No we are not, not from me, anyway.

Seriously. I got so excited about the spoon... sigh.

Mine will be going out Monday.

Wow, Gemme! You got it fast, considering all of the snow and bad weather along the way! I hope you enjoy it! :)

As for your question, either way works for me.

Mine are all set and ready to go out Monday. Now, I've been pen palling a long time and I'd be surprised if these WEREN'T machinable. But we'll see Monday I could eat my words.

I'm fine with sampling as you get them as long as the surprise isn't ruined. I'm curious because I sent everyone a different tea based on what I thought they'd like. I want to know if I was even in the ballpark or not.

Do you know a special trick that may make them machinable? If so, please share. This is my first project of this sort so I am flying by the seat of my pants. Any shared tricks of the trade are well appreciated, plus they make help those who haven't yet mailed their teas.:)

When I mailed out yesterday they had a large plastic board with a slot in it at the post office. If your envelope could pass through the opening as well as weighed under a certain amount you could mail out with just a regular stamp. Mine didn't but then I sent people multiple teabags. I also put each one in its own mini Ziploc bag to try and help keep the different tea smells from blending, as well as placed them each in small, party invitation type, odd size/shape envelopes. Though small, it made for a pretty thick envelope, the weight was under limit but it wouldn't pass through the blue measure-o-matic template thing at the post office. Knowing that, next time I would package them differently so they'd easily fit through. I'd also only buy teas of the same brand/flavor if thinking to include extras, rather than different types, so that way I'd only have to use one plastic bag for them rather than multiple mini ones. I'd also cut the zipper top off that one bag, just heat seal it closed, fold over and tape to keep other smells out while in transit as well as reduce the weight. If I'd have done it that way then I would have only had to pay for a regular first class postage stamp to send to those in the states, worst case scenario maybe needed to slap on an additional stamp. Then I’d have only had to mail those headed to Canada at the post office. I hate having to go into the post office here so the quicker I can get through the line and out of there the better. Anyhow as for mailing out to Canada by putting them in a cardboard mailer the shipping cost was about the same as those mailed first class here in the states. However since I had to buy the mailers basically it doubled the cost. But generally only one or two people from Canada participate. So that means I only have to pay a little extra to ship to Canada. On the other hand I'm thinking people in Canada have quite a few more people to ship to outside of Canada at a higher rate. Anyhow long story short next time by packaging differently I would be able to send the same amount of teabags out (assuming two participants to Canada, the rest to here in the states) for half what I spent yesterday. To me anytime I can pay 50% less it’s worth the fuss. Knowing next time it will be less work as well, because I’ll just be slapping everything together into one zipper less Ziploc for each participant, that I figure is substantial enough savings (in terms of both time and money) to be worth discussing here for those who might be thinking of participating in this type of exchange in the future.

I received the tea in the mail yesterday and should receive the bags to put the loose tea into on Tuesday. Therefore, mine will be sent by end of next week. Sorry for the delay but those tea bags have taken forever to get here!!

I have received packages from Jesse and Liam. Thank you!

Mine went out this morning and were sent with regular postage. I asked the postal worker three times if she was sure and she assured me they would go through just fine. So... we shall see!

Well, here's a couple things. Send only one teabag, FSF learned. I also chose relatively flat tea bags tazo and twinings and stash are all good brands for this. I also chose small note cards as something of uniform thickness is more likely to be machinable. Also, I smushed down the tea bag a little. Not enough to harm it but just enough to make it a little thinner.

But like I said , I could be eating my words tomorrow lol

I'm finding it interesting how different people's experiences with the post office are.

I received tea from Liam moments ago. Thanks Liam, I love the card and looking forward to sampling the tea! :)

So did you try the tea? lol

Liam, I got yours! I have to tell you, I saw the return address and only saw the organization on it and I wondered when I had joined that site. I assumed it was a card from them and even when I saw the tea bag I thought, that's weird, they are sending me a teabag as a way of saying thanks? DUH!!! lol It took me minute. Love the card and can't wait to try the tea.

I have not been able to get to the post office this week so I will definitely go Monday.

My tea has been sent out!!!

I eat my words, my friends, as my letters were NOT machinable. The po guy didn't try sliding it through the the plastic slot. He was just like "no, not machinable" at one look. So I paid for the 70 cent stamps. :P