Christmas Advent Envelopes

 A fun Christmas season tradition of ours is to have an Advent calendar! This year, I thought it would be fun to have an envelope countdown! Each day counting down to Christmas you get to open an envelope! You could be treated to a gift card for a coffee or treat or it could be a "coupon" for a fun, family outing! 

In this envelope, you could add a "coupon" to go caroling to a nursing home or in your neighborhood. Another idea would be to drive through a neighborhood that has a lot of holiday lights on display. Crank up the Christmas music and enjoy hot cocoa as you drive around! 

Oh, I had so much fun creating this envelope! This one would be perfect for a "coupon" to visit a Christmas tree farm to select your tree! I hope you are inspired to create your own countdown envelopes to make time for memory making this holiday season! Extra tip: I would add my date numbers after planning which night is best for what treat or event! 

Thank you so much for stopping by! Don't forget to shop at Eyelet Outlet for all your crafting needs! 

SHOPPING LIST:

Red and White Stripe Washi

Caroler Brads

Merry Christmas Washi

Tree Brads Snow

Holly Brads

Wreath Brads

Happy Christmas Crafting!

Michelle ~ The Craft Market SC Facebook Instagram

Snail Mail!

As a card maker, you'll want to snag these  Mail Brads from Eyelet Outlet.

They add detail to your card.

Paired with this sweet snail, I'm sure the recipient will smile over your card!

Bling strips make a great statement.

Eyelet Outlet has them in a rainbow of colors...

and they come in rhinestones and pearls!

Our washi tape selection is always updated. 

Be sure to slide on over to the Eyelet Outlet store to pick out your favorites!

Have a great Thanksgiving!

Dawn Mercedes, of Sunnyside Up

Washi Tape Envelopes

Washi Tape is a fun and easy way to decorate the envelopes for your cards. 

I buy an assortment of envelopes from everywhere from discount stores to the local printing business.  I love fun colors, but you can make them even more fun with some Washi Tape.

For the tan envelope, I just wrapped the Wide Pineapple Washi Tape around the bottom of the envelope.  If you're going to mail these, make sure you wrap in the direction that the auto-feeder will be least likely to catch your edge and don't finish on the edge that goes first into the feeder.

For the navy envelopes, I folded the Copper Dots Foil Washi Tape (it looks so elegant with navy) in half around all of the edges and then trimmed each end.  When you do the flap, you just need to trim rather than fold, so you don't cover up the adhesive.  

One trick I learned with the more solid washi tapes is to tear the piece of tape and place it adhesive-side-up, so you can center it more easily for folding around the edges.  With the more translucent tapes it's easier to see the envelope edge.

Another trick I use with washi tape, is always to burnish with my Teflon bone folder after adhering to get a really solid adhesion.

For the yellow envelope, I thought it looked awesome wrapped with a few strips of the Wine Washi Tape.

And I love the look of the orange envelope wrapped (folded in half like the navy one) with the Wide Floral Washi Tape.

Go look through your Washi Tape collection and see what fun color & pattern combinations you can make.

Products Used:

• Pineapple Washi Tape - Wide
• Foil Washi Tape - Copper Dots
• Wine Washi Tape
• Coloring Book Washi Tape - Wide Flower

Did you know we have a Pinterest Board to showcase Eyelet Outlet Design Team Creations?

You can visit me in blogland at Ingenious Inkling

Mini Card Smiles for Miles

You know how we all eat MORE candy when they come in those little fun size bars? It turns out the same is true for cards... well, not the eating part, lol, but I (Lauren) find that once I start making mini-cards it's really hard to stop! Especially since an ATC format (2.5 x 3.5") showcases Summer-Themed Eyelet Outlet Brads so wonderfully well!

In this case, my little "family" of cards was inspired by the fact that one of my Simple Stories 6 x 6" paper pads featured a bunch of scaled down journal cards, with little icons just right to be swapped for brads. Who could resist something as amazingly serendipitous as that, eh? You can see in the photo that one the cards has a smiley face EXACTLY the same size-- and expression-- as a Mini Emotion Brad and another has a sun just a tiny bit smaller than the one in the Sun and Cloud Brads. The Flip Flop Brads weren't actually pictured on their card, but the text is in the perfect colors and there was just enough room to attach them along the edges. Shifting through another collection from the same manufacturer I found a camera with an iconic center which precisely fit the Peace Sign Brads and another mini card that was a brilliant home for Mini Bee Brads... right down to the honeycomb pattern!

Once I started making the cards, I decided to combine the colors in the paper collection, add some dictionary text paper with strategically placed words, and highlight the designs with a bit of Washi Tape in coordinating shades and patterns.

