Hey girls...I have been wanting to do/make something very special for my fiancee who is in a max. prison in Illinois. When holidays roll around, or his birthday, I hate to sit back and act like it's just another day! All I've really done so far is send him nice cards (and visit him) for his birthday, Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, etc...but I am wondering, have any of you put something together that really touched your guys heart and put a smile on his face?
I'm looking for ideas, and as we all know, these prisons are pretty strict when it comes to no staples, ribbons, yarn, plastic, etc. So it makes it that much harder to come up with a special little something.
I really wish I could put a tape together of our favorite songs, or of songs we have dedicated to one another - but darn those prison rules!
Any suggestions?! I'm open! Thanks! :)

Hi Ryans Girl!
I know exactly what you mean....
My husbands birthday is next month. I plan to vist him of course, if he hasnt gone to work furlough by then. (which is even better, he will be real real close to our home). I am sending him a very special package. It will have all the usual food items...PLUS, I AM SENDING CIGARS AND CIGARETTS (I refused to send them before) AND....$100 (they love to get money yanno!!)
Happy Birthday to him....

i'm trying to think of something to do for my husband's birthday - it's this friday and i have no idea what to get him besides a card and i'm sending him 50 dollars

This is probably going to sound really stupid but Tony loves animals and, for his birthday in June, I sent him a card from my dog. Even put a muddy paw print inside. You'd have thought I'd sent him a piece of the moon the way he loved it so much. It was, perhaps, that I'd thought about doing somethng a bit out of the ordinary and, whether it was silly or not, he loved it.
I wish Illinois would allow us to send in things like cigarettes and cigars, or anything other than books. It would make it all a lot easier for us and our men would benefit by having special things on these occasions.

Rose

Crap, I accidently deleted the first one I typed, so here's the short version.

How about a nice Bible with his name on the cover and special messages from you written in it? (if you can send the book directly to him, otherwise have it shipped fromt the retailer). I sent a nice triple Book of Mormon to my husband a few years ago, not because he's especially religious, but because it is something that I know he is always allowed to have.

Try dedicating a song to him over the radio.

I also make him cards and calanders, using photos of us. Heck, I even make my own envelopes sometimes.

I'm sure you'll think of something that will be right for your fiance.

Happy Holidays (early) :)

When I went to see my son this summer I had T-Shirts made with one of his drawings on it. I met up with one of his friend’s mother so I brought one for her to wear too. It was a lot of fun we had another shirt on the outside and then we lifted up the shirt and said surprise LOL. They both got a kick out of it because they are both artists and to see their work on a T-Shirt was really great for them. Love Barb

My boyfriend's birthday was last month. He's been in AdSeg for quite sometime and was pretty bummed out about the no calls/no visits, so...I sent him a Virtual Reality Birthday Party! HE LOVED IT!

Here's how I did it...First I sent him a letter a few days in advance and told him I was sending a b-day surprise and that I wanted him to promise that he would play along - he wasn't allowed to read ANY envelopes with a blue dot on the back until his b-day. I numbered each blue-dotted envelope so he knew which order to read.

#1 was a note telling him that since we couldn't celebrate together, I was bringing a party there to him.
#2 was pictures of our 'party guests' - I'd taken lots of pics of friends, family and our pets.
#3 was pages of clip art/pic images of pizza, birthday cake, streamers, balloons, champagne bottles, etc. - that took care of food and party favors.
#4, 5 and 6 were presents - paper, pens, stamps, poetry, literature by some of his favorite authors, etc.
#7 was a 'Virtual Vacation' - I'd asked friends and family to send me postcards of their hometowns, vacation spots, local amusement parks, etc.
#8 was a birthday card telling him that I love and miss him very much...and how I can't wait until we're able to celebrate FOR REAL.

It was silly but I had fun putting it together and he loved the time and effort I put into it for him.

