Make Your Own Gift Enclosures

I love to make a beautiful first impression with packaging for my products- nothing heightens a customer's experience like a carefully packed box full of thoughtful details. I especially like to include a small hand written thank you with each purchase. I use recycled materials for my gift enclosures, but you'd never guess from the finished product- a fact I'm quite proud of. Here's how I make mine.

You will need:

Box Board: I save containers from products like cereal, crackers and "F.P's" as Sarah calls frozen pizzas. (Just so you know, the average F.P box fits a piece of 12x12" scrap booking paper perfectly. It's like the packaging engineers had us DIYers in mind!)

Adhesive: I prefer the spray.

Decorative Papers: Keep your eyes peeled. Catalogs and brochures are often quite pretty.

Paper cutter or scissors

Mini Glassine Envelopes- mine are from Paper Source

Spray the printed side of the cardboard with adhesive and quickly apply your decorative paper. Let dry. My paper is a map from Honaunau- where the ancient Hawaiian Kings lived! I think it will add a little local flavor to my outgoing boxes.

Next, trim your cardboard so that it will fit inside your paper trimmer. Make your cards .25" smaller than the envelope you'd like them to fit inside.

Mine were 3 x 4.5 so I made them 2.75" x 4.25" to fit inside snugly.

The finished product! They look beautiful with the customer's name written boldly on the front with a Sharpie and sealed with a pretty sticker. What is your favorite packaging trick- for gift giving or marketing? I'm always looking for new ideas!