
• What a cool boss. How did I get to be so lucky?
• We’ve been working together for 3 years now. I appreciate continuing to serve your business needs.
• Thanks for being our first choice in [whatever]. We love being in business with you. (If you don’t love it you can still say something like “we value/appreciate being in business…”.)

For personal cards:
• I love you, love you, love you and… did I say I love you?
• We are looking forward to seeing you, Sally and the kids over the holiday break. It’s not getting here fast enough!
• I’m sorry we can’t see you in person for the holidays. We’ve got your pictures on the mantle, though!
• I know you’ve had a challenging year. I hope the holiday season is a peaceful one for you. You’re in our thoughts often!
• What a fantastic year you’ve had. I’m looking forward to seeing how you sprint to the finish line of 2008!
• We’ve got the ornaments dusted off and finally have the tree up. I know you are as busy as we are… if we can do it, so can you!
• Hey, when I unpacked the Christmas stuff, I saw the ornament you made last year for David. How adorable and thoughtful. It reminded me of all the good times we had.

If you’ve not done your holiday mail yet, I hope you’ll rise to this Day One Challenge and review the systems of correspondence you already have in place and see if there are ways you can improve it.

What traditions for holiday mail do you have that people get excited about? What works well for you? I’d love for you to share it with me!

Tags: challenge, christmas, exercise, holiday, letter writing, letters, Practice, Technique

Tomorrow will begin our first day of the 10-Day Letter Writing Challenge. Who’s up for it? I guarantee if you do the challenge the way I plan to play it, something interesting will happen by the end of the 10 days. Letter writing, by it’s nature, touches people on a deep level. A concentrated focus on your relationships with people through letter writing will move others, show them you care, bring them back to you, influence them, heal them and, maybe, heal you.

To prepare for the challenge, jot a list of the people you’d like to write to during the challenge. Put them into categories of closeness — a section for family, for close friends, casual friends, colleagues, even strangers. The challenge exercises may or may not be to write to any of them specifically, but having a list will allow you to easily pick a person to write to for that challenge.

The next thing to do is get a selection of paper, cards, envelopes and some nice stamps. Get some interesting ones that will make your envelope lively and unique or even tailored to suit the person you are writing.

Tomorrow we start and I’ll be doing it right along side you. I know it’s a busy holiday but maybe this exercise will show you that you can keep a healthy letter writing life along with your active, busy schedules. Let’s see how it goes. I hope you’ll comment here on your progress!

See you tomorrow!

Tags: challenge, exercise, letter writing, letters, Writing Prompts

Our dryer stopped working mysteriously last night. My husband took it apart today and did all sorts of diagnostic magic with it and it appeared to him that everything was working correctly. And yet the dryer would still not dry.

Finally, he called a repairman who, as a kindness to us, left another job and drove 20 minutes to our house only to find that our son had flipped a switch we didn’t even know existed and turned the heat off for the dryer! The repairman was very good-natured and chuckled about the whole situation and was even good enough to help my husband put the dryer back together. And at the end, he didn’t even charge us for his visit.

We were moved by his kindness and went out to purchase a gift certificate for him for a local restaurant that we enjoy. Then on to the note… what is a good way to thank someone for their time? You can approach it like any other gift. The only commodity people in the service industry have is their time, so it’s the equivalent of someone from a store giving away merchandise or the manager of a restaurant giving away free food.

This is how we did our note. Feel free to borrow the wording as needed!

Dan,

Thank you for coming by so promptly today to fix our dryer problem. I appreciate the generous gift of your time. Enclosed is a gift certificate to XYZ Cafe. I hope you’ll enjoy a meal on us!

Stanley Politeguy

Tags: Etiquette, letter writing, letters, thank you, thank you notes

Len from Celebrating Life’s Memories has created a great tutorial for a sweet letter box that she uses in her family to continue a tradition of swapping letters between family members. She’s got pictures and instructions that make it easy. Go check it out, crafty people!

Letter Box by Len

Tags: craft, Crafts, family, letter box, letter crafts, letter writing, letters, traditions

People seem to have a love-hate relationship with the holiday newsletter. People like sending them, another group either loves or hates to receive them. The two main complaints about holiday letters are: 1) they seem mass-produced and impersonal, and 2) they are often tiresome and boring to read.

