2.22.2012

DIY: Envelope Liners

So I ordered our Save the Dates (STDs, hurr hurr) and was happy that the envelope was in one of our wedding colors, a nice classic red. Not too long after that, I received a couple Valentine's Day Cards in the mail, and it hit me: the red envelopes for Vday rubbed off on the card inside! Which got me thinking.... oh no...Our Save the Dates are mainly white!

At first I thought I would have to include 2 photos (one for the front and one for the back) to protect the contents, but then I came across some invitation inspiration pictures and a lot of people lined the inside of their envelopes with a print. Genius! So I set off to get a few supplies to make this work:


- double-sided tape
- printed paper (I used wrapping paper)
- scissors
- an extra envelope to deconstruct
- an extra envelope to fold creases

Step 1: Before any cutting/measuring/taping, address all your envelopes! Don't save any writing for last, just get it out of the way now. 
Step 2: Take apart 1 extra envelope to use as a stencil. ** I cut off the gum seal on the flap.


Step 3: Cut paper slightly thinner than what the width of the envelope is, to make sure it will fit. It's up to you on how far you want the lining to go down. My advice is make it the height of the envelope, including the flap.



Step 4: Put the paper in an envelope, and fold the flap down, with the paper. This will give you a crease, which will help as a guideline.

*** NOTE***: If you are using a print, be careful that it is STRAIGHT! Even though I had the lining to fit to the very bottom of the envelope, sometimes my cutting wasn't 100% even, and it would cause an uneven crease along my print. Take a close look at this picture, you can see where I messed up a little:
the crease cuts lower on the left circle compared to the right

Step 5: Pull the lining out of the envelope, and place it against the other envelope you cut to use it's pattern. Here, on the backside of the paper, you can trace the outline of the flap. ** On my stencil envelope, I also cut out the gum seal, so that when I finish cutting the paper, it would stick seamlessly to the gum seal.

Step 6: Cut the extra paper away.

Step 7: On the back side of the lining, stick double-sided tape to the edges of the flap. You won't need any for the inside of the envelope. I only needed 3 pieces.

Step 8: Insert the lining into your envelope, making sure the long part is tucked in first. Then match up your lining to the flap, staying outside of the gum seal. Make sure to test folding the flap over, in case there are any bumps or problems. ** I noticed that with the lining, if you have that crease line a liiiiiiitle over the crease on the original envelope, you'll have less problems.



Ta-da! You're done! BTW, I didn't line both inner sides of the envelope. Since the STD image is only on one side, I'm just facing my print towards the lining. So yeah... maybe it'll be a little weird when people pull out the card and think its blank at first.. but the turn-around will be worth it :D

Sitting down and doing this for a large group of envelopes was a little time consuming, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to add envelope linings to a lot more letters I send to pen pals :D Also keep in mind that if you want your recepeiants to see the envelope liner, and not just use a letter opener along the top seam, you might want to seal your envelopes closed with a sticker. Hope you have fun!

1 comment:

  1. Holy shitas! I had no idea you made your envelopes from scratch!!! How did I not know that? They were oh-so-fab and now I want to get them out to marvel at them :)

    ReplyDelete