Catch Those Creative Juices and Box 'Em Up for Your Soldier!

Today's guest blog post comes from military spouse, Jillian Lemons.  Jillian shares some great ideas for care packages while your Soldier is deployed.  You can follow Jillian on Twitter: http://twitter.com/JRLemons. 

As always, feel free to comment on this post and share your ideas, too!

I haven’t been a military spouse for long, but with all the care packages I’ve sent and ideas I have you’d think I’ve been doing this for a lot longer. I love being creative as creative as I can. I love doing things for my husband that I know will make him smile or totally make his day great!

Anything and everything that I think may make my husband smile, especially if I think it may be silly or stupid, it’s usually the things he loves the most. Sending a thoughtful package that I’ve put lots of time, effort, and love into makes me just as excited to send it as it is for my husband to receive it.

It seems that when I come up with a great idea, I get worried that I won’t be able to “top” it, in a sense. But somehow, someway, I end up thinking of another way to show my love and appreciation for my Soldier.

I’ve complied some of the things I’ve done for my husband and some ideas I have yet to do. I hope it gives you some inspiration and that you can put your own creative spin on things or even add to them and make them even better!

One of my husband’s favorite things I’ve ever sent to him was this box full of ordinary, everyday items that I turned into anything but. Each item that I included in the box had a bigger meaning behind it than you would normally think of when you saw each item. I also attached the name of the item and then the reason it was in the box (I typed up, printed out, cut apart, and glued each one on red, white and blue construction paper) with ribbon.

Here’s a list of the things I put into the box:

• A yellow ribbon: so you always know you have 100% support.
• A piece of rope: for when you’re reaching the end of yours.
• Lifesavers: because that’s what you are to me.
• Hug (Hershey’s): so you know that someone is always on your side.
• A bag of marbles: for when you feel like you’ve lost yours!
• Ibuprofen: because all jobs can be a headache sometimes.
• A tootsie roll: to help you roll with the punches.
• Confetti: to remind you to have fun.
• A candle: to light up the darkness.
• A penny: for luck!
• A rubber band: to stretch yourself beyond the limits.
• A cotton ball: to cushion the rough roads.
• A jolly rancher: to remind you of how sweet things can be.
• Magnets: to remind you of how strong and powerful our love is for each other.
• A battery: to give you that extra charge to keep you going.
• Tape: to fix things that won’t work.
• String: to tie things together when everything falls apart.
• A match: to light your fire when you’re feeling burned out.
• Starbursts: to give you a burst of energy on a day you feel you have none.
• Gum: to help your unit stick together.
• Smarties: because that what you are..SMART!
• A bag: to help you keep it all together.

I’m sure there are many other things that could be included with this idea, but those are the ones that I used. He loved it!  It took a little time to put it all together, but it was worth it!

For more information, visit Army Well-Being "Deployment Cycle Support."