I used to think the post office would only accept business envelopes. however, it turns out that assumption was blissfully wrong. you can easily make an envelope out of almost any folding material, and the post office will deliver it! In this tutorial, I’ll show you a quick and easy technique for transforming everyday paper (or paper-like) materials into envelopes.
1. (gently) tears open a business envelope
find a business envelope the size you like and use a gentle touch to remove the glue holding it together. once you’ve disassembled the envelope, it should look like the envelope below. voila! you have created a reusable envelope template.
Note that you don’t have to choose an unused envelope to create your template. Used junk mail envelopes can work beautifully for this purpose!
2. find your envelope material
You can make an envelope out of just about any sheet of paper (or folding plastic or starch-soaked cloth). As long as the material is a bit larger than the envelope template you made in the previous step, it will work!
If you’re working with a paper bag, you’ll need to cut it so it can lay flat.
3. Trace Around Your Envelope Template
Place your envelope template on top of the paper you will make an envelope out of. then use a pen or pencil to trace around the template. it’s okay if your layout isn’t absolutely perfect; As long as you have the general shape there, the envelope will look great!
4. Cut Out and Fold the Envelope
Use the lines you just drew to cut the paper.
then, place the “good” side of the envelope (the side you want to show on the front) face down on a flat surface. fold all of its tabs inward.
Next, press the side flaps down onto the bottom flap. Use a pencil to lightly trace around both of the side flaps, then let them spring back up. Apply glue inside the area that you just traced.
Now, press the side flaps down into the glue.
Once you’ve glued down the side flaps, you have an envelope!
5. Add an Address
If the paper you used to create your envelope doesn’t have a distracting design, you can write the address directly on the envelope. my envelope, however, is quite “busy”: the calligraphy can get lost in the chaos of the design. if they are on the same boat, try writing the address on a piece of white paper.
Next, cut out what you wrote. You can cut along the contours of the letters or cut out the address in strips (or a mix of both, as I did here)!
Once you’ve cut out the address, securely glue it onto your envelope.
If you want to add a little bit of extra pizazz to the envelope (like the henna motif below), you can! Then, put on stamps and send.
I hope that you enjoyed this tutorial, and that it inspires you to make an envelope out of the next cool piece of paper that catches your eye! Don’t be afraid to experiment: I’ve made envelopes out of everything from magazines to grocery sacks to vintage wallpaper. They always turn out really cool and unique! I also have mail art envelope templates available on the TPK site; you just print, fold, and glue them as shown in this tutorial. You can find those here! In the meantime, if you have any questions about this tutorial, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m always happy to help!
thanks for reading tpk, and have a great weekend!
warmly,
