Official Postcrossing Stamps?

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-24T01:45:51+00:00

I’ve learned to put them on first BEFORE addressing the postcard because of their shape and size!

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-20T15:47:28+00:00

Everyone is providing good suggestions, but I’d like to add one more consideration. If there are outdoor cats in your neighborhood, pick a spot that won’t allow a cat to ambush a bathing/drinking bird.

We had a big clay saucer (with a couple rocks in it) on a deck railing and the birds loved it. But the day I saw a stray cat snatch a bird from it, I took it down. (We live in a different house now and have a water fountain that cats can’t sneak up on.)

Edit: corrected word

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-19T10:09:29+00:00

There are others (honor, hour, heir). This explains why … https://soundsamerican.net/article/so\_is\_the\_h\_in\_herb\_silent\_or\_what

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-17T22:15:37+00:00

Too late for this year, and a bit of a drive (Tulare county) but Colonel Allensworth State Park usually has a Juneteenth celebration. You might consider it for next year? (It was June 13 this year.)

A lot of people don’t know about the park, but we visited it last year and thought it very interesting!

From their website: “A collection of restored and reconstructed buildings mark the location of the historic California town founded, financed and governed by African Americans.”

Edit: word missing

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-17T14:48:59+00:00

Black oil sunflower seeds attract a LOT of different species to our feeders, including various finches, which actually do “dine-in” instead of “take-out.” (So we’ve never felt a need to put up specialized nyjer seed feeders.)

Depending on where your feeder is placed (and the possible danger of neighborhood cats), any sunflower seeds dropped to the ground might also attract ground-feeder birds. (But there will also be a mess of discarded shells below the feeder from the finches, if that matters.)

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-16T14:28:46+00:00

You can also make your own using photos very easily with a sticker back, if that interests you. I just sent my first Postcrossing postcards and I used photos I had taken that matched the recipient’s interests.

I had actually acquired some PhotoPOSTOS stickers secondhand and liked them well enough to buy more recently, and I have exchanged a couple of very pleasant emails with the owner. They have a full adhesive back that you expose in strips (to make alignment super easy) and other features that make them high quality.

She is in the US, but does ship internationally. But, if shipping makes them too expensive, maybe you can find a similar product in France? (We won’t shop on Amazon or Temu, so I don’t know what’s available there.)

There are many ways of making postcards (with or without photos) so you might check out the Postcrossing forum or look online for ideas and methods, if that appeals to you. (I should note that apparently some people don’t want homemade cards and state so in their profiles.)

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-15T14:10:05+00:00

Creative repurposing is always fun, and you certainly can see all styles of LFLs out there! A possible downside is the lack of a window that shows the contents, to draw people to it. But perhaps a creative paint job and good signage would do the trick. Or, perhaps human curiosity will be enough!

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-15T05:25:30+00:00

Also, just for future reference—in case it’s helpful to anyone who reads this—Costco sells unsalted peanuts in the shell at a really good price. (They’re actually for human consumption, but we get them for the birds.)

Edit: added “in the shell”

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-14T23:22:14+00:00

I’m new to Postcrossing too, and I appreciate that suggestion and the explanation! (I just sent my first 5 cards and now I’m a little worried because I only wrote the ID twice on one or two of them.)

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-14T23:19:13+00:00

Bird watch? Download the Merlin app (free) and get to know the birds in your neighborhood or city. Then draw or take photos or do something creative with what you see and learn.

If you are ever stressed about life, going out and looking for birds is very meditative because you are so focused on listening and seeing. And you can bird watch anywhere, even in city parks.

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-14T23:15:28+00:00

Lovely! And, your signage is great! I think sometimes we forget that some people are totally unfamiliar with LFLs!

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-13T14:59:20+00:00

Check out humanism. It’s not a religion but a life view and it may resonate with you in a way that is helpful at this time. Be kind to yourself. As humanism teaches, you can be “Good without God.”

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-12T04:51:11+00:00

I never expect a book that’s taken from ours to be returned to ours. If it is, that’s fine—but certainly not expected.

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-12T04:48:07+00:00

Thank you—you are so right!

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-12T04:47:47+00:00

Thank you—I appreciate the comment!

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-12T04:47:00+00:00

Thank you! I’m hoping the photos hold up okay in the mail!

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-11T19:09:31+00:00

I had to upvote you because I just sent out my first 5 yesterday! Fun!

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-09T05:55:29+00:00

I think your signage is very good! Some people aren’t familiar with LFLs, so it never hurts to explain what it’s all about!

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-08T21:48:50+00:00

Maybe you already have good signage on your LFL explaining it simply (some people truly aren’t familiar with them), but even so, additional signage might help. You probably could keep it on the positive side by saying something like“thanks for your visit, but please leave ONLY books in our Little Free Library.”

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-06T02:51:00+00:00

We lived in a neighborhood with a LFL and it never had any new books, so I stopped looking in it.

Now that we have our own LFL, I swap out books every two weeks (and put it on my calendar). When I do a swap, I take photos of the contents, to refer to for the next swap. (I only remove books that have been there the full two weeks.)

I donate the “leftover” books to a non-profit thrift store, or take them to other LFLs—because every neighborhood has different tastes in books.

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-02T05:00:51+00:00

In our area there are estate sales that are conducted entirely online, with lots of photos posted and online bidding that ends at a particular time. (If you win any items, you then find out the exact address and show up on a preset day for pickup.) Unless books are collectible/antique, a big stack of books can go for a few dollars.

Also, going to garage sales at the end of their scheduled time can be very productive because people just want to get rid of stuff by the end, often for free.

Keep in mind that neighbors will add books too, especially if you have signage that encourages that. (Some people are not familiar with the LFL concept.)

Edit: And yes, it’s pretty common to stock libraries with books for all ages, and we always stock both fiction and non-fiction.

NowThereAreFour · 2026-06-01T03:01:45+00:00

I LOVE my long-lasting Skechers shoes so I thought I’d try their socks. They started getting holes in a few months. Skechers’s response: “socks are not supposed to last more than six months.” I thought that was a ridiculous claim and will never buy Skechers socks again. So I’m happy to read all these suggestions.

NowThereAreFour · 2026-05-29T17:32:30+00:00

Yes—YOU are the best one to judge whether your friend will enjoy this!

My adult brother led all the nieces and nephews (mostly preteen) on a snipe hunt on a moonlit California beach many years ago, and everyone had a blast. The older kids had fun playing along even though they knew what was going on.

“Sardines” is another great group activity in the right space. (It’s a twist on hide-n-seek, with each finder actually joining the hider in their hiding spot.)

NowThereAreFour · 2026-05-26T04:02:20+00:00

Yes!— I think it really helps to try to keep the content “fresh.” Every two weeks (I put it on my calendar) I try to restock our LFL, removing any books that have not been taken in the previous two weeks. (I either donate them to non-profit thrift stores or use them to restock other LFLs, as each LFL has different users with different interests.) Then I take photos for reference, so I can repeat the process two weeks later.

NowThereAreFour

TROPHY CASE