Send a Christmas Kindness Box to spread holiday cheer this season.
Thank you to The UPS Store for sponsoring this post. Make the holiday to-do list a little easier this season with The UPS Store!
My dad loved everything about Christmas. Christmas music, decorating the house, playing Santa for his kids and grandkids. Since he passed away, Christmas is a bit quieter for our family. And while we still have a family Christmas celebration, I know that the days leading up to Christmas can be especially hard for my mom. So this year we are surprising her with a Christmas Kindness Box and I have everything you need to make one too.
How to Make a Christmas Kindness Box
What's a Christmas Kindness Box?
It's simple. It's a care package designed to brighten the holidays for someone who may "need a little Christmas," as the old song goes.
Who needs a Christmas Kindness Box?
Anyone would be delighted to have this box arrive on their doorstep! We're making ours for my mom, with lots of shareable goodies for her friends at her retirement community. Senior citizens make great Christmas Kindness Box recipients, as many of them may have children and grandchildren that they don't see as often as they'd like. You can also consider sending a box to:
- College students cramming for exams.
- Firefighters, police officers, nurses, and others who may need to work on Christmas and aren't able to travel to see family.
- Military families stationed far from home.
- New moms who are a little overwhelmed.
- Friends and family who are dealing with illness and other major stressors this time of year.
What goes inside a Christmas Kindness Box?
The contents of your box don't need to be elaborate or expensive. The idea is to give small goodies that will help your recipient get into the holiday spirit. Our box included a few holiday decorations for my mom's house, including a special "I Love You" angel ornament and a super cute pillow. We also sent some of her favorite coffee and treats, along with a fun snowman plate.
And of course, no package to Grandma would be complete without some handmade gifts from the kids.
Some fun ideas for your Christmas Kindness Box include:
- Cookies, candy, or any homemade treats
- Christmas ornaments & decorations
- Framed Santa photos of the kids
- Coffee, tea, or cocoa
- Christmas pajamas
- Holiday scented candles
- Holiday themed book by a favorite author
- Christmas movie DVD and popcorn
Shipping Your Christmas Kindness Box is Easy with The UPS Store
Once you have the contents of your Christmas Kindness Box ready to go, you need to make sure that it is properly packaged and shipped. This is where The UPS Store makes it easy.
With 5,000 locations across North America, The UPS Store is a convenient destination for your
holiday packing, shipping, printing as well as package and mail receiving needs. And with extended holiday and weekend hours, you can easily fit shipping your package into your busy schedule.
The UPS Store can take care of everything for you, from packing to shipping your holiday packages. And only The UPS Store backs its services with the Pack & Ship Guarantee.
With the Pack and Ship Guarantee, if an item is somehow lost or damaged the customer will be reimbursed the cost of packaging materials and service, as well as shipping costs. The Pack & Ship Guarantee applies to items packed by The UPS Store and shipped via UPS® , DHL® or USPS®. Full details available here.
We decided to pack our own kindness box (my boys were way too eager to help), following some of the tips from The UPS Store. If you're packing your own gifts this year, be sure to:
- Take batteries out of items before shipping.
- Use a sturdy new box with secure corners to provide additional protection. Do not use old boxes or gift boxes to ship gifts, or string or wrapping paper on the outside of the package.
- Use at least two inches of packaging material on each side of your item.
- Make sure the sender’s and recipient’s addresses are visible both inside and outside of the package.
- Use packing tape on all package seams. Do not use masking, cellophane or duct tape.
Once our Christmas Kindness Box was all packed, it was time to head to The UPS Store to ship it to Grandma's house. As you can see, I brought along a little elf to help.
While we were there, we found another wonderful way to help spread Christmas kindness this year.
The UPS Store network is the exclusive sponsor of the Toys for Tots Literacy Program, an initiative helping give less fortunate children the ability to compete academically and succeed in life by providing them direct access to resources that will enhance their ability to read and communicate effectively.
Every donation to the Toys for Tots Literacy Program helps purchase books for local children in need, making it easy and inexpensive to share holiday joy with those less fortunate. It also helps to reinforce the idea that Christmas is about giving, which is a lesson my 5 year old twins are really taking to heart this year. You can learn more about the program here, or stop by The UPS Store to make a donation.
Who will you send Christmas kindness to this holiday season? Pack your box and head to The UPS Store to share some holiday cheer!