Making an Inexpensive Letterbox Gift for Fathers Day

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After a year of hardly being able to see anyone other than those we live with, I have become an expert at sending gifts and care parcels by post, but what I learnt early on was that it can end up costing a fortune. So, the way to do it cost-effectively is to send letterbox gifts. You can still make a really nice personalised gift but do it on a small and lightweight scale.

I send mine via Royal Mail and second class post, and this currently costs me £1.53 for a parcel up to 250g and £1.99 for up to 500g. The dimensions of the box need to be a maximum of 2.5cm thick, and up to 25cm wide and 35.3cm long. You can make your own boxes (if you're clever at that sort of thing), recycle ones you've been lucky enough to receive or I buy mine for as little as 30p each.

With Fathers Day coming up in the UK in June, I thought I'd show you an idea for making a letterbox gift to send to your Dad or a man you love like a dad. The great thing about making something like this, rather than buying it, is that you can make it really personal and include things you know the recipient will love.

Keeping the Creativity Going Post Lockdown

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I think we are all feeling optimistic now that the end of lockdown is insight. The UK roadmap out of the restrictions may be slower than some of us would like but it looks like it might actually happen this time. Thank goodness for the scientists who developed an effective vaccine so quickly and for the task force who have done an amazing job rolling out the vaccine effort. Add that to community testing and we have a much better handle on the damage that Covid can do in our country. 

Whilst some of us are raring to go and for normality to resume, there is also the chance to think about what habits we have developed over the last year that we want to carry on with us into our new normal of everyday life. With more time at home in the last year and not so many places to go many of us have taken to crafty pursuits and been really creative. 

For me, and I suspect for many others, creativity has been a wonderful outlet for expressing myself in this difficult time. So here are some suggestions of ways to keep the creative juices flowing in the coming months as we can go out more and do more things.

1.  Create with Others

Once we can meet our friends again, why not set up or join a crafting circle/ group. There are plenty of groups like 'Knit and Natter' or the W.I. where groups of like-minded women meet and create things together, but with separate projects. Do a shout-out in your local area Facebook group, ask in the library or keep an eye on community notice boards. I bet you'll find loads of groups already established, or set something up yourself if it isn't already there. It doesn't have to be complex, just 3 or 4 women meeting in a coffee shop to crochet together. 

Anyone Can Make a Beautiful Birthday Card

I love making personalised greetings cards for people but for a long time I held back as I believed it was only a pursuit done by super talented crafters. Sadly, that's not me - I have writing like a 10 year old and quite a limited imagination so I thought I had to hold back for fear of my cards looking like a toddler had made them.

However, I've found a formula that works for me and every person I give one of my home-made cards to always comments about how nice they are. I think people feel a little special is you take the time to make something you know they would like.

I wanted to share with you my card-making formula that can easily be copied by anyone and you always end up with a great looking card. Even my 9 year old's can make good looking cards for their friends.

1. First up, gather together the items you need.
I recommend a trip to The Works (or shop online) as they have a wonderful ever-changing supply of card making materials for really great prices.

You'll need -
Blank cards and envelopes
Patterned paper
Plain coloured card or paper
Double sided tape
Scissors
Washi tape
Card toppers
Stick on Gems



2.  Choose your patterned paper that will act as a base on your blank card and stick it on with double-sided tape. I find this far less messy than glue and you don't have to wait for it to dry.

3.  Add some Washi Tape. In this design I have put two stripes down the side of the patterned paper and this is good as it covers any uneven edges, on other cards, I might just use one vertical or horizontal stripe or do it across a couple of corners. See some of the designs below.

4.  I used a stick on Happy Birthday Greeting that I had bought in a pack at £1.20 for 30 of them, so they work out at hardly any money each.

5.  Choose your card topper. You can see from the picture below that I tried out the different bird toppers in different places before I choose which one to stick down and how the finished card should look. To keep costs low I normally just try to use one topper per card but I think the one with two does look lovely.



I often use stick-on gems to glitz up the card too, as you can see in a couple of the examples below. These normally cost about 99p for over 100, so they are super cheap. All the card blanks and toppers in these cards I bought from The Works and I hope you'll agree they look effective.

I mentioned earlier that even my little girls an make nice cards for their friends using my easy card making formula and here are a couple of cards Miss E has made recently ready for upcoming birthdays.

If you have any tips of easy card-making then do leave me a comment. Many thanks, Mich x