When last have you received a personal letter or postcard by snail mail? If you don’t do post crossing or have a ton of pen pals, it was probably quite a long time ago. Imagine the excitement when you open your mailbox and there is a pretty envelope waiting for you…
One of the the advantages of living in Cape Town, far from home, is that I get snail mail from my parents. My mum sends me care packages and cards, my dad writes postcards. I truly love the moment when I discover that my mail box is not empty, but holds a personal, caring surprise for me. I want to give back and show them how much I appreciate every single card and word.
The cherry on top of a snail mail letter is a beautifully decorated envelope. So I decided to create some snail mail printables. They include the decorations (1), you just cut out and stick them on the envelope, an envelope lining (2), I show you how to make it, and – if you intend to write a letter- a sheet of themed writing paper (3).
All designs are painted, scanned and edited by me.
These printables are for PERSONAL USE ONLY and may not be used commercially. Please feel free to contact me for any questions.
Download printables for your snail mail
Tropical hibiscus: Decoration, envelope lining, writing paper
Watermelon: Decoration, envelope lining, writing paper
You can download the whole set or just a part of it or combine the hibiscus with the watermelons. Let your creativity go wild!
If you print the decoration on self-adhesive labels sheets, you don’t even need glue, you just stick it on!
How to make the envelope lining
You need:
- printed template (Watermelon or Tropical hibiscus)
- C6 envelope (114 mm x 162 mm) or US A4 envelope
- scissors
- paper glue
- marker
1 – Put the envelope with open flap on the printed area. A C6 envelope should fit exactly to the width. Trace around the open flap. If you have a smaller envelope also trace around the sides of the envelope.
2 – Cut out the envelope shaped lining.
3 – Fit the lining into the envelope and mark where the lining still covers the seal adhesive. Cut it off carefully, remember that this is the visible part of your envelope lining, so it needs to be a neat cutting line.
When you’re happy with the result, you glue the lining into the envelope. It can be a bit tricky to insert the lining with the glue into the envelope, work slowly. Or apply glue only to the top part of the lining, so it will be easier to insert the lining.
4 – Cut out the decorations and glue them onto the envelope, wherever you want it.
It looks quite interesting when a piece wraps around from the front to the back like the hibiscus flower on the envelope I made. Smaller pieces should rather get cut off than wrapped around.
So what are you waiting for? Write your letter or card, decorate it and off it goes by snail mail to surprise your loved ones. They will love it!