What about an activity that you normally wouldn't have gone with him to do---------go on an excursion to do that activity and take a bunch of pictures for him. Or having him send home his commissary list or catalog he can order from in there and then putting money on his books to cover a splurge type item that he can then order. (I'm considering doing that one.) If you want to make something for him but they won't let it in because of the glue, yarn, sequins, or whatever, then make the item anyway and scan it yourself or have a print shop do it and print it out to send. This works well for children's art work, too. Or if he's getting out within a fairly short time, buy him something to put under the tree and send him a photo of it once it's unwrapped so he can look forward to coming home to it.

Fred is serving life without parole, but every year on his birthday, we're going to have a birthday party for him, complete with cake and a dinner of his favorite foods-----all but the Rocky Mountain oysters :yuck: and then we'll make it "Fred day" and take pictures all day of the day-long celebration of having him as part of our lives.
We'll also send him a book, but the pictures will be the highlight for him.

I have read some great ideas here. One was to use acrylic paint on your boobs and make him a boob print. Anther if he likes feet is to take some pictures of feet with some foot around or on them, like fruit or peanut butter (ha ha ha ha). Then one time I had someone draw a picture of him and I together in a nice setting. My sister did it and did a fantastic job.

LOL That boob print is a great idea. But you might want to scan it because I've heard of them rejecting the paint. I also have read in the mail rules for different places that they won't let in any xerox copies or scans of body parts, but it didn't say anything about no boob prints done in paint and then scanned.

(*is so embarrassed right now*)

ive actually done the boob print thing. all you need is one of those ink pads. they wouldnt have a reason to not allow ink in.

be careful tho it gets messy! hehe

Woah! What great ideas! I really like the boob idea...lol!! I'm sure my fiancee will like it even more! :)
I would love to do the Bible thing with his name engraved in it, but his cousin already did that for him, so I can't do it.

I have an ink pad, and since he loves our kitten so much, I'm going to send him a card from our kitty with a paw print inside...that was a good idea Rose! I just hope our kitten cooperates! Don't they have cards "from" pets?

I think I'm going to also dedicate a song to him over the radio, we both enjoy listening to Delilah (the Queen of sappy love songs!) so if I'm lucky enough to get through, it would be awesome if she could play my dedication at a time that he would be able to listen to the radio.

A calendar with baby pictures of both would be another good idea!

I would love to go do an activity that I wouldn't normally do with him, which is fishing...but I would have to find someone to go fishing with me!! I get grossed out by the whole thought of fishing, gutting them and everything, so the pictures would be a knee slapper! (anybody wanna go fishing?!)

Do any of you know where to order those specially made "name meaning" things? It's just on a piece of thick paper. My dad has one with his name and his girlfriends name on top, and under each name it has different meanings for their names and tells about their personality by their name...and it has a beautiful picture of a rose in the background. Do you know what I'm talking about?

PIMAKAT- That must've been so neat! How long did it take you to put all of that together?

Last year for Christmas I had some "special" modeling pictures taken for him, with wearing hardly anything and I had a santa hat too! They turned out great. Then I took some of them to a kodak picture maker and typed a little personalized message on them.

Don't use an indelible ink pad for the boob prints. Can you imagine trying to explain if you had to go to the doctor unexpectedly? LOL

Ryans Girl - actually it didn't take long to do. I used my computer for most of it - emails to fam/friends for postcards, pic/clip art, etc. The pics were taken at a 4th of July bbq that his family put on. The other stuff I picked up at Walgreen's while I waited for the pics to be developed. In all, it was a snap. :) Let us know what you finally decide on - I'm always interested in new ideas to help ease his time.

lots of great ideas here. I loved the virtual birthday party idea. I use rubber stamps to make cards and like to do embossing on them. I've never heard of that not being accepted. I guess my most appreciated gifts have been money on the books for a TV ( no day room at the place he was transferred to) photos of their family and books. I just sent a book of nature photography he liked. Beautiful and an 'escape' from there.

I always see those name meaning things at places like Christian book stores.

Originally posted by Ryans_Girl
Don't they have cards "from" pets?

