DIY Envelopes For Christmas Cards

Hey there!

This is the weekend that I sit and make 5 gazillion holiday cards for coworkers and friends. I will pull out my Christmas scrapbook papers and stickers and ribbon and get to work. I'll turn on some holiday tunes on my phone (Johnny Mathis, my Christmas bae) and YouTube card making videos on the TV to set the mood. Then I'll get to card making! Most folks are getting a beautiful handmade card and an envelope but a few folks will be getting some special extras.

I have a few folks that I'm making Christmas card sets for. A fun gift to give to others is not only their holiday card, but other cards that they can give to family and friends. Because they will be passing cards along, I wanted to not only give them cute Christmas cards but I wanted to pair them with nice envelopes.

I purchased a Martha Stewart envelope punch board several months ago and I have been going envelope crazy ever since. Instead of just creating a regular ole' envelope, I have begun adding a piece of specialty paper to create a lined envelope. It's a small thing but oh the squeals of surprise that you hear when people see that little extra touch. It's super simple but makes a great impression.

I take an 8 1/2" X 8 1/2" piece of cardstock and used my envelope punch board to score the folds, punch out fold points and round off the ends. Then I cut a pretty piece of paper slightly smaller than the inside of my envelope for the lining. I end up with a special envelope to go with my handmade cards. If you are using a store bought envelope, you can do the same thing. You just have to finagle the liner paper a bit but you can certainly make it work.

Michaels and Hobby Lobby and Joann craft stores sell envelopes in packs of 10, 25 or 50 plus. You can pick one of those up for a steal if you use one of their coupons. I have my 50 pack of A2 envelopes that work well for my handmade cards.

I add papers from my Recollections 6 X 6 paper pads. This is a good time to use word pages or foiled pages. Anything with a reoccurring pattern is perfect as an envelope liner. Scrap paper is okay to use too, I just like to use something a bit jazzier than plain paper for my liners.

The cut of my envelope is 5 3/4" across so I cut my sheets a little bit smaller than that. The space that is going to show is about 1" so I cut my sheets 1 1/4" so that it looks like the liner is longer than it really is. It just gives a clean look.

I use my Scor-tape at the top edge and a little bit in the middle, carefully slide the liner in and voila! You now have a really classy envelope.

Giving cards is fun and puts a smile on my face but creating my own envelopes and boxes puts some extra pride in my heart. Your friends and family can instantly tell that you put a lot of time and thought into their cards. And, of course, everyone's card can be designed just for them.

Are you making holiday cards this year or buying them? What little extras are you planning to add? Check me out on Instagram this season and see what lovelies I post as I'm creating magic!