The holiday season is approaching, which means that you will probably start receiving a lot of gifts in the mail but also that you will begin to send out some of your own. You’re going to need to stock up on shipping supplies, but also on plenty of Christmas cheer to help you get through the line at the post office.
Sending packages is stressful enough. Sending them during the holiday season is like torture: is anything going to get lost in the mail? Is it going to be broken? Is it going to arrive on time? If you are sending perishables (like cookies, and candies, and cakes…oh my!) the stress is increased even that much more. Thankfully, there are plenty of tips and tricks to help when it comes to shipping food over the holiday season:
- Choose the fastest shipping option. Don’t try to save some money by choosing a slower route. The whole point is to get your gift in time for your giftee to enjoy it. This is when air service is a better idea than ground service, especially if you are shipping cross country.
- You might want your gift to be a surprise, but when sending food you need to let your recipient that something is coming there way so they can know to bring it in and store it properly as soon as possible.
- Choose the beginning of the week to send your shipment. You don’t want to risk having the package sitting at a facility over weekend.
- Use proper shipping supplies when sending food. Boxes need to be new, and strong. When sending food is NOT the time to recycle your cardboard boxes.
- When shipping food, a couple other items automatically get added to the list of shipping supplies: tins, wax paper, cling wrap… Your food needs to be packaged and then packaged again to have a successful shipping experience. Put waxed paper in between all of your cookies and then put all of your cookies in a tin. Then put the tin in the middle of a box with plenty of cushion all around it.
- Keep in mind when packing that the USPS recommends at least two inches of cushion between every jar or bottle your are sending. Make sure they are well sealed and can withstand the change in temperatures and air pressures.
- When shipping food, don’t use newspaper as stuffing. It simply isn’t strong enough. You are going to want to invest in some real shipping supplies, like bubble wrap. So don’t use masking tape. Instead, choose a tape that it meant to be used on packages. You might spend a little extra, but the point is getting your cookies safely into Grandma’s lap.
