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| Tips ~N~ Hints (For Sending Your Care Package) |
| Just a few ideas of places to purchase items for your care packages..... |
| CVS Dollar Stores Drug Stores Flea Markets Internet Sites |
| Kmart 5&Dime Stores Oriental Trading Rea & Derrick Sam's Club |
| Super Markets Target Walgreens WalMart Woolworths |
| Check out this site for mailing your homemade cookies... |
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| Homemade goodies can be placed in zip lock bags with as much air removed as possible and then placed inside of tin cans or container's with an airtight lid. *Coffee cans work great for this, as well as Tupperware! Tips on packing your boxes.... 1. Fill your boxes to the top but don't over stuff it. You don't want a lot of "space" for things to move around but you don't want it pack to tight if there are things that could crush or break easily because during shipment, the boxes get tossed around and sometimes get dropped. 2. Use air popped popcorn as a cushion to help protect the delicate items and fill the empty spaces. Popcorn is light and doesn't weigh much at all. Use only plain <no butter> unsalted popcorn. 3. Cotton balls and toilet paper rolls are also good for packing in the boxes to aid as a "cushion" and they can be used by the soldier's unlike the styrofoam peanuts and the confetti paper that just gets thrown away 4. Use zip lock bags. Put items that are in bottles or jugs, like juice drinks, shampoo/conditioner's in the bags just in case they leak during shipment to protect the other items. The bags are also good for things that you don't want to get crushed or broken. You can blow a little air into the bag and zip it shut to make it puffy. Also you can add cotton balls in the bags to protect the item inside. 5. Remove items from their original package that are individually wrapped, like hard candy, gum and toy's. You can then dropped these items into your box to help fill in the empty spaces. This allows to make use of as much space as possible and you can get more thing's inside your box. 6. Remember to keep thing's small and compact, as the troops/soldiers do not have a lot of room to keep their personal item's and they need to be able to pack up fast in the event that get reassigned on short notice or have to relocate in a hurry. 7. Condiment packets from restaurants are also good for filling in the spaces. They are small, soft, lightweight and will help as a cushion. 8. You can put a card inside your package with your name and address, the recipients name and address and list the contents of the package just in case the outside label becomes illegible. This way the postal service can still send your package or return it to you. 9. If your box has writing or pictures on it, you can wrap it with brown paper bags. Just cut the bags to open it flat and tape or glue it to your box. 10. When mailing homemade cookies, be sure not to send "soft chewy" cookies as they have a lot of moisture in them and can go bad during shipment. 11. Wrap all homemade food items with plastic wrap and then aluminum foil before placing in containers. 12. When possible, bake in disposable foil pans (i.e. breads, brownies) that you can leave the item in to mail. After the item is baked, remove it from the pan to cool completely. Wash and dry the foil pan completely. Once cooled, wrap with plastic wrap and then place back in the foil pan and wrap with aluminum foil. 13. It is possible to send certain kinds of cakes in the mail. Good choices are Fruitcake, pound cake, carrot cake, spice cake, or a fruit-based cake such as applesauce. Pound cake with a pour on icing is a good choice. The icing not only adds moisture, but also forms a coating to keep the cake moist. These kinds of cakes can be baked in a coffee can and shipped this way. (just remember the above tips for wrapping with plastic wrap and aluminum foil) 14. Send a can of frosting and a plastic knife in the package so they can frost the cake when they open the box. (If the cake goes bad on the way, they still have a can of frosting for the sweet tooth haha!) Alway's mark your package of this type "Perishable Food" and ship priorty mail to ensure it's rapid delivery and careful handling. |
| Thing's NOT to send... NO Religious items <depends on where your sending to> NO Pornography NO Medications or Drugs of any kind NO Alcoholic Beverages NO Tobacco products NO Refrigerated items NO Pressurized items <such as hair spray, spray deodorant etc.> NO Weapons NO Ammunition NO Money in any form NO Live vegitation <plants> |
| This site is not supported nor endorsed by any organization. It is based on my opinions and experiences. It is only meant for helpful tips and useful information purpose only! |
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