Mexican Wave!

There's a saying that 'flattery will get you nowhere'. Well that's just plain hogwash if you ask me! Everyone loves to be told how simply super they are and a sincere compliment will always be appreciated. That's why I was so excited to find this free compliments poster at kind-over-matter.

You can download it and print it out and stick it up somewhere public. People can tear off a compliment and give it to someone they value. It's simply dreamy! I stuck one up on the noticeboard at my local shopping centre and one in the bathroom at work and I was thrilled to go back and discover that all the compliments had been taken within a couple of days. It made me so happy to think about all the compliments people were going to be getting.

You could double the fun by taking up my mailbox of joy challenge. Print a copy out, tear off one of the compliments and put it inside a letter/card for a loved one. When you send them the card or letter include the poster with the remaining compliments and ask them to do the same for someone they love. 11 compliments = 11 mailboxes of delight. It's a mexican wave of compliments! I'm bursting capsules at the thought of it.

Squashed Tomatoes and Stew

Happy birthday to you

Squashed tomatoes and stew

Bread and butter, in the gutter

Happy birthday to you!

Have you ever rung anyone up on their birthday and left them a birthday song like this? Or what about this one?

Happy birthday to you

You live at the zoo

You look like a monkey

And you smell like one too!

Okay, so maybe it's just me. But these variations on the great classic were the business when I was a kid. And I like having a trill into someone's voicemail on their birthday. But more than that, I like sending cards. 

Have you ever been guilty of the birthday Facebook post? Or the text message? Oh my golly gosh. Hearing you admit that breaks my heart a little bit. After all, what is a birthday for, if not for saying, I'm so happy you were born! My life just wouldn't be the same if you weren't in it. And how can you say those things by pressing buttons? You just can't!

Do you always mean to send a card but somehow things don't come together? Well, those days are over! Here's how:

Step 1: Put your loved ones' birthdays on your calendar, or in your phone, or on one of those birthday reminder websites.  Whatever works best for you. Get the reminders sent to you  a week or so before the birthday so you can make sure your card (and gift?) arrive on time.  

Step 2: Buy a bunch of stamps. Local and international, if, like me, you have those annoying jetsetting-type friends who live overseas, seemingly just for the purpose of making you envious of their fabulous intercontinental lifestyles.

Step 3: Keep a stack of cards handy. If you're crafty like a fox, you can make your own cards. Here's one I made recently:

If you're not even the slightest bit crafty, you can buy any one of 85 million or so cards, quicker than you can say Jack Robinson! Yes, my friends, I speak of online shopping. For something pretty and a little bit kooky, I love the cards at Oh My Cavalier.

Or for something irreverent and tongue-in-cheek you never need to look any further than Able and Game. 

 

So then, no more excuses now. Think of all those mailboxes of delight you'll be creating. Way to go!