Mailable Meat, Grilled to Postal Perfection

Tell dad "WELL DONE" this Father's Day with a (fake) t-bone steak in the mail. All you need are a few simple craft supplies and less than $3.00 in stamps to create a "RARE" but memorable surprise.

For the simple, step-by-step, mailable steak tutorial, head over to SheKnows.com.

Waffles by Mail

Happy New Year & Waffle Wednesday!

Ever wondered if you could mail a waffle? Wonder no more. 

Indeed, you can! Well, not a real waffle. But I made this fake waffle postcard, and it mailed just fine.

I sent one to my waffle-loving mother in September, and she couldn't get over how real the syrup looked. She keeps it on display in her kitchen on a plate and shows it to everyone that stops by. (I guess that's the equivalent of putting your child's artwork on the refrigerator door. Except that her child is now 42. Cracks me up.)

If you have any waffle-loving friends or family members that you'd like to mail a waffle to, you can find my easy step-by-step tutorial at SheKnows.com.

I mean, come on…. who wouldn't love to get a waffle in their mailbox?

Gingerbread Man Postcard

Dear Santa Claus -
I've been a very good girl this year. Please bring me some new cookie cutters for Christmas.

Love - Sandra

Deliver an extra-sweet holiday "hello" by making and mailing a gingerbread man (or woman) postcard. It looks so realistic, your mail carrier might even try to take a bite out of this creative Christmas card cookie.

You'll find the complete, how-to-holiday tutorial at SheKnows.

What's up, buttercup?

The 2013 Denneler Family Letter is in the mail! After last year's pie-crafting marathon, I opted to create a simple little card this time. The words are laser cut, so you can fold them upright to display them.

On the back of the card, is a list of playful rhyming phrases that people use to say: Hello! How are you? and See ya around!

Whatcha know, daddy-o? What's shakin', bacon? What's new, tennis shoe? What's cookin', good-lookin'? What's the plan, Stan? What's the word, hummingbird? What's the story, morning glory? What's the deal, banana peel? Don't be silly, sasparilly. Okeedokee, artichokee. Peachy keen, jellybean. Shut your lip, potato chip. Yes indeedy, pumpkin seedy. Easy-peasy, lemon squeezy. I'm the boss, applesauce. Chop-chop, lollipop. Nice thinkin', Abe Lincoln. Peace out, cub scout. Take care, teddy bear. Bye-bye, french fry. Better skadoodle, poodle. See you later, alligator. After while, crocodile. See ya soon, baboon.  That's the end, my friend.



By the way, if you happened to get one of these and it came "Postage Due" I'm truly sorry. My brother said his arrived needing an additional 20¢ postage. Which irks me, because I specifically took them to the post office before mailing them to have them weighed and inspected, MAKING SURE they would only need a 46¢ stamp. Oh well. I tried.

Sending smiles through the mail ... Hope you enjoyed them! - Eric, Sandra, Gus and Bea



P.S. In case you're wondering, this is our version of sending Christmas cards. But I do it in the fall, instead of the crazy & hectic month of December. Here are samples from previous years - 2012, 2011, 2010.

Postal Pecha Kucha

I'm doing my 3rd Pecha Kucha presentation on Friday at the Wichita Art Museum's ongoing series: Art Chatter. 

Whattheheck is Pecha Kucha you ask? It's a presentation methodology in which 20 slides are shown for 20 seconds each - allowing the speaker 6 minutes and 40 seconds to present their topic.

My topic this time: Crazy Stuff I've Mailed

The cash bar opens at 6:00 p.m. (I'll be there, getting my liquid-courage on.) I believe the "chatter" starts around 6:45. I'm one of six other presenters, so come join us. Admission is free, and it should be a good time. 

Mailbox Burrito

Last year, I made a fake slice of cheesecake and mailed it to my youngest brother, Kurt, for his birthday. It turned out so awesome, I didn't think I could come up with anything nearly as cool for his birthday "card" this year.

But then I remembered how much he loves Chipotle burritos. 

Hummm... could I do it? Could I make a fake Chipotle burrito and mail it?

Yep. Turns out, I can. 

I took it to the post office and they told me it would cost $2.90 to mail, so I put three $1.00 stamps on it. My brother said it arrived "$1.00 Postage Due." Dang. Sorry 'bout that, Kurt. I think one of the stamps must have fallen off in transport.

Here's a list of my "ingredients" and a few step-by-step photos. (I'm not an expert, folks. I'm sure there's probably a better way to make one of these. But for this experiment, it worked fine.) 

