Old Calendars... New Envelopes

 As I was doing some spring cleaning this past weekend I came across a bunch of old wildlife calendars. I really have no idea how I acquired all of them, but I did. Although I really don't need any of them (some were from 2006!) I hated to part with them - I don't know what it is about baby animals.. so cute! So, I decided to find a new use for them. I decided to take a stab at making my own envelopes.

 I gathered the supplies I thought I would need: pen, scissors, ruler, glue stick. I also grabbed a few old envelopes to use as a template. After carefully unfolding an old envelope I decided to make a stiffer more durable "template". I decided to dig into the recycling bin and found a cereal box. I traced the envelope onto the cardboard and cut it out.

The next step was to cut out the new envelopes. I took apart each calendar and made a stack of pictures. I laid the template down on the "calendar" side and lined it up so the picture would be on the outside of the envelope, traced it, then cut it out. I continued this process until I had a good stack of new envelope pieces. I took the ruler and folded down the sides - making a nice sharp line. Using the glue stick I glued down the sides. 

I love the way some of them look. I don't plan on using these as mailing envelopes, but instead as gift tags and for gifts that are hand delivered. This was a fun and easy craft  that will help me to add a personal touch to gifts while reusing a material that would otherwise be discarded (although I would most definitely recycle them!).

Baby Animal Envelopes!!!!