I'll never know what you'll find when you open up your letter box tomorrow

September 16, 2011 1:59 PM

What are some interesting/exciting ways to present a card/letter/postcard that is going through the mail.

I'm going to be in LA for work for the next few months. My girlfriend will be back on the east coast. When we're separated physically like this we send a lot of letters back and forth. I have no problem coming up with content for these letters, but I'd like to think of some special ways to present them.

For example:

I could fold her an origami envelope and card.
I could use zazzle.com to make postage stamps from pictures of her dog.
I could draw a picture on the outside of an envelope.
I could make a postcard from the box of her favorite breakfast cereal.
I could put a small envelope inside of a larger one, inside a larger one, and so on, like russian dolls with a small handwritten note in the final envelope.
I could get someone to do the letter in calligraphy.

Ultimately what I'd like to do is have something special about the presentation of each letter I write her. Any ideas?

posted by twinight to Writing & Language (9 answers total)

You can find a coconut somewhere (or buy one) and use a Sharpie (or paint, if you're patient).

The postage is more $, but the joy of receiving a coconut postcard is, for most people, far beyond a paper postcard.
posted by bilabial at 2:01 PM on September 16, 2011

I once raided what's left of my old stamp collection and stuck foreign stamps all over the envelope and on the margins of the letter inside.

I use a manual typewriter for letters and it's fun to download a vintage letterhead to print at the top of the page before typing the letter.

My sister wrote me a letter where every word was spelled sdrawkcab.
posted by JanetLand at 2:10 PM on September 16, 2011

Maybe record yourself reading the letter, and then have her download the file and play it while she's reading it herself, like those scenes in movies.
posted by JanetLand at 2:14 PM on September 16, 2011 [1 favorite]

It's actually quite easy to make pop up cards. You could also buy a blank jigsaw puzzle and write your letter on that.
posted by bq at 2:25 PM on September 16, 2011

Put confetti or glitter in the envelope.

Expanding on the jigsaw puzzle idea, mail each piece a different day so she assembles the letter bit by bit.

Make a postcard from a picture of the two of you.

Buy a bunch of different postcards, tape them together end to end or top to bottom, write along the length of the whole thing, then fold it up accordian-style and put it in an envelope.
posted by Safiya at 2:34 PM on September 16, 2011

Go to Marukai, buy Japanese candy + Remove any sticker that lists ingredients in English = delicious, cute CANDY of MYSTERY!
(N.B. Only works if she cannot read Japanese)
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 3:44 PM on September 16, 2011

That is, enclose small pieces of candy of mystery with your letter.
posted by pH Indicating Socks at 3:47 PM on September 16, 2011

my mom once received a postcard written on an actual, dried/pressed LEAF. not laminated or anything, written with some kind of marker. tis the season for getting leaves. just find a nice big thick one and flatten it between the pages of a large book, like a dictionary, and ad some other books on top if you want. i think the postal workers appreciated it so much they took care not to break it.
posted by white light at 11:01 PM on September 16, 2011

Send them to foreign mefites who promise to post them to your girlfriend. "Yes, I'm working hard in LA..." but the stamps and postmark say France, Tahiti, Brazil, etc.
posted by pracowity at 11:27 AM on September 17, 2011 [2 favorites]