Along with lovely chatty letters, sometimes you just want to find something else to send with your happy mail, don’t you? It might be a little taste of home, a pick me up treat or a slow down and smile gift, and often it can be these extra touches that can really elevate your snail mail package. But it’s not always easy to find things to add to your mail that are easy to post, which is why today I am sharing a huge list of inspiration for you.
This list is full of mostly flat, small things that can fit inside an envelope, and a few items that should still be able to fit inside a letter box. I will preface this with the fact that you don’t ever have to send extras with your happy mail, just connecting is always going to be enough, But, if you fancy trying something different, then read on for 65 things to send with your happy mail.
65 things to send with your happy mail
1. Stickers
2. Postcards
3. Bookmarks
4. Doodles
5. Papercrafts
6. Maps
7. Poems
8. Mail tags (I share more about mail tags here)
9. Recipes
10. Magazine articles
11. Photos ( your hometown, your pets, your house, your garden, you!)
12. Seeds
13. Drawings
14. Flat sweets
15. Tea bags
16. Chewing Gum
17. Pocket Letters (here’s an easy guide to how to make a pocket letter)
18. Pressed flowers
19. Planner inserts
20. Journal prompts
Would you love a complete pen pal pack? Yes!! If you want to get writing now, you could get The Pen Pal Pack here and you can be writing on it within ten minutes, hooray!
21. Band aids/plasters (fun ones!)
22. Scratch cards/art
23. Coloured pens
24. Cartoon strip
25. About Me sheets
26. Flipbooks
27. Mini-books (click for a simple how to make mini-books tutorial)
28. Washi tape
29. Balloons
30. Paper clips
31. Crochet treat (a coaster, bookmark, decoration)
32. Cross stitch
33. Ribbons
34. Temporary tattoos
35. Coloured/fun pencils
36. Post-it notes
37. Labels
38. Coupons
39. Envelopes
40. Twine/string
41. Bandanas
42. Seasonally themed printables
43. Holiday/Vacation reports
44. Books (if you’ve just really enjoyed a book, why not pass it on to your pen pal?)
45. Index cards
46. Cappuccino sachets
47. Plant cuttings (if sending within same country)
48. Ticket stubs
49. Mini notebooks
50. Face masks
51. Hot chocolate sachets
52. Jewellery
53. Notepaper
54. Stencils
Bring Back Paper memberships now available!
55. Friendship bracelets
56. Charms
57. Confetti
58. Badges/Pins
59. Magnet
60. Puzzles
61. Keychains
62. Scrapbook ephemera
63. Stamps
64. Mini collages
65. Leaflets from places you’ve visited
So there you have it, 65 things to send with your happy mail. If you regularly send snail mail out, what else have you sent before? Or is there something that you’ve received that I have not mentioned?
This blog is jam-packed with happy mail advice, so do take a poke around while you’re here. There’s everything you need, from what to write to your pen pal to free pen pal resources, so don’t miss out on those.
What would you add to this list? I’d love to hear more pen pal ideas!
If you’re new to Bring Back Paper, you can find out more about it all here. You can join our Facebook group here and you can sign up to join my mailing list below, for all the latest news, updates, ideas and activities.
Great list! I got quite a few ideas that I never thought of!
Wonderful, so happy to help!
Nice………………….
Thank you!
I’m new to your blog and I’m glad I found you!
Thanks so much! Let me know if you need anything 🙂
Ok maybe I’m insane, but I don’t get why all this stuff. Is a beautifully written, long chatty letter on lovely stationary not enough any more? I don’t want to junk up and already lovely floral envelope with STICKERS. Also, what am I supposed to do with the stickers and other stuff people send that i have no use for? Can I just regift them? I understand sending something I know they like once in a while…
This is NOT to bash on people who like this stuff. I just don’t, never have. I’m trying to wrap my head around an idea that’s completely foreign to me. Some help would ne greatly appreciated.
A long chatty letter is absolutely wonderful, but then for others, part of the fun is sending some little treats with their happy mail. And they love stickers and using them to decorate with, especially if using plain paper as it can pretty it up. Do whatever you enjoy!
Some people don’t have access to a lovely floral envelope/have a different style than that. I am in a kawaii group, and the letter is always the most important part, but we love sticking on cutesy stuff, too. It’s just a preference thing, and it’s perfectly fine if it’s not yours. 🙂 Also, regifting is perfectly fine. Some people send out random goodies/things from their stash, and don’t curate it to the penpal. I often get things that are not *quite* my style, and save them for when I find out a particular penpal really loves them, or use them to send RAK’s to people I don’t know as well. I hope I’ve helped a bit. 🙂 Do what you’re comfortable with, and just let your penpals know what that is. 🙂 There are THOUSANDS of people looking for penpals. There are definitely people who would agree with you and be a good fit/be willing to simplify mail for you. 🙂
I think it’s just however you want to put it together and how well you know your pals. I send random stuff I like, stickers, color pages, a list of good movies depending your mood, even random poster board stickers or a paper photo prop, even cute napkins. If they are crafters then they usually try to make something with it or put it in a scrapbook. ☺️☺️
I’m with you, Valerie. It is fun to send something once in a while, but it looks as if it has become more of a requirement in many cases. I prefer letters to the ephemera.