• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
The Artisan Life
  • Dot Marker Pages
  • Learning Center
  • Seasonal Printables
    • Winter Printables
    • Valentine's Day printables
    • St. Patrick's Day printables
    • Earth Day
    • Easter printables
    • Mother's Day
    • Fall printables
    • Thanksgiving Printables
    • Christmas Printables
  • Printable Calendars
  • Preschool + K
    • Alphabet Tracing Worksheets
    • Dot Marker Pages
    • Cut & Paste Crafts
    • Preschool Math
    • Fine Motor Practice Pages
    • Spanish Preschool Pages
  • Coloring Pages
  • Shop
  • Recipes
    • Healthy dessert recipes
menu icon
go to homepage
  • Dot Marker Pages
  • Free Printables
    • Preschool worksheets
    • Free Printable Coloring Pages
    • Printable journals & planners
  • Learning Center
  • Shape Templates
  • Coloring Pages
  • St Pat's Printables
  • Desserts
  • Dot Marker Bundle
  • Shop
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • Dot Marker Pages
    • Free Printables
      • Preschool worksheets
      • Free Printable Coloring Pages
      • Printable journals & planners
    • Learning Center
    • Shape Templates
    • Coloring Pages
    • St Pat's Printables
    • Desserts
    • Dot Marker Bundle
    • Shop
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ร—
    Home ยป Uncategorized

    How to Think Outside the (Half Way) Box - Decorated Box Deployment Care Package for Submariners

    Published: May 7, 2015 ยท Modified: Mar 2, 2025

    23 shares
    • Share

    This post may include affiliate links, which means I may make a commission on purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. 

    There are so many amazing military care package ideas on the internet (one of my favorite blogs for inspiration is Jo, My Gosh!).

    The problem is, most of these ideas assume that the service member in your life is deployed on terra firma and can receive mail.

    While you can technically send mail to someone on a submarine, and they might even actually get it at some point before homecoming, it isn't a sure thing. Packages can sit around for weeks or months waiting for a sub to pull into port, especially if the boat has a schedule change. If you want to make sure your submariner has something while on deployment, you have to send it with him. (Yes, I realize there are ladies on some submarines now, but the vast majority of the American sub force is still male, so please don't take offense!)

    This makes care packages and half way night boxes (packages meant to be opened on the approximate "half way point" of the deployment) for submariners a little bit tricky. You can't bake up some biscotti and royal icing sugar cookies and mail them off a couple weeks in advance! I'm sorry to say it, but those home baked goods just aren't going to last three or four months in a box, no matter how air conditioned a sub is.

    Plus, a lot of the posts detailing fantastic care package show USPS Large Flat Rate boxes. They're 12x12 and a piece of lovely scrapbook paper fits right in the bottom. Space is tight on a submarine, so our FRG said no to large boxes and that half way boxes needed to be in a Medium Flat Rate box (or shoebox, but that nice flat rate box is free!). There go perishable goods and conveniently pre-cut patterned papers! So what's a MilSo (or parent, sibling, friend, caring pen pal) to do for his/her submariner? Break out the wrapping paper, Mod Podge, and tape. =)

    How to Decorate the Inside of a Medium Box + Submarine Care Package Ideas

    If you're not looking to make a deployment care package box, you can still keep reading. This same technique can be used decorate any box you need to mail or carry on a trip. College care packages, mailed birthday presents, hand carried house warming gifts - the list goes on!

    Materials needed to make a "half way night" care package

    • Medium flat rate box
    • Wrapping paper
    • Scissors
    • Mod Podge
    • Flat paint brush (a ยฝ" brush is perfect!)
    • Ruler or quilting square
    • Clear packing tape
    • Stickers, markers, etc. to decorate as desired

    materials for making a deocrating deployment care package

    How to decorate the inside of a care package box

    Before we get into the tutorial, please allow me to apologize for the pictures. I don't have a photo of the paper application process because I don't have four hands! It sure would be handy for crafting, though...

    1. Take a look at your box.  You'll notice it is held together with a tab that runs most of the box's height along the inside. Carefully pry this loose and unfold the box.

    find the tab holding the box together

    pull the box apart

    2. Lay the box flat on the floor or a table and then unroll the wrapping paper. The the paper so it is the correct length and width for your box, not including the tab. It doesn't need to be papered! If you're using a medium flat rate box, you'll need a rectangle 14.5" wide by 39" long.

