Dad turns 70: the mail-art edition

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

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We have been on the road to celebrate my father’s 70th birthday, in Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, north-west of Sydney.

Mr B and I organised a party for my Dad and 74 of his nearest and dearest and, despite a Fawlty Towers-esque performance from the venue we had selected, it was a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed themselves so much that three hours after our estimated “finish time,” they were still kicking on. My brother and I were the party-poopers who eventually wound things up, and I want to say it was only because we were thinking of the needs of our children, who were drooping with weariness and plummeting blood sugars, but it was most likely also because we were both designated drivers and ready for a drop or two of leftover champagne once safely home.

I sent out little boxed surprises to all Dad’s guests in lieu of invitations, and incorporated their addresses into painted pictures to make things a bit fun for them. In total, I think I sent about 55 painted boxes.

 

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We created some other fun little surprises, both in the invitations and for the party itself, which I’ll share with you in another post.

21 comments

  • Jen B

    These are beautiful. I bet all the guests were so excited to receive them.

  • paperpopups

    Wonderful post. Thank you, I enjoyed seeing your clever packages. I love it that you tie them up with bakers twine
    and add your seal – wonderful idea.
    I wish you had given information in an earlier blog to let folks know they could send birthday cards to
    you and yo would forward them to your Dad. – or maybe you did and darn, I missed the posting.

    I look forward to each post you put on your blog – just so you know you make a difference in the world.

    Happy thoughts,
    Petrina

  • Dani @ sand has no home

    Wow Naomi! You are just incredible! So talented, prolific and generous with your times and talents. I’ll bet they all had a ball!
    P.s. Have you had a site redesign? It doesn’t look quite like you on my ipad, no customisation?

  • Dani @ sand has no home

    Ok, and when I made that comment, or tried to, even the commenting field was totally different, and then it hung on Posting Comment, so I copied it, did a screen shot and refreshed, and voila, there is your normal lovely page.

  • Jenny Jones

    What a fabulous, special idea. What a wonderful daughter you are. Those packages look so incredible and it looks like your little helper was having fun too. You sure made many people’s day. xx

    • Naomi Bulger

      Thanks Jenny. Yes, the helper was very involved in the process! (There are a lot of rainbow and pink animals in the mix, of her direction)

  • Deb Baker

    Naomi – this is simply amazing. The time this must have taken is mind blowing. Your generosity knows no bounds. I’m sure everyone involved was overwhelmed. What a beautiful thing you’ve done. xx

    • Naomi Bulger

      Thank you lovely! Although to be honest, I think editing out the addresses from every frame in the animated gif on this post probably took almost as long as the whole mail collection :-)

  • Meaghan

    I absolutely love these ! I’m curious to know how much the postage was for each little package?

    • Naomi Bulger

      Thanks Meaghan! They all cost $7.80 I think. Definitely $7 something. They were super lightweight, but the size made them quite costly.

  • Sandra F

    Oh my goodness! So much beautiful, time consuming work in those Naomi! I’ll bet every single person was THRILLED to receive one.

  • Deb @ Bright and Precious

    I cannot believe this. Do you have a sore hand from it all? WOW. You are incredible. And PS I would love to know how you got that photo to change/move with the pile of boxes. Another WOW.

  • Aniko

    Absolutely beautiful!
    I received your snail mail a few days ago and it made me so happy! (I’m from Argentina)
    Thank you for being so kind!

  • Bek @ Just For Daisy

    Oh my! Naomi these are absolutely amazing! I’ve loved your little snippets you’ve posted on instagram!! How special for your dad AND for his guests!! Loved your post about ‘homecoming’ too, deep thoughts but I see where you’re coming from. And love how kids just know where home is!! xx

  • naomi loves: Mail art – a lot of cat stamps and other lessons in mail-art

    […] A LOT. Thankfully I had several sheets of 70c cat stamps left over from when I purchased stamps for my father’s birthday invitation mail-art (because I am not the brightest and purchased enough for every person invited rather than every […]

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