DIY Tutorial 101: Invitation Liner Assembly

Now that we've settled on the materials for our envelope liners, let's get down and dirty with developing our template and adhering them to the envelopes!

One: I took one of the save-the-date envelopes and completely de-constructed it back to it's original form like this:

Personal Photo - de-constructed envelope

Be careful when ripping the envelope apart. You don't want to rip the back or the top flap as you will want to use those pieces when tracing the actual template onto the wrapping paper. Ripping those parts may distort the shape of the template, and skew your template tracings.

Two: Use the xacto knife and the ruler to cut a straight line. I cut off all of the flaps except for the top one.

 

Personal Photo - cutting off the flaps

Personal Photo

Three: I used my ruler to measure even markings slightly below the glue line of the envelope.

Personal Photo  - creating markings

After the markings were placed, I followed them to create straight lines:

Personal Photo

I then used the xacto knife to cut along those lines and decrease the size of the flap. I did this so that when the template was created, the flap would be short enough to not obstruct the glue lines on the envelope, which would prevent the envelope from being sealed before mailing:

Personal Photo - flap sized so as to not obstruct the glue adhesive

Four:  I took our new template and superimposed it (put it) on the wrapping paper. I then traced it with my pen.

Personal Photo - getting ready to trace the template

I had difficulty tracing the liner template onto the wrapping paper because the template (made out of the envelope) was so thin. Eventually, I got the the hang of it, but I would recommend tracing the template onto cardstock or cardboard and using that as the template because it will be easier to trace around a thicker material.

After I cut out the first template I tried to insert it into an envelope to see how well it worked. I had some difficulty keeping the liner smooth when it was inserted, so I decided to cut the back of the liner in half to create a "cheat" liner. This way, the liner only goes halfway down the envelope. Not only does this save paper, it made it easier to manipulate the actual liner if I felt like it needed repositioning to align with the angle of the envelope flap.

Personal Photo  - "cheat" liner template

Five: I then used the ruler to align with the lines I had traced, and used the xacto knife to make the cut. I used a flimsy plastic ruler for this job, but I would recommend a heartier wooden ruler so the xacto knife can't easily cut it if it veers off course.

I would also invest in a paper cutter for this part. Sometimes, the xacto knife would get stuck in the cutting mat as I was cutting the template and this would create a jagged cut-line. Sometimes I could easily fix it by trimming off the ruined part, but other times, cutting off the jagged part would ruin the template flap angle and it wouldn't look right when it was put into the envelope.

Six: Put the liner in the envelope. This is pretty easy. I put them in, adjusted them for a good fit, and then used my ruler to fold over both the flap and the liner to create a crease:

Personal Photo - using the ruler help form a crease

Personal Photo - appearance after liner  and envelope flap were folded over to form a uniform crease

Seven:  I then folded over the envelope liner in preparation for the adhesive application:

Personal Photo - liner folded over

Eight: I applied the adhesive to the outer edges of the flap in a triangle formation, and then added a small horizontal stripe of adhesive in the middle of the folded-down flap. I found that there wasn't much of a difference between the spot adhesive and the glue stick. The liner wound up being smoother when I used less glue, so eventually I stopped using adhesive on the horizontal edge of the liner:

Personal Photo - the red line at the top is where I eventually stopped using adhesive

Nine: I gently lifted the liner flap and pressed it onto the envelope to adhere it.

Personal Photo

Ten: I then used my ruler on the inside and outside of the envelope flap to try and smooth it for a really professional look:

Personal Photo - smoothing the edges

 Eleven: This is your finished product. Repeat as many times as needed.

Personal Photo  - finished product!

Twelve: Your done! This is a monotonous, time-consuming process, but once you find your groove you'll be flying through 'em! Now grab a beer, sit down, relax and admire your handy work! You deserve it!