Creative Ideas for Care Packages

as submitted by Maggie
I’ve found that sending a piece of home has been a good motivator for him, but I’ve also found some items that have definitely made him feel loved and cared for… his roommates tease them a bit about it but they got to admit, they tell me they wish their loved ones would do the same.

I sent him personalized bathing soaps and an afghan with our picture woven into it. I felt it to be a comforting thought to know that I still am around keeping him warm and thinking of him.

Also a couple of other items have been the typical guy things.. like external hard-drives, the new guitar hero for x-box and a portrait of his family eating dinner with a seat left open and a “cut out” of him pasted over it.. it made him enjoy his thanksgiving…

***********
as submitted by Melanie
Jar full of inspiration: Fill a plastic jar full of inspirational messages to keep your soldiers hopes up. Put exactly the same amount of messages as days that he will be gone. On the front, put a message that says “Prescribed: Take one dose of inspiration each day.”
A Date far away: Send a reservation card for a date for you and your soldier. Put the date, time, and location. The location should say something like Look up at the sky, I will be thinking about you.  Send the card in advance so he can change the date or time that will be convenient for him. Knowing you are both doing the same thing and thinking about each other will provide comfort.  You’ll be with each other without physically being together.

*******
As submitted by Jessica
I’m an Army girlfriend and his birthday was last Sunday. Before his birthday he kept saying “I’m only gonna get one card and its gonna be from you.” So I picked out 3 cards (one I signed by myself, one signed by his family and myself, and one signed by my friends and myself) then I said “see you got more than one card.”

Another idea. There is a program called Windows Movie Maker. I sent him a DVD of a slideshow I made. I asked him 4 pictures, which I do anyways, and he never suspected I would use them the way I did. I added music to it (you can even have a song fade out and insert another one. You can do this as many times as you want so you can add little snippets) and added text and pictures of us. It takes some time but its better than pictures because it has your own narrative and he can watch it several times but just popping it into his computer.

********
as submitted by Kasey
We have done Bosnia 2 times and Iraq 3 times in 5 years. The few constants he has always asked for are:
-The mini-water balloons you can get them in bulk at the dollar tree.

-The tuna fish snack packs (tuna with mayo and crackers packaged together on top)

-We figured out that a double bed air mattress fits just right over a twin bed. If you air it up tight and put a blanket under it it wont squeak. So when he gets there and we know his space limitations, I send it over.

********
as submitted by Danielle:
I sent him a micro-fleece blanket with my perfume on it, its sort of like the pillow case idea but then he has something to rap around him so its like were holding each other. Plus the blankets are really cheap at Wal-Mart. I thought you might think it was a cute idea.

********
as submitted by Ellen:
My husband is an Air Force Reservist who is currently deployed to Afghanistan. We are blessed that the Army Base he is on, he has full access to internet, webcam and phone – all through Yahoo.com.

We were married last June 16 and he was activated in January – we had 30 days to arrange life and then he was gone.

I found your website and took some ideas from it then did some a little different. One thing I did that he loved (and I did too) was I found two small cardboard box in the shape of a heart. On the top of the box I used scrapbooking stickers and placed a nice saying about love on it. I cut little slips of paper (1/2” x 2”) out of pink and red scrapbooking paper. I split the slips of paper into two piles. One blank pile went into one of the heart boxes. On the remaining slips of paper I wrote something I loved about my husband. I put those papers into the other box. I took two dried roses that were from the last bouquet of roses that he personally went out and purchased for me and placed one in each box on top of the papers. When he got the boxes he was able to read all the things that I love about him. Then he wrote what he loved about me on the blank slips of paper and returned that box to me. So we each have our own boxes.

I absolutely dreaded spending our first anniversary apart. Since we had some sort of regular communication schedule already established – I decided to make an anniversary box so than we could do things “together.” I first wrote down our schedule variation given the time difference. I wrote up a schedule of meals that we could “share.” In that schedule I built in times that I would have other presents or cards or envelopes for him to open. I found some nice plastic plates and bowls. I bought placemats and silverware. I purchased food that could be shipped over to him. The food consisted of dinners and vegetables that you can get off the supermarket shelf and microwave, oatmeal, dried fruit, fruit juice, cupcakes, muffins. I purchased the exact same food items and place setting for me. Each meal and present was boxed and wrapped separately. Each item was numbered. And since it was our first anniversary and that is the paper (traditional) anniversary all the presents had something to do with paper.