Flower Tape with Cute Bugs looked adorable with the Mini Bees. Chevron Tape was a natural choice with that sweet camera and bold Peace Sign. The Blue Dots Tape always reminds me of bubbles in an aquarium (or the ocean?!) so that was perfect with the Flip Flops. And Smiley Face Tape was an obviously fab accent for the Mini Smiley. I've also used some Foil Dots tape and my very favorite, super-colorful Skinny Washi Set as accents.

When all the cards were finished, it seemed a shame not to make some tiny envelopes for them, using the leftover bits of paper and a little more coordinating tape; though these will be tucked into a gift or mailed in a larger envelope, since 3.5 x 5" is the smallest size you can mail on its own!

I hope you'll be inspired to look at your own paper collections and your stamp sets, to see which ones will pair perfectly with some super-fun Eyelet Outlet Brads! Meanwhile Miss Carri has another great project to show you, so why not scroll down and see that right now?! ♥

Lauren Bergold 

can be found here every Wednesday, 

and on her blog most of the rest of the week!

Really Big Cards...

...need really big envelopes, it stands to reason, doesn't it? You might see this as a hassle, but I (Lauren) consider it an opportunity to go really big with beautiful Eyelet Outlet embellishments, such as Solid Color Paper Flowers, 15mm Pearl Brads, and elegant Pearl Swirl Bling. A bit like this:

The card for which I made this particular envelope measures 5x10", so yeah... it's BIG! I like to make collages, and when you're working with original vintage items, they are whatever size they are. Luckily, it's super-easy to construct a custom-sized envelope. I started with a piece of vintage wallpaper measuring about 11x16", but you could use any oversized sheet of giftwrap, kraft paper from a roll, or even an old map. 

Neatly fold and crease one side so that it's slightly shorter than your card... this will be the pocket into which we slide the card. Next make another fold a couple of inches from the opposite end... this is just decorative, to give the top flap a nice clean edge. Finally, make a nice crisp fold just about in the center between the other two... and that's it! 

Secure each side of the pocket with adhesive, or machine stitch along each edge. Line the inner flap if you'd like to. Use a tiny bit of velcro, a magnetic closure, or some pretty ribbon to hold your envelope closed. And that's it! Now it's time for the fun part: EMBELLISHING!

I made a little cluster of  Solid Color Paper Flowers. Since each packet has three different sizes of blossom, and a total of 40 flowers, I could afford to be a bit lavish and stack some of them, securing the centers of the larger blooms with 15mm Pearl Brads, and the smaller ones with 5mm Pearl Brads. At the edges of the arrangement I used some gorgeous creamy Pearl Swirl Bling. These are absolutely beautiful right out of the package, but in this case, the flourishes were not quiiiiiite the right shape, so again, I went with the "customized" option. I left the swirls attached to their clear backing sheet, but snipped the swirls apart and re-arranged them. Once I had exactly the right positioning, I peeled them off their backer and added them to the design. Et voila! One special collage card in a very fancy presentation envelope!

I hope you'll be inspired to think outside the box of standard sized envelopes and give your own handmade cards the couture coverings they deserve!

Lauren Bergold lives in New Jersey,

daydreams about sparkly things,

and blogs at

"...all the GOOD blog names were taken..."

Monster Movie Night!

Hello again, Eyelet Outlet fans! I (Lauren) recently acquired an envelope maker, and I *love* making custom envelopes. The gift-card size is especially cool, because you can make a card and envelope that not only MATCH, but coordinate with the theme of the gift card; which, in this case, is for a movie theater. And who better to act as spokesmodels for movie night than our very own Eyelet Outlet Monster Brads! (Please note: the only thing scary about these guys is how cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute they are; but they think they're terrifying, so be a sport and go along with it for the length of the post, ok? Thanks.)

Double-sided paper is great for envelopes, but in this case, the reverse was plain, so I "lined" the inside of the envelope with Admit One Ticket Washi, which I applied before constructing the envelope. (If you don't have an envelope maker, this website has FREE templates for many different sizes, including giftcard.)

I wrapped another strip around the outside to give two of the adorable... (ahem!) ...I mean ferocious monsters a place to stand. Movie actors need dialog, obviously, for which I used my vintage typewriter; and they're STARS, so I diecut a few from plain cardstock with Glitter Black Washi.

These guys are *ALWAYS* ready for a closeup, lol!

The card coordinates with the envelope, naturally, but also features a few strips of Road Washi Tape, as well as some Popcorn and Ticket Brads.

I find the Purple Monsters are especially adorable... errrrrrr, I mean fierce! 

And very frightening! ♥

I hope you'll be inspired to make your own envelopes, or to decorate pre-made versions with super-fun Eyelet Outlet goodies!

Hey there, I'm Lauren. 

I love monsters and movies and blogging! 

Stop by for a visit!