WFMW - Sending Cards

One of my New Years resolutions year after year has been to improve myself in the area of sending cards. Birthday cards, anniversary cards, thank you's, get well, just thinking of you - the whole array. I love receiving cards in the mail and have wanted to be better about doing the same for others. It seems anymore that it is becoming less common to send written mail and cards to people through the mail system. With the internet, cellphones, and other forms of technology at our fingertips, the art of sending cards and letters is becoming lost.

I am not the best about taking the time to do this quite yet, but it is a work in progress. With any desire I have, I have to get a system in place, plan, and prepare before implementing it. It's just a quirk I have. So I give you my card system...

Initially I had to designate a space in my home that would be easily accessible to organize and store my cards and such. In our eat-in kitchen there is a drawer on the opposite side of the counter, away from the hubbub of the kitchen itself. It's accessible, but out of the way. In there I store my cards. I have a wide assortment of boxed sets, encouragement cards, birthday cards, get well, sympathy, all for the times that I just need to pull out a card without having the chance to go to the store. I also have a stack of thank you cards to pull at a moments notice to send. I have also included in this drawer preprinted address labels, both for my dearest family and friends and return labels, stamps, a pen, and our address book. Everything I need, all in one spot. What a concept.


Another great item I have that resides in this drawer is my birthday/anniversary calendar. This thing is fabulous. It's about 8x10 in size and works like a flip chart, one page for each month. On each page is listed the number of days in the month and allows you room to write birthdays and anniversaries for those you know. It's a great item to have, keeps all of your important dates in one place, and it's whimsical and fun!


The third key to my card system is my 13 pocket binder system. In here I have labeled the tabs by month of the year. Ahead of time I make sure to have purchased any birthday or anniversary cards that I will need for an upcoming month to have stored away until I need it. Sometimes you just can't run to the store for a card 5 or 6 times in one month, so it's best to stock up on your first trip. If I'm feeling adventurous, I'll even address them ahead of time. And for technicality's sake... I store my birthday/anniversary calendar in the 13th pocket of this organizer.

There you have it. It's my system. It's a work in progress, and I still am not that great about getting cards sent out to all those I care about. It has helped me definitely however to be better organized and I'm improving in this area. I want my Little Miss to see this as something that we do for others and for it to encourage her as well.

You can head over to Shannon's place @ Rocks in my Dryer for some other great tips!