Guest tutorial by Ruth Bleakley
I discovered this envelope making method completely by accident
when pulling soggy rain-soaked mail out of my leaky mailbox - I had a
total *eureka* moment when the envelope I gingerly opened up completely
unfolded at the seams revealing an envelope "template" perfectly.
I've seen many envelope tutorials online, some offer
downloadable templates, some show fancy paper folding techniques and
some suggest specific measurements to create your own D.I.Y. envelopes.
I'm going to show you how to replicate any interesting envelope that you might already have, no measuring involved! Click below for the how-to:
1. Choose an envelope you already have that you like the size and shape of
2.
Soak it in a bowl of water (lukewarm is probably best) for about one
minute, or until the glue releases from the paper easily. It will not
take as long as you think!
3. Pat the now unfolded envelope dry - it doesn't
have to be completely dry, just not drippy - and trace it onto a thin
piece of cardboard - chipboard works well, as would something like a
cereal box. Try to be accurate at this stage and trace neatly.
4. Cut the template out with a pair of scissors, and
you may want to label it so that in the future you (or whoever you live
with) won't say "what is this strange piece of cardboard?" and toss it
out!
5. Use your new wonderful template to trace out an
envelope design on any and all types of paper! Think gift wrap, maps,
magazines, old calenders, stamped cardstock - you name it! I like to
trace using pencil on the side that will be the inside so the marks
won't show.
6. Carefully cut out your envelope with scissors and
fold it up - I like to do the sides first, then use the folded sides as
a guide on where to fold the top and bottom. Use the handle of your
scissors or a bone folder for really crisp edges.
7. Use a glue tape roller to
stick your envelope together, or glue stick but I find glue stick gets
brittle after just a few months, go ahead and get a glue tape roller,
they're like $5 and you can find them in the adhesive section of an
office supply store or craft store.
8. *Bonus Points* if you've ever wanted to be able
to lick and stick your envelope flaps, check out this Lick& Stick
glue I originally bought from Paper Source (they don't seem to carry it
anymore). If you can't find it, you can also D.I.Y. your own envelope glue (2x craft bonus points!)
9. Ta-da! Admire your finished work! Ideas for use
include: penpal & swap envelopes, gift card envelopes & storing
small things in your studio - if you happen to make some yourself, I'd
LOVE to see them! Post a link in the comments.
Ruth Bleakley is a paper addict who probably became a bookbinder soley
as an excuse to obtain more paper. She lives on Cape Cod and also
designs nautical invitations and stationery (more paper!) under the name
Concertina Press.
80 comments:
great idea! thank you!
lg
anke
Wow! What a great idea!!
Thanks :)
Anna
Love this - so fun! Thanks!
So easy so fun, I will try it for sure!
So simple yet so cute... thanks for sharing!
Love your choice of papers!
Thanks so much for this tutorial. I love it!
This is awesome. Thanks!
This is giving me ideas for wedding invitation envelopes! I'm going to start saving scrap paper as and from now.
Thank you! :)
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing!
So awesome! Thanks so much for sharing!
ooh I likey! :-)
love love love this! I just had to share it with my readers! Thanks for yet another great post! :) http://danimariedesigns.blogspot.com/2011/09/diy-easy-tiny-envelopes.html
absolutely a great idea.Thanks for sharing..
Thanks so much. What a great idea. Would be perfect for housing little daily reminders!
Fantastic! I needed something like this right now :)
Cute envelopes!
i'll try it out.
Love these!! =)
Joana from http://www.inspirationfordesign.co.uk/
Absolutely love this, now to find me some tiny envelopes to use as templates! Oh, and Lick and Stick glue can be found at Joann's!
http://www.joann.com/joann/catalog/productdetail.jsp?CATID=cat2783&PRODID=prd12054
this is great idea! I should try it myself~:) Thanks for the idea and I really love your blog!
Great tutorial! I love it these cute envelopes, perfect to gift a dear friend...
omg amazing!!!!
Me encanta la idea!!!
Un beso
Ainhoa
www.losangelestambienvistendeprada.com
how fun! i have books and books of scrapbook paper and i'm always trying to find good uses for it.
Super easy! And so cute ...
Thanks so much for posting this! I've been making upcycled envelopes by hand for a little while, but I had a hard time making a good template. this is a great tip :)
so simple and easy to make. I might to incorporate this with my etsy shop, send a little note in one of these homemade envelopes.
super cute!
what a fantastic and simple idea. LOVE!!
Just what i need for my seed collection. Don't want to put them in storage in greasy old paperbags..so..THANX
Brilliant ideas and such lovely paper you have used.
Thanks
Kate -Turquoise Lemons
www.turquoiselemons.weebly.com
Brilliant!We love envelopes!
Very cute envelopes! Great idea to soak an envelope to create a template!
Such a fab idea! Thanks for sharing!
Omigosh, thanks so much for sharing! I love these! So flippin cute.
