• Packaging Idea: Vintage Books

    Yes, I’ve been MIA for the past couple of weeks {I’m sorry!}, but I promise I have a good reason — these envelopes: I created these gorgeous envelopes for a woman planning a baby shower for her sister. The orange of the envelopes matches the orange of the sumptuous letterpress invitations. When she asked meContinue…

    Yes, I’ve been MIA for the past couple of weeks {I’m sorry!}, but I promise I have a good reason — these envelopes:

    White Ink Calligraphy | The Postman's Knock

    I created these gorgeous envelopes for a woman planning a baby shower for her sister. The orange of the envelopes matches the orange of the sumptuous letterpress invitations.

    When she asked me to create them with white ink, I cringed a little bit. I knew it could be done — but how? The answer to my “how” came in a trip to Michael’s, where I bought Sakura white gel pens on a leap of faith. {Alas, the white dip ink at Michael’s is not opaque.} They worked beautifully! Gone are the days that I work exclusively on light-colored envelopes … bring on the black {or kraft, or purple, the possibilities are endless}!

    I approached an entirely different dilemma with the packaging. They needed to go Express mail. How was I going to fit 38 envelopes in here:

    Express Mail Envelope | The Postman's Knock

    … while still making sure the packaging had pretty presentation?

    If you’re an Etsy seller, you know {or will discover} that packaging is everything. I am guilty of being too rushed to make sure everything is packed up pretty. As time goes on, I get better at adding finishing touches, but I know that packaging is important. {Side note: for great packaging inspiration ideas, check out these examples of gorgeous packaging on Etsy.}

    As I looked around the studio, the idea hit me like a ton of … books. I have vintage books laying all over the place; I do all sorts of ghastly dissection experiments on them to create greeting cards. I realized that the vintage book covers were the perfect size to create an envelope “book”; something to keep the envelopes safe and sandwiched, but still looking their best.

    The first thing I did was tear/cut the book apart, like so:

    Dissected Vintage Book | The Postman's Knock

    Then I readied my stack of envelopes {please note that the calligraphy has been digitally altered to retain recipients’ privacy}.

    Stack of Envelopes | The Postman's Knock

    I sandwiched the envelopes in between the book covers:

    Envelopes Between Book Covers

    And voilà! After splitting the envelopes into two separate stacks, I had these adorable “vintage books” — the perfect surprise for whoever receives the package.

    Vintage Book Packaging

    And they wedged perfectly into my Express mail envelope:

    Envelopes in Express Mail Envelope | The Postman's Knock

    If you have a plethora of books like I do, you can use this packing technique to ensure safe arrival of paper products {cards, photos, notes, etc.}. If you want a plethora of books like I have, go to garage sales. You’ll be finding more books than you ever thought possible for free or very cheap.

    What sorts of packing techniques do you use when you want to make an impression on your recipient {whether it be a client, a friend, or a family member}? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!