I don’t know about you but I do seem to accumulate quite a few of those large cardboard mailer envelopes from a certain well know online retailer. I tend to keep them as they can be really useful. I reuse them often when I’m posting things and a padded jiffy bag is not necessary and I find the card is handy for all sorts of craft projects. They can also be turned into cute folders and files.

A few years ago I share how to turn these envelopes into pretty storage files by covering them with pretty paper scraps or maps and now I’ve got another idea to make them over and turn them into a useful folder.

It’s time for another Do It Over Designer challenge so the perfect time to show you how to “do over” a plain cardboard mailer envelope and turn it into a pretty and useful folder.

DIY Folder made from an old cardboard mailer envelope

You will need:

An old cardboard envelope, I’d recommend the larger size for a more useful folder
Acrylic paint
A paint brush
Old white envelopes, any kind will do
Marker pens
A black fine liner pen
A length of ribbon - mine is from an old chocolate box
Sewing thread that matched the ribbon and a needle
Scissors, pencil, ruler, a hole punch and paper glue (I used a Pritt stick)

Create the folder shape

First we want to create the basic folder shape.

The measurements given here are for my A3 10” x 14” (25cm x 35cm) envelope. If your envelope is a different size you can easily adjust the measurements.

Start by cutting the flap from your folder
Measure 6” from the top on each side and draw a line straight across
Cut down the sides and across the envelope as marked. This is a bit fiddly, I cut it roughly as best I could and then used smaller scissors to tidy up the edges afterwards
Trim any flap left at the top of your cardboard envelope too

Measure the centre point on the top and bottom edge, 7” in on my envelope, and score down that centre line. I used a small embossing tool that I’ve had for years but you can use the blunt edge of your scissors, a ball point pen that has run out, a skewer etc
Repeat on the other side of your envelope in the exact same position
Now fold along that scored line

The scoring is supposed to help the card fold more easily without it cracking. You can also dampen your card with a water spray to help with this process. Mine did still crack a little, I’ll show you how I fixed that in a moment.

You now have a basic folder shape.

Decorating your folder

Start by painting the outside of your folder with acrylic paint. You can do this in one solid colour or use a mix like I did for a splodgy look. I just squeezed blobs of paint straight onto the card randomly and them spread them out with a brush.

It might take a couple of coats to cover the writing and logos etc on your original envelope. Darker colours tend to cover best.

Take care not to get paint on the inside of your folder. I did not as you can see - I make these mistakes so you don’t have to! I just trimmed the top off to remove the paint smudges, making my folder just a little smaller than it would have been.

I found once my acrylic paint was dry that the slight cracking on the fold showed a little more, I just touched this up with a few more dabs of paint and left it to dry folded shut. I also carefully trimmed off a few tiny slivers of card that were sticking out.

Whilst your folder is drying you can prepare some decoration:

Using your marker pens draw and colour in some really basic flower and leaf shapes onto your old envelopes. We are not talking anything complicated here, just really basic flowers and leaves, like you would have drawn when you were a kid.

Take a black fine liner pen and draw over the colourful shapes with some details. Keep it loose and scrawly, don’t over think it, just simple petals and leaves.

Cut the flowers and leaves out. I’d recommend making loads in all different sizes then you have plenty to play with.

When the paint is dry on your cardboard folder spend some time arranging your flowers and leaf shapes and then simply glue them down with something like a glue stick when you are happy with how it looks.

I used a few on the inside too to cover the few remaining marks from the original mailer envelope. I cut a few flowers in half so the folder pockets are not obstructed as you can see.

Adding the ribbon ties

To add ribbon ties to your folder, punch a hole in the front and back half way down the outside edge.

Take 2 lengths of ribbon, each about 12” long. Seal the ends with a flame if they are fraying a lot and then poke one end through a punched hole. Use sewing thread to secure the ribbon, work a couple of stitches, bunching the ribbon together and then wrap the thread round a few times then cast off. Repeat for the other ribbon tie. If this is too much sewing for you then you could glue or tie your ribbons in place of course!

That’s it, a useful little folder made from items you might normally throw away.

I’m using mine to keep greeting cards that I’ve made for family and friends whose birthdays are coming up in the next month or two. Trying to get myself organised!

More ideas to decorate your upcycled card envelope folder:

You can decorate your folder in any way you like:

Cut motifs from pretty papers, magazine or comic books
Use stickers
Decoupage paper napkins
Try a mixed media art technique
Cut letters from a magazine like a ransom note

Can you think of anything that could benefit from a cute little folder to corral it all together and keep it organised? Letters perhaps, or paper trimmings for your next papercraft project. Holiday mementos or coupons maybe?

Julie