Winter-themed letter

I'm getting ready to send a winter-themed letter off to a little boy in the Philippines who is 6 years old. I'm sending:

• Pics of a recent snowstorm
• Penguin stickers and paper (from the Oriental Trading catalog)
• A letter on penguin and igloo-themed stationery from the DLTK website -- make your own free customized writting paper -- http://www.dltk-cards.com/writingpaper/

Pocket folders that fit Compassion's mailing size

EDITED TO ADD:  I've since found out that full-size folders will go through.  You don't have to cut them down.  My only recommendation would be to avoid the folders with the metal clasps in the center.  Stick to simple paper folders.

Someone on the "Letter Writing Ideas" page over at the Compassion Blog came up with a GREAT idea!! (Hi Donna!) :) Send a folder to your child so he or she has something to keep letters and gifts in.

The standard-size folder exceeds Compassion's size limit. One idea is to cut the folders down to size. Cut an inch or two off the top and an inch or two off the right hand side. Then staple the pockets closed again.

This is what we did for one of my daughter's art projects and they are really sweet. See pics above!

"Favorite Things" Letter

We asked one of our sponsored kids to tell us about his favorite things -- and got a really neat letter back. So we sent a list of our favorite things.

Here is the letter we sent. It's just an idea if you're feeling stuck about what to write. It's kind of an easy and fun letter to put together.

Click on the images below to see them better. (Use the back arrow to get back to this page.)

Sports Cards and Stickers

Our oldest sponsored child from Ethiopia is interested in the World Cup and we've exchanged some letters on the subject. I found some cool football/soccer stickers and cards and sent those. I got them on Amazon.

Mail for unsponsored kids

I went through all of my old Christmas cards, cut out images and taped those to cardstock. On the back of each I put a Bible verse. I put each one in an envelope with some stickers.

They're on their way!

Mail for Unsponsored Kids Part II

I found some cute Peanuts stickers around the house and decorated up my envelopes for the unsponsored kids a bit. I think they look cute:

Bookmarks

There is a new group on OurCompassion that is inviting people to write letters to children in the program who don't yet have sponsors. You can write letters, send stickers, bookmarks, etc.

To find out more about this, join OurCompassion and sign up with the "Encouragement and Hope" group. They have all the info on where to send your letters.

My daughter and I made some cards/bookmarks to send. We'll put them in an envelope along with some stickers. I hope the kids like them!

Soccer Stencils

Here is my latest find for my sponsored kids. "Fun with Soccer Stencils." It has six paper stencils of a person playing soccer. My Ethiopian kids love soccer/football! One thing to note, Compassion International can no longer send books or booklets -- anything that has a binding that is too thick or stiff. But these very small Dover booklets will go through. I found this one at my local children's museum.

Pop-Up Cards

I'm getting ready to send a package off to one of my children in Ethiopia. I found these cute pop-up cards at Barnes & Noble. The brand is Panoramics.