Janette Lane's Pocket Letter Guide
Hello friends! Today I'm sharing a Pocket Letter Guide that gives an explanation about what to include in your Pocket Letter. This guide is very similar to the one I posted on my Youtube video, "Basic
Pocket Letter Tutorial" a few days ago, but it provides more details. I'm going to "walk" you through the different components of a Pocket Letter. Basically this creative mailing method is a typical penpal letter as a whole. It consists of a letter, a mail tag, and other paper tidbits and goodies. Each part of the penpal letter is put in a different pocket. Do you have to include each component? Nope! Just make sure you include a letter to your Pocket Letter Pal! That's pretty much the only "rule".
LETTER
The letter doesn't have to be long. Introduce yourself and let your Pocket Letter Pal know more about you. Tell them where you're from, what you do for a living, etc. You can write it on a normal sized piece of paper, fold it up, and tuck it in one of the pockets.
EPHEMERA
This is a quick way to spruce up your letter. You can include die cuts, cute paper bits, vellum paper, etc.
STICKERS
You can tuck a few stickers in this pocket. No sweat, right?
MAIL TAG
Mail tags are popular in the penpal community. What's a mail tag? It's a specific set of questions that are asked so your Pocket Letter Pal can answer in his or her reply to you. Make the questions on the shorter side, and only as a few. Some questions I tend to ask are:
-What are your TOP 5 Favorite movies?
-Best book you read last year?
- Chocolate or Vanilla?
These questions can be as creative as you'd like. If you're only doing a one-time swap, then these aren't practical since you'll only be exchanging once. But it is a good idea if you are planning on swapping Pocket Letters indefinitely.
POCKET LETTER EXPLANATION
The "Pocket Letter Explanation" card gives a brief overview of Pocket Letters and how Pocket Letters work. You can send this in one of your pockets for your penpals who don't know what Pocket Letters or Pocket Letter Pals are. You can download and print one I've designed myself. It's available for free along with some custom-sized quotes. Click here: Free Pocket Letter Pals Download.
ABOUT ME
I'm including an "ABOUT ME" section in each Pocket Letter I create. I'm writing down little short tidbits of things I like or dislike, hobbies, etc. This is what I include in mine:
Name
Online usernames
Things I Love
List of Hobbies
Here's an example:
Hello! My name is Janette and I blog at Janette Lane Blog. I'm married to my wonderful husband, Lovey. We live in sunny CA where we lead a happy life, by the grace of God. Aside from my regular 9-5, I enjoy blogging, making snailmail, papercrafting, reading, and going on adventures with my husband. You can find me online on FB as Janette Lane or on my Instagram as @janettelaneblog. Hope we can continue connecting there!
QUOTE
I think quotes are good to include. Just think how fun it'll be (once you've swapped a lot of letters) to flip through your collection! Two quotes are available on the Pocket Letter Printable I made a few days ago.
MISC
You can include pretty much anything you can think of in this pocket. I wrote a post that lists items you can "pocket". Click here: Pocket Letter Ideas . The list is not exhaustive, but you can find even more inspiration for what to put in your Pocket Letters on this video tutorial:
LETTER
The letter doesn't have to be long. Introduce yourself and let your Pocket Letter Pal know more about you. Tell them where you're from, what you do for a living, etc. You can write it on a normal sized piece of paper, fold it up, and tuck it in one of the pockets.
EPHEMERA
This is a quick way to spruce up your letter. You can include die cuts, cute paper bits, vellum paper, etc.
STICKERS
You can tuck a few stickers in this pocket. No sweat, right?
MAIL TAG
Mail tags are popular in the penpal community. What's a mail tag? It's a specific set of questions that are asked so your Pocket Letter Pal can answer in his or her reply to you. Make the questions on the shorter side, and only as a few. Some questions I tend to ask are:
-What are your TOP 5 Favorite movies?
-Best book you read last year?
- Chocolate or Vanilla?
These questions can be as creative as you'd like. If you're only doing a one-time swap, then these aren't practical since you'll only be exchanging once. But it is a good idea if you are planning on swapping Pocket Letters indefinitely.
POCKET LETTER EXPLANATION
The "Pocket Letter Explanation" card gives a brief overview of Pocket Letters and how Pocket Letters work. You can send this in one of your pockets for your penpals who don't know what Pocket Letters or Pocket Letter Pals are. You can download and print one I've designed myself. It's available for free along with some custom-sized quotes. Click here: Free Pocket Letter Pals Download.
ABOUT ME
I'm including an "ABOUT ME" section in each Pocket Letter I create. I'm writing down little short tidbits of things I like or dislike, hobbies, etc. This is what I include in mine:
Name
Online usernames
Things I Love
List of Hobbies
Here's an example:
Hello! My name is Janette and I blog at Janette Lane Blog. I'm married to my wonderful husband, Lovey. We live in sunny CA where we lead a happy life, by the grace of God. Aside from my regular 9-5, I enjoy blogging, making snailmail, papercrafting, reading, and going on adventures with my husband. You can find me online on FB as Janette Lane or on my Instagram as @janettelaneblog. Hope we can continue connecting there!
QUOTE
I think quotes are good to include. Just think how fun it'll be (once you've swapped a lot of letters) to flip through your collection! Two quotes are available on the Pocket Letter Printable I made a few days ago.
MISC
You can include pretty much anything you can think of in this pocket. I wrote a post that lists items you can "pocket". Click here: Pocket Letter Ideas . The list is not exhaustive, but you can find even more inspiration for what to put in your Pocket Letters on this video tutorial:
TEA
Tea packets are the perfect size for this snail mail project! You don't have to include it, but you can if you want.. I love tea, so I enjoy getting them!
If you have any questions about Pocket Letter or Pocket Letter Pals, please leave a comment below! Thank you!
***
Remember, your Pocket Letter doesn't have to be EXACTLY like this.. This is just a guide. Be creative and have tons of fun! If you have any questions about Pocket Letter or Pocket Letter Pals, please leave a comment below! Or refer to Pocket Letter FAQs. Thank you!
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