Tuesday 31 March 2009

Tutorial to make your own padded envelopes using reclaimed materials

Materials you will need:

Paper – something strong like book pages/wallpaper. I wouldn’t recommend magazines.

Bubblewrap – I get mine free from the fruit and veg aisle at the supermarket. Just make sure you ask first!

Scissors

Double sided sticky tape along with normal sticky tape

Paper cutter (optional)


How to do it:

Gather two pieces of paper and ensure that they are roughly the same size (you can trim stray edges later). Choose which is going to be the front of the envelope and which is going to be the back. The back piece needs to have about half an inch cut off it at the top.


Turn your back piece over so that the inside of the envelope is facing up. Don’t start with the front piece as the bubble wrap will end up in the way later! The add a small strip of double sided tape around the outside of the paper.

Cut yourself 2 piece of bubble wrap that fit inside the tape and then peel the backing off the top strip of tape and stick one piece of bubble wrap to it. You may need additional tape behind the bubblewrap near the bottom to secure it firmly.

Take your second piece of bubblewrap and place it on top of the other piece. Add tape to the back of the bubblewrap as seen

Peel off all the backing and place the front of the envelope onto the top of the bubblewrap.

You’ll need to postion it carefully but don’t worry if the edges don’t match up perfectly – you can trim them later. Your envelope will now look like a sandwich

You will now need to press around the outside of the envelope to stick the 2 pieces of paper together.



And voila – you have a padded envelope made from reclaimed paper!

You can have fun and use lots of different papers. The extra inch on the front piece can be folded down to make the lip of your envelope which can be secured by tape. I also keep scraps of plain paper to use as address labels.

59 comments:

Missie Krissie said...

Very easy and great tutorial! I've been making some to send out my orders but your way is much better than mine! :)

Tip Top said...

Wow!! And such great reading material too!

whitney-anne said...

That is just way cool, you very clever girl. I shall definitely give this a try.

Anonymous said...

This looks really easy! Thanks for writing up the tutorial!

Kaotic Ekko's Curiosities said...

Have you posted them? The post office accepts them? Very cool idea!

KelsyC said...

Love this tutorial! May have to try it out

Nicola said...

Cool tut - I saw your twitter about it :)
Well done
Nic xxx

Anonymous said...

This is freakin' awesome. Thanks for the super easy tut!

Twiggy said...

Brilliant, I've been on the receiving end of one of your envelopes and they are fab.
twiggy x

Rachel said...

Oooh! Old calendar pages would work great! I'm going to try it! What a fun idea!

Nostalgic Nosh said...

This seems so simple but I've never heard of anything like it before! Great Idea that I will be using....

Stephanie said...

Awesome! Totally saving this idea for making envelopes to send out for my shop.

Kristin said...

so great! I'm here from whip up! Thanks for sharing.

Bee said...

Great idea! Thanks :) A trip to the DIY store and into the wall paper isle for me! But the best bet is to recycle unused paper so may need to rummage around the house for other ideas.

Anonymous said...

I love this....now I just need to find the right paper!

Sarah and Jack said...

I love ideas like this. I am doing a quilting bee and one of the girls sent my block back in a brown paper sack she had sewn into an envelope. I am determined to do more of that after I saw the awesome brown paper bag envelope!

Beth H said...

oh WOW! I am def. gonna try some of these for mailing my cards out! book pages, old calendars, oh the possibilities are endless! thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I love this! Greadt tutorial and idea :) I think I might start doing this, I agree with Beth! Too many possibilities :D

Rachel@oneprettything.com said...

Oh that is a great idea! I'm always running off to the store for more of these! I would love to link to this if you didn't mind.

Nomsa said...

Thanks so much for writing such a clear tut. I am going to go thrift store diving this weekend for fabulous books for this great project! Thanks again!

Anonymous said...

I've been saving dsmaged children's books (the books are damaged, not the children) and looking for a way to use them--thank you!

Anonymous said...

OOh so wonderful! I shall be doing that from now on. I've got more paper and bubble wrap than I know what do with.

