Book Preview {Care Packages by Michelle Mackintosh}

When you are far from home or feeling a bit under the weather, there’s nothing quite like receiving a Care Package to make the day a little brighter.

book-cover-care-packages

In her new book, Care Packages, Michelle Mackintosh is bringing back the art of crafting packages with love and care. Care packages get their name from the humanitarian organisation Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE for short), which began distributing parcels of food and supplies in Europe following World War II, but people have been sending packages of provisions to others as long as there has been a way.

care packages book giveaway

Everyone needs to be cared for at some point in their lives: not just when things are tough, but also in times of celebration and joy. Care Packages is here to show you how easy it is to reach out and connect with those we love – and even those we don’t know – with beautiful parcels filled with thoughtful items tailored for each recipient.

care packages book giveaway

Full of delightful packaging ideas, craft projects, recipes and even templates to make your own boxes, tags and gift vouchers. It’s jam packed with lots of good stuff to make all your Care Packages just the best!

care packages book giveaway

care packages book giveaway

Just like in her previous book Snail Mail, Michelle has included a collection of interesting parcels mailed to her from people all over the world to her Po Box in Carlton North. The whole book is a visual feast and quite a good read too.

care packages book giveaway

Book Details:
Publisher: Hardie Grant
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN: 978-1743791387
RRP: $29.99

Care Packages now for sale in Australia and is available from independent book sellers – Go and get it at your local book shop.

Buy here from The Book Depository with Free shipping*


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46 Comments

  • I love sending care packages! I’d love to send a care package to my granddaughter & my daughter since both have a B-day this month and they live so far away. I like to send my youtubers a care package when I can. When I send out a package to someone I feel like I am blessing another person and when I bless someone else it makes me feel blessed!

  • Adrienne R says:

    We all need a reminder now and then to slow down and spend some time thinking about others. Can’t wait to have a read.

  • I’ve been mailing Care packages to family, friends and my former sewing students for many years’ it’s a delight to them and for me. I send seasonal and fun treats to brighten their day! I a box filled with bits of photos from mags and catalogs that I collage on the outside of the packages! Surprise!

  • Sara S says:

    I send care packages to my best friend and I love doing so! I would love a book of new things to send because I’ve been running out of ideas

  • Judith Maunders says:

    I’d send a care package to my sister, who has been struggling a bit lately. Concussion after hitting her head pruning a tree, then headaches signalling she needed new glasses. A care package would remind her that we love her … and hopefully make her feel all warm and fuzzy!

  • Kelly Brown says:

    I’d love to send a special care package to my Grandmother because she is sick and needs some cheering up.

  • Belinda L says:

    A care package is simply something money cannot buy, so from the bottom of my heart, it would mean the world to me to receive this book to just brighten up someone’s day and show I care. From my cousin, whose mother passed away recently and will never get to see her graduate, to my lovely sister, who is about to spend her days sitting through her final school exams, and finally to my best friend, my mother, for all that she has done for me, and supporting me in this cruel, but amazing world.

  • Mary says:

    To my best friend’s daughter at college. I’ve been giving her special treats since she was a baby and would love new ideas.

  • Terri says:

    It this is anything like Michelle’s Snail Mail Book I want ( yes WANT) to win. Snail mail has great ideas for funky mail. This one would be awesome. Can you imagine friends and family’s faces receiving something wrapped and decorated beautifully. The joy would not only be the inside but the outside as well.

  • Mahshed Hooshmand says:

    Thank you for doing such a wonderful review, I’m so excited for this book! It’s too bad I have to wait until November for it. Maybe a lovely person in Australia would be up for sending me the book if I purchase it 😉

  • Ruth Meaney says:

    Oh this book looks beautiful! The best care package I received was from my now husband. We had just started dating when I used a one way ticket to move to the UK. A couple of months and many skype calls later, it was my birthday. He very sneakily sent me a HUGE bunch of flowers to my work and then when I got home there was a box for me. It was immaculately presented. Inside were 12 gifts. Including a DVD of him singing happy birthday! We skype called as I opened each gift accompanied with its own card. It was just perfect and help cement in my mind that we were indeed meant to be. It took another 9 months for me to come home but we both waited for each other and are now married with two kids. Hurray for thoughtful and epic care packages 🙂

  • Ruth Meaney says:

    I would send a care package to my beautiful friend Jane who now lives in another state. She and I used to live and work together. We are both now mothers and I hate being so far away from her while our kidlets are so little.
    In the care package I would have a mug that said “50% delirious 50% hilarious. But mostly hilarious. ” some hot chips and gravy (if only they could travel!), a hug and some clothes for her son (our boys are 6 months apart).

  • Sarah Wieland says:

    I have friends and family all over the world and I love trading care packages with them.
    This book looks absolutely gorgeous and might make my care packages a bit more exciting then the same old vegemite and tim tams.

  • Julie Oliver says:

    This book looks adorable. With some lovely ideas for cheap and cheerful crafts to share and brighten up the lives of friends and strangers alike x

  • Page says:

    This book looks gorgeous! I love putting together little packages of happiness to send to my interstate and overseas rellies (and even local friends and fam too..!). I would love to get my hands on a copy of this book to have a look and get some new and exciting ideas x

  • Gail B says:

    My brother used to love the care packages that our parents sent to him while he was in the navy! His favorite things were pop tarts and he still loves them today.

  • Samantha says:

    My goodness this is too wonderful!!!! I love LOVE the few pages we are able to peek at in this post. The ideas do not look too hard- just creative. I cannot wait to see this book in person. Thank you Cintia for showing it to us- and the publisher for giving away 2 copies. I’d send a package to a friend in the Peace Corp- she is in Moldova- quite a long way from home!

