Parcels of Joy is a concept that I came up with while once again baking waaaay too much for my family to actually eat. While I often send spontaneous gifts for no reason to family and friends I decided it would be cool if I were able to do that for people that I knew online and in the book blogging community as well, and even better if I had a database with people's details so I could do it without having to alert them that I was sending something. That way it could be just a brilliant surprise when they received an unexpected parcel of goodies in the post!
I launched the project on my blog at the end of January and have had massive response since then. Besides myself there are lots of other people who are sending brilliant parcels to each others - stranger and people who already knew each other - and it's been fantastic to see the response on twitter and Instagram!
I am already inspired by this project so I wanted to give it a space of its own in order for it to be able to grow and so that it didn't get sidelined with all my other projects. Now that I have this space for it it's easier to direct people to information and where they can sign up to be involved.
This is a no commitment project. I send occasional emails to participants but there is no pressure to send things - you can sign up just to receive or to send stuff as well - and no commitment for how regularly you send stuff. Personally I try to send a couple of things domestically per month and at least one international parcel, but it's absolutely what you can afford and what you have to send that month!
Parcels can include baked goods, homemade sweets, things you've made (sewn,knitted,crocheted, whatever), books (there is an option to add your book wishlist to the sign up), tea, or anything else lovely you think someone might like. They can be literally just a little box of cookies or they can be (like a brilliant one I received) tea, sweets, chocolate and stationery. It doesn't matter because it is all about the joy. The point of the project is to bring a smile to someone's face by sending them something lovely and that is all.
If you are completely inspired by this idea then please feel free to sign up using the form here. Please note you will need to provide a blog or twitter link so that I can verify you're an actual person, but that's it!
If you'd like to help spread the word about the project please use #parcelsofjoy on social media, and if you'd like to feature the project on your blog or website then please email me.
I'd love this to be a collaborative space and plan to include inspiration via patterns and recipes in the future as well as inviting other participants to write guest posts and spotlighting other happiness projects. If you'd like to be involved in the blog please let me know in the comments or on twitter, I'd love the help!