All wrapped items were placed in a larger box and shipped to him. He had the box about a week before our special date but was told he could not open it until our anniversary.  (He said it was killing him wondering what was in the box!!! J) We were able to webcam and IM. When he woke up the first box he opened was Box #1. In it was the placemat, a bowl a spoon, oatmeal, dried fruit, fruit juice and a muffin. Then over the next 24 hours he opened a box or a present or a card as instructed by me. Everything was spread out over time so although it looks like it moved fast – it did not. The schedule looked like this:

His morning/my evening/night:
Box 1 – breakfast foods with bowl, spoon, placemat (we then ate breakfast “together.”)
Card 1
Envelope 1 – a poem written about him and meeting and our first year of marriage
(We talked and I went to bed)
My morning/his afternoon into his evening
Box 2 – a small home made scrapbook of pictures of him and I
Card 2
Envelope 2 – copies of the letters that we wrote to each other on our wedding day and a copy of the wedding announcement
Box 3 – Lunch/dinner foods with large plate & fork (we then ate dinner “together.”) complete with Little Debbie’s cupcakes that represented wedding cake
Box 4 – a disc of wedding and honeymoon pictures set to our wedding songs and other songs
(We spent time talking then he went to bed.)
Box 5 – plastic frames with photos of our wedding day
My evening/His morning
Card 3
Box 6 – a box of snack-like breakfast foods (muffins, dried fruit, juice)
Card 4
Box 7 – a small stuffed animal holding a favorite picture of us

Although it sounds complicated, it was not and it was so much fun making the boxes and thinking of presents for him. (It kept me semi-occupied in the month before our anniversary) I spent a total of $40 (including shipping) on the whole thing. He said he was amazed and astounded at how wonderful everything was and well planned out. Although the food (chef boy-ar-dee mac and cheese??!!) was not the food we would have chosen if he was with me – it was still the idea that we were eating the exact same meal at the exact same time (over web cam) that made it special.  We plan on saving the place settings and using them for each anniversary from now on in some way, shape or form. (We joke that at our wedding we served chicken BBQ with paper Chinette plates, then our 1st anniversary was plastic plates – next year it can be glass then eventually fine china!!)

I wanted him to have presents to open on his birthday but I also wanted to get him some Levi jeans and new shirts.  Since he can not have that sort of clothing over there, I bought him the clothes, took pictures of them and wrapped the pictures. That way he could have presents (that he can use when he gets back from there) and see what they look like. I also sent that microwavable cake by Betty Crocker to represent his birthday cake.

Thanks for letting me share!!

**************
as submitted by Lisa

An idea that we have used was to send him Hershey kisses both regular ones and the hugs ones and then added a little note with them that said hugs and kisses while we are apart! It was cute and something that he really appreciated. Just thought I would give you the idea.

***************
as submitted by Stephanie

I am an army fiance and mother to a soldier’s child. 🙂 We are currently going through a tour in Iraq. Here are some things I have found helpful:

Invest in a vacuum sealer like a Food Saver. They are worth every penny. I bake cookies, then after they cool, I seal them in sets of 3-6 depending on size and how many I’m sending overall. This saves them for weeks. I try to mail them within 2 days of baking, also. Buy the bags in the rolls so you can cut them to fit. The WalMart brand generic rolls are generally big enough and work just fine.

Any items that might break (like picture frames) I also seal. The vacuum seal helps protect the glass. (I’ve sent many MANY frames and none have broken yet…even frames made entirely of glass….) I’ve gotten wood frames from the dollar tree and painted them with the acrylic paints from WalMart.

I got a chipboard box from WalMart, painted it, put scrapbooking stickers on it and then strayed it with modgepodge stuff from WalMart to seal it. That gave him a safe place to keep all the prints I sent him…and helps keep dust off them.

Buy a rechargeable phone card. Send the soldier the phone number and pin but keep the card, that way you can recharge it instead of buying new cards.

Anything that could spill, vacuum seal. I’ve mailed Axe and cookies together and one not smell like the other.

Include SD cards. (if the soldier has their own equipment wherever they are). My soldier will record little videos with his web cam, audio clips, and pictures and send them back to us…then I can move to my computer and send the SD card back to him.

*********
as submitted by Christie
I was reading over your ideas for creative ideas for packages, which is very good by the way. I just wanted to say that I tear off each month of our family calendar and send it to my husband. I have three boys and we live by our calendar. So, my husband gets to see every time we had sports practices or games, what the bills were and when they were due, etc. It’s just a cool way of keeping in touch.

******************************
as submitted by Megan
It’s just an add on from the calendar idea: if you upload pics to Wal-mart (for example) you can make a photo calendar of things the family did in those seasons together, months with birthdays, Christmas, anniversaries etc. I’m sure you get the idea. I know my husband enjoyed it.

******************************
as submitted by Brandi
I was talking to a friend, and he said that what he missed most about being away was the news. Not like, hard hitting news, but celebrity and things. It might seem kinda lame, but he said he would have loved to be sent magazines and such.

******************************
as submitted by Sarah
I have a few care package ideas that I’ve sent to my husband during this deployment…some are silly, but they’re fun to send and fun to make!!! Here they are:
-Vouchers for his birthday (I used Microsoft Excel, and made up a thing that I copy and pasted over and over the page and then printed it out saying, “this voucher is good for:” {Leave a blank space to write in what you want} in the middle, at the top of it I typed: “expiration date: never” and on the bottom of it I typed “for use only by {his name here} to be redeemed only by {your name here}. It took only about 4 cells in Excel to make it and it was fun to figure out what to put in the blank spaces. I printed them out and cut them apart, and after filling them all in, I put them in a Ziploc baggie and taped it to the side of the box.

