Mail Art Revival? Instructions for New Folded Envelope

Addendum 4.24.20: Because Google/Blogspot currently has a bug in the system, addendum 4.21.20: here is an alternate link to my website for the images if they are not showing here. I reposted them on the blog and hope they will hold in place.

Maybe it never went away, but mail art was popular and an active part of my life in the 1980s and 1990s. Accumulating rubber stamps and collage supplies and templates was part of the process. In addition to staying in close touch via email, chats, texts, and video conferencing, it might be time to amp up the anticipation and personalization and send paper mail art again.

I recently folded up a piece of paper to hold a check and was surprised to find I had folded an envelope of sorts, perhaps one that other people have been making for years. You would need to tape or glue it shut, but otherwise it will hold your missive quite well, and you can make it from ordinary printer paper, junk mail, wrapping paper, or paper you print out. While you can make it just by folding, you might use a ruler and pencil to mark it so the finished edges will be completely parallel.

Tools: bone folder (optional); pencil and ruler (optional)
Materials: 8 1/2 x 11" paper (or equivalent; any size for larger or smaller envelopes); glue, tape or sealing wax to finish and seal (optional for now)
Example: approximately 4" x 6 1/4" envelope (mine seemed to vary from 3 3/4"-4" x 6-6 1/4")

1. With the paper in front of you, wrong side up, horizontally, find the center at right and left edges. You can use a ruler and pencil to mark it, or bring the corners up and crease just at the edges to leave a little fold as a mark.

2. Bring the bottom corners up and try to align what were the right and left edges with the center marks. What were the side edges should now be parallel with top and bottom. Crease well.

3. Bring the top corners down to meet and align with the tops of the folded corners. Crease well.

4. Fold the points toward the center, points overlapping the open edges by about 1/2". Crease well.

5. Fold bottom up, matching the open straight edge with the right and left diagonal folded sides, if possible. Crease well.

6. Fold top down, overlapping the bottom flap. Crease well.

7. Your letter can be tucked all the way inside and held securely after the top flap is sealed. Finish by taping or gluing the top flap. The stickier kind of washi tape is nice. For fancy, try sealing wax.

This page shows you the placement of any text you might want to print first. Find this plain and simple template here.

This photo shows you how you might work from an inkjet printed image, 8 1/2" x 11", 300 ppi. (Note: your printer may leave a border, as mine did, so the image won't bleed all the way to the edges when printed out.)

Fly away, little envelope.

More envelopes are shown in Making Handmade Books: 100+ Bindings, Structures & Forms.