Do any of you know where to order those specially made "name meaning" things?


Yes, you can buy cards "from pets". Probably try a Hallmark store.

I got my daughter a paper with her name on it. They have a center kiosk at the mall where you get to search their books for a name, pick out the background and mat and they make it for you while you wait for pretty cheap. I have also seen them at the county fair.

Joe's Birthday is a week from Wedsday, and so far I have bought him 18 different birthday cards. I'm going to try to find out how to contact the radio station that he listens to and dedicate him a song. I made him a jar for here at home with "100 Reasons" why I love him. I thought about mailling each reason individually but postage for that alone would be $37. On my birthday which was a couple weeks ago. I bought miniatue birthday cake and waitted till he called that evening to blow out some candles. I would like some more ideas too.

ljswife, how do you get to send them stuff like that? Do you have to sign anypapers. because i want to surprise him with cigarettes and stuff. he is in logan correctional center in illinois.
thanks mande

For those who have a talent for writing stories: D. and I started to write some `hot` little stories. :) Sometimes one starts and the other one is ending it, or you just imagine the whole story yourself. It is usually alot of fun. We take each other to places, where we wanna celebrate b-days etc. and make up a date and time,so we can read it `together`.

About the name thing, I went to this website and typed in my name and then cut & copied it to word and his name also, then printed it on nice paper and added our names in a nice print and our anniversary date, and sent it to him. This site is amazing how many names it has.

http://www.kabalarians.com/index.htm

Also some other ideas, I bought him a star that they named just for us, and when they sent it to him I had them include a song we like that has a line about looking in the sky etc...

When I was out one day, On the streets here they have street vendors and some of them draw coal portraits so I showed them his picture and they drew a picture of me & him, that he loved.

I have actually burned cd's for him then I put them in a cd case and the cd store here wraps them up and sends them in, sometimes they get sent back and sometimes not, but I always send him alot of cd's.

We both love Bob Marley, so I have sent hm posters before by cutting them up into 6 squares, writing on the back and sending them ina manila envelope then he can put it together when he get's it, and he's always got them.

Also I have sent him our horoscopes - the translations on how "good" a couple a Virgo & Cancer make etc...

We are not allowed to send care packages, I wish!!!

And you can never go wrong with pictures and money they will never have enough of either.

FOR EXAMPLE: (you can pay for longer definitions)
Brief Analysis

Your first name of Ryan has given you a very practical, hard-working, systematic nature. Your interests are focused on technical, mechanical, and scientific things, to the exclusion of interests of an artistic, musical, or social nature. You have a rather skeptical outlook on life and rather materialistic standards. In reaching your goals, you are very independent and resourceful, patient and determined. You can be so very positive and definite in your own ideas and opinions that others sense a lack of tact and friendliness in your manner of expression. You are inclined to be rather demanding and self-centred in your personal wants, and your own desires can be so overriding that you fail to recognize or appreciate the feelings, opinions, or desires of others. As a consequence, difficulties in relations within the family or with close associates can arise.

I just found out about this the other day, but my bf received a birthday gift from my bestfriend.

For the past few months it seemed that everytime I turned around a camera was being shoved in my face. It was REALLY starting to annoy me (especially since I don't like my pic taken!). And, I was beginning to think all my friends were going a bit whacko!

So...fast forward to last week and here's the explanation! My best friend had rallied the troops and turned them all into Candid Camera photogs! Benito received a bunch of pics of me doing normal/every day kinda stuff: housework, cooking, shopping, sleeping, eating a KrispyKreme donut (mmmmm!!), walking our dog, raking leaves and even having my eyebrows waxed!

I'm not too thrilled about the pics but B said he liked seeing me real and relaxed instead of posed and uptight. God, I LOVE THAT MAN!

Birthday Ideas:

I have gone to the local party store and bought everything I could find that was paper ! Pin the tale on the donkey, happy birthday banners, those horns the roll out ( didnt get in but he got to blow it once)-LOL Birthday Hats, Birthday center pieces for the table at chow, a paper birthday cake.. Just anything Paper! Mostly fun gag gifts..pretty inexpensive too!

