Happy Letter Writing Day!

According to the website Days of the Year today is Letter Writing Day. We love sending letters and cards and receiving “happy mail”. How about you? When is the last time you received something fun in your mailbox?

In celebration of the day, we thought we would share a fun way to send happy mail. Have you heard of Pocket Letters?

Pocket Letters got their start in 2014 and quickly spread with the help of Instagram, Facebook and website, The Pocket Letter Pals Network, that was created to help “Pocket Letter Pals” connect.  

Pocket Letters utilize a 9-pocket page protector (sold to house baseball and other trading cards in and can be found at most big box discount stores). Each pocket measures 3.5 x 2.5” (the same size of ATCs!).

In a nutshell, to create a Pocket Letter you fill up each of the 9-pockets with pretty paper and decorations, plus some goodies to send to the recipient. The awesome thing about Pocket Letters is when you fold it in thirds it slips right into a standard size 10 (business) envelope. If you don’t make it too chunky you can even mail it for just one first class stamp!

Pocket Letters end up just as unique as the person that made it, which makes them a lot of fun to trade and collect (another bonus is they store well in a binder). If you are interested in finding a Pocket Letter Pal for ongoing or a one-time swap, visit The Pocket Letter Pals Network or one of the many groups on Facebook for Pocket Letters. If you want to see more fun Pocket Letters checkout the following hashtags on Instagram for some major eye-candy: #pocketletter, #pocketletters, #pocketletterswap 

So, let’s take a closer look at putting a Pocket Letter together. Again, there are many ways to do this, so just think of this as Pocket Letter 101 which can definitely be expanded on!

You will need 9 sheets of paper measuring 3.5” x 2.5”. These can be the same, coordinating, a few of a couple of patterns, etc. This is also a great way to use up some of the paper scraps you may have laying around!

Next up, grab some “decoration”. This can include coordinating paper, washi tape, diecuts, etc.  Making little labels for each pocket is also a fun idea. We love the look of “typewriter fonts” – either printed from a computer (dafont.com has some great, free fonts including a favorite, Traveling Typewriter) or get the look from using an actual typewriter!

As for goodies, you can include a lot of different things (just keep in mind the size dimensions and they need to be relatively flat). Ideas for items: washi tape samples, tags, ephemera/diecuts, stickers, stamped images, cute bandaids, teabags, post-its, page flags, decorative paperclips, ATC, mail tag, ribbon, and most importantly a LETTER!

Now to assemble your Pocket Letter. This is an easy step with just sliding everything into place in the pockets. A Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher comes in handy when making Pocket Letters.  The mini stapler keeps the little label tags in place, and you can even add a few sequins.

Once done, fold it up, stick it in a business envelope and send it on its way. You are guaranteed to make someone’s day.

Front

Back

Giveaway!

So now comes the extra fun part! We have two Pocket Letters that we want to mail to friends of Palette & Paper.  Both of the Pocket Letters contain a $10 Gift Certificate to use the next time you are at Palette & Paper*!

Entering is easy – just leave a comment below! 

We will randomly select two winners on Wednesday, September 7 around 2 pm ET.  Please leave your email address in your comment or your Facebook or Instagram User Name so we may contact you for your mailing address (USA addresses only).

*good towards Shoppe purchases only (not classes)