Open When Ideas

[hanabana]

I saw a pin on pinterest recently about Open When letters.
Open When...you're feeling sad.
Open When...you need to know how much I love you.
etc.
I really want to do this for our next anniversary, which is coming up on the 13th.
What are some other Open When ideas, and also, besides a letter what else can I put in the corresponding envelope?

[Brieasaurus]

I started doing open when letters awhile ago but got bored haha, so I have about 8 done and just sitting there in my room. Good thing our three year anniversary isn't until November!

Anyways I have-
Open when.. you're feeling sad- letter, some funny memes from movies he likes backed with colored cardstock, pictures of us.
Open when.. you're sick- letter, pack of tissue that all say "you had me from achoo", orange cough drops (his favorite), a pass for me making him my mom's chicken noodle soup (which he loves) and the recipe for it, and a couple of feel better stickers I got from Michaels.
Open when.. you're super duper horny- haha, I don't think this one needs much explanation.
Open when.. you miss me- I did a cut out of my arms and attached them to the traced outline of my body so it's like a paper version of a hug (it was a pain in the ass, I've seen others just do a picture of their arms outstretched, seems easier), pictures of us, a letter, a list of reasons why he shouldn't miss me (sarcastic, like "you don't have to watch The Notebook" or "my animals aren't climbing all over you" haha)- still adding to this.
Open when.. you want to buy me a gift but don't know what to get *hinthint*- this one is purely a joke because we rarely buy gifts, just put the money towards visits since it's so tight but I made a collage of things that I wouldn't mind getting.. an engagement ring being number 2 and him being number 1 haha.
Open when.. you have a bad golf/hockey day- I got a cheesy little trophy from a party store that had "#1 athlete!" written on it, wrote down his best scores, pictures of me in all of his various team shirts that he's given me, found some little encouraging notes from Urban Outfitters that I threw in there and a letter.
Open when.. you're thinking about the future- I drew a cheesy picture of us in our future house and him holding the stanley cup, put a letter- this is when my creativity fizzed out.

Then I have the ideas of-
Open when.. you're thinking of popping the question, Open when.. we move into our first house together, Open when.. we fight and it's MY fault, Open when.. we fight and it's YOUR fault, Open when.. you're on the plane going home.

There's tons of ideas on tumblr, that's mainly where I got all of mine from besides some of our personal ones. One girl went into detail with pictures of hers. I didn't like how sloppy and plain some of them were so for me, I made it a goal to make them look a more fun and like I put hard work into them- they're big brown envelopes with a piece of colored cardstock and then I got those fancy squiggly scissors to cut out a piece of white paper where I got whatever the Open when.. part said. If you ever need help thinking, send me a PM! We can help each other out with ideas haha.

[hanabana]

Thanks so much! This was very helpful
I have a better grasp on what to do and what to include in the envelopes

[RachelAnne]

I love this! Thank you so much...gave me some great ideas. I told this to a friend and she also loved it. So cute.

[hanabana]

Hope all of your ideas come out great!

[QuietViolet]

I was just about to post a thread about this to share a tutorial that I just found on a blog where the author of the blog posted instructions and pictures of the things she included inside each envelope that she made for her SO. I know it's after the 13th now so it's a little too late for you hanabana but hopefully others might find it useful, I know that I will be using it for some more inspiration for when I do this for my SO! I can't post links yet since my post count is too low but if you google 'up to no good with Holly', the first result should be a link to her blog. The post is called 'Open When.... Letters' and was posted on June 21st of this year.

Hope this helps someone!

[conejita_hada]

I'm in the middle of working on the collection of "open when..." letters for when I see my SO at the end of November (they're part of his birthday present) and one I thought would be so sweet for him is "Open when...you need to hear my voice but can't talk to me". In addition to a short letter, I'm going to include a CD that has a recording of my voice saying "I love you" and singing the song I always sing to him. I'm not the biggest fan of my own voice so I'll have a friend listen to make sure the CD sounds okay but my SO swears my voice is beautiful so I figure it's a good idea for him.

I was also thinking of including a burned copy of his favorite movie in the "Open when...you've had a bad day" in addition to a few dum-dum lollipops and a picture of me giving him a kiss (or something along those lines). As far as I know gifted copies of movies are okay...plus it's going outside the US and I don't think his country has rules on that. hehe

[snow]

In one I put 5$ and told him he should get pizza and enjoy himself, the tip's on me

[AccessGranted]

Thanks for sharing this! This is a brilliant idea, she's going to love it!

[hanabana]

In one I put 5$ and told him he should get pizza and enjoy himself, the tip's on me

I love this one! It's simple and pssh, guys love food. lol. Cant lose here.

[Moonlit Nocturne]

Oooohhh this is a great idea! I've been thinking about doing something like this, so all these ideas are really helpful! I was thinking for an Open When You're Feeling sad or when you're missing me, I would take a bunch of my pressed leaves and write all the things I love about him and all the things we plan to do together on them and send them with the letter.

[Alieoop]

I love the "open when" letters i'm going to try this out with my BF! Awesome ideas everyone!
Great christmas present (:

[Sarah96]

I've always wanted to do those! My friend mentioned them a few years ago when she did them for her boyfriend at the time, but I've never been good at writing letters and I just feel like I repeat the same things over and over in each letter.

[Yaaamiii]

I wish someone would tell my SO that he should write some of these for me jaja! I've thought of doing them for him, and I'm the more creative one of the two of us, but I think I have a harder time dealing with the distance because of my current life situations and man, a "open when you're having a hard time with the distance" would be great :P.

[lovefrom2800milesaway]

This probably overlaps with a lot of y'alls ideas.. but I came across this on tumblr a while ago and saved it onto a Word document :P

• Open when you need to know how much I love you: write reasons why you love them and fell in love with them
• Open when you’re mad at me: apologize for something or talk about what you would do if you were together to make it better
• Open when you miss me: talk about a memory; or make up something you could do together
• Open when you’re lonely: talk about what would happen if you were together at that moment
• Open when you’re happy: write things to make them happier and talk about why it’s important for them to be happy
• Open when you’ve had a long day: what you would do to help them relax
• Open when you’ve had a bad day: what you would do to make it better
• Open when you’re sick: same as above
• Open when you’ve left me after visiting: talk about how the distance is worth it and that every time you are together is perfect and will be even more perfect the next time!
• Open when you can’t sleep: give them a soothing memory of the 2 of you to think about while they close their eyes
• Open when you’re horny: i don’t need to explain this one..lols
• Open when you’re imagining our future: talk about something you both will share in the future; marriage, kids, vacations, holidays, etc.
• Open when we can’t communicate with each other: tell them everything you love about them and why; that is all that matters
• Open when you need a reminder of all the things I love about you: self explanatory
• Open when you need motivation/encouragement.: tell them you are proud and why; tell them all of their achievements and why thats amazing
• Open when you need to laugh.: tell a funny story about yourself that they don’t know or a funny memory that you both share
• Open when you’re bored: tell them a made up story; a memory; a fantasy
• Open when we’re fighting (and it’s you’re fault): tell them you forgive them and that you love them no matter what
• Open when we’re fighting (and it’s my fault): say you’re sorry and that you love them
• Open when you need a kiss: add a hershey kiss
• Open when you miss America: put in pictures of their family, their town, their favorite spot, make a place that is special to the both of you
• Open when you need some lovin’: take a piece of paper and lay it on a flat, hard surface and grab some lipstick; put A LOT of the lipstick on and kiss the paper as it lays flat; now they will have a bunch of kissies from you!