I love to get mail!
All mail.
Truth? My heart beats faster when Kroger sends me my "valued customer" coupons. The free gardening catalog I requested online is here? Huzzah! Bring it baby!
Mailman Paul doesn't even know the joy he delivers to my life when he shoves high quality mail into my mailbox. Holiday cards? Birthday cards?! Packages?!?
The USPS really determines my mood for the day.
Which brings me to postcards. Ahh, yes, postcards. The coolest, sleekest mail in town. Nothing screams "I'm cool" like getting a
postcard in the mail. Writers, hold your envelops! There are no secrets here, everyone who handles my mail gets to know my postcard business.
What does Mailman Paul learn when he finds a tiny paper rectangle with MY name on it? For starters, I have friends
everywhere. Smart friends! Environmentally conscious friends! Friends who know how to mail me tiny messages for cheaper than the cost of a full priced postage stamp!
Yeah sure, my in-laws like to travel and send me weather updates via mail. Blah blah blah, whatever.
Regardless of the details, I get a lot of postcards and postcards are awesome, so I collect them!
How do I store my postcards? I'm glad you asked!
I searched high and low for a postcard storage method, and a lot of what I found was expensive and not appealing. Postcards are unique and beautiful! They need to be showcased!
My wants for a storage system: an album (not a box or drawer), cheap (definitely less than $50), flexible inserts with easy to find refills, and a classy look. Definitely classy. Also, I didn't want to have to remove my postcards from storage in order to read them.
Here's what I came up with...
This is a Simple Stories 6"x 8" SNAP designer binder. I chose the yellow striped pattern, but there are plenty of different colors and patterns to choose from. The binder has metal corners and a metal bookplate which give my postcard collection the classy style I was looking for. ;)
The binder has a two ring binder mechanism without boosters. If you are not up to date on your binder lingo, this means there are two circles inside of the binder and that the circles don't have a handle thingy at the bottom. Instead, you pry the rings open with your fingers in order to add sheet protectors.
I use these 4 x 6 divided page protectors that come in packs of ten. These protectors are perfect for storing two standard sized 4 x 6 postcards. For the weird and wonky sized postcards, I use...
these 6 x 8 page protectors!
As can be seen in the wonky-sized examples above, the large postcards mixed with the 4x6 postcards creates a layered look which reminds me of a loaded junk journal. Minor-ly chaotic, but beautiful nonetheless!
This picture is a bit strange because I edited the photo to remove my address and the kind words of my pen-pals/unsuspecting blog stars. I wanted to include this though to let you know that I don't put postcards back to back. I think it's important to be able to flip through a postcard collection and read the postcards without removing them from protection. However, if you like privacy or like the pictures on your postcards but HATE the messages from your friends, there is enough space in the protectors to store postcards back-to-back.
This is the back of my album where I conveniently store empty pages for future mail.
This is the front of my album. No pockets. No title page. Nothing but postcards baby!
Cost to get started
Album- $9.49
Pack of 4x6 sheet protectors (10 pack)-$3.79
Pack of 6x8 sheet protectors (10 pack)- $3.79
Total- $17.07
I love my postcard collection. It's simple and small--- exactly what I was looking for to showcase my cute little mail.
Questions: Do you have a postcard collection? If yes, how do you store your postcards? If no, what's the matter with you?