I have scrapped pages for pictures, and then sent them in seperately and they get to put them together. The scrapping looks like the kids art work from school ! LOL

I always send holiday banners, printed off the computer.

Christmas:
I have bought 25 cards, and made various gift certificates for movies, walks in the park, a real email address, a cup of coffee, ect. Things you would enjoy together. Enclose one in every card, with a piece of pine needle(christmas tree), numbered and not to be opened until Christmas. Put in locker under paper tree. My daughters always draw their Christmas Trees with decorations and all to be hung/taped in their lockers.

These are all really great ideas.

An old pen pal of mine was at the prison in Joliet, IL and they were allowed jigsaw puzzles. I used to send him those. Maybe your guys prison allows those?

lots of great ideas ... lol
Target has greeting cards from your pet ... so they should be available just about anywhere ...

If you are interested in sending CD's that have your special songs on them go to www.mixonic.com. They will burn and mail your CD's for you. You can even design the look of the CD and its case.

Those are all great ideas! I was reading them, and I think I might do some in the future for my hubby. My baby's birthday is Saturday, and I have done a few little special "gifts" for him that I know he will love. I got him 4 different cards that gushed about how much I love him and how sweet and precious he is to me, :) then I sent him two books, one a bedside kama sutra book (To inspire us both...not that we need inspiration! ;)) and one a book on The Cure, which is his absolute favorite band, and he has been wanting a book on them so bad. I emailed a request to dedicate "Just Like Heaven" by The Cure to him to the local radio station, and then the most special gifts are some photos of me he has been wanting for a very long time, to remind him what he is missing...(hee hee) :dance: and I also had a star named in his honor. He can't see it now, but I will tell him that we will always be under his star no matter what, and so we will always be together even when we are apart. And that one day we will both look for his star, together... :)

My fiancee and I had a disagreement about raising our girls and I was sad because I didnt want to leave there knowing we were upset with each other. Well I told him I wasnt bringing the girls up to the prison to again because it was too stressful for them...anyway, his birthday was May 1 and that weekend before I told him I had a surprise for him. He never quessed what it was. I had my friend take the girls to the bathroom when he came out. He thought it was just another ordinary day. After we kissed and said hello and sat down, she brought the kids out and the girls came up behind us and put their hands over his eyes. He panicked and wondered what was happening and they jumped in front of him and sang a quick rendition of "Happy Birthday". I have to say, it was the BEST birthday gift I had ever given him after believing he wouldnt be seeing them for awhile. The guard on duty was nice enough to let us finish the song. We had asked him in advance. Then he let my oldest daughter get on the PA and say "Happy Birthday Daddy"....It was so cool!!! Everyone was clapping. My fiancee was so embarrased. Imagine the things you get when you ask (sometimes)....

I love the boob-print idea...we have a anniversary coming up.

I'm trying to think of some sweet ideas and I got a few in here reading this. Louie is feeling really bummed about missing all this baby stuff. So I am going to take pictures of everything I get and send them in to him so it's almost like he's home seeing everything I went out and bought....almost :(

I just got a great idea of making a homemade recipe book for Louie, with some of our favorite recipes. Just a thought if your man likes to cook....

next week on our trailer visit i am going to get in shells that i bought from florida, paul loved the beach so since he can't get to one i am bringing it to him, plus a little pumpkin--- these little things are special

i can send Josh blank cards. i try and start the month before and get 8-16 cards in the the "holiday" of themonth, Halloween, Thanksgiving, then starts the new year all over again. he barters or gives them as gifts. i buy them at the Dollar store, 3 for a buck! small way to bring happiness. i told Josh they were gonna start calling him "Cardman".

Ok, ladies, I did the nipple print with lipstick and he LOVED IT! He couldnt stop talking about it. LOL I got thru just fine. I did not call attention to it thought, just put it at the end of a letter as I would a kiss, I guess it was a nipple kiss.

