Custom Envelopes for Gift Cards
Dress up an ordinary gift card with a handmade envelope.
Creating a custom envelope is a simple way to give a personal touch to a gift card.
Gift cards are a great choice for the holidays, since there are so many different types available, from clothing stores and music downloads to restaurants and electronics stores. Creating a custom envelope for a gift card provides a personal touch. Envelopes are easy to create and not many materials or tools are required. Once the base envelope has been made, it can be decorated with scrap papers or ribbons, buttons, embellishments or stamps. The envelopes can be customized for birthdays, holidays, or other celebrations by mixing up the papers and embellishments.
Most gift cards are approximately 3.5" wide and 2.5" tall. To create a basic envelope, cut a sheet of paper or cardstock 5.5" wide and 5" high, as shown in the photo below. On the wrong side of the paper, use a pencil to draw two horizontal lines, one 1.5" from the top edge, and the other line 1.5" from the bottom edge. Draw two vertical lines, one 1" from the left edge of the paper, and the other line 0.5" from the right edge.
Carefully cut the corner rectangles from the grid. The outer rectangles will form the flaps of the envelope, and the center rectangle will be the front of the envelope. Erase the pencil lines from the paper. Use a corner rounder or scissors to round or angle the corners of each of the flaps. Fold all of the flaps into the center and sharply crease each fold. Open up the flaps.
Referring to the diagram below, fold Flap A towards the center. Apply adhesive to the outside of this flap. Fold Flap B towards the center. Apply adhesive to the top edge of Flap B. Fold Flap C down towards the center and press together to adhere. Flap D will be the closure for the envelope.
Now that the basic envelope is complete, it can now be embellished. In the finished example below, an eyelet was mounted into the closure flap and a small scrap of ribbon was threaded through. The ribbon wraps around a button adhered to the back of the envelope. Other closure methods include a ribbon tie, a snap, or just a bit of adhesive. Use scraps of patterned paper, die cut tags, stickers or chipboard to give the envelope a custom look. This envelope is decorated with a few ribbon scraps, some patterned paper and a die-cut tag. The edges of the envelope were inked to give it a distressed look.
A handmade envelope is an unexpected creative touch that can easily be added to a standard gift card using only a few products and techniques.
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