I was putting together some invitations recently, and they were lovely but they needed a little something. They were 5 x 7 letterpress on a beautiful thick card stock and needed some whimsy. I began looking at papers online, and wow it was an amazing rabbit hole to go down. There were so many that I fell in love with, some of which I’ve listed at the end of this blog post for you to peruse. I ultimately decided that a dragonfly theme was the right one for this party, it gave it a creamy country feel. And so I thought I’d teach you how to line envelopes for the next time you want to upgrade your invitations for a fraction of the price.
How to Line Envelopes:
This was my paper. See the bottom of the post for all of my favorite paper selections!
Start by making a stencil from card stock. The most accurate way to do it is to start by laying a standard 8.5 x 11 piece of paper over the glue side of the envelope and tracing the area that you will cover with the liner. Then cut that paper out and place it on the card stock. Trace around the card stock with a pencil and cut that out. And you have your stencil! The reason we do that is because you can’t sketch the perfect line silhouette with the card stock because it isn’t see through.
It is also a good idea to mark one side of the card stock stencil so you a know to place it on the correct side of the paper each time and the same side up. This is because if it is slightly asymmetrical it will make it harder to get two pieces from each sheet of paper so you want to be consistent with which side is up.
You should get two beautiful envelope liners for a 5 x 7 envelope from each 8.5 x 11 piece of paper.
Use Double-Sided Adhesive Roller to fasten the liners. It is the cleanest, smoothest option and works like a charm. The only downside is that these things run out fast so you will probably need a few of them. You can get them at craft stores and office supply stores.
You can see where I marked the envelope with a faint blue line that is the tape. I wanted to give it good coverage so none of the paper came up, but you could probably get away with using less.
This is what it will look like when it is lined! Isn’t that so much more beautiful than a plain boring envelope?
Give it a fold so that it naturally closes for you when you stuff it.
Add your note or card. Does it add whimsy? I think so.
From here you can add any embellishments you please. A thin ribbon perhaps?
Or a thick one? Or you can keep it simple and elegant. The knot on a ribbon makes it a bit of a pain to close and mail in my opinion.
Then you could do calligraphy.
Or keep it clean with a classic elegant typed font. Which do you prefer?
A wax seal that matches your paper liner is also a wonderful touch. They make custom seal stamps now which aren’t expensive and a wonderful thing to have for years to come.
I used the ones that you put into a mini glue-gun.
Pro-tip: You need extra glue sticks to push the glue forward so don’t think you can get away with just one! You will need one more than you actually need to get the glue to push out of the glue gun.
One last element that really makes a custom invitation shine is stamps. Vintage ones! I spent far too many hours looking at vintage stamps online. It brought me back to 8th grade when I discovered a box of pre-war stamps my great-grandfather had left in the attic at Tulipwood. I steamed them off of their envelopes and put them in a stamp book and spent time going through a giant book that listed their value. Oh the joy it brought me…
Here are lists of my favorite papers as well as my favorite places to discover vintage stamps.
Wax and Custom Seal:
Vintage Stamp Sources:
Beautiful Papers:
- https://www.spoonflower.com/giftwrap/3369848-woodland-winter-toile-in-cranberry-by-nouveau_bohemian
- https://www.spoonflower.com/giftwrap/870455-green-light-antique-greyhound-toile-a-c-2012-by-jane-walker-by-artbyjanewalker
- https://www.etsy.com/listing/291305201/italian-decorative-paper-parma-green?ref=shop_home_active_31
- https://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/3289967-vitamins-a-zee-by-stitchyrichie
- https://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/3289956-da-vine-tomatoes-by-stitchyrichie
- https://www.spoonflower.com/giftwrap/3238392-gardening-by-karinka?iref=clk-xs-fab-collection
- https://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/3214391-vegetable-garden-by-karinka?iref=clk-xs-fab-collection
- https://www.spoonflower.com/fabric/3238392-gardening-by-karinka
- https://www.spoonflower.com/giftwrap/3238389-gardening-small-scale-by-karinka
- https://www.etsy.com/listing/488569314/matte-paper-dragonflies-and-flowers?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=Still%20Life%20floral%20paper&ref=sr_gallery-1-2
- https://www.spoonflower.com/giftwrap/3972507-woodland-spring-toile-sepia-by-nouveau_bohemian?iref=clk-xs-fab-collection
- https://www.spoonflower.com/giftwrap/3972518-winter-toile-in-navy-by-nouveau_bohemian?iref=clk-xs-btbt
- https://www.spoonflower.com/giftwrap/4459928-the-amateur-botanist-by-inner_child_designs
- https://www.spoonflower.com/giftwrap/6819007-rubus-by-infamous_sphere_
