I used to love to send postcards when I was a kid. I always sent them to my grandmother, who stuck them into random pages of her cookbooks. She always said she liked to happen upon them in the future. When she died, we found lots of them in her cookbooks.
This week’s Martha Mondays project, chosen by Sarah at Mum in Bloom, is to
make your own postcards. The project is very simple. Print out the template for the back of the postcard and glue it onto the back of a 4×6 photo. The photo I used is one we took on the shores of Loch Ness this past summer.
Here’s a little secret. You don’t even really need to print out the template. You can simply mail a photo if you write the address on the right hand side and leave a place for the stamp. In fact, you can mail all sorts of weird things. There’s a 
whole little business surrounding this in Florida, where we go every spring. We have mailed a whole coconut (no packaging, just a label), a flip flop (again, just a label) and a plastic bottle with a note in it (label glued on the outside), all sold in gift shops down there.
My aunt, who was postmaster of her town, used to mail her own photos as postcards often (without any backing glued on) while on vacation. If you’ve got a printer with you, this is a great way to send personalized postcards for very little cost. I have to say I always do like to look through postcards though wherever we are. I like to see what photos are being used. I have some blank postcards I bought as a child and now have all the ones I sent my grandmother and they are interesting to look through.
You can follow any comment to this entry through the RSS 2.0 Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Here’s how my postcards turned out http://muminbloom.blogspot.com/2010/02/martha-mondys-postcards.html
I love the story of your grandmother keeping her postcards in cookbooks and who knew you could mail a flip flop?
Idea from your post – print your photo’s on card stock and write on the back. This will give you a firmer surface to write on and no worries about the ink running 🙂
This was fun to participate in and I look forward to next week’s selection.
Hah! I love how you’ve been experimenting with what you can send through the mail. How about a conch shell?
I looked to try to find what the rules are but can’t find anything online. I think it has to be within a certain size to be mailable and it can’t be breakable or sharp. At least that’s what I would guess!
I forgot to mention — when we sent the single flip flop to my in-laws, I wrote “we’ll send you the left shoe next year.” I thought it was kind of funny:)
I love this. You can personalize to anyone. Too funny about the left shoe!
I love that your grandma kept them in her cookbooks. Postcards from loved ones are hard to throw away.
I have sent one of those little bottles with a note in it that I got from a gift shop on the ocean. It was the cutest darn thing!
I’m having blogging issues right now so I’ll have to post my cards next monday. I’ll double up my MM posts. I did make my postcards and was very happy with them. I’ll show ya soon!
I also love the story of how your grandmother kept the postcards in cookbooks. I know the feeling you had finding them as well. My mom kept greeting cards she had received over the years. Finding those brought on some very happy memories!
So many postcards are same, same. Great idea to just mail your own photos.
Fantastic, Brette! This is an idea I can get behind. And who doesn’t love to get mail????
But how to you know how much postage to put on a coconut or flip flop???!!!!
Part of me wants to say that the post office must HATE weird mailers, but I’d guess they are in such need of biz these days that they don’t complain … too much.
When we sent them, the store we bought them at handled the mailing. The PO has prices online though – you choose the size and destination and get to choose the shipping type and it tells you how much.
I’ve done this – without the special backing. Easy, and so gratifying to send an image of someplace you’ve actually seen, rather than one you’ve picked out at the local souvenir shop.
We make our own postcards by cutting up cereal boxes and pasta boxes and using them. People think it is SO COOL and the kids love doing it.