Pretty Mail

If you were anything like me as a kid, you would have had at least ten pen-pals over the years and lost just about as many through neglect, forgetting to send the letters your wrote, or just getting bored of the duty of writing back. As we learned to use the computer and the internet got more advanced and we learned how to type, writing letters dropped away almost completely. But you know me. I'm stubborn as anything and won't entirely let go of things I love. And I dearly love giving and receiving snail-mail. I have this passion for outwitting the post office. Doesn't that sound terrible? But seriously. I just weigh packages in my hand, slap stamps on, and stuff them in the mailbox. They always get to their destinations. Recently, I sent a copy of my book to a friend in Romania. I put five or six stamps on it, shoved it in the mail, and a week and a half later, it was in her hands. Now, if I'd gone into the post office and asked them what they wanted to charge me, that package would have cost something terribly like fifteen bucks.

All post-office regulations aside, sending and receiving mail the good old way will never go out of style. Who doesn't like getting a piece of mail? And furthermore, who doesn't like getting a piece of mail that is as much a delight to look at as it will be to read? Since I have three or four letters to respond to this weekend, I spent a little while on Pinterest last night browsing unique ways to address letters. Here are some of my favorites. May they serve as inspiration to you to send a surprise someone's way. <3

"Shake me up, Judy!" :)

All right everyone! At last I have the pictures up of the present for the friend I was hinting about. I made her a cookbook called "Shake Me Up, Judy!" The Purist's Guide to Dickensian Cookery. I scoured my copies of Dickens looking for mentions of food in the text, then pulled those quotes, rummaged up corresponding recipes, and generally knocked myself out making it into a lovely cook-book for her. I tea-stained paper (which I can do a tutorial of sometime if you'd like) and used that as the base, then sort of "Scrapped" it with other paper and original illustrations. Anyway, here is a peek at it! (There were many more pages, but I didn't want to bore you)

This is the page right before "Fezziwig Pie", which is a variation of Mince-meat pie.

Mrs. Cratchit's Christmas Pudding

From The Cricket on the Hearth...

Moving on from the Christmas Tales into Bleak House...

"You have four classes this afternoon--I would recommend a hasty sandwich " ~Mr. Turveydrop, the model of Deportment, and father of Prince.

Mrs. Joe Gargery's Pudding from Great Expectations...

A page from the Great Expectations section with a scene between Pip and Pocket. :)

I had fun with the decor on this one...

Nothin' like a good pen and some ink to set you up for success...

Here are some pictures of the little things my sisters loved that I made to add some flair to the pages...

♫"Brown paper packages tied up with string...."♫

A teeny pass-port...hee-hee. :)

If you look closely you will see that the letters are indeed addressed to Honoria Barbary, (eventually Lady Dedlock) and I took care to include the "Smells like ladies" quote on that page. :D

Love letters...

Anyway, that is just a peep at it! I hope you enjoyed seeing what I've been working on. I know I told you that you could make fabulous presents at home...I spent hours making this book, but guess how much money I spent on this gift?

Any guesses?

Come on now, guess!

Ready?

Okay....

Four Cents. Yep. That's all, and that was for ribbon to tie it with. Score! ;) What sorts of gifts have you made this year?

She's Making a List...

I know it is not even November yet, but now is the time of year I begin to think about making presents for people. Mama, Grace, Anna, Daniel, Benjamin, two aunts, and several good friends have their birthdays before Christmas, and then there are Christmas presents to get too. Needless to say, I could start much earlier and not be amiss! Naturally, I haven't the funds to buy presents for everybody, and I detest cheaply made things. Homemade can be amazing, or ridiculous. I vote for the amazing side of things. It's pretty easily done, actually! Some of the ideas I've had (and executed) are:

• A Christmas-themed novelette: "A Tale of Fairfax and Cloves"
• Aprons

not mine. :)

• Flower bobby-pins

Looks easy enough but no, I didn't make these. :)

• water-color painting

This belongs to an unfinished children's book about a toad named Mr. Otis Puddleby. :)

• homemade cordial cherries and cookie-dough truffles
• a bird-cage made out of Popsicle-sticks with a tiny fake bird for a younger sister--she *adored* it!
• hand-made dolls
• crocheted hats or scarves. Please, nothing lumpy. The idea is fashion. ;) 
• straw-hat work-basket. (instructions from the 1800's! :)
• Elaborately decorated and decoupaged book of quotes
• tea-stained stationary

My hand-decorated Pride and Prejudice stationary: "It is a truth universally acknowledged..."

• Egg-dolls

This is Miss Eglantine Benedict. She was recently shipped off to Washington a girl who won her. :)

•  Decoupaged paste-board boxes

I made this for a recent contest on my writing blog

There are so many many things you can make to give as gifts that cost little or no money. Handmade doesn't have to mean a sorry excuse for a present. Some of the best gifts I've been given were made with bits and pieces from around the giver's house. Don't be afraid to go wild. You'll come up with something, I know. But if you have the funds to buy gifts, I am not belittling you. It would be a whole lot easier to be able to buy something you really know the person will love. It just seems my budget entitles me to the Dollar Tree or my own resources...I prefer my own hands to those of some factory-workers in China. ;)