Louise, LOL...

Oh, if you are sending a Bible make sure you can send a hardcover one. I just sent one to T for his birthday and he got a contraband letter because it was hardcover. :(( So then he needed $10 to return it and I'll have to buy a soft cover one. had inscribed the first one, so I'll just keep it for him.
Guysgal you can send CDs? I envy you. That would be so nice for them to be able to have a CD player and listen to them. I know when they are broken up they are sharp so I am guessing that is why they are not allowed.

I have done a lot of neat little things for Frankie. I print his horoscope everyday and send it to him. I have also made him puzzles with dates and words that are special to us. Something else that made me feel a little closer to him was for a week I went without all of the things he doesn't have too. Like a fast, form life. I did not use the phone or computer or TV. I really didn't leave the house only for church. That made me understand a little more what it was like for him. He was amazed by that gesture. I also send cards and letters every day. Lots of jokes, receipes of food I want to make for him. Lyrics from his favorite songs, or new songs I think he might like. Scrapbooks are a great idea. I wrote him a little book of poems and quotes that reminded me of him. Money, always money.

They love the little things. Homemade, from the heart.

Good luck,
Terri

hi this may seem pretty lowkey butfor our anniversary I got asheet of unlined paperthat you can see thru. I placed my hand in center and traced the hand onto paper with fingers slightly spread as if you reached out and touched his palm.I wrote sweet nothings of encouragement at bottom of sheet and include a separate note requesting him to turn paper over and do same tracing using his opposite hand.When held up in light, it looks as if you are palm to palm clasping with love. He sent me back one so I could do same thing. Over the years, I traced the little boys and he shared in their growing bigger as hands got bigger in his. and if the page is destroyed by searchs ya just do another one! :)

I make copies of pictures of my hunny, cut out his head and put them over other people. The latest was at a picture of me and a friend at a wedding. I put his head over the friends head, made a copy and sent it to him. So it's like he is always at these different places with me. I've made pictures of him with actresses and underwear models. It's pretty funny.

I actually got him a birthday cake, candles and all, and took pictures of it. We had a special place up on Pilot Mountain where the scenery was unbelievable. I took 22 (his age) red balloons and let them go and took pictures of it.

I repeated myself and can't figure out how to delete.

I did a boob print using a stamp pad and had it returned. inappropriate art, it said.

oh, louie's girl, did he like the recipes? I always feel bad saying, had this great meal. I always wish I could send him a piece of that homemade cake, etc. The best I can do is send him a little money and say, before you buy stamps or cigarettes, buy a honey bun and think of me, OK?

I'm making a song book with the lyrics to all the songs that I hear that remind me of him or us or that i know reminds him of me. I'm pretty sure that in a little while, he'll get to have a cd (according to him mom) and i figure i'll have a cd made (thanks for that mixionic link! I was worried about getting it to look not home made) of the book!

I take pictures of dinners that i make so he can see how good he's gonna be eating. I tell him to just look at the picture when he's eating his slop and pretend it's my dinner. Wish i could figure out how to do a scratch & sniff!

Last year, he was in county at christmas & i could bring him books so i bought him all these books & put them in a box & wrapped it. Then i took pictures of it unwrapping, time-lapse style & made a flip book out of it. Then i took color copies of the covers laid out on the copier & folded them like they were the books & put them all in a big decorated envelope so he could open it. He could read the back covers & see what they were about & all. Then he'd request the next one he wanted me to bring him on sundays.

my guy is turning 40 the end of Dec. and I love tht Virtual birthday aprty idea!! My hert is aching because I dobut I can be with him (I have vision problems and can't drive and it's Christmas weekend...not a time when people are available to help), It's his 40th birthday and I want to make it so special....
thanks for some ideas
Caprione

Hey guys... For Christmas this year I am getting my picture taken for Drew. I am going to get my hair done and everything before I get it taken. I know that he LOVES getting pics and nothing can beat a professional one.