    3. This is the trickiest step, but don't panic! Just work carefully and everything will be fine. Get your Mod Podge, paintbrush, and ruler ready. You're going to paint the Mod Podge onto the box a little at a time, then lay the paper down and press it flat by running the ruler along it. Start at one end and line the paper up with the box's edges as closely as possible, then continue working a couple inches at a time until you reach the other end of the box. Use enough Mod Podge to keep the paper adhered to the box for a couple months, but don't just slop it on there or you'll end up with very warped paper.

    medium flat rate box with wrapping paper inside

    4. Once the entire box is papered, fold the box in half along a pre-exiting crease. Two of the creases will be folded and the other two flat. After a minute or two, shift the box so the previously-folded creases are flat and the creases that were flat before are now folded. Check out the photos below!

    fold the box in half the other way

    fold the box in half

    Repeat this process a couple of times then allow the glue to dry for at least an hour or so. I recommend keeping the box folded in half during this time and pressing it under a light weight using a couple of books. I know this step seems a little silly, but if you allow the box to simply lay out flat while the Mod Podge dries, the paper is more likely to buckle with you refold the box.

    5. Cut away the extra paper between the box's flaps.

    cut the paper so the box can fold

    6. Use your packing tape to seal all the box's edges. Adhere half the tape's width to one side of the open edge, then fold it over the edge and onto the other side. This is really important if you want the paper to stay put instead of peeling off!

    tape along the box flap edges

    7. Reassemble your box. Start by taping the opened-up side back together, but tape the tab on the outside of the box (instead of the inside, where it was). Assemble the rest of the box as usual.

    tape the box back together

    8. Now you're ready to decorate! I used lots of 3D Hawaiian stickers, but stickers, markers, and even paint can work. Don't forget about the outside of the box, too! If you use 3D stickers like I did, make sure they're on the areas where they won't get squished by the other flaps once you tape the box up. I placed stickers all along the shorter flaps, but just along the middle of the longer flaps.

    decorating care box ideas

    9. Your box is all decorated and all you need to do now is pack the loot!

    Ideas for what to include in a half way night care package

    What you put in your care package is really up to you, but here are some things that I heard other wives say they were including or that I included myself.

    • Girl Scout cookies (I personally didn't do this - I gave him his cookies ahead of time! But I know many of the guys do have cookies in their boxes)
    • Page protectors (one wife said she heard that they got to be 'like gold' further into the deployment)
    • Photos/photo albums
    • New pens or ink refills for favorite pens

    care package ideas

    • Books/magazines
    • Games (new deck of cards, dominoes, cribbage, etc)
    • Random small personal care items like ChapStick, nail files/clippers, floss, etc.
    • Fun little items or toys, like small Legos or this sticky notes, luggage tags, a lanyard, etc. featuring a favorite character.

    care package ideas 3

    • DVDs or video games
    • Stationary/cards with stamps. When the boat gets a 'mail drop,' they can actually send mail back off, as long as it's stamped and ready to go. They can also send mail during port visits.

    care package ideas 4

    • Coffee, tea, or other relatively non-perishable, non-breakable treats.
    • Fun socks, t-shirt, etc. that will make him smile
    • CDs or DVDs of photos

    Things to not pack in a half way night box/care package

    • Anything pressurized (like a can of shaving cream)
    • Perishable snacks
    • Breakable items
    • Flash drives or memory cards (these may be allowed on a surface vessel, but we were informed we couldn't send any to our submariners)
    • Dangerous/hazardous materials (of course!)

    Other things to consider when packing

    Make sure to package the items in a way that minimizes shifting around so your beautiful decorating job doesn't get ruined! You also want to make sure a box of dominoes doesn't crush the Girl Scout cookies, for example. I packed in layers, making sure to put something non-breakable (coffee) as a barrier between the game and other items.

    pack the deployment care package

    Consider how to keep any cards, photos, letters, etc from being crumpled. I placed a layer of items on the bottom, then used a t-shirt to separate the paper goods from the assortment of objects below. There's actually a second shirt in his box, too, that's also weightlifting-themed. I went on a mini shopping spree at Life as RX because they have some of the coolest shirts around.

    care package ideas 2

    If you're packing a box for someone on a submarine, remember that plastic trash is a problem for them. They try to minimize plastic waste, so consider removing extra packaging from items before packing them in the box.

     

    And there you have it - my best suggestions for how to create decorated care packages for submariners!

    What types of items do you send in care packages and how do you help the contents stay fresh and undamaged until the box is opened?

