Envelopes Folded with Magazine Pages

If you are anything like me, at this time of year you probably purchase every magazine such as baking, home and garden, and craft to get inspired for the upcoming Christmas season. I buy pretty much everything with a Christmas themed cover. It gives me great pleasure to leaf through a magazine and read a couple of articles before falling asleep. It sparks ideas, and it calms me down, especially this year.

Having said that, I amassed a large collection of Christmas themed magazines over the years, even though I give the more ordinary ones to the neighbours. However the beautiful ones, with little or no advertising, I keep. They are almost like books. This year I noticed more of such publications at my newsstand. Maybe they were not available in Canada in previous years, or they are actually new. Those magazines do cost a bit more, but there is no distraction by ads. I love that.

One of the must buys every November is Marie Claire Idées. It’s a French magazine with lots of creative ideas and has an instruction booklet in the back. Even though my French is not very good, I can usually figure out the details on the simpler projects. Otherwise using their website and have it translated may also help.

These recycled envelopes are easy to create. Fold the left and right side towards the middle as much as needed to make sure the front will look its best. Flip the page over. Then fold the top and bottom towards the middle. Make sure top and bottom, when folded, overlap a bit. Wit a bit of tape secure the layers on both sides. Close the envelope when filled.

The photographs in Marie Claire are always so pretty and often playful. The fairyland inspired images in the 2020 edition inspired this project. It’s pages from the magazine folded into envelopes. They are folded in a way so the most pleasing part of the image is on the front. Include a note card on white or complementary coloured paper and there’s a Christmas card. The same concept can work with any magazine pages.

2020