  • Melissa G says:

    I miss the days when personalised packages and letters came in the mail. I remember when a particular pen friend went to the effort of decorating the envelopes with stickers. I would love to see the art of envelope and inventive gift packaging becoming common practice. If I want to see it in the world then that change begins with me. So… I recently had this idea of sending some people homemade gifts in the mail, for no other reason than to surprise them. And they would be surprised, because they didn’t know it was coming, it wasn’t ordered online, it wasn’t a bill [for a change].

  • Helen O'Driscoll says:

    I love sending care packages to my sisters, all three live so far away and I miss them so dearly. I also make care packages for those closer if they are needing a little love. If I were to send a care package to some in history perhaps Frida Khalo for her pain and suffering not only from the bus accident but also throughout her art and love life. Also Joan of Ark, although appearing as a strong woman, could have done with a care package perhaps containing a few feminine essentials.

  • Tracy Snyder says:

    Love that your book will bring CARE to a whole new generation! To think of someone and take the time to send a package of love can mean so much! Thank you and I hope to be a winner!

  • Alison Gorman says:

    An awesome giveaway a totally gorgeous book by Michelle Mackintosh…. thank you.
    Would love to send a care package anonymously to anyone who needs a little touch of happiness.

  • Kirsten says:

    I’d send a package to my biggest boy who is currently overseas on course with the Australian Army…I haven’t seen much of him in the last year since he’s joined. Home baked goodies (ANZAC bikkies of course) and some other Aussie things.

  • Rebecca Freeman says:

    I would send a care package to a country girl who was heading off to boarding school for the first time, to make her smile, help her get to sleep, spark her imagination, keep her warm and nourished and ready for a big adventure.

  • Sharon Jones says:

    Love making care packages to send to love ones far and near. This book looks purr-fect with so many fantastic ideas.
    Thank you for the chance to win.

  • JULIE DUNCAN says:

    I would love to receive the book and be inspired to create a package for a friend, missing home. Many years ago when I was doing the traditional Aussie working holiday in the UK and Europe, my Mum sent me all my favourite sweet treats including biscuits and chocolate bars that were not available to buy in London. It helped me overcome a bout of homesickness and get on with the exciting opportunities that I had as a young traveller!

  • El Wilson says:

    I’d love to send a care package to my Mum. She lives on her own now and a surprise in the mail might be good. I would be a challenge but a great one.

  • Melissa says:

    I would love to send a care package to my beautiful friend Alysha who always sends such thoughtful and creative gifts to others x

  • Terry says:

    Ooohhhh! This looks plumb amazing. Just too cute. Don’t know anyone to send care package too I imagine some of this would make wonderful small gifts.

  • Cintya says:

    I love snail mail and putting extra touches in my packages! This book will be perfect for me 🙂

  • Christine says:

    I’d send care package to my brother living in England. I miss him so much and love sending home trinkets to remind him of home.

  • Merryl Chantrell says:

    I could really do with the biggest Care Package in the known Universe right now because my life is very topsy-turvy…maybe more turvy than topsy 🙁

  • Julie says:

    I’d love to make up a care package for my fellow Mums to remind and encourage them to take time out just for them!

  • Sharon lamb says:

    I’d send it to a friend in nz whose daughter is in remission from cancer and who is looking for home based activities that she can fit in as ‘me time’

  • Ooh, this would look scrumptious on my shelf next to all my other crafty books! I’ve never sent a care package, but seeing your pictures of the book make me want to!

  • patricia welch says:

    well…after what I have been through the past 2 1/2 years, I am the one who needs a care package, I’m afraid.

  • Emma V says:

    I’d love to send a care package to my sister, who has braved the move back to Perth from Melbourne.

    She made the ultimate sacrifice in leaving her little boy to move over east in the first place, as she needed to make a fresh start to be a better person for herself and her son – now she is back, she is able to be the best person she can be for the person that matters to her the most. She arrived back home with a suitcase of clothes, and is slowly making a home for herself.

    I have showed my support every step of the journey back home, and a little care package would be that little special something to brighten her day even more!

  • Wendy Hatton says:

    Two of my grown up children and their families live interstate. Sending imaginative care packages would be a nice way to keep in touch.

  • Emma says:

    I would send a care package to my best friend who is going through a tough time!

  • Sheilah Palacios says:

    i remember my Dad sending care packages to relatives after the war. They were mostly food packages, but it kept them going when times were rough. They were always ” brown paper packages tied up with string,” made from cut open grocery bags. I was sad when post offices stopped allowing string and insisted on tape. The book Care Packages embodies that joy of sending and receiving packages.

  • Adrienne Aiple-Nigli says:

    I adore giving beautiful, thoughtfully curated (and hand made if possible) packages! Its often better than receiving a gift myself!
    I would love to send a care package to my bestie Laura, who’s had a tough time at work lately and could do with some cheering up! I’d include a beautiful hand made card (made by ME!), a bar of raw chocolate, a bottle of red wine, a novelty hot-water-bottle and a copy of “The Note Book” (her favourite movie) on DVD.

  • Tonya says:

    I’d send a care package to a wonderful lady expecting her 6th child very soon – soooo exciting!

  • lesley says:

    definitely my mom. even though she lives across the US from me, she creates handmade items for me to sell in my booth at a boutique and doesnt want the money her items bring. she takes care of my mentally challenged sister full time and never gets time for herself. she does so much for others.

  • Kate says:

    Having moved away from my friends and family, learning how to make delightful care packages would be a way to connect with home, and gifting something extra special and heartfelt to my loved ones.

  • Carolyn says:

    I love care packages. With all my family living far from me (other states, other countries). I love care packages. Throw in some fancy decorating of the envelopes and boxes, the little touches mean a lot. This book is what makes sense of what we just want to do!

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