Wednesday, September 23, 2015

5:36 AM

Mail Tag


A lot of people ask me "What do talk about with your penpals?" I usually tell them anything you talk about with your friends! Sometimes it isn't that easy because you have to put down what you are thinking on paper. It seems to get more effortless when you have written to a penpal a few times and know more about their personality. Mail tag is a great way to break the ice or if you are stuck with what you want to talk about.


So What is mail tag?
Mail tag is a way to get to know your penpals better. All you have to do is include questions with your letter for your penpal to answer. You can ask as many or few as you want. You can ask actual questions, prefences, or them to include something. Let your imagination run wild! Once your penpal answers your mail tag, you can always respond to their answers in your letter if you have something to add or what to tell them something that relates to it. You can put "mail tag" on anything (it doesn't have to be written on a tag). Same with your answers. Sometimes I answer the questions in my letter, sometimes I just put them on a seperate piece of paper.

 Here are 100 different mail tag questions or topics for you to send your penpal:

1.10 things I should know about you
2.Birthday and where you were born?
3.Tell me about your hometown
4.Favorite color
5.What is your favorite food?
6.A favorite quote
7.Tea or Coffee?
8.Favorite animal
9.Favorite pick up line
10.A sample of your favorite washi
11.Prefer pants or dress
12.Something you are looking forward to
13.Your “to-do” list today
14.A song you can’t get out of your head
15.Kind of car you drive
16.Left or Right handed?
17.Words you cannot stand
18.Favorite thing to shop for
19.Your favorite flower
20.Your pets names
21.Why you like mail and how you got into it
22.A list of famous people you would invite to a dinner party
23.Dream job
24.If you could go back in time, what decade would you go to?
25.Your go to drink at Starbucks
26.A funny story
27.A list of five things you would save from your house if it was on fire
28.What is the last picture you took on your phone?
29.Something that you are really good at
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30.What is on your favorite pizza?
31.Something that is currently making you happy
32.If you had a chance for a “do-over” in life, what would you do differently?
33.Dream vacation
34.If you won the lottery, what would you do?
35.One food that you hate
36.Last Book you read
37.Favorite number
38.Who do you admire most in your life?
39.Your duties at work
40.Last movie you saw at the theater
41.A skill you would like to learn
42.Star Wars or Star Trek?
43.A Favorite book or the last book that you read
44.What does your perfect day look like?
45.If you could bring one musician back from the dead, who would it be and why?
46.What animal best represents you and why?
47.A list of goals
48.Dr Pepper or Coke?
49.Your favorite words
50.Do you sneak candy into the movie theater?
51.Someone you look up to.
52.Night owl or early bird?
53.If you could have one superpower, what would it be and how would you use it?
54.Have a night out or evening in?
55.How would your best friends describe you?
56.What fad do you wish would come back?
57.If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
58.Cookies or Cake?
59.First CD or record you remember buying?
60.Last dream you had
61.If you could play one instrument you aren’t able to now, what would it be and why?
62.Favorite holiday or share one of your holiday traditions
63.Would you rather live in the city or the country?
64.Beach or mountains?
65.Favorite Season
66.The kindest thing a stranger ever did for you
67.If you were on death row, what would your final meal be?
68.What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done?
69.What is currently in your bag
70.Least favorite chore
71.A language you would like to learn
72.3 things you are grateful for this week
73.Do you have any tattoos or piercings/ or do you want them?
74.Favorite thing about summer/fall/winter/spring
75.Describe yourself in 5 words
76.A guilty pleasure
77.Bug you are most scared of?
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78.Dog or cat person?
79.A tea bag
80.A joke
81.What you thought you’d be when you grow up
82.A time you met someone famous
83.Something you love about your best friend
84.Your pet peeves
85.What one food you wish was super healthy?
86.What kind of phone do you have?
87.Favorite junk food
88.Favorite candle scent
89.A recipe
90.Favorite board game
91.10 Things on your Bucket List
92.A crazy color you would dye your hair
93.Is there a story behind your name?
94.A clothing store you love
95.Your favorite sport
96.Your first job
97.Last thing you dressed up as on Halloween?
98.Something you always have stocked in your fridge?
99.Favorite candy bar
100.Things you love about where you live

 We can give credit to Biance Jagoe with coming up with mail tag.
A photo posted by A M A N D A 💕 (@mrs_amandacase) on


A photo posted by A M A N D A 💕 (@mrs_amandacase) on

Mail tag! 💕 #mail #happymail #penpal #penpals #snailmail

A photo posted by A M A N D A 💕 (@mrs_amandacase) on

For Maritza who loves ice cream 🍦😊💕 #mail #happymail #penpal #penpals #snailmail

A photo posted by A M A N D A 💕 (@mrs_amandacase) on



I don't include mail tag with every letter. Also, I sometimes worry about if I already asked them that question...oh well! Just go with it. They might have a different answer this time. :) 
Have a happy mail day!
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Saturday, September 19, 2015

9:15 AM

Message in a Bottle




Messages in a bottle have been around forever. The first recorded message in a bottle dates back to 310 BC. They have used them all through out history.  I was really excited when Monika sent me one! She stuffed it full with lots of different items and it made it safely with no damage. It is mailed similar to a small mailing tube and will cost around $2-3 depending on your weight. If it is under 13 oz you can add the stamps yourself and drop it in any mailbox just make sure you have weighed it correctly. You don't want it come back to you or have the recipient to have to pay postage.  Monika weighed it at home and it worked out fine. She said the post office considers it a "small package" so if you are using the USPS calculator, make sure you use the package option. If you aren't sure, you may just want to go to the post office the first time to get the correct postage.  Sending it international would entail a lot more, but I may try it once. I don't know if it would hold up especially with a customs form on the outside. You need to go to the post office if you are mailing it to someone in another country.




