During the pandemic, I was inspired by a post I saw back in 2020 to do pen pal letters. The actual post was a news story about nursing homes on the east coast asking people to send letters to their residents because they could not have visitors and would enjoy reading letters from anyone who would take the time to write to them.
I thought that their request was such a cool idea. Unfortunately, by the time I saw the announcement, they had already received hundreds of letters from people across the country and really didn’t need any additional letters. So, I decided not to send a letter and put the idea on the back burner.
Fast forward to fall of 2021 and I decided to explore the pen pal idea again. This time, I decided to do it with a few family members that I thought would enjoy receiving some happy mail in their mailboxes. Once the fire was lit in my spirit, I started researching pen pal ideas and didn’t look back.
Who Would Be My Recipients?
The first thing I needed to figure out was who would I send my letters to? I thought long and hard because I wanted to be sure I sent my letters to people who would enjoy receiving them and would send one in return. I finally landed on the idea of sending them to a few family members. My list consisted of my Aunt Linda in Chicago, My cousin Kola in Maryland, and my nieces and nephew in Minnesota.
The Pen Pal World Has Changed
Once my recipient list was complete, I began searching for creative ideas on Pinterest. Of course, I set up a snail mail board and immediately started saving ideas. I had no idea how much the pen pal world had changed since I was a child. People are now sending the most elaborate pen pal letters to people around the world.
I was in awe of how imaginative you can be when it comes to sending a letter. Even though sending a traditional letter is still appropriate, you can now do so much more. It seems like the art and pen pal worlds have collided to form something wonderfully new and different and I’m totally HERE FOR IT.
My First Set Of Letters
For my first letters, I chose to design envelope art for each recipient and do an “All About Me” letter. Since I sent my aunt’s letter in December, her envelope art reflected the holiday. I also added my favorite tea and a few family photos to the envelope as keepsakes.
The Envelopes
Aunt Linda’s Letter
The rest of the letters were sent out in January and each had a different theme. For example, my cousin’s envelope was a drawing of a snail representing the idea of “snail mail.”
Kola’s Envelope
Finally, the envelopes I designed for the kids consisted of a unicorn theme. Each child’s envelope had a drawing of a unicorn which reflected their personality.
The Kids’ Envelopes
The Letters
The actual letters were pen pal forms that I created using Canva. I saw similar examples of these forms in my research and crafted them to fit my needs. The first form just talked about all of my favorite things
All About Me Form
The form for my niece Ayla was designed for her age group and reading level. It was simple enough for her to read and respond to independently.
Ayla’s Pen Pal Form
Finally, since Noelle is only 4, I created a letter for her that had a lot of graphics she would understand with some assistance from her family. She would be able to easily respond to it by just circling or coloring her answers on the blank form I sent in the envelope.
Noelle’s Pen Pal Form
The Outcome
After I completed assembling each letter, I mailed them off at the post office and crossed my fingers. I prayed that they would arrive there in one piece and that my family would get a kick out of receiving a letter in the mail.
My aunt received her letter first since it was sent in December. She responded rather quickly. I received her letter two weeks after I mailed the original letter. I was so happy to see her letter in the mailbox.
My cousin got her snail mail by the third week of January. She was tickled pink to receive a letter in the mail. She posted pictures of the letter and its contents on her social media. She also promptly sent me a beautiful card back which she created on her brand new Cricut machine. I loved it!
Kola’s Card and Letter
Sad News
Unfortunately, my nieces and nephew didn’t receive their letters. According to my sister-in-law, their mail hasn’t been reliable this past year. They haven’t been receiving all of their mail or packages. Apparently, my letters were victims of this issue. So, I sent her an email with pictures of the envelopes and forms so they could at least see the art and letters. They loved the unicorn drawings and used them as screensavers on their devices.
Final Thoughts
I truly enjoyed making and mailing happy mail for my family. This has turned out to be a fun creative outlet for me. Plus, my family liked receiving something positive in the mail that lifted their spirits. I’m definitely going to continue this activity next month. I can’t wait to come up with new themes and ship them off to my family.
Have you sent pen pal letters recently? Tell me about your experience in the comments below.
