Envelope Embellishments
The words you write are the most important part of your letter, of course, but it’s great fun to embellish the envelope! The envelope is the first thing your addressee sees when they receive your letter, so a cheerful or humorous or elegant envelope is the first hint to the joy they’re about to experience from reading your letter. The envelope can even provide a clue to what’s inside the letter.
Below, check out ten ideas for decorating your envelopes. Happy Letter Writing Month!
1. Make your own envelopes
One of the most versatile ways to get creative with envelopes is to make your own! You can use decorative papers or recycle paper from packaging material, old books, grocery bags, and whatever else you can find. Check out our tutorial with printable templates that you can use to make your own one-of-a-kind envelopes.
2. Add an envelope liner
Our envelope tutorial also includes instructions for adding an envelope liner, something you can do whether you make your own envelope or use a premade one. To make an envelope liner for an existing envelope, simply open the flap and trace the shape of the envelope on your liner paper. Then draw an outline inside your original outline, leaving about a quarter inch of space on each side and a half-inch to an inch on the top flap (to leave space for the envelope glue). Cut out your envelope liner and glue it inside your envelope as shown in the tutorial.
3. Letter the address
The address on the envelope is the next place to consider getting decorative. Time to pull out your fanciest and most fun handwriting! If you have some experience with calligraphy, envelope addresses are a great place to practice, but there are lots of other things you can do: bubble letters, block letters, or colorful inks all make the address stand out. Consider writing the address on a colorful label to make it stand out more from the envelope, or draw a border around it for extra embellishment.
4. Make the most of stencils
Stencils are another great way to add bold lettering to your envelope, especially if you’re not confident in your hand lettering. You can use number and letter stencils for writing the address or decorative ones for making borders and designs.
5. Rubber stamp it
Rubber stamps are lots of fun for adding flair to an envelope! Sanby Message Stamps are great for writing cute addresses or return addresses, and Little Red House rubber stamps are perfect for adding adorable critters as decoration.
6. Play with washi tape
Washi tape, of course, is great for decorating envelopes. You can use it to create borders around the envelope’s edges or around the address; it’s also great for sealing the envelope with a bit of extra flair. For letter writing purposes, we especially like stamp washi tape that you can cut up and stick on your envelope like extra postage (just don’t forget to use real postage, too).
7. Seal it with a sticker
Stickers are a super cute addition to an envelope as well. There’s no wrong place to put a sticker, but we love to pick a cute one to seal the envelope with. Our own vinyl stamp stickers are also great envelope decorations!
8. Frame it with a border
Drawing simple borders (or not-so-simple borders, if you like!) around the edges of your envelope frames the whole thing nicely, and can be a fun opportunity to play with colors and decorative designs.
9. Draw on the envelope
If you like to draw, then there’s no need for stickers, stamps, or tape: use your imagination to come up with any idea you can! You can add cute characters saying hello, landscape scenery, silly postage stamp drawings, or anything else that tickles your fancy.
10. Use window envelopes
Finally, for a bit of extra fun: save those extra return envelopes with plastic windows that come with your bills and bank statements, and make the most of the window! You can draw a picture or put a sticker on the outside of the letter, lined up with the window so it peeks through.
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