The good news for those of you who like doing a holiday newsletters (or for those of you who have been afraid to try it) is that, if done well, they can be a received with enthusiasm and possibly even anticipated as the holiday nears. Here are 15 steps you can take to make sure your holiday newsletter is the best it can possibly be.

1. Consider your audience. Who is the newsletter for? Just for intimate family? For family and friends? When you write your newsletter be sure to do it in a way that all people will find it interesting. While you and your close family might be fascinated by every burp and gurgle that comes out of little Emily, my guess is that the audience for that news will number somewhere around five (if that). Instead, create a nice mix of personal news with other things that casual friends will find useful and inspiring.
2. Monitor your tone. Had a hard year? Had a great year? Watch for the extremes of both. A holiday letter should be upbeat and pleasurable to read. It’s okay to admit your hardships or tragedies, however, consider putting a spin on it that will turn it into something positive. If you’ve had a fabulous year of successes, please do share them, but watch that you don’t cross over the line from pride into bragging. Also remember that some of the people who receive your letters may have had one of the worst years of their lives.
3. Include pictures. People love pictures. They are interesting and break up long paragraphs of text which will make your newsletter easier for busy people to digest. Instead of using clip art or stock photos, use your own personal photos that reflect activities or accomplishments throughout the year. You can also add interest by drawing in silly thought balloons or informative captions. Whatever pictures you use, make sure the people are big enough to be identifiable and do use a good print quality so the photos are clear and attractive.
4. Find the humor. Even a newsletter that is low on the scale of interesting can be salvaged if it contains a few nuggets of humor. Try to find humorous things that have happened in your life over the year and include those or try to put a funny spin on something ordinary. If you don’t feel like that’s your style of writing, maybe you can have a family member do a “guest column” in your newsletter — maybe they will have a funny interpretation of your year or a particular event. Another alternative is humor through pictures. If there are any amusing photos be sure to include them!

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Tags: family, holiday, holiday newsletter, kids, letter writing, letters, newsletter

I guess I’m on a roll with mail art this week. Recently I read an interview with a mail artist and thought it was interesting. He makes mail art out of junk mail. I don’t know about you, but I have a gazillion pieces of junk mail and hate it. He has a great solution for it!

So, go check out the interview with Artist Rev K over at the Bearded Bunny Blog.

Also, on the same topic I’d like to recommend the book Creative Correspondence. They have a great section about how to creatively repurpose junk mail.

Tags: Crafts, junk mail, letter writing, letters, Link, mail art

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Barb Nelis from Redondo Beach, California. She regularly hosts an envelope swap that I’ve had the privilege of participating in and highly recommend it. Barb took some time out of her busy day to answer my Questions for Inquiring Minds. Thank you, Barb!

Barb collates envelopes from her swap

I started my envelope swap about six years ago. After three years I thought I needed a break and took a long sabbatical. I discovered I missed it and restarted my envelope swap two years ago. I just happened to save all the names, snail mail addresses and email addresses of the people who were in my swap. I sent everyone a handmade postcard and e-mailed them saying I was bacccck. I got a huge response. It seems I was missed. Mail art lives! YAY!

What inspired you to start it?

Good question. I am glad you ask, maybe it will help another fellow artist start their own swap. I have been in many swaps through the years. Altered books, Artist’s Trading Cards (ATC), postcards, deco’s, envelopes, you name it, I swapped it. But there were always rules, rules, and more rules. Some of the rules were very strict too. Like when they had themes. Who wants ten postcards of Alice In Wonderland going down the rabbit hole? What’s the point?

The last straw was when I got kicked out of the Goddess ATC swap. Yep. That was me. I was a millimeter off one or two of the cards. Apparently the swap meister measured each and every card. That is the day I said “I am starting my own swap.” Everyone will be welcome, newbies, advanced artists, whoever wants to play. There will be no “themes”. No sizes. All sizes of envelopes are welcome. All media is welcome. My goal is to stamp out “Naked Mail”. Everyone should be having fun and not worry about rules.

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Tags: barb nelis, envelope, envelope swap, envies, Interview, letter writing, letters, Link, mail art, mail artist

Here is an interesting article about a teacher who writes seven or eight letters routinely every day. The news story describes her writing habits and her philosophy of letter writing. What a faithful and fascinating pen pal!

http://www.freep.com/article/20081130/TWIST01/811300357/1025/rss05

Tags: interesting, letter writing, letters, Link, News