Make a Snazzy Stationery Set {tutorial}

As a Pearista, I received the stationery featured in this post free, to facilitate this post. As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

So here’s an interesting thing about putting things together as a set: they don’t have match perfectly. They just have to have a common thread that ties them all together. In this case, I went with a color.

There are three different stationery items here (plus a set of address labels, which didn’t make it into the picture because plastering my address here didn’t seem like a good idea), and none of the stationery officially “goes” together. (The address labels do match the note paper.) But the cool thing about Pear Tree Greetings products is that a lot of them (most of them) are customizable. In many cases, you can choose your color. So I simply opted to print all four of these items in the same color. Voila: instant set!

(Those are the Wine Remnants notepad, the Patch Of Color thank you cards, & the Bracketed Letter thank you cards. The address labels are the Wine Remnants design, as well. I don’t remember exactly what color I used — something wine-y, like Wine or Bordeaux.)

You could wrap this up just like it is, and it would be fine. But let’s kick it up a notch. Let’s make a folder to hold the stationery.

The Stationery Folder — A Tutorial

Now, I’m going to tell you up-front that I learned a few things from this process that I’d do a little differently next time. The underpinnings of this worked great, but the process of covering it so it would be “pretty” was a little glitchy, so as I go along I’ll tell you what I did, but I’ll also tell you what I would do, if I were starting over.

You will need:

a piece of thin cardboard 13″x14″ (I used posterboard, but if you have another source, go for it.)
decorative paper to cover the cardboard (three, 12″ square pieces of scrapbook paper, if that’s what you’re using. I’d recommend something like wrapping paper instead.)
adhesive(s) (My recommendation: double-sided tape and spray adhesive)
(opt.) paper fastener (“brad”)
(opt.) string

Tools:

scissors
ruler
pencil
(opt.) bone folder or other scoring tool

STEP 1: Mark the cardstock to start your template.

You’ll want to measure 2″ in from the top and the bottom; 1/2″ in from each side, and lightly mark these lines with a pencil. That will help you find your fold lines and cutting lines. If you’re using a scoring tool, you might also find it helpful to mark a line straight down the center. (These diagrams are not to scale, by the way.)

STEP 2: Cut, score, & fold.

Okay, now you’re going to cut, score, and fold as necessary. You can cut first or fold first, or mix it up, depending on what works best for you. You’re going to be cutting along the solid lines – you’ll be cutting a 1/2″ strip off of almost the full length of each side. Nothing else is cut right now. This is what you’re going for:

You want to fold along the dotted lines. Scoring them first will make this a lot easier to do neatly. (I didn’t do this for my center fold, and it’s kind of a mess. I did with my other folds, and they went much better.) When you’re done with this step, it should look something like this:

STEP 3: Refine your tabs.

Now we want prettier tabs — the ones at the left and right sides of the bottom — so the edges don’t get stuck funky. You’ll be starting with this:

You want to just trim a little off of each side of the tab at an angle, so you end up with something like this:

(The exact angle doesn’t matter.) Repeat this process for the second tab.

STEP 4: Finish “polishing” the template.

There are just a few more minor things we want to trim, to end up with a neat, tidy “core” for our stationery folder. First, we’re going to separate the bottom pockets and trim them at a slight angle, too, so they don’t bunch up when the folder is closed. So take the bottom-center and trim it like this:

This is what the bottom looks like now:

Now we’re going to trim the top flaps. Angle each of the upper flaps on both sides, like you did the tabs. Like this:

The “framework” for your stationery folder is now done. If you started with a “clean” piece of card, you could fold it up (and attach the pieces) just like it is, and it would work nicely.

But we’re going to cover it to coordinate with the stationery.

What I would recommend, if you have large enough paper, is to use a single sheet of paper to cover the entire outside. Fold it over to overlap the entire upper flaps and about 1/2″ around all the other edges, except don’t cover the tabs (at the bottom-left and bottom-right) on the outside or the inside. Then cut another piece just to cover the inside.

Unfortunately, I was too slow to think of wrapping paper or contact paper, and scrapbooking paper isn’t quite that large, so I had to “hack it” a bit. It’s not as polished, but I’ll show you how I did it in case that’s the option available to you, too.

(The rest of the construction instructions are in this section, too.)

STEP 5: Cover as much of the outside as possible.

One 12×12 sheet of scrapbook paper will cover all of the outside of the folder except the tabs (which don’t need to be covered anyway) and the upper flaps. So glue your sheet down really well.

If I’d prepared ahead of time I would have used spray adhesive. As it was, I didn’t have any, so I made do with double-sided tape and glue stick. Use the spray adhesive. I had some issues with bubbling and sections popping loose.

You’ll have to trim out that little notch from the bottom again.

STEP 6: Optional Closure

If you’re going to use the paper fastener, this is the time to add it, because the back will then be covered by the inner “lining” of the folder.

You’ll want to insert it along what will be the center of the right edge of the folder when the folder is closed, as shown in the picture. (I put mine in a little low. I’d suggest going a little higher.)

STEP 7: Line the Inside.

You don’t need to cover the inside of the lower pocket. But you probably do want to line down to the inside of the pocket. I lined my paper up right at that fold line. Glue it down well.

See, I’m definitely imperfect. I got it a little crooked and missed a bit of the edge:

Trim all the excess like you did when covering the outside.

STEP 8: Cover the outside of the upper flaps.

This is the sole reason you need a third sheet of paper. I don’t have pictures of this part, because I think you can figure it out by now. Cover the outsides of the upper flaps and trim the excess, the same way you covered the inside and the rest of the outside.

STEP 9: Seal up the pocket.

Double-sided tape is a really good choice for this step because it’s very strong. Put your adhesive on the tab (the part that’s facing the table if you have the whole thing unfolded), then fold the tab in, fold the pocket up, and stick it down well. Repeat on the other side.

STEP 10: Optional closure, part 2.

If you’re using the tie closure, grab a piece of string long enough to wrap all the way around the folder, plus a bit of extra. Tie one end to the paper fastener.

To seal the folder, you’ll wrap the string all the way around the folder and back to the paper fastener, then loop it around the paper fastener. (Like one of those string-sealed envelopes.) Your string will need to be pretty thin, though, or you’ll run out of space between the fastener and the folder.