DIY: Scrapbook Heart Envelopes

I know that it's rare to send letters through the mail in this day and age.

But about a year ago, Alyssa, Kelsie and I decided that we couldn't let it fade out completely, and started corresponding back and forth the old fashioned way ;)
We all lead busy lives, and of course we keep in touch through Facebook and Skype, but every few months we'll sit down, pick up a pen and start writing.

It's really never anything extremely important, just little musings here and there, whatever pops into our minds. And since it's meant to be a treat, I like to make my letters as cute as possible.
That's where these little babies come in:


DIY Scrapbook Heart Envelopes

I saw this on Pinterest forever ago and FINALLY got around to giving it a try.
It's super easy but I took a crap ton of photos, so hopefully I don't make this look more complicated than it really is.

What you'll need:
square scrapbooking paper
(I'm sure other paper would work too, this is just what I used)
scissors
pencil


Step 1:


The first thing we're going to do is make a stencil.
This isn't 100% necessary but I chose to do it so my finished envelopes wouldn't have creases all over them.
Start with a piece of scrapbooking paper that you aren't crazy about (this is going to be a stencil so it doesn't have to be pretty). Fold it in half.

Create a nice hard crease and make sure that the corners line up with one another.
If the stencil isn't shaped properly, it will affect ALL the envelopes you try to make.



Take your scissors and cut out the shape of half a heart, just like grade school.
If you aren't comfortable doing this free hand, use your pencil and lightly draw a line to guide you.

You now have your stencil (yay!:)

Step 2:

Pick out which pieces of paper you'd like to use as envelopes.
Trace the shape of the heart onto the BACK of the paper and then cut out the new heart.

 
You could cut them out one at a time or cut out a bunch of hearts at once, it's really up to you ;)

Step 3:
 

Now it's folding time.
Take the heart at its widest points and fold the sides into the center.
The curves of the top should line up with each other and the new creases should be parallel.

Please keep in mind that this takes a little bit of practice.

I wasted 2 or 3 pieces of paper trying to fold these correctly.
Just be patient and maybe practice on some other not-so-favorite pieces of paper until you get it.

Now, with the pointed end up, fold the bottom half up, letting the curves of the heart line up at the bottom of where the paper overlaps.

It will look like this ^^

Now fold the pointed end downward, forming a crease that touches the curves of the heart and viola! :)




Here are a couple of my finished envelopes :) ^^
The only down side to these is that they don't have adhesive on them, so you have to find a way to seal it yourself.
You could use stickers or a glue stick, hell, you make your own wax seal if you wanted :)

But yeah, I thought these were adorable and I can't wait to send them to my friends :)

See you all soon!