How To Make Your Own Customized Paper Envelopes

Hello all you crafty folks out there :-)

Okay, so obviously I stink at keeping up with blog posts.  It’s not that I am not creating new projects, just forgetful about taking photos/videos and writing up the details. I promise to try and improve in the future.

Anyways, I wanted to post an easy, fun idea for creative folks of many ages just in time for Valentine’s Day: Make Your Own Envelopes! 

Whether making them for a class full of Valentine’s Day cards or just doing your best to revive the lost art of letter writing, these customizable envelopes will add a unique flair to whatever note is held inside. The envelopes can be made in a plethora of sizes and limitless paper options so there will never be a lack of ways to personalize them to fit many needs.

All it takes is a few basic supplies (outlined below) and about 15 minutes before we can have our own pretty paper envelopes!

Here are the basic supplies needed:

• A envelope to use for a template that can be taken apart/destroyed

OR

• A print out of an envelope template like the one here in the desired size
• Pencil 
• Scissors 
• Glue stick 
• Any piece of cardstock big enough to accommodate the taken-apart envelope or template 
• Pretty sheets of paper (scrapbooking paper like the kind here works well Retro Pop-Paper pack of 32)

NOT PICTURED

• Scrap piece of paper for gluing surface

Some additional supplies that would be nice to have: 

• Paper trimmer like the one here: 12 in. Portable Rotary Trimmer paper trimmer each
• Corner rounder punch-out : Corner Punch rounded corner punch
• Labels if planning to use patterned-paper envelopes for mailing : 
  Multi-Purpose Handwrite Labels rectangular 3 4 in. x 1 1 2 in. 500
• Stickers or double sided tape

Making an Envelope Template

Assemble the supplies on a covered or washable workspace.  We will start with the envelope on which we want to base our envelope pattern or template.  If using a pre-made envelope, we need to carefully pry apart where the envelope seams are glued together.  I was able to do it without ripping the edges with a regular mailing envelope by just going slowly and carefully.  

If worried about ripping the edges of the base envelope, I imagine you might be able to “steam” the edges open by running the edges over a steaming tea kettle or something like they used to do when being sneaky in old movies.

Once you have opened up the envelope completely it should look something like a big diamond shape, like this:

Next, we want to take our opened-up base envelope and place it on top of our cardstock piece.  If the envelope was steamed to open the seams, make sure it dries thoroughly first.  Firmly hold or use a piece of tape to secure the base envelope to the cardstock, then use a pencil to trace around the edges of the open base envelope.

Once done tracing, remove the base envelope and check to make sure the outline is complete.  I went over my pencil lines with a blue sharpie to make the lines easier to see, but this is not a necessary step.

Then, just take the scissors and cut along the traced lines. The result will be a cardstock template that should match the original opened-up base envelope.

Tracing the Template onto an Envelope

Now we are ready to trace our newly made envelope template onto the back side of the paper we want to make our envelope(s) out of.  If this is an activity for younger crafters, it may be wise to do the above steps of making the template in advance for them.  That way they will have pre-made templates they can use and won’t have to worry about carefully ripping or steaming the base envelope.

Paper options for the envelopes we are making are really only as limited as our imaginations.  I like scrapbooking paper because they have many different patterns and themes available and the paper is a good thickness for folding and gluing. I have also used magazine pages and origami paper.  Paper maps would be cute as well. Just make sure whatever piece of paper is used is big enough to fit the entire envelope template. If I plan to use the envelope for actual shipping via the mail service, I would make sure to use a type of paper that would hold up in the mail.

For my example envelope, I used a sheet of 12 inch X 12 inch Valentine’s Day themed scrap booking paper.  If the paper has a pattern or design on it, I play with the placement of the template on the patterned side of the paper to see what will best match the design of the paper.

Once we have decided on the placement of the template, we flip the piece of paper over to the back or un-patterned side (whatever side we want to be the inside of the envelope).  Firmly hold the template to the paper and trace the outline of the template onto the paper with a pencil.