Upholstery foam (hot-glued into a burrito shape)

Color printout of a tortilla shell (spray-glued onto the upholstery foam)

Aluminum sheet metal tape (wraps around the burrito to be "tin foil")

Dry black beans

Dry risotto rice (it's whiter than normal, uncooked rice)

Corn nuts (I painted mine yellow to look more like real corn)

Green paint (for the "guacamole")

Tan-colored Model Magic (sculpted to look like pieces of cooked chicken)

Red and orange foam pool noodles (cut up to look like salsa chunks)

Clear silicon (to cover all the ingredients and keep them secured in place)

Roll up a thin sheet of foam.

Hot glue it into a burrito shape and round the corners with scissors.

Print out an image of a flour tortilla shell and spray glue it to the foam.

Cut, shape and gather your dry ingredients.

Hot glue dry ingredients to the top of the burrito. (I used a cup to hold mine upright.)

Seal dry ingredients with clear silicon glue. Let it dry upright for a few days.

Wrap burrito with aluminum sheet metal tape.

Popsicle Postcards

I refuse to believe that summer is (nearly) over!

Make sure your friends enjoy one last delicious bite of the season. Mail them a perpetual popsicle. It never needs refrigeration. And really, who wouldn't get a kick out of finding this in their mailbox?

They're so easy to make too. All you need is a swim pool noodle, some decorative cardstock paper, and a few popsicle sticks. I made about 20 of these in a hour and I've been mailing them to all my friends and family with summer birthdays. They'd make a really cool pool party invitation too, dontcha think?

For all the instructions, step-by-step photos and even a helpful video, hop over to SheKnows.com. (And while you're at it, mail one of these to me. I never get fun mail. I just seem to send it.)

Ice Cream Sandwich Mailer

I have a confession to make. Once, when I was a freshman in college, I ate entire box of ice cream sandwiches. By myself. In one sitting. Oh wait... I take that back. I did give one to my little brother, Kurt. But only because he sat there, looking at me like “Are you seriously going to eat that whole box?”

So, to say I love ice cream sandwiches would be an understatement.

I love them so much, I made one that you can mail.

Looks real, doesn’t it? Like... really, real. Fool-your-mailman real, that's for sure.

All you need is some brown foam paper and 1-inch upholstery foam. I painted the edge of my foam white, only because it was kinda yellowing. But if you got some nice, clean, new foam from the store it would probably be white enough.

Check out SheKnows. com for the complete tutorial. Make a bunch of them. If you’re like me, you won’t be able to stop at one. Or six. 

Oh man, now I’m hungry for an ice cream sandwich....

WaterMAILon

I must have watermelon on the brain. First, I made this watermelon BBQ grill. Then I made watermelon ice cream bowls. And now I'm mailing watermelons. Somebody stop me before I melon again!

Continuing my experiment of lets-see-what-I-can-get-to-make-it-through-the-U.S. Postal System, I present to you: a waterMAILon. 

I painted an 8-inch,  Smoothfoam half-ball and hot-glued a cardboard photo of a cut watermelon top. Then I put watermelon-flavored candies inside. But anything silly would be fun to open. A toy slinky or maybe some crazy socks?

My waterMAILon cost less than $3.00 to mail. Crazy, right?

The tutorial and step-by-step photos are available at SheKnows. 

Check it out. I mailed one to myself. So fun to open my mailbox and see this!

Memorable & MAILABLE Fortune Cookie

If you know me at all, you know I like to mail weird stuff. Just ask my family. (Or check out this. Or this. Or this. Or these. Or this. And these too. Oh, and I forgot about these little guys.)

Half the fun, is just seeing what will (or won't) make it through the mail. My most recent postal adventure, is a foam paper fortune cookie. It's really easy to make, and only takes a couple of $1.00 stamps to send. 

A simple, step-by-step photo tutorial is available at SheKnows.com. 

Send someone an extra-special Valentine this year! They'll be so surprised when they open their mailbox to find one of these inside.

Saying "Hi" with Pie

I mailed 85 slices of fake pumpkin pie this week to family & friends. The annual Denneler Family letter took the form of mailable pie this year. Sometimes, when I get an idea for a project, I become completely obsessed with it until I've executed it. That would be the case here. I started on them in early August and completed them a few weeks ago. 

Carpel tunnel be damned! I was going to mail pumpkin pie if it killed me. 

I hear they've been a hit with many mail carriers. One of my friends even pranked his wife by putting their slice on a plate, covering it with Saran Wrap, and leaving it in the fridge for her to find. (Imagine her disappointment when she discovered it was made of upholstery foam, cardboard and wall caulking.)

Happy Fall y'all.... Hope you enjoy every last bite of 2012!

p.s.
Wanna make one (or 85) for yourself? Here's my simple tutorial on SheKnows.com. 

I love mailing weird stuff.

Looks real, doesn't it?

Lots of pie drying on our spare bed in the basement.

Piles of pie on my kitchen table, ready to mail.