Anonymous said...

I've been making envelopes out of "recycled" paper for a long time... but never thought of padded envelopes. What a great idea! :D Thanks for sharing. :)

Lauren Denney said...

what a great idea, they look fab too. i'm going to be trying that out.

Kerri said...

These are fantastic! Thanks so much...I am definitely going to be making some to send out for my etsy shop!

sewtakeahike said...

this is such a great idea! I often reuse the envelopes I get in the mail which is ok, but can kinda look tacky sometimes. this is a great solution to still recycle but do it in style!

Audrey said...

That is amazing!!! I love it! Will bookmark and try once I have some double sided tape.
Thanks so much!

Niki Jackson said...

What a fantastic idea! The envelope you sent me was really cool, I'll definitely be making these thank you for sharing. xxx

Leslie said...

Wonderful and so after my own heart. Great tutorial.

Cherie said...

love Love LOVE this! Thank you for sharing!

Cindy said...

Thank you for sharing such a fantastic idea! I will definitely make some of these!

Erin said...

What a cute idea! I had no idea you could get bubble wrap free like that. I've mentioned you on my blog today :)

~*~Patty Szymkowicz said...

Absolutely Brilliant. Thank you SO much for sharing this! :)

Starla said...

wow....you..are..awesome...

Helen said...

This is such a COOL idea. Thank you so much.

I just love one-of-a-kind items. I'll be making some of these.

lej619 said...

What a great idea!! my only problem would be trying to not cover up the picture, I guess you could use a plan piece of paper on the back and put your label there. and the person would have a bit of a surprize when they went to open it. LOL

Captain Skulduggery Dug said...

Great Job! I love the idea so much, I'd like to print it on the back of my care documents I send out with my bubble wrapped hula hoops. That way it might encourage the recipient to recycle the bubble wrap.

Would you mind if I pinch your idea?

Unknown said...

I love this method better than mine will be using it from now on

Jedda said...

Beautiful! I also like using my sewing machine to close the outside edges. You can use a fun stitch to give it a bit of personality too if you use plain old paper grocery bags too :)

GUGAW said...

fab idea - looks great!

Anonymous said...

great tutorial. Love it.

hlimbrick said...

Thanks so much for this tutorial, just made one to send out to my first buyer! :-)

Sayo said...

GREAT idea!! So clever and so so cute!

Anonymous said...

What a great idea...thanks for sharing.

jazzalblue said...

What a fab idea. Thanks for sharing it with us

Web Design Quote said...

I haven't seen this before but your post will give me an idea regarding how we can make this easily.Keep up the great work.

Anonymous said...
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chandlerguera said...

I made a couple tonight and they turned out perfect! Used scrapbooking paper for one and a page from a Frida Kahlo calendar -- she looks lovely!
THANKS!

Inga said...

Awesome... it's so easy! Thanks

Jen said...

Oh my god, what a brilliant idea! And perfect timing - I was about to buy another batch of envelopes :)

Carrie said...

LOVE IT, you are a genius!! Plus the fruit and veg aisle is a fantastic tip!

Erin f. said...

This is great! I think that this would be a great project for third graders at school. I will give this a try. DEFINITELY!!!!

Kim said...

Wow, I love this idea! Thanks so much for sharing!

Deb said...

Awesome idea! one of those...why didn't I think of that moments! Thanks for sharing.

Nina said...

Oh great idea! Much better than to use the envelopes you can buy from stores. Thank you for sharing this tutorial! :)

I also shared this on my blog here: http://whiterabbittreasures.blogspot.com/2012/07/diy-stationery.html

Jackie said...

Oh I shared this too, at http://hedgerowfireside.blogspot.co.uk/ Just such an awesome thing to do for yourself, and those bought ones are EXPENSIVE and nowhere near so funky!

jbramman said...

love this!

Kiti said...

Awesome idea! Does the post office accept and deliver them? How much postage/stamp would you pay to post this? Thanks!

Your Vacation Rental said...

I have been specifically looking for how to make my own padded envelopes and you came to the rescue! Thanks!