Melanie

FLYGIRLAA2 THAT'S A GOOD IDEA OF THE BOOB PRINT. I'LL SUPRISE HIM W/ THAT THIS WEEK. I KNOW HE'LL LIKE IT. I JUST WOULD LIKE TO ADD THAT I FINALLY HAVE SOMEWHERE I CAN OPENLY TAKE ABOUT MY HUSBAND. I HOPE TO GET CLOSE TO ALL OF YA'LL ON THIS SITE. I JUST STARTED HERE TODAY.

I didn't make the recipe book yet, CET. And I think I will keep it at home and give it to him when he's able to come home. I dont want them to destroy it during shakedowns. They have a habit of throwing away precious things....I think he'll love it though...I'm going to buy special paper and print them out real nice. Buy a special scrapbook from the store--with rolling pins and pots and pans (hopefully I can find one)--and then give it to him for Christmas or whenever he gets to come home. I'm sure he'll love it!!

send him a card...a real long letta...and a visit

I go to Hallmark and get one of those oversized cards for him. I also send him a card everyday for a week, I celebrate his birthday "week," not just the day! I send him extra money, books, and extra "special" pictures (ya know, the freaky or sexy kind, whichever appeals to his personality, my guy likes both!) He usually calls a few more times than usual on special days too. If I can think of anything else, I'll let ya know! Good luck!! :)

I was wondering on the oversized card thing....Has anyone had problems sending those? I was thinking about the professional picture to send him for Christmas.. Whats the largest size picture to send is 8x10 allowed or does it have to be smaller?

I've heard the largest is 8x10, though that may vary with different institutions.

I'm in Illinois, and he always got them before when he was in Pinckneyville. I'm talking about the really big ones, they're like 2 feet tall. He's in Shawnee now and I haven't tried it yet. He was in Cook County Jail for his birthday, and they don't accept oversized cards there, so I wasn't able to do it then. But you can bet I'll be trying it for Christmas!
Another gift idea :idea: : I ordered the new Oz book that they have out, I was gonna read it myself and then send it to him for a Christmas present, because when he was home we always used to watch that together. But I just found out that it's hard cover!! (they can't have hard cover books in Illinois) But if your men can have them, that would be a great gift! Does anyone know if anybody has the Oz book in soft cover? I ordered it straight from HBO, so maybe book stores have them? Anyone know? :confused:

My boyfriends in Shawnee and I was gonna send him one of the huge cards, filled it out and even got postage on it, then I went down there for a visit and I asked them about it and they said they wouldnt allow it because they consider it a "poster" and they dont allow posters, but I know that when I called there one time they said I couldnt send him a calander and I sent it anyways and he got it, so I guess it really just depends on who you talk to.

I'd never heard of the "BooB PainT" thing, but what I always do is go to the stores and try to find some stickers. Now, everybody's doing the scrap-booking thing and there are so many stickers relating to various themes: birthdays, anniversaries, valentines, Seasons, and a whole lot of other occassions on the calender. I normally decorate all of the letters I send my man, but if it's his birthday, I'll get some birthday themed stickers, put them on my letter, and write him a very sexy, steamy fantasy!!!! "smile" he really loves and appreciates that!! hey, I almost forgot, don't forget the colorful envelopes. I decorate the out side of those too. I also write little sweet messages on the back of the envelope saying things like, ''For My King, The One Who Has Stolen My Heart"!! He loves that because I'm displaying my love for him, and with the envelopes he always knows when I've written him because most everyone else send their letters in white envelopes!!!! Just an idea if you haven't already done that!!!!!!!! "smile"

Shawn just told me that he wants me to buy him a full outfit from the Harley Davidson clothing shop- one for each birthday he spends in there. He said to take a picture of it, tape it up in a box, and keep it for him. He wants to see how I dress him. That might be a nice thing to do on their birthday. Then, when he gets home, he will have lots of presents to open- well, depending on how long he's in there. -Natalie