Last week, I decided to create a care package for my daughter who is in her first year of college many miles away from home. It took me a few days to think up
some items she would enjoy and that I felt she would find helpful. I shopped for those items, decorated the box, and mailed it out.
When she received it, she was both surprised and so happy
to get an unexpected gift from home.
Care packages are not only for college students, of course. You can send one to someone who is serving in the military, a person who is ill or going
through a tough time, a friend who recently moved to a new home, a teacher or a coach who is always going above and beyond, or practically anyone who you care about.
Before you determine
what box size you need, gather what you'll be sending. Here's what I included in my daughter's box:
Nike Gift Card
Starbucks Gift Card
Halloween Fruit Snacks
Pickle Popcorn
Pop Rocks
Ear Planes
Stuffed Friend
A tiny "You're Incredible" card
When you're creating your care package, it can include a random variety of items...or you can choose a theme. For example, you might send someone a box with all yellow-colored items...Juicy Fruit gum, Lays potato chips, a
yellow apron, a white tote bag with a big yellow sunflower, etc....and call it a "Box of Sunshine."
Once I had the items, I determined the box size I would need and picked one up. The one I
decided on was 12" X 10" X 4".
I then used some scrapbook paper, cut to size, to decorate the inner box flaps. I found some motivational quotes, printed those, mounted them on black
cardstock, punched the corners of the cardstock, and then stuck the quotes on the scrapbook paper.
I lined the bottom of the box with crumpled packing paper to help protect the items. Then
I inserted the items, topped those with sparkly tissue paper, put in a few more sheets of crumpled packing paper, and sealed the box securely with shipping tape.
Just a side note...if
you're inserting breakable items, be sure they're packed well to avoid breakage. I usually try to choose items that are not breakable if I'm mailing the item versus handing it to my gift recipient.
I brought the box to the post office on a Monday and it arrived at its destination on Thursday. By the way, one of the items in the box (the personal alarm) had two lithium batteries. If whatever you're mailing has lithium batteries, you have to let the post office know so they can mark the box appropriately before mailing.
Have fun creating your care package and warming someone's heart!
