Decorate and Delight!

So I'm sure you've all thought about wrapping up the items you send off to your special solider to make it more like a gift when the package arrives. You've probably even stuck a few stickers around the inside/outside of the package to "decorate". Next time think about going a little overboard! Make a special gift with a personal touch.

DECORATE!
Adding some extra touches makes a package full of "stuff" much more personal!

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Father's Day Care Package

A great blog full of Father's Day ideas during a deployment. Thanks MilitaryAvenue!

Father's Day is this Sunday - talk about creating a void for our family going through our first deployment. I'm sure the void will be felt all across the globe on the 15th.

I fortunately have stayed on top of this one (I'm not on top of much lately). Hubby's care-package is in the mail & he should be receiving it any day now. I hope it oozes with love! (As opposed to oozing with sticky-melted chocolate!)

I'm not great at 'themes', maybe with some practice I will get there... but for now the theme is simply: "From Us" :)

1. A letter from our oldest, 14;
2. Some pictures from our 3 and 5 year older from their "Write from the Heart" books;
3. My 5 year old made a 'dot to dot' for Dad. I'm not sure it actually makes a picture - but he sure enjoyed doing it and that is what counts!;
4. A copy of my 5 year-old's preschool "report card";
5. Diego stickers. The 3 year old insisted on buying Diego stickers for Dad. Logical. So I put a little note on them that maybe he could attach them to the envelopes of letters he sends us;
6. The 'regular items': Our church bulletin, town newsletter and the daily-papers from our "Uncle John" calendar. I send them to him every week just to give him a little touch of home;
7. Some new stationary (post-card sized paper in a rainbow of colors with envelopes). It was a huge pack and I split it in two. I sent half to Hubby and kept the other half for us to send him letters;
8. "42 Lunch Notes" - These are great. I picked it up on a whim and crossed out the "Lunch" part of the title and hand-wrote "Deployment". The notes are smaller then a postcard. Hubby can write a quick note for the boys and include them in envelopes mailed home. Sometimes it is hard to come up with words to write to the kids and these have a smaller writing space but I'm sure they will be a keep sake to the boys;
9. COOKIES! He said they are getting cookies out the ying-yang. BUT we made some anyway because his children helped make them :);
10. Beef Jerky - Hubby's favorite snack. I'm just glad he can eat them without me having to smell his breath! [Hey sometimes we have to find the small blessings of these deployments ;)];
11. Some extra-dark Dove chocolates. I'm sure they are going to be melted to smithereens by the time he gets them - but it is the thought that counts sometimes right!

So that sums of his 'Father's Day Care Package'. I hope he loves it! Because we sure do love him. I realize I am going to need to find more care-package ideas as we deeper and deeper into this deployment, or he will get really tired of melted chocolate and beef jerky :)

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Candy play on words - Candygram!

Take each candy and attach a note with a reason why you're sending it. You can put them all in a box labeled the reason why I love you or something like that:

• Nerds: You're such a nerd and always make me smile.
• Smarties: You're so smart.
• 100 Grand: You're just so rich (joking of course).
• Reese's whips: Because you're whipped.
• Snickers: For the way you snicker at my jokes.
• Butterfinger: Because you have a nice butt.
• Sweet Tarts: Because you're so sweet.
• Hot Tamales: You're so hot!
• Laffy Taffy: You always makes me laugh.
• Hershey's Hugs and Kisses: You always give great hugs and kisses.
• Dum Dums: You love me even when I'm a dum dum.
• Shockers: The way I feel about you is shocking!
• Baby Ruth: I love it when you call me baby.
• Lifesavers: Because you're my lifesaver.
• Mints: You're worth a mint to me!
• Reisen: You're my "reisen" for living.
• Reese's Pieces: Because I love you to pieces.
• Big Hunk: Because you're my big hunk.
  
  
  

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St. Patrick's Day Care Package

Here are some ideas for St. Patty's Day!

• Make everything green...or wrapped in green paper. Even paint the inside of the box green!
• send "kiss me I'm Irish boxers"
• Shamrock shaped cookies with green sprinkles
• Irish Spring soap
• Small boxes of Lucky Charms cereal
• Green Monsters energy drink
  
• green paper plates or bowls if you included the cereal!
  
• Instead of using regular packing paper use shredded green paper!
• Dollar Stores general have gifty things you can include to add to your theme pretty cheap!
  

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Valentine's Day

I've done a little more thinking about a great Valentine's Day care package and here are a few more ideas I've come up with:

• Make a puzzle out of a picture of yourself or a love letter. You can have these made at Wal-Mart, Kinkos, etc. Or if you're creative get out the glue, cardboard, and scissors and give it a try!
• Send red boxers with hearts or lips on them.
  
• Hershey's kisses are always a good choice. Write something on the little tags if you're feeling ambitious!
  
• Sexy love letters are great. Write one yourself or go to hoochymail.com and have them make a free one for you. They have something for everyone from romantic to x-rated!
• A favorite romantic movie of his.
• Mixed CD full of love songs.
• Handmade Valentines
• A romantic book
• Personalize M&M's in pink, red, and white.
• A letter of all the reason you love them.
• A Victoria's Secret magazine with your face glued on all the models.
• And last but not least as suggested by my soldier himself.... a pair of clean panties that smell like your laundry or perfume (or maybe a pillowcase if you're a bit shy).
  

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startin out!

Why am I here? Aren't there plenty of sites about care packages? What are you doing? Well, to answer all these questions simply, I have nothing better to do! To tell you a bit about myself, I'm young and engaged to a wonderful man who will be leaving for Iraq in a month. I'm already planning the exciting things I want to send him and I thought I'd share my ideas with other people. Not to mention writing all of this down might help me decompress a bit.

Where do I start? Jake's been gone for about a month now. He's stationed in Georgia doing his mobilization training. He's a member of Indiana's 76th with the National Guard. His spirits are up, but to be honest mine aren't the best right now. I'm feeling lonely and since he recently broke his phone my only way of contacting him is through mail. I've sent a few things already. Mostly just things he requested, like a new pair of headphones, a book, and hand sanitizer (they sometimes go nearly a week between showers, yuck). Nothing too ambitions or really thoughtful, but it was something to start with.

I'm starting my Valentine's Day package. So far it has:

• A cheesy card that plays music when you open it (he'll probably hate it)
• Some homemade cookies (heart shaped with sprinkles)
• Some of his favorite candy (Mike n Ikes)
• Bubble Yum bubble gum

He loves crossword puzzles, so I thought about making up some games from puzzlemaker.discoveryeducation.com. You can add in your own words to make fun puzzles and games that are personalized. The crossword I'm working on might be a little hard for him. My clues are kind of tricky (my favorite part of you: eyes). They aren't necessarily things I've mentioned before, but he's smart. I bet he can figure it out! Pin It