DIY Padded Envelope

Thursday, May 23, 2013

I gave you the inspiration for the pancakes & pearls birthday here. Now, I’ll show you how we are getting the party guests excited for the day. I’m doing my best to encourage Avery in this process that it is better to give than to receive, so we have a few treats in mind for our guests. The first will arrive with the invitation. We’ve intentionally kept this party on a small scale to keep things reasonable.

As usual, Mary Jo Green of What’s Inside Designs designed the perfect invitation. She even came up with the idea to use a gold sharpie to add a bit of shine! She also printed up the cardstock we used for the envelopes.

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Here is what the girls will find inside our little DIY padded envelope.

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I started with this tutorial, but changed a few steps to make things a tad easier.

Materials:

  • Printed, patterned, or plain cardstock
  • bubble wrap
  • double sided tape
  • sewing supplies

Our invitations were 5”x7” and just barely fit inside the envelope made from a standard sheet of cardstock. Keep that in mind for your sizing.

First fold the cardstock in half. Using a bone folder helps get a nice crease.

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Next, cut rectangles of bubble wrap that are smaller than the folded paper. I think mine were 4.75” x 6.5”.

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Apply double sided tape to the top and bottom of one side of the folded paper. Make sure the tape will not fall in the area that will be sewn. You don’t want any of that sticky goo getting on your machine. Note: I only padded one side since I figured the invitation plus cardstock would be enough backing. You can certainly put bubble wrap on each side if needed.

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Adhere the rectangle of bubble wrap.

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Refold the cardstock. Using a sewing machine, sew down the long open side and across the bottom. I used gold thread here.

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Stuff your lovely contents inside.

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Then, sew everything closed across the top.

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You can leave it like this.

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Or trim up the edges with scissors or a rotary cutter.

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Who wouldn’t want to receive such a pretty package!

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