A care package is mostly consumable. Food, a snack from home, something for a cold, a book they will finish. All of it is gone within a fortnight, which is fine — that is what a care package is.
The prints are the part that is still there in six months, and it is worth choosing them with that in mind rather than throwing in whatever was on the phone.
Why prints suit a box
Flat. They cost nothing in space in a box that is mostly food.
Unbreakable. Nothing in a parcel handled by three couriers survives better.
They do not need to be used. Everything else in the box is consumed. A print is the only thing that is simply kept, and that difference is the whole reason to include them.
How many
Thirty is a lot for a box. A care package usually wants five to fifteen.
Which is why one order of thirty at ₹270 covers two or three packages, and that is the sensible way to buy them — order once, send in instalments. Printed photos as a small gift →
Laminate them at ₹3 a print. They are going through the post in a box with food in it. Lamination on polaroid prints →
What to choose
| Include | Skip |
|---|---|
| Recent photographs, from after they left | Only the years before |
| Things happening at home now | Anything that reads as “look what you are missing” |
| The dog, the street, the kitchen | Formal or posed photographs |
| One of you, being ordinary | Anything sentimental with a caption to match |
⚠️ The register matters more here than anywhere else. A care package goes to somebody who is away and often not enjoying it. Photographs from home should read as ordinary life continuing, not as an appeal.
“The kitchen at 7am” lands well. “We miss you so much” written on the strip does not, and it is the thing people write. Captions under polaroid prints →
Sending them one at a time instead
A print in an envelope, with two lines on the back, posted once a fortnight, is a better version of this than one large box — it arrives repeatedly rather than once, and after the initial pack it costs almost nothing.
That argument is made in full elsewhere, along with the rest of what goes in a box and how often to send one. Care package ideas for a long distance partner → · Giving prints one at a time →
We deliver within India
Flat ₹70 anywhere in the country. We do not ship abroad — so for someone who has left India, order the prints to your own address and post them yourself, which is cheaper than any international option and avoids customs entirely. Sending gifts home to India from abroad →
What the prints should be a small part of
A care package that is mostly sentiment and no food misreads what somebody actually wants that week. The prints are worth a corner of the box rather than most of it — five to fifteen of them, beside the things that get used up.
We make one item on that list, so the rest is somebody else’s guide, and there is a good one. What to actually put in a care package →
Frequently asked
What should go in a care package? Mostly consumables, plus a few prints. The prints are the only part still there in six months.
How many prints for a care package? Five to fifteen. One order of thirty covers two or three packages.
Should care package prints be laminated? Yes. They are travelling by post in a box that usually contains food.
What photos should I send? Recent ones showing ordinary life at home. Not the years before they left, and nothing that reads as an appeal.
Can you post them abroad? No, we deliver within India only. Order to your own address and post them on.
Part of our guide to polaroid prints. See also: polaroids for a hostel room and long distance gift ideas.
Thirty prints, ₹270: Polaroid Pack · Custom polaroid prints