     

    More Uncategorized

    • Text "free printable all about my teacher questionnaire" with a preview of a cute teacher questionnaire printable
      Free Printable All About my Teacher Questionnaire
    • Text "fine motor tracing worksheets" with a preview of seven fine motor tracing worksheets for preschoolers
      Free Printable Thanksgiving Prewriting Worksheets
    • Free Printable Beginner 4x4 Sudoku Puzzles
    • A preview of two printable November calendar pages for 2023
      Free Printable November Calendar 2023
    23 shares
    • Share
    text "access hundreds of printables now"

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Natalie

      October 28, 2015 at 4:32 pm

      Thanks ladies...I'm going to start working on it hopefully this weekend before I start my next class...It never ceases to amaze me how the mail system in the military works...lol I'm going to write some letters too. It's for 6 months, but not a hundred percent when or where since he hasn't switched commands yet. You do etsy stuff? What kind of stuff do you sell? Thanks again ladies!!! Will share the finish product. ๐Ÿ™‚

      Reply
      • Natashalh

        October 28, 2015 at 6:25 pm

        Not totally sure when or where sounds completely normal! My Etsy store has everything from costal/Hawaiian Christmas stockings to weightlifting wrist wraps and all sorts of things in between. =)

        Reply
    2. Natalie

      October 09, 2015 at 4:14 pm

      Thanks for the tips!! I will have to check that website out!! And I'm hoping with me being so busy it'll make it go by faster. I'm glad I'm not alone with that.lol It's frustrating bc I don't see him much now with him switching commands,getting ready for deployment, and moving,which sucks but I'm trying to see it as a warm up.lol He said if we can get through this, we can get through anything.lol. Do you guys think I should wait to give him a package or give it with the mini scrapbook? Thanks again!!!

      Reply
      • Jules

        October 09, 2015 at 4:29 pm

        I know what you mean, mine lives in a different state right now and prepping for all of that stuff too. He's leaving next week. Is yours going to Hawaii too? How long is his deployment? I know different subs have different deployments, I know mine will be gone about 6ish but apparently some aren't that long so that's a plus if your boyfriend is on one of those. ๐Ÿ™‚ I feel the same way about not being alone in this, I'm glad I found Natasha's blog!

        I would say give it to him now, I don't know how reliable mail is on subs, or you can wait. I gave mine early so he can decide what to actually take on the sub versus leave at home.

        Natasha - I love your new Etsy stuff, I think I found my next box idea with one of the Anchor Christmas stockings ๐Ÿ™‚ I know you said mail isn't too reliable, how do you know what address to send it to?

        Reply
        • Natashalh

          October 09, 2015 at 5:31 pm

          Jules - The address is boat specific, and on my husband's boat they actually assigned a "box number" to each guy for this deployment. If you can get in touch with the Ombudsman or someone like that, they should be able to give you your ship's address. =)

          Reply
      • Natashalh

        October 09, 2015 at 5:33 pm

        That is a lot to deal with, but I agree that if you can deal with that, you can deal with anything!

        Personally, I'd give him the box when you have the chance. Sometimes they get mail quickly, but sometimes they don't. I had things I mailed in mid April not reach my husband until late July.

        Reply
    « Older Comments

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Text "Hello! I'm Natasha!" with an image of a woman a blue shirt

    Hi, Iโ€™m Natasha! I'm so glad you're here.

    I'm a former classroom teacher with a Masters of the Arts in Teaching turned homeschooler. I share educational & planner printables for busy parents and teachers. Simplify your life when you discover how to instantly access 700+ printables here!

    More about me โ†’

    Popular

    • Text "free printable father's day activity placemats" with a preview of three pages of activity placemat
      Free Printable Father's Day Activity Placemats
    • text "free printable ice cream coloring pages" with a preview of three ice cream coloring page sheets
      Free Printable Ice Cream Coloring Pages
    • text "free printable memorial day handprint crafts" with a preview of three handprint art templates
      Free Memorial Day Handprint Art Printables
    • Three graduation-themed coloring pages for preschool, featuring celebratory phrases and images of children in caps and gowns, suitable for graduation activities and crafts.
      Free Printable Preschool and Kindergarten Graduation Coloring Pages

    The Artisan Life is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

    The Artisan Life also uses affiliate links for other sites. For a full look at my policy, please visit its page here.

    Footer

    โ†‘ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Save Time

    • Join the Learning Center for quick & easy access to hundreds of printables

    Contact

    • Contact

    If you have any questions feel free to contact me directly here: natashalh(at)stalkingthewildsnark(dot)com. I do not accept guest posts and will not respond to unsolicited requests for guest posts or links. Stock images byย Depositphotos

    COPYRIGHT ยฉ 2012 โ€“ 2025 The Artisan Life ยท ALL RIGHTS RESERVED