Two Easy Ways To Spice Up Your Thank-You Notes

Tap into your inner poet and have fun!

Snooze alert!

If you’re bored writing thank-you notes, I’ll bet your notes are boring too.

Dear Elizabeth,
Thank you for your gift. I really appreciated it.
Love,
Name withheld to protect the guilty

Let’s flip the script and find some ways to make this more fun. I’ll post various ideas over the next few weeks (sketches, wax seals, lettering, stickers, and more…), but today, I’m suggesting you tap into your inner poet and turn your message into a poem. Or just add a rhyming ditty or bit of Haiku to your note for a whimsical touch that your reader will love.

The Dashing Ditty

A ditty is a short, light-hearted poem or song. I used to think they were too silly, but now I enjoy that playfulness and find it lifts my spirits, both to write and receive. Add it to your thank you missive or just send it alone and let it speak for itself. And if you’re stuck for words, use AI (e.g. Chat GPT) to help generate some lines as I did in the ditties below:

Thank you for the dinner party

Thank you, dear hostess, for a night so grand,
Where laughter and stories went hand in hand.
From appetizers to the last dessert bite,
Your dinner party was pure, utter delight!

With clinking of glasses and cheers all around,
In you, the hostess with the mostess, I've found.
Your hospitality warms like a hearth in December,
A night with such charm, we'll always remember.

Thank you for your birthday gift of stationery

Thanks for the stationery, oh so fine,
Now my letters will look simply divine!
From the paper to pen, it's a writer's delight,
Your gift's inked its way into my heart, pure and bright.

With each stroke and curve, I'll think of you,
Turning blank pages into thoughts anew.
For a gift that keeps giving, you've got the knack,
In the art of thanks, there's nothing your present lacks!

Haiku…Thanku…who knew?

My fellow note writer, Denice Baldetti, has organized a small group of friends who enjoy writing and sharing Haiku poetry (a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five syllables each). She recently discovered the term “Thanku,” a portmanteau of “Thank You” and “Haiku,” and she challenged us to write a Thanku Haiku poem of any length about a summer experience, trip, or event.

Denice Baldetti shared this:

Thanku for a deep, dark exploration

Stepping back in time
Maneuvering around rocks
Bucket List -- CAVES -- checked.

Seneca Caverns
Thank you for the 'cool' caves tour.
Touched by a "cave kiss." 

Barbara Burns-Dore (aka papergoddess) shared this:

Thank you for dinner
Fun meeting baby Leo
He loves his tubby!

Here are my contributions (with no help from AI)

Thanku for hosting an event for an environmental nonprofit we support

You welcomed us all
Sweet tea...wine and cheese
We felt so at home.

What a gift it was—
this gathering of like minds,
shared values...new friends.

Thanku for your time

You listened for an hour
A gift of your precious time
I am so grateful

If you want to try your hand at Haiku, you might enjoy this piece on my blog: “I want to be more creative…Haiku to the rescue!”

If you hate writing poetry, it’s okay…

Not everyone is going to want to spice up their thank-you notes with poetry and Haiku, and certainly, it’s not the right approach for all the notes of gratitude you write. But I urge you to give it a try and see if it might make writing these notes a little less of a chore and more of an opportunity.

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NEXT WEEK: I’ll explore the correspondence life of one of the 18th century’s most beloved novelists: Jane Austen. Be sure you’re subscribed so it will come right to your Inbox.