♥ Message in a Bottle - Valentine/Love ♥ USA

♥ Message in a Bottle - Valentine/Love ♥ USA

For the past two years, I've enjoyed hosting Message in a Bottle swaps. There have been wonderful swappers who sent and received great bottles through the mail. With Valentine's Day coming up, it is a perfect opportunity to swap a LOVEly bottle! So let's do it again!

For this swap, you will use a clear plastic water or juice bottle, around 16 or 20 oz sized. You can use a larger bottle if you want. Make sure it is clean and DRY before putting anything inside.

Write a letter to your partner. There is a minimum page requirement of 2 pages on 5x7 sized paper. You may use smaller or larger paper if you want, because I know there is cute stationery out there in various sizes, but make the length of your letter comparable to 2-5x7 sheets. After all, this is a letter swap. Then roll up your letter, tie it with a ribbon, and insert it in the neck of your bottle.

To finish off your Message in a Bottle, let's put some "fun stuff" in there. Let's think "Valentine's", "hearts", "love", etc.! Read your partner's profile to get some ideas of their hobbies or interests. Use these ideas to drop in things your partner might enjoy. For example, confetti shapes, beads, brads, pens, candy, charms, stickers, little wrapped presents ... use your imagination! Just make it FUN! :-)

As a side note, if there is something you want to include in your bottle, but it is too big to insert into the neck of the bottle, you can cut a "flap" into the side of your bottle, a little door large enough to insert the item(s), and when you are done filling your bottle, use clear packing tape to seal this flap well. Also before mailing your bottle, use packing tape to wrap around the neck and cap of your bottle.

You can decorate the outside of your bottle with stickers or whatever you think will survive the "handling" of the postal system. Be creative! Securely affix your partner's address to the outside of the bottle, take it to your post office and put the correct amount of postage on it. As a stamp lover, may I encourage you to use actual stamps to decorate your bottle rather than the metered postage label? It adds color and makes your bottle more fun! Not a requirement, just a suggestion. :)

Also let me add that if your post office gives you grief about sending a plastic bottle in the mail, go to another post office. Most of us had no problems mailing our bottles in the previous swap rounds, but one or two did encounter postal clerks who refused to mail the bottle. The swappers simply went to another post office nearby where they had no trouble mailing it. As long as you apply a legible address and apply proper postage (I suggest having the clerk weigh it, even if only to double check your postage) a plastic bottle is perfectly mailable.

Interested in joining? If so, please make sure as a swapper that you meet the following requirements, because in order to have a great swap for everyone, I will have to drop you from the swap if I feel you will not complete the swap.

• You live in the USA.
• You have a rating of 4.9 or higher.
• You have completed at least 10 "Type 3" swaps.
• You have no unexplained 1's.

Although I'm very particular about making sure we have great swappers, I will Angel this swap if your partner does not come through. So you can swap with confidence! :)

Also, if you take a picture of your bottle before you mail it or when you receive one, will you email a copy of your picture to me? If you happen to have an older photo from a previous Message in a Bottle swap, I'd love to feature it, too. I am going to create a website for this swap and future (and past) Message in a Bottle swaps I host. I'd love to see what others have put together and I'm sure others would too!

I look forward to swapping a "Message in a Bottle" again. Come join me!