I’ve made my fair share of care packages, and I’ve learned a few things on how to budget them and pull them off without spending way too much or being a Pinterest wizard. Read on to see my basic tips all in action in a Halloween-themed care package where I put all my skills to use!

Ship Flat Rate (and Pick Your Box Ahead of Time!)

I’ve come to the conclusion, based on comparing every package I send, that flat rate is almost always better than by-weight shipping. Unless you’re doing a package that’s largely air for some reason (filled with balloons?), then flat rate shipping boxes are going to end up being cheaper.

Typically, for my packages, it’s a decision between Medium or Large, though on a rare occasion, I have done a small package.

I find my first stop when I have decided to do a care package is to the post office, where you can get these boxes for free. Based on my given budget, I’ll pick which box I’m going to work within.

Medium is the most standard size for me to use because small is simply not big enough to house much of anything and doesn’t have standard flaps to decorate whereas large is just so expensive to ship out. Medium is, as it were, the happy medium.

Shop Sales

My second tip and a habit I constantly have now is to shop sales. When I’ve decided to do a box, I’ll sweep sales for anything I need (or any new ideas based on what is marked down). But also, watching sales constantly and after holidays is good practice.

After holidays, things are marked down consistently. It’s good habit, if you know you’ll be sending care packages often in the future, to either plan for that specific holiday next year by buying supplies and saving them or to shop holiday sales for what can be used creatively on different types of packages.

For example, every single year I swarm Valentine’s Day sales because enough digging will find romantic and love themed items that don’t specifically say “Happy Valentine’s Day” and those can then be used for any package or letter I send to my boy.

Personally, I shop Michael's religiously for my crafting supplies and they have great markdowns around holidays and randomly on certain things.

No matter which store(s) you prefer, join their mailing lists for email or physical mailings to track sales on anything you might use.

Shop Clearance

Along the same thought line, shop clearance. Sometimes, clearance is scattered around a store and is oftentimes a mess, but search through it. All it takes is one good find to suddenly fill a huge hole in your care package plan.

Some stores don’t have well-marked or advertised clearance sections, but explore around and check end caps. Keep your eyes peeled for differently colored tags and eventually you’ll find some section for clearance.

Decorating the Box

Pick Paint or Paper

A lot of Pinterest care packages use cardstock or wrapping paper to wrap the insides of a box, which looks nice; but craft paper is expensive!

Depending on your budget, opt instead to paint the inside of the box as a base, then add embellishments.

Embrace Your Theme for Embellishments

Use stickers, drawings, printed out designs- whatever to embellish the naked box. Just fit them to your theme and in the end, it’ll all work together.

I love scouring craft stores for what’s been marked down for stickers, foam pieces, ribbons, and children’s activity sets. All of those sometimes have items to glue down on your flaps.

Don’t forget too that while often times expensive, scrap booking stickers do go on sale, but aren’t always out front. You’ll have to check within the aisles for any markdowns on the “fancier” stickers and accessories that can really drive an entire design.

Be Pun-Y

Puns are my best friend when crafting something and sticking to a theme. For decorating the flaps, there’s two major strategies: one massive message across all four sides or four separate messages. Often times, this is when I take to the internet for inspiration.

Don’t be afraid of being cheesy or over the top, this is the realm of cheesy and over-the-top.

Filling the Box

Start with what you can find. Generally, starting at the sale racks will get your brain running for ideas- and they’ll be in budget. For my Halloween package, I’d brainstormed plenty of ideas, but what ended up in the box was what I found when I really went out and looked.

--> If you really like something you find, but aren’t sure how to use it or how to fit it into the theme, don’t abandon it. Re-brand it with decorate to fit the theme or find a way to work it in. Worse case scenario, save it for a future box.

My general guide for what to go in a box is a balance of theme items and favorites. Balance items really fitted to the overall box and items you know they’ll really want to get- some items will overlap.

For my Halloween box, I used candy melts to make brains- not something that is hugely a favorite, but super perfect for the theme.

Then I included some microwave mashed potatoes- something I’d always wanted to give my boyfriend because of his constant rush to eat good food, with some re-branding- the mashed potatoes totally fit my theme.

While tempting, I wouldn’t ever skip the “re-branding” process. Even if the item won’t be visible on the “photo” shot of the top of the box, it enhances the overall uniqueness and experience if every item has been decorated and fit into the theme. It’s just plain fun.

Packaging and Decoration

Within the box, take advantage of different shapes and packages to enhance the overall diversity and texture of the box.

Take advantage of holiday or seasonal gift bags/boxes like the wooden coffin I painted for my Halloween box.

When in doubt, go off of what is available. If there’s a sale on mason jars, start with a jar and embellish it. Craft paper on sale? Look up some origami boxes.

Like with skipping re-branding, I don’t recommend leaving anything un-decorated. Put your unique mark on each item. Put on a sticker, a note- which I address next, but don’t leave plain items inside.

NEVER Skip the Letter

While it seems like the decoration and the stuffings of the box are the star of the show, at the end of the day what’s going to probably be saved in some memory box beneath the bed is what you really say.

For any box, I write one overall letter that explains my theme, my inspiration, or just rambles about what’s on my mind with that box. Let your mind run away with you on these letters. While you might stress about being eloquent or overly romantic, three pages of just memories and daydreams haphazardly will be just as impactful as any poetry you compose.

Then, besides the main letter, write notes all through the box. Attach notes explaining anything you bought if there’s motivation behind it. My boyfriend is notoriously bad about remembering to eat if he’s busy, so I included a snack- with Nutella, one of his favorites- with a note telling him to keep it in his bag.

These personal touches help show the thought that went into it and further personalize it for that special someone.

I always like to include additional notes whether they are attached to gifts or not that are for delayed opening so that the package has more than just the initial impact but that part of it can also be saved for particularly bad days in the future, for every day in a countdown until the next visit, or for whatever seems to fit.

In my Halloween package, I include a bad named “Tricks and Treats” that had Rice Krispy Treats and Gummy Candy Boogers each with a tiny note folded and decorated to look like tiny Hollow’s Eve letters that I taped to them so he would have something to save and open across several days. Each one had a themed pun or cute note. Nothing huge or serious, just another way to devote some time into really getting the most out of your cost investment with shipping a package (and showing someone you care enough to invest so much).

Accept That Perfection Isn’t the Goal

This one isn’t easy. Every package I make, my inner Pinterest-wizard-striving perfectionist is nagging me about a crooked bow or lopsided handwriting, but that package ultimately isn’t about perfection, but about reminding someone how loved they are, perfection not required.

Instead, embrace the unique quality your own abilities (or inabilities) lend to each project.

At the end of the day, if you make the person on the receiving end smile. If you make them realize that they are loved. It doesn’t matter if your handwriting is crooked or if you mistook their favorite snack for Swedish Fish when it’s gummy bears. It doesn’t matter if the stuff you baked arrived stale.

None of that matters.

What matters is you hand-wrote a letter, tried to give them their favorite things, or made them something handmade. What matters is the effort and the thought. If you genuinely put your heart into a box, it’s going to come out perfect.