Pen to Paper: Pen Pal Organization - Pen Pal Info

 

 

 

Hello Everyone! Hope you are doing well and finding joy in your mailbox! 

 

Today I thought I would start a little series of posts about pen pal organization.  I didn't really have much of a system at first but the more and more I got into pen paling I needed some way to organize incoming mail, saved letters and pen pal information. Originally when I only had a couple of pen pals I had an address book and a stack of previously received letters I would refer back to if I couldn't remember something specific. But recently this system started breaking down, with some of my pen pals I have been writing for over a year and have a dozen or more letters to look through for a piece of information.  So it was time to get more organized.

 

I purchased Pen Pal Trackers from the Etsy shop Pembroke Papers.  While I do like that they can go right in my planner, there just wasn't enough room for all the information I wanted.   So here is my system . . . (obviously I can't show you a fully filled out page because my pen pals letters and information are private)

 

 

I fill out the pen pal tracker information with my pen pal's name, address and birthdate.  I then put in the dates letters are received and mark the date I send out a response. Then I add in a separate note page after each tracker for additional information. I usually add in family members, names and ages as these are often people we discuss in our letters.  I also add in my pen pal's favorite hobbies and details (ie. Reading and what genres/favorite books, cooking with favorite styles/recipes, or say gardening with types of flowers or veggies preferred). Next I list their taste preferences since I some times send a treat in the letters (like tea vs. coffee or sweets vs. savory etc.).  Then I also add in (as you see in the picture) goodies sent, I don't want to accidentally send the same recipe for holiday treats or something.  I also put down likes and dislikes. 

 

I am not entirely sure how this method is going to work out in the long run but it seems to be helping for now. I am still filling out these for each pen pal, some of them have  a lot of letters to go through to add these little details for easy reference.

 

 

How are you organizing your pen pals' information?