The Gift of A Letter

Before

“We’ve become too busy for the little things in life that add up to great polish.”

-Letitia Baldridge

 When you go to your mailbox, not your in-box, the mailbox outside your house or apartment, do you open the handwritten or personal envelopes first because you can’t wait to see who has written and why?   Or do you hold those letters aside to enjoy after you are done sorting your bills and recycling the junk mail? 

Whatever your approach, you no doubt recognize the importance of a letter that comes in a beautiful envelope with personal handwriting and a decoration or two.  In our social media age, when even  birthday greetings are sent by e-mail, the personal letter is truly a gift to savor and enjoy. 

I recently was cleaning out my attic and came across a box of old letters from college.  They were from most of my girlfriends.  I sat down to read them and got totally immersed in the magic of their written words.  I was laughing and crying at some of the things I was reading.  It was enlightening to say the least.  I had such a good time reading them, that I made photocopies of all of them and sent them to my friends to read their own letters that they wrote a long time ago.  They could not only reminisce, but they could see how far they have come, did they reach their dreams? Were they still the same person with the same values and ambitions? 

Reading all the letters made me think how 
I used to love getting letters, it was the only way my friends and I could connect, no e-mail, and phone calls were too expensive, so letters were how we not only expressed our thoughts but our style in the stationery we chose.  Linda always used blue envelopes that had her beautifully scripted handwriting boldly written on the envelope.  Steph had cute colorful note cards and had very small neat script.  Her envelopes seemed to always have animals on them.   Then there was Nancy who wrote on loose leaf ripped from a notebook with doodles all over it, stuffed into any envelope I think she could find.

I collect stationery, I even have some since I was a kid that I used to use to write to  my pen pal.    My collection has accumulated over the years because I can’t pass up a stationery store without at least coming out with a box of adorable note cards that a salesperson placed in a cute little shopping bag with colorful tissue paper sticking out of the top.  I love those little bags, they make buying something, no matter how small, feel  so stylish.   

 All of the  stationery in the photo above is pretty, but I firmly believe that adding your personal touch to everything you do makes the item or project much more interesting and a way to put your stamp on it.  So with that in mind I decided to do a post about how to make a personal letter a bit more magical - a gift for the receiver to get excited about.

   To add color and pattern to the inside of an envelope all you need is some scraps of leftover scrapbook paper, wallpaper, gift-wrap, or a copy from a page in a book.

Remember the Before - inside of each envelope is plain.

After

Most of the papers  Iused to line the envelopes I had on hand, the black and white letters in the black dot note card is a photocopy from a page in a typeface book.

 

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To make:

   Lay the envelope onto the decorative paper and trace.  Cut out inside the lines and trim as needed so when you place the paper liner in the envelope it lays flat.   Cut 1/2″ from the bottomof the liner and then place in envelope so the gummy adhesive of the envelopes flap is not covered.  Use a glue stick to glue the liner to the inside of the envelope.  I just put glue on the tab which holds the paper in just fine.

 

   

I also like to press my monogram onto the back flap.  I use a embosser with changeable plates.  You can have them made with your initials or choose from many designs.  You can personalize  pages in books, stationery, seals and so much more besides envelopes.

  

  
 

  

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Tagged as: Card Making, Decortive paper, DIY, Paper Crafts, Stationery