How to Make a Portable Letter Writing Kit

Today I’m excited to introduce you to Ellen from createinthechaos.com. She has been following along with my different letter writing and card making posts and asked if she could share her own idea about a portable letter writing kit. I absolutely love the idea and know that you will too.

 

I’ve kind of fallen in love with Jennie’s blog here. As much as I love my life, with three boys, being full of Nerf gun fights, Lego building, and messy chaos, I like being able to enjoy girly things sometimes. I love coming to Little Girl Designs to get my dose of creative, beautiful, and girly fun.

Some of Jennie’s posts that have inspired me the most are the ones about letter writing and snail mail. I’ve loved making cards since I was little. My mom would often buy lots of fun scrapbooking supplies, and I would come up with creative cards and figure out how to make my own envelopes.

As life has gotten busy (three boys, remember?), things like card making and note writing have fallen by the wayside. While I still enjoy making cards for birthdays, I rarely spend time to make them and to write notes to people like I used to do.

We already had some family out of state. And last year, after living 10 minutes away for the last few years, my brother-in-law’s family moved out of state as well. My boys have missed having some of their wonderful cousins so close.

Jennie’s posts really inspired me to want to write more letters and do some fun things with snail mail. As nice as it is exchanging cute emails with my dear nieces and nephew, there is something special about getting a physical piece of mail.

I wanted to start writing more letters with my boys. But, as I’m sure is the same with most of you, my life can get busy. And as much as I had good intentions of writing a letter, it often would slip my mind. Or when I would think about writing, it was at a time when I didn’t want to dig out all my supplies just to have my two year old dump them everywhere. SO, I came up with a way to write letters more easily and conveniently.

I’m big on keeping things simple so I made something portable that had everything I needed to write and prepare a letter. Today I’m going to show you how to put together your own portable letter writing kit that you can easily slip into your purse.

How to Make a Letter Writing Kit

Portable Storage

So what’s the perfect size to fit into your purse? I bought a mini folder organizer from Target for $1 a while back. It’s just big enough to hold all the supplies you might need to write a letter or note and it has dividers to keep everything separate.

 

Cards & Envelopes

If you enjoy making cards, you could make a big batch to keep in your kit. You can also purchase a set of cards and envelopes or print some off from online. Jennie has some beautiful printable watercolor cards I love and plan on using for myself.

 

Pens

Pick some good pens that you enjoy writing with. Keep a backup in your kit for when one runs out of ink. I particularly love my Pigma Micron pens for writing letters – they are high quality pens that write beautifully.

 

Stamps

These are often overlooked since we use email and pay our bills online. I usually buy my stamps from Costco because it’s convenient and I don’t have to worry about running out. You can also buy them online at the USPS site.

 

Labels

I’m trying to improve my hand lettering, but sometimes it’s nice to have a decorative return label ready to go. You can create your own in a word processing program or purchase a customized set online.

 

Gift Cards

Just writing a simple note can be a great way to encourage someone and lift them up. But if you can, keep a few $5 gift cards to Starbucks or similar places in your kit. Slip one of these into a note or letter for a little something extra special. (Just don’t be tempted to use them up yourself!)

Though my boys can’t write notes to people yet, they enjoy sitting with me and making cute drawings to send along, too. A few supplies for them can fit easily into the kit as well.

When you put together a letter writing kit, you can write a letter when you only have a few minutes. Instead of searching for supplies each time, you can use that time to actually write. And with a kit this size, you can even do it on the go.

I hope putting a letter writing kit together helps you as much as it has helped me!

About Ellen

Ellen writes about crafting adventures with her three boys at createinthechaos.com. When she’s not crafting or trying to keep her boys out of mischief, you might find her reading, sketching, or gaming with her husband. You can find her on Pinterest, Facebook, and Instagram.

P.S. If you like this project, you’re going to love my new resource, The {10 Minute} Letter-writing Retreat Bundle. It’s packed with prompts, tutorials (like this one!), and printable stationery. Learn more here.