Much of my work involves invitation design, and specifically, I have a bunch of print-at-home invitations available on my Etsy site. Many of my pieces come with a free file that clients can use to print on the back of their invitations or to make their own DIY envelope liners, but I’ve come to find out that many of my wonderful clients don’t want to bother with the liners – it sounds too tedious. I think homemade envelope liners can be a really fun, economical addition to an invitation suite, and I’m here to assure you that it’s actually super simple.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Envelopes – If your designer didn’t tell you a size, measure your invitation, and then search the web like this: “envelopes that fit (your invitation’s size – like ‘5×7 inch’) enclosure”
- A printer with regular printer paper or something semi-glossy. Alternatively, you could print your liner pattern at a commercial print shop
- Something like matte board or non-corrugated cardboard to use to make a template – it will be sort of like a reverse stencil and should be firm, but something you can cut with the next item:
- X-Acto or utility knife
- A safe surface to cut on
- A metal ruler or t-square
- A pencil
- A glue stick or another not-too-wet type of adhesive that isn’t tape
PREPARATION
First, figure out what size your invitation is. Many invitations are 5×7 inches, which fits inside an A-7 sized envelope (5.25×7.25 inches). Lots of notecards are 4×6 inches, fitting inside an A-4 envelope (4.25×6.25 inches).
Next, select your envelopes. If you don’t know where to start, places like Michael’s usually have both regular and extra-fancy envelopes in person, but of course there are tons of online options.
Now is the time to print your envelope liners if you didn’t have them commercially printed. These liners are something you purchased or designed. For simplicity, I lay my envelope liner patterns out on 8.5×11 inch paper (regular letter size) so that it can be printed on basically any printer.
INSTRUCTIONS
Take your selected envelope and trace an outline of it onto a firm piece of matte board, non-corrugated cardboard, or other firm material that you can cut with an X-acto or utility knife. As I mentioned above, you’ll be using this board as a template – kind of a reverse stencil. I use matte board.
Next, measure the glue part (skip this if you aren’t using one that glues shut). From the top of your traced line, measure that same glue distance plus just a tiny bit. Make a couple of marks across the top to denote this space. The mark is where the liner top will be and you don’t want your liner to overlap the glue.
Next, use your ruler to draw line just a tiny bit inside of your traced line. If you’re a stickler – 1/8th inch from each side is fine. I eyeballed mine, and it’s probably a little more than that. This new line is going to be the liner size – it’s a little smaller than the envelope so it will slide in really easily.
Now, use your cutting tool to cut on the new inside line you made. I recommend a metal ruler so you don’t accidentally cut into a plastic one. I also recommend an X-Acto or utility knife because I think it makes a straighter edge, but if you’re a real pro with scissors, by all means go for it.
What we have now is the template you’ll use to cut out your liners from a printed sheet of paper. They should hit the bottom of the envelope and just miss the glue area, with a tiny bit of wiggle room on either side.
In reality, you could just trace an envelope onto the back of each liner you’ve printed and then cut out, but using this template takes out the extra tracing step – especially handy if you’re making bunches of these.
Next, lay your template on top of your liner pattern paper. Use your cutting tool to gently cut around the edge of the template. If you find you’re accidentally slicing into your template, you can add a very tightly adhered layer of painters tape to the edges to give yourself a little breathing room. Make sure it’s on snugly so that you still have a really straight edge. You can also try tilting your blade slightly away from the template.
Now you can insert your liner!
Center it and gently bend your envelope at the seam and press down to fold your liner into the same fold as the envelope. Keep a little grip on both the liner and the envelope to make sure the liner doesn’t shift.
If you want to, you can carefully round the top of any triangular inserts with scissors for a softer look (or to match any rounded corners if your envelope has those).
Finally, you add a tiny spot of glue stick to the very top underside of the liner to ensure it stays in place. Don’t use anything liquid, as it will pucker the liner and envelope and will be pretty noticeable. A little goes a long way.
And that’s it! Repeat as needed!
Of course, if you need some sweet, personalized invitations for any type occasion, I’m happy to help: join me on Etsy or get in touch!