I won this old post office letter scale on eBay. I need one for my letter writing, but I will also be lending it to the Summer Wizarding Event folks to use in their Post Office.
As I begin to gather such things together, the postal props making for the event is becoming so much more real and exciting. Up to now -- except for the making of the monthly newsletter -- it's been mostly planning in sketchbooks or collecting image files of ideas. Recently though, Professor Science generously offered a bunch (majorly large bunch!) of old postage stamps.
And yesterday I was at one of my favorite stores, American Science and Surplus. Oh my, if you haven't been to their store or gotten their catalog, DO! They are the wildest bunch of characters and sell the coolest stuff. My find yesterday was just what I'd hoping I'd find. I wanted to include a letter opener in each wizarding student's packet of mail. The kind I had in mind was one of those sliding ones with the blade safely enclosed. I'd priced them out wholesale online and found it would cost about $1.35 per opener; a little pricey for our limited budget.
What I really wanted, though, was one that looked more like the classic mini-dagger. But handing out knives to children isn't the act of a responsible adult! :-) So I was totally psyched to have come across these 10 cent apiece plastic versions (below).
The packaging envelope above it (and pointed to in #3 below) I made using a template from Ruthann Logsdon Zaroff's creative and generous site, Mirkwood Designs Templates. I used her Artist Card Envelope, which I stretched out to fit the size and shape of the letter opener.
(1) below shows the unassembled envelopes and (2) the letter openers.
I recently heard from the Headmaster Actor to whom I'd sent a sample packet. He pronounced it "truly excellent"! Next up, the Stamp Cabinet for the Post Master/Mistress.