Also, I sent my husband “Healthy Vanishing Oatmeal Cookies” (use the recipe from the Quaker Oats box, but replace the melted butter with 7/8c (just a little less than 1 cup—I think it was 3/4c + 2 Tbsp) of Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and since my husband doesn’t like raisins, I left them out and they got there just as soft as the day I made them! Guys love their cookies!

Also, if anyone has kids, have them make a “World’s Best Dad” plaque. You can pick up a small wooden plaque at most craft stores, plus some acrylic paint and a few small paint brushes all for under $15. Then have your kid(s) paint the plaque and have them paint the words on it. My husband just loves the one he got from our daughter that says “World’s Best Dad”. I hope that these help!

******************
as submitted by Danielle
I also just wanted to give an extra idea for your Thanksgiving packages. I’m centering hubby’s around football and Thanksgiving with turkey shaped cookies, football shaped hacky sacks, Nerf footballs, IcyHot and Gatorade mix-ins. I just figured he spends most of the holiday watching football so I might as well work that in.

********************
as submitted by Whitney
Dinty Moore makes a Turkey & Potatoes/Gravy shelf-stable meal, which is small .. and nothing like the real thing, but will do! I am including that along with instant mashed potatoes (just add water), cranberry jelly-belly jellybeans, and also a can of pumpkin pie filling with those miniature pre-made crusts — I often find that somehow various pies mysteriously end up in the grocery cart when we go together… and they disappear just as fast (wouldn’t mind it so much these days!).

Also, a tip I found out after painstaking trial-and-error is that the best way to send cookies or baked goods is to wrap them individually in Glad Press & Seal wrap and then to pack them in bubble wrap inside of a throw-away Tupperware (the kind you can buy a few stacked for cheap at the grocery store). In a pinch, I’ve put microwave popcorn, popped, into Ziplocs to prevent crushing.

***********************
submitted by Janitha
A friend of mine found recipes for cake in a jar on http://www.allrecipes.com. We are planning making that and sending frosting. And also my lovelies and I are cutting out cookies and making them to send to daddy and the army “dudes”. We are also including frosting and colored gels so all the guys can enjoy decorating their own cookies.

***********************
submitted by Andrea
Because they will be moving around prior to coming home, we aren’t
sending big packages. We will be sending some snacks and other items. But our big Christmas item will be a CD sent with our families making shout outs and doing skits and singing songs. This will be made at our Thanksgiving feast that our FRG is throwing. So even if you are one of those who can’t send too much there are still things you can do!

*********
as submitted by Stephanie
This is a very nice list of care package ideas.  I would also like to add that soldiers also like to get early on in their deployment a nice BIG box of Sweet n Low or other sweeteners for their coffee:) because it is in really short supply over there. I would also send my husband 2 mini 6 packs of Coke Zero (his favorite) in each care package which reminded him of home sweet home. Also a friend told me that her kids would take turns on a pocket calendar marking off the days with a light penciled X and also writing tiny little notes on special days and then send the calendar in the package to daddy and then he’d mark off the next group of days and put a few short notes for them to read also and mail it back in a regular sized envelope with an extra stamp or two. It was a wonderful keepsake that they will cherish forever.

Also I would add that they would probably appreciate someone sending them a box of large envelopes and a roll of stamps. Fighting the crowd to buy postage is sometimes a big ordeal, so it will save your soldier lots of valuable time and energy by having their own postage and envelopes:) It would also be a big help to your soldier if you can buy (all ahead of time and include in one care package)- birthday cards, Christmas cards, or even I miss you cards that THEY can personalize and send while deployed as needed to their kids, family, and friends on special dates. The selection and availability of cards is very limited where your soldier will be, so it would help a lot by receiving that box of assorted cards.

*********
as submitted by Denise

My husband is currently in Iraq and I just cant bring myself to do the everyday normal stuff for him. I have a few things that were a HUGE HUGE hit with him and even his fellow soldiers made comments that I needed to talk to their wives… LOL

Its very hot there. You know the flavor ice pops that are kool-aid in the plastic sleeve and you throw them in the freezer and have something nice and cold when they are froze. I bought a bunch of them and took them to all the local family members and we took a sharpie and wrote notes on every single one. That one brought tears to his eyes.

I have written him letters using magazines. cutting out the words or letters to make words. its very time consuming but its worth the response when he gets it

We got a Army doll and cut out a picture of his face and placed it on the doll. We had a fun family day out and we took the doll along and called it a Sunday with Dad… we put the doll everywhere and took pictures. we have him sitting on the steering wheel, pumping gas, sitting on a table looking at a menu, sitting in his own chair at the movie theater, sitting on the counter at Starbucks, hugging a bowling ball, going down the slide, each kid hugging and kissing him. That was probably his favorite outside the ice pops.