~ www.billiemonster.com ~
this is a great idea! I just had to share it :) I linked you back!
p and s
LOVE THIS! just had to share :) we linked you back!
p and s
Would you like to scan the template? Cause it is one like yours I have been searching for :)
Love this post! I included a link to it on my recent post about DIY envelopes. www.beautifulhello.wordpress.com
Thanks for sharing your insight with us!
BH
I love making these, been making them for a while, I put them into my swaps with stickers and little friendshipo note cards. love it!!! and you can use any paper, I use magazine pages and wall paper sample papers as well. all the possibilities!! love love love!!!
Love those cute little envelopes.
Maria
Nice tutorial! Totally reminded me of my college days, when my friends and I would make envelopes from magazine and calendar pages. Now I want to make tiny envelopes, too.
Easy to make them!
Thanks for the tutorial!!!
These are perfect! I pinned them and am linking to them in my "gifts for men" post today.
Aloha,
Charlie
this is a great idea for my jewelry that i make...instead of buying those crazy expensive boxes to put them in i can put it in little cute envelopes!! awesome idea....was thinking too you could use two sided take instead of the lick&stick stuff...although a one time use then at least its easy to come by ;)
What a fabulous post! And a great, green one, too! I've started a teacher blog called The Green Classroom and I would love for you to link up this post there or give me permission to at - Your Green Classroom
Thank you so much!
Tabitha Carro
FlapJack Educational Resources
Hi, your tutorial made me run over to make a replica of my favorite envelop, I soaked it in water, but the glue was really sticking to it and I almost ripped it apart.
So, what I did is re-imagined the template you made, got myself a rectangle chalk box, traced it, added margins for the flaps, cut a cardboard template, and then I had myself the nicest, coolest, cutest envelopes in the world!
THANKS FOR THE DIY and making it feel too easy to make!
Karboojeh Handmade Jewelry
http://karboojeh.wordpress.com
I had been looking for something like this for a friend of mine who makes jewlery. She has been looking for some nice little envelopes she can put her jewlery in she makes and sells at her craft booth. I am going to take it a step further and cut out a small window in the front, and put some clear plastic over the cut out so her customers can see what is inside the evenlope. This will keep them from opening them up all the time and ruining them.
This is so wonderful!! I can't wait to try!
Regina Carmanita
Regina Carmanita
I love accidental genius!
great idea, will give it a try (",)
Great idea :-)
This was a great idea, thank you for sharing! Is it ok if I borrow a couple of your pictures to my Norwegian blog and write about this DIY and link to your blog?
-Ann Merete - http://kreativ-i-tet.blogspot.com
absolutely love it!! I ship my products all the time and have been thinking of making my own envelopes. Will definitely give it a go! Thank you for sharing!!!
I'm buying one right now. This is going to definitely give me what I was missing with my packaging :)
http://angelachristine77.blogspot.com/
I made my own! Thanks so much!
Thanks for sharing. I've been thinking about making gift cards for my jewelry business and was wondering how to package them--glad I stumbled upon this tutorial.
These are so adorable. I've thought about making envelopes, but I didn't know what to do about being able to seal them. Thanks for sharing!
Can you put the template on the website
i love it i want to try it
Thank you for sharing this tutorial! :)
I also shared this on my blog here: http://whiterabbittreasures.blogspot.com/2012/07/diy-stationery.html
I am going to keep it in mind and will use it as a Gift Card envelopes.
cute thanks for sharing.
I love paper products and the thought of making my own envelopes is making me giddy! Thank you for the awesome tutorial, will definitely be using it!
I also included it on my blog, The Nectar Collective in a recent DIY Roundup. Thank you!
http://thenectarcollective.com/2013/02/diy-roundup-vol-2/
awesome idea! Thank you! I'll definitely try to make some envelopes myself.
All the best,
Marie from MJ's Best
If you use a blow dryer on the seams or a heat gun, the seams will easily come apart to make a template of the envelope.
absolutely love it!! i'll try it out ^^
JustKraft Making it was fun. Thanks for sharing the idea.
I came via Pinterest - Fantastic idea!
Thanks for the tutorial! I finally made this today after eying off on Pinterest for a long time. I had a lot of fun with it!
So easily to do. I like tem.
I was looking for a simple tutorial for make a special envelope for a clients project. And this one is just fantastic! Many thanks! Regards from Barcelona ;)
Thanks so much for this - so going to give it a shot!
I'm so glad that you posted this! I've been long overdue for some envelope templates, I have a few of the commercially available envelope makers but none of them produce the kind of envelopes I like. It's so nice to have templates in the sizes I need!
What a great idea, I need to try this too!!
It's a wonderfull idea, I will try it for sure! I invite you to visit my Blog http://ribartes.blogspot.pt
Thanks
This is exactly what I needed at this very moment to make a last minute cash gift to someone a bit more special. I found you on Pinterest, grabbed my wallpaper samples and minutes later have a cutie-pie envelope. Thank you!
I love this idea, thanks for sharing! I am going to try it to make seed envelopes for my seed swap :)
Great idea, thanks for sharing! I am going to try it for making envelopes for saving seeds:)
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