Once the tracing is complete, we just use our scissors to cut out around our traced lines as we did when cutting out the template. A paper trimmer can be used here to cut out the long straight edges of the envelope, especially if making a large number of envelopes.  If using the trimmer, just finish up by cutting in the divots from the envelope template and the flat edge for the bottom center.

We will now have a piece of our paper that should match our envelope template:

Rounding Corner Points/Edges (Optional)

If we want our envelopes to have rounded edges/corners, this is the point in the envelope making process we will want to do this.  I think rounding the corners off gives the envelopes a more polished look, but this is completely personal preference.

To do this, I recommend getting a paper punch specifically for rounding corner edges of paper or photos.  These can usually be found with other paper punches in the scrapbooking section of a craft store or they can be purchased online using the link above in the supply list.

Corner rounders are easy to use and not very expensive.  To round the corners of the envelope paper, just insert the corner edge of the cut paper into the paper punch as in the picture below.  Make sure to center the paper to the middle of the punch if it does not line up evenly on both sides of the punch.

We should have 3 corners we need to round, the two side flaps and the top flap (basically the 3 corners of our paper cut-out that aren’t the bottom flap edge side).

Folding and Gluing the Paper Cut-Out

Next we will need to pre-fold our piece of paper prior to gluing it together.  I recommend folding and gluing in the following order, but feel free to adjust or change up the order. We will use the following diagram of the unfolded envelope to guide our folding and gluing:

The 1’s above correspond to the two side flaps of the envelope.  The 2 represents the top of the envelope and the 3 corresponds to the flat end that will be the bottom middle of the envelope.

We’ll start with point 3.  Here we just want to fold the flat end towards the middle center of the paper, roughly along the purple line in the diagram below.

Fold the paper in such a way that the back or un-patterned sides of the paper touch.

After that, we want to fold our two side flaps in towards the middle center of the envelope roughly along the blue lines in the diagram below.

Don’t worry if the two flaps don’t end up touching in the middle, they won’t with most envelopes.

Once those 3 edges are folded down, check to make sure that the edges of the two side flaps have at least an 1/8 – 1/4 inch overlap with the edges of the flat-ended middle piece.

At this point, the top flap of the envelope may be folded down next in the same manner as the middle bottom portion (part 3 from the diagram).  I like to wait until after I have finished gluing as it makes the folding the top flap down easier to align with the rest of the envelope at that point.

Ok, now it is time for the gluing.  I recommend putting a piece of scrap paper under whatever edge of the envelope you are running the glue stick on.  That way, it helps avoid damaging any work surfaces and will prevent us from getting glue on other parts of the envelope (e.g. the outside or front part) that we don’t want it on.

I start by putting glue on the sides of part 3 in the diagram below.  I apply this to the back or un-patterned side of the paper and avoid the areas marked with red XXXXs below.

Moving carefully but quickly, flip the paper over to the patterned or front side. Then, following the gluing diagram below, glue each of the flaps’ bottom sides. Make sure to only put glue on the bottom side, not the whole flap.

 Flip the paper back over so that the patterned side faces down. First, I fold in the two sides flaps I just applied glue to. 

Then I fold up the bottom middle piece next, touching the glued side edges of the un-patterned side of paper for that piece with the glued patterned side edges of the two side flaps.

Press on and along the glued edges with finger tips, being careful to check the inside corners of the newly formed envelope are not glued together. 

Now we just let our glue dry!  If the paper used is particularly heavy or thick, it may be wise to set a big book or other weighty object on the envelope to hold it down while the glue is drying. If it hasn’t been done before, now is a good time to fold down the top flap of the envelope.

Some Tips and Suggestions

• ·         Depending on what the envelope will be containing, it may or may not need to be sealed.  Sometimes it is sufficient to tuck the top flap into the envelope and tie it with ribbon.  Or a small decorative sticker can be used as a seal for the flap. If the envelope needs to be sealed for mailing, I recommend either more glue, spray/paint-on adhesive, or double sided tape.

• ·         If using the envelopes for actual mail that will be going through the postal system, it may be a good idea to use white labels like the ones linked above in the supply list to write the address and return address on.  Otherwise, the text could get lost on the patterned paper used for the envelope.