• How to Create a Handmade Envelope from a Paper Bag

    As relatively adventurous 20-somethings, one of our main goals this decade is to travel as much as we can. Every January during the production of our goal lists, we choose where our destination will be. This year, our destination was New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. {Us in DC at the Capitol} While it’sContinue…

    Make a Handmade Envelope from a Paper Sack | The Postman's Knock

    As relatively adventurous 20-somethings, one of our main goals this decade is to travel as much as we can. Every January during the production of our goal lists, we choose where our destination will be. This year, our destination was New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington DC.

    The Capitol in Washington, DC | The Postman's Knock{Us in DC at the Capitol}

    While it’s good to be back in Colorado, we enjoyed our trip so much. We were wowed by the Holocaust Museum in DC and the monuments. In Philly, we saw the Liberty Bell and ate some amazing Burmese food at Rangoon Restaurant on 9th Street. But most of all, we loved New York.

    I have to admit that the bulk of our love for New York stemmed from the variety of food available there. I am a big fan of The New York Cookbook by Molly O’Neill, and I flip through it every morning as I drink my protein shake {I know, it’s weird, it’s a quirk}. The New York Cookbook has recipes from restaurants and people all over NYC {albeit circa 1990} — and I was absolutely thrilled to get to try Junior’s cheesecake, which I had read about morning after morning in the cookbook. It was every bit as good as I had imagined!

    Among other things, we had Greek food, suspiciously cheap Chinese food in China Town, and we discovered Le Pain Quotidien — which we don’t have here in Colorado. But the place that took the, er, pudding … was Magnolia Bakery!

    Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding | The Postman's Knock
    {Magnolia’s Famous Banana Pudding}

    This pudding had been recommended to me by no less than five different people. I thought, “Really? How good can banana pudding be?”

    Pretty darn amazing. If you find yourself in NYC, please go get some. I don’t profess to be a banana pudding connoisseur, but the vanilla wafers were the perfect degree of cake-like; the pudding was sweet but not cloying; and the bananas infused the perfect amount of flavor. If you’re unable to make it to New York, you can find the recipe at Pop Sugar.

    But let’s get down to business — one of the perks of going to Magnolia Bakery was scoring one of these adorable bags:

    Make a Handmade Envelope from a Paper Sack | The Postman's Knock
    {Yep, you betcha I packed it up and brought it back to Colorado}

    Call me a hoarder, but I knew I wanted to use this bag for something. Then it dawned on me: handmade envelopes.

    Yes, handmade envelopes are more work than just sticking a card in a generic envelope and calling it good. But I like my correspondence to mean something from the outside {the envelope} to the inside {the contents}. So, the bag fell victim to my shears. I cut the bag like so:

    Make a Handmade Envelope from a Paper Sack | The Postman's Knock

    Then I gently tore the handle off the back of the bag and placed my handmade envelope template {you can find it here} over the bag.

    Make a Handmade Envelope from a Paper Sack | The Postman's Knock

    I traced around the template, which resulted in this:

    Make a Handmade Envelope from a Paper Sack | The Postman's Knock

    Then I cut it out!:

    Make a Handmade Envelope from a Paper Sack | The Postman's Knock

    Next, I folded in the sides {my template tells you exactly where to fold}, resulting in this:

    Make a Handmade Envelope from a Paper Sack | The Postman's Knock

    Which ultimately led to this this:

    Make a Handmade Envelope from a Paper Sack | The Postman's Knock

    Above is a thank-you card for a client who gave me an amazing step-by-step itinerary for fully enjoying her native Brooklyn. One of her best recommendations {besides Junior’s} was Tutt Café in Brooklyn Heights. Talk about a friendly and delicious Mediterranean Restaurant! Their lentil soup was WOW, and the chicken plate was oooh!, ahhh! I will most certainly pay another visit to Tutt next time we visit NYC.

    I also wanted to use the sack to send a card to my in-laws in Perú. They were living vicariously through our photos, and I wanted them to have a tangible piece of our trip.

    So, I made Señora Flor a birthday card using the watercolor flowers tutorial by Annika Likes here on The Postman’s Knock …

    Handmade Card | The Postman's Knock

    … and I used the rest of the bag to make the envelope for it!

    Make a Handmade Envelope from a Paper Sack | The Postman's Knock

    I hope this post inspires you to keep little scraps from your trips — near or far — and create something from them! There’s something to be made from everything. I know I love receiving meaningful things in the mail, and even more than that I love creating them … but I’m sure you all know that by now! Though … perhaps I cling on to some scraps with too much zeal; I still have Eric Kayser baguette bags from my 2008 rendezvous in Paris. I’m waiting for them to come in handy.

    I want to give a special thanks, again, to Sarah at Love This Bit for a really amazing Brooklyn itinerary. I know Miranda in Sex and the City wasn’t pumped to live in Brooklyn, but I would be thrilled to call Brooklyn home!

    Happy Wednesday – XO, Lindsey