Creative Stationery for Pen Pals

By Cyndi Bender, MO

Any letter I receive is always appreciated for its story told or questions asked, but it is fun and amusing to receive that news on creative and pretty stationery. Usually, the letters that I write are either on lined or plain paper and decorated with stickers or various charms or cutouts to make things fun. I usually try to gear the decorations along the line of a theme, one that is of particular interest to my friend.

But to break the monotony of plain old letters, I like to do several things. You can buy computer stationery to use either for hand written or typed and one brand that I especially like is made by The Leanin’ Tree Inc. but it is somewhat costly at 20 sheets and 20 envelopes for about $8.00.

Another fun way is to purchase sheets of paper made for scrapbooking. They come in two sizes, one of which is the same size as computer stationery (8 1/2x11"). Some of the paper has a design light enough that you can write directly over it and it is easy to read.

But if you find a design that you like that is dark, I just take a standard piece of white computer or typing paper to write the letter, and then tear the edges randomly. Then using rubber cement, I glue it over the darker designed scrapbook paper. For any additional sheets, I use the plain white paper. The scrapbooking paper runs around 30 cents a sheets but can be found on sale for around 20 cents a sