The paper envelope used to be used only as a postal message. With the development of technology, sending letters has gone into the distant past, giving way to telephone communications, messages can be sent both over the phone and over the Internet. However, these products still exist in our lives, significantly transformed externally.
The paper envelope is now almost an object of art, serves as a decorative decoration for a gift or greeting card. Do it yourself with your own hands in several ways. Knowing the basic principles of working with paper, you can make envelopes of various sizes and shapes, and how to decorate the finished product is already a matter of your imagination.
In the article, we will consider several options for creating simple paper envelopes with your own hands, using a different shape basis. In these step-by-step photographs, carefully consider the assembly and fastening process. A verbal explanation of all stages of work will help to quickly understand what they saw.
Standard option
First you need to think over the color of the paper and cut a square from a rectangular sheet of A4. Position it angle down. To make it more convenient to bend the corners of the figure in the center, take a rectangular dense postcard and place it clearly in the center. Its edges should not touch the sides of a large figure.
Having made neat folds of all the edges around the postcard, the paper is straightened and the template is laid aside. It is important to carefully iron all edges of the paper envelope with your fingers. On each triangle formed on all sides, there are extra corners that will prevent the free insertion of the card inside. They need to be cut with scissors.
Further, the lateral triangles are wrapped in the middle and raise the lower part. You can immediately see that the extra lower corner stands out against the background of the inner surface of the envelope. To cut it evenly, it is better to mark the points on the sides and connect with a line using a ruler. The connection of all three prepared sides occurs with a glue stick. Now you know how to make an envelope from A4 paper.
Single Envelope
This option is best done from thick paper with a printed pattern. The basis is a rectangle, which is embedded so that there are perpendicular lines with vertices of opposite angles. In turn, around the base, all parts of the future envelope are folded and carefully smoothed.
It is advisable not to seal such a thick paper envelope. They give such products to the wedding, investing money with a card. It will be beautiful to fix the corners with a satin ribbon tied to a lush bow.
Blank for rectangular envelope
From a large sheet of thick paper with any pattern, you need to cut a blank to fold the envelope. A large rectangular postcard template is placed in the center of the sheet and outlined with a simple pencil along the contours. Then from each side lay different segments. From below, the distance will be minimal, for example 2 cm. From above, the valve for closing the envelope is made large, for example 5 cm. Different lengths are also measured on the sides. That side, which will be located below after closing, should be wider, since a strip is needed for spreading with glue. The other after closing should be located directly along the center line of the envelope vertically.
For proper marking, you must first measure the width of the center rectangle or postcard. Then the short side part will be equal to half the width of the postcard, and for the opposite add another 1-1.5 cm.
The corners of all side flaps are cut off at rounded corners. The photo above shows how the finished product should look.
Closing system
How to make an envelope out of paper, you already understood. Now consider how such a product can be originally closed. For work, you need two circles of thick cardboard or plastic in a contrasting color, decorative carnations with sliding wire edges, a thread or thin elastic band, a sharp awl or a gypsy needle.
After making the envelope according to the above method, a hole is drilled in the center of the back side and the first circle is fastened with a clove. Inside the envelope, the wire is pushed apart, the carnation holds tightly. This is clearly seen in the photo below (Figure No. 5).
Then they fix in a similar way the second circle on the closing valve from above. It remains between them to wind in several layers of thread or pull on an elastic band.
Cardboard Heart Item
The photo below shows how to make a paper envelope with your own hands. First, pick up thick paper with a beautiful pattern and draw a heart outline using the finished template. To make the pattern symmetrical, you can fold the paper in half and draw only half the heart. After cutting it unfold, the workpiece will be the same on both sides.
To fold the envelope, bend two rounded sides at the same distance in the middle. Then inward lower the upper part of the workpiece with a concave hole in the center. The craft is turned upside down with an acute angle. It will be a valve to close the envelope. On the sides, the parts are glued with a glue stick or PVA. Finger level the upper flap and simply cover the postcard hole.
Circle item
The original gift envelope can be made of 4 identical circles of thick paper. Cut them out one pattern at a time. It is advisable to take paper with different prints on both sides. Before fastening the parts together, the circles are bent in the middle. Next, with the help of glue, a square is collected, and the halves are fastened together in a circle alternately clockwise.
When the square base has dried, the second halves of the circles are also closed in a circle, dropping one after the other. The envelope is square with a spectacular arrangement of valves. The edges are not sealed, but the product is tied on a bow of a satin ribbon of a contrasting color.
A4 paper envelope
A sheet of white or colored paper for a printer with a density of 100 g / m 2 is drawn into 3 equal parts by horizontal lines. On the lower and upper parts, vertical strips 1 cm wide are drawn on the sides and cut out with scissors. In the middle lane, these parts simply bend inward.
The lower element is lifted in a straight line upwards and the valves on the sides, smeared with glue, are attached to the central rectangle. At the end, the side corners are cut out on the upper strip, a triangle is obtained, which covers the envelope.
Leaf decoration
How to make an envelope out of paper, you already understood. Let's now look at the original decoration with a corrugated leaflet. To create it, a semicircle of thin paper is cut out and folded in a thick "accordion". Then the strip is bent in half and the halves are glued together with even edges. It turns out a leaflet, which is attached to the PVA to one of the edges of the triangular element. The valve in such an envelope is placed on the front side of the craft, and the strips that glue the bottom rectangular part of the envelope are placed on the back side.
Assembly of the envelope without glue
To make an envelope that does not even need to be glued, you will need a square sheet of paper. First of all, the workpiece is turned on the table angle to the master. Then connect the halves diagonally, lifting the lower part up to join the opposite corners together. It should make a triangle. Then the corners of the base are bent inward and connected by the sides. One of them needs to be inserted into the formed pocket. To ensure that the corners do not come out, all folds of paper must be carefully ironed.
It remains only to lower the upper triangular valve down - and the envelope is ready. As you can see, all actions are performed by simply folding the paper, we did not use glue in our work. Such envelopes can be made the smallest size to play as wishes or to draw lots. For its manufacture it is not necessary to buy thick expensive paper. You can use regular sheets for an A4 size printer. For small envelopes, it can be cut into several parts.
In the article, we described the simplest ways to create envelopes from different paper with our own hands. After making the crafts, you can decorate with applique, flowers from quilling stripes, attaching bows or flowers created using the kanzashi technique from satin ribbons. Here it all depends on the experience and skill of the master, you just need to dream a little. Making your own original envelope for the holiday is easy, so get to work, you will definitely succeed!