One of a Kind Gift Envelopes

One of my favorite things to create is to come up with unique ways to give the gift of tickets, money, or photos into the design of the envelope I am placing the gift in.

Why be ordinary, when with a little bit of time, ingenuity, and a trip to your craft cabinet you can enhance the ordinary into something special and truly unique.  I have found that when I add a handmade touch to the gifts I give, it makes them all that more appealing to the receiver.

My illustrations below are just some of the ways I have personalized gift envelopes that I have given to my family and friends over the years.

I have made each one of these in the past, but never took photos of them before I gave them away.

These illustrations have been created from my memory.  I hope they inspire you to come up with some ideas of your own to give your family and friends that they will not only love and remember, but perhaps cherish for a long time.

Make a template 1,2,3… 

Open an existing envelope and lay it on the wrong side of the paper you want to make an envelope out of.  Trace around it, then cut it out with scissors. Form new envelope by following the folds of the original one.  Glue bottom flap with a glue stick.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

When giving tickets to a sporting event or concert, find an old telephone book.  There is usually a section in the front detailing local attractions that include color diagrams of seating charts for stadiums in the area.

Use a color copier to enlarge these diagrams to the required size envelope.  Highlight the seats of the tickets you are giving as the gift.

Achoo! –  I love old floral hankies as they are so colorful and include marvelous detail.  I arrange my template so that the most distinctive part of the hankie is on the flap or on one side of the front.

Enlarge a favorite on a color copier to give to a girl friend filled with spring seeds, or and invitation to have lunch together.

You’ve Got to Play to Win – Put non-winning lottery tickets to good use.  Glue them onto a sheet of card-stock, overlapping the edges of the tickets.

Laminate with a self-laminating sheet, then trace a template to the wrong side and cut out.  Instead of a sealed closure, hot glue two gold buttons, one on the flap and one directly underneath it on the body of the envelope.  Wrap dental floss around the buttons to close.

You can also do this with play money you can buy at the dollar store.

Be a Cut-Up !– Cut out an envelope template from a paper grocery bag.   I love various typefaces and lettering and have a folder of great looking fonts, decorative letters from newspaper and magazine copy.  I have an envelope I collect them in.

Find the letters and designs you want and cut and paste the old fashioned way onto the envelope.

 Improve Someones’s Vocabulary –  Enlarge a dictionary definition on a photocopier that is suitable to the occasion.  Center on the template.

All Prepped Out –  I once wanted to make a plaid envelope in which to send a holiday card.  I could not find any I liked so I took one of my husband’s plaid shirts and made a color copy onto card-stock.  I hot glued an earring that lost its mate as a sparkly embellishment.

Anything Goes – Photocopy just about anything – a map, a group of family photos, wallpaper, and old album cover, or sheet music of a favorite recording artist.

If you are looking for more envelope ideas, check out my other posts:

• Embellished Envelopes
• Sewn Paper Envelopes
• How To Line an Envelope