She went with a beach/summer theme that went perfect with the sea theme. I love her ship stamps too! I am going on a beach vacation in a month so this gets me really excited for that! 


She even included sand and an umbrella! How cute is that!


I put together some message bottle ideas to get you inspired: 





Here is a link  for an Etsy store that carries the plastic bottles though you could use any bottle you have. I'm thinking Gatorade bottles might work well because they have a large opening. I have some ideas so once I get them sent I'll be sure to share them with you. If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear about them in the comments. Thanks for stopping by! 
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Wednesday, September 16, 2015

8:28 AM

10 Things I love about Postcrossing

 First off, what is Postcrossing?

Postcrossing is a project that allows people to send postcards back and forth all over the world.  I started on the website only 7 months ago, but as soon as I started I was hooked! 
A rundown  of what you do - 
1.        request an address from the website
2.        mail the postcard to the address
3.        wait to receive a postcard
4.        register the received postcard in the system

It's pretty straight forward. I want to share with you what a love about Postcrossing and to show you how easy it is to start sending more mail.

1. User friendly – If you are just getting into sending snail mail this is a great way to get started! It’s quite simple since it is only postcards. You don’t want to worry about figuring out what you put in a letter or how to obtain penpals. They do all the work for you!

2. Fair - When you send a postcard, you will receive one back from a random user from somewhere else in the world. You don't have to be let down about not receiving something back because as soon as your postcard ID is registered, your address is eligible to receive another postcard.  If your postcard gets lost or a user does not register it, it will expire after 60 days. I have sent 72 postcards and 1 has expired. My expired postcard went to China (which seems to always take forever). Your odds are pretty good that your postcard will make it, but it’s the chance you take. After your postcard expires, you will be able to request to send another postcard. If the person does receive the postcard after 60 days, they have up to a year to register it. When you first sign up you are able to send out 5 postcards.  The number of postcards you are allowed to send out at any single time goes up the more postcards you send!

3. Great for families or groups – As much as I love receiving mail now, I think I enjoyed it even more when I was a kid. I have a good friend that does postcrossing with her family. Her young daughter enjoys it the most! Her daughter also enjoys hand making her own postcards to send.  It is a neat way to learn about the world. I have sent postcards to families as well as groups. I sent one recently to a nursing home in the UK. You must contact postcrossing if you want to have an account as a classroom or group. 

4. Postcard IDs – This goes back to everything being fair on postcrossing. One of the most important things is to write the postcard ID correct and legible.  If you cannot read or got it wrong, they will help you find the correct one. I have not had any issues with them not being able to find the correct ID. Be careful where you write the postcard ID as well. In the USA, you do not want to write it at the bottom because they usually print or put a sticker over all that.

5. Easy to figure out what to say or send -  Since postcards are so small, you do not need to write a lot. You will want  to check out the users profile first. Some are VERY detailed and tell you want they like and do not like. Also a lot will tell you what they want you to write. If you do not have a postcard to their liking, I’d recommend just sending a tourist postcard from your city or state. If they do not have a preference about what you write about, tell them about your day, the weather, or a favorite recipe. A lot of people love for you to tell them something interesting about your city or culture. Since I only speak English I love to receive postcards that have "hello"  in a different language. You can also check and see if they have their birthday listed on their profile. Saying happy birthday is always nice if you are sending them a postcard around their birthday. My profile says that I love owls so I have received quite a few postcards with owls on them. 

6. Inactive accounts – If a user does not log in for a while, postcrossing will set it to inactive so they do not receive postcards. You can also set your account to inactive if you are moving, going on a long vacation, or just need a break. This makes it really easy when you want to stop for a bit.

7. Gallery – It’s a great idea to take pictures of your postcards and upload them to the gallery. A lot of users will favorite the postcard you sent. It’s really neat to be able to go check out what others are sending as well!

8. Seeing different stamps from all over the world – This is probably my favorite part because I love stamps! You will receive some really awesome stamps from all over the world. I have yet to receive any official postcrossing stamps but I’m hoping I do soon! You are also able to choose if you only want postcards from other countries or if you want to include your own. I have included the USA because we have so many states, that I enjoy receiving mail from them as well. The only thing is I have received mail from people in Texas, and who only live a few hours from me. I don't really mind that either because we can usually relate to something.  I did put on my profile that I want as many stamps as they can use so I rarely receive postcards with only a US postcard stamp.

9. Statistics – Postcrossing does a good job with their charts. I find this part interesting because you can see what countries you receive most of your postcards from. It also will show you the average time it takes your postcards to arrive to certain countries. Here is my most recent country distribution of sending and receiving:


10. Ability to direct swap – You can set your profile to say that you are interested in direct swaps. This can be good if you are looking for certain types of postcards. I had mine set to that for a while but changed it because I was receiving a lot of messages and was not able to send out that many postcards. The downside to this is it isn’t tracked by postcrossing so you have no way to be for sure the person will send what they say. I think you should just make sure that the profile is well filled out and that the user is quite active on postcrossing. If the user has been on the website for a long time and has sent 100s of postcards, it would be rare for them to flake. 

I hope this has inspired some of you to start Postcrossing! Once I figure out how I am going to store all these cards, I'll be sharing that with you.
Please comment with any questions you may have. 
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