How to Enter Mail In Sweepstakes

The Art of Vintage Marvel:
100 Collectible Postcards

In order to enter mail in sweepstakes you will need several different types of postcards . First of you will need to get some from the post office they are the small ones that already have postage on them. Just go to your post office and ask for the pre-stamped standard postcards. These only cost a penny over the cost of the current postcard stamp. So you are paying a penny for the paper. Now that is a great deal. There will be sweepstakes that ask you to mail in this kind of postcard so keep them on hand!

The next type of postcard is the picture postcards. I have a mother that collects postcards from every trip she goes on. She has gratiously shared her abundance with me at times. When you are buying picture postcards try to find bright colored postcards of all different shapes and sizes! If you can find picture postcards on sale or very cheap buy a bundle! A few years ago a Christian bookstore online was selling postcard very cheap that said "Thanks for visiting us". I bought a bunch of those. They also were selling some that were in books. I got some camping postcards, tie dyed post cards and more. Keep your eyes open for sales and you could stock yourself up for a while!

The next postcards that I use are ones I have made myself. I have learned from others how to make my own and I have put my thinking cap on and created my own. Below are some ways to create your own postcards!

I discovered early on in my hobby that gathering all the supplies I would need to enter sweepstakes, as much as I want to enter, would be costly! So I learned from other "sweepers" how to make your own postcards.

The first postcards I made were cutting out old cereal boxes! I would save the Corn Flakes box. Trace the postcard out and cut! The next thing I did to make my own postcards I thought of when I was trying to find greeting card envelopes I could use. After Christmas I would go to Target when everything was 75% off or more and I would buy a box of Christmas cards for $1.50 or less. I would take them home rip off the picture part of the card, discard the written part of the card and use the picture for my postcard. Now sometimes the picture part can be a little thin so I would go to Michael's or Joann's with my 40% off coupon (Michael's has one in their ad in the Sunday paper) and purchase 4x6 Card stock. It comes in a package of 100 with a variety of colors (remember colors are good). Then I would glue the picture part of the Christmas card to the card stock and there I had my postcard!

Another way I got greeting cards to use was request them from my local FreeCycle. I have had a few ladies supplies me with loads of greeting cards. Another thing I found when making my postcards this way was that some cards were too big or they had writing on the back of the picture part of the cards. What I did in these cases, I cut the picture part up and glued them onto the card stock that I purchased from the craft store.

The last thing I did to make my own postcards was to go to Vista Print. They offer free postcards often. So one day I decided to make my own. I used bright colors and I put phrases on them like "Pick Me" or "I am the Winner"! These are a few inexpensive ways to come up with postcards for your sweepstakes hobby!

Natural Grasscloth Book Tan on Gold Authentic Grasscloth Wallpaper

I have to admit I have not done this yet. But I have been told that wallpaper envelopes can get you a lot of wins. Okay after writing that sentence I am scratching my head wondering why I haven't done it yet! I have wallpaper and I have templates to make envelopes! I need to write that on my to do list.

I am sure you are wondering what wallpaper envelopes are and why they are successful in getting wins for people. First, wallpaper envelopes are when you get wallpaper from your local hardware store, paint store or even Amazon.com and you create an envelope out of it. I have purchased envelope templates from greensneakers.com but you can purchase them from eBay or Amazon or even make your own with cardboard! What you will do is lay the wallpaper out place the template on it and cut. Next you will fold up the wallpaper where the template shows to fold and then glue it together.

With wallpaper envelopes you will need a few things tape or glue to close the envelope when you are about to mail it and address labels to write the address it is going to.

Now the reason that wallpaper envelopes are successful in sweepstakes is because of the texture. If a judge is reaching in to choose a winner they will naturally go to the envelope that has a different texture!

Have you ever heard of shaving cream envelopes? Me neither, until a few years back. I have make these and they are fun. I have had my children help me and they love it!

Here is how you make shaving cream evelopes:

First get all your supplies together. You need to have food coloring, a 9x13 pan or a cookie sheet, shaving cream, tooth picks and envelopes. I usually just do #10 envelopes! To get started you need to spray shaving cream in your 9x13 pan cover the bottom of the pan. After that take your food coloring one or two colors and make some drops. Take a toothpick put it in a drop of food coloring and begin to spread it around. The shaving cream will start to look very colorful. Now take one envelope place it in the pan on the shaving cream, try not to smear it but make sure you get the color onto the envelop. Do the same thing on the other side of the envelope. Now lay the envelope out to dry. The Shaving cream envelopes will look almost tie dyed. They are very cool looking.

The shaving cream envelopes are similar to the wallpaper envelopes in that the texture is a little bit different than regular envelopes and can get you more wins!

UFF Thank You Boxed Notecards

Now that you have learned how to make postcards, wallpaper envelopes and shaving cream envelopes you are going to need to organize your sweepstakes supplies. Once I started gathering all these things together I found I needed some place to put everything. First I had to clear off a few shelves to hold my surplus of evelopes, postcards and index cards. Then I purchased rolling cart. This cart had six drawers. It is wonderful to place a little bit of everything in. Then when you are ready to sit down and enter you can roll it to where you are sitting and get started. I have index cards, 3x5 papers, postcards and all kinds of envelopes in the drawers. I also keep receipts, win notices and my sweepstakes newsletter in a drawer. I love this plastic rolling cart!

The next supply you will need is a binder with sheet protectors This is where you will keep your win notices and any other souveniers for your sweepstakes hobby. Of course if you are a full blown scrapbooker than you can do something more fancy. This binder is important because when you are having a dry spell when it comes to sweepstakes wins you will want to look back and see what you have already received!

The last thing you will want to do is keep Thank You Cards on hand! Every time a prize comes in you want to write a Thank you card to the company that sent it. This encourages them to keep sponsoring giveaways! It also is just the right thing to do!