Friday, November 7, 2014

Messages in Bottles... DIY Bottle Mail


Letters in bottles.... 
Twin  Adventures....
DIY Messages in Bottles


As 12 year old girls...we just knew our messages would reach some distant shore...we would receive a letter in some foreign, tongue, necessitating a  trip to some exotic foreign embassy to have  it translated...oh the romance of letters being  cast upon the unknown deep of the mysterious Pacific ocean!

Yes.  Hold on to your seats, it really is another Twin Adventure from the Twins Forever book...documenting  all of those special events.   This is one of them.  We really did hoist over our corked wine bottles, into the churning waters of the Pacific Ocean  ,  along with the enclosed notes  imploring the recipients to  reciprocate .  Time passed...lots of it.  But there  was never a response....sniff, sniff.
Where did these twins get their corked wine bottles?  I will now  turn to page 64 of the Twins Forever Book.... (not a primary source, more like a copy, of a copy, of a copy...)



There we are, the twins flanking our beautiful, ever stylish and patient mother.  We are on the SS George Washington .  This was day one or two of our cruise...and we are enjoying our  flotation drill We were on the ship for 2 weeks from Yokohama , Japan to Sunny California.  

My  twin sister and I,  immediately went to work on our "Messages in bottles" project. For  days, we staked out  the lounges, begging for empty wine bottles to have for our "messages in bottles " project.  Our acquaintances acquiesced, and we got our bottles,complete with corks.  I don't remember how many we threw overboard, but we had a ball doing so . Just a note to interject here, today it is not PC to throw bottles overboard...as it may kill wild life.   But instead, why not throw a bottled message into the sea of the USPS? 



So let's begin with our DIY tutorial for "Messages in Bottles"!

I am all about using the most frugal tools.  These were purchased at JoAnns.  The bottles are plastic.  The Corks, (I had my fingers crossed on this one) fit perfectly!



I cut a small piece of stationery in half,  for it to fit inside the bottle.





Wrote my "sista" mail...dredging up up old memories for her to enjoy...


Next, using a pencil or something of that nature, coil  your papers around to make it tight and snug.

My intention was to tie it with twine.

I had to use a bit of washi tape to hold the paper in place so that it remained tightly rolled, then tied it with a small piece of twine.



I then corked the bottle and put an address label on it.  Technically, it was ready to go...just needs some postage.But if you are not a minimalist, you might want to get out your stash of  tiny things and brighten up your bottle...

I am not a minimalist..more is always better!



After completing the project...I decided that the bottle might be a bit too small to cast "as is" into the sea of USPS...so I decided to take an extra precaution, and not to try the patience of the ever gracious USPS... I went ahead and placed the bottle into a large clear envelope.  Did you know that there is a "Message in a Bottle Society"?   There really is.  I just formed one--care to join?



Bring back enchanting, old memories! Go ahead and write a letter and send it in a bottle!

Write Letters,
Write Often.

Lady Pamela

2 comments:

  1. I've sent letters in plastic tubes before but your little bottles are cuter and more frugal! =D

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    Replies
    1. Thanks, Jan, I'm checking into a 7 inch sized bottle that looks authentic that could go through the mail as is.

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