52 Letters, 52 Weeks: Pushing the Envelope

Homemade envelopes made from re-purposed calendars.

It's already March, and I have been completely rockin' on my New Year's Resolution this year, much to my own surprise and bewilderment. As I mentioned in a previous post, I was inspired to join the 52 Letters Project, in which you just commit to sending one physical piece of mail per week to someone you love for an entire year. Not only did it appeal to my love of communicating, but it was a way to wean myself, if only slightly, off my dependence on email and texting.

Today's post is just a little nod to the good ol' envelope. I have a stationary stash, and I always stop a little too long in stores to look at pretty cards and papers and postcards. Sometimes I feel like the envelope is just an afterthought. But sometimes you just use plain ol' white paper to write on, and it's fun to wrap it up in something pretty.

I didn't originate this idea: years ago, my husband and I received a beautiful handwritten letter in a re-purposed calendar envelope and I thought it was such a cute idea. So now I do it, asking my friends and relatives for old calendars they don't need anymore. A couple times I've used the heavier paper of an old map for the same purpose. The paper seems durable enough, and they often make beautiful envelopes, which I hope is a nice cheerful surprise to the letter receiver. I just affix address labels so the poor postal workers don't have to squint to make out the address.

I'm not crafty, so this is just right for me: I just use a regular envelope as a template. I don't know about you, but I find a little time at the kitchen table with a scissors and a glue stick to be quite relaxing.

The best part of the 52 Letter Project is that I've begun receiving some handwritten letters in my mailbox in return! Yes, this is a New Year's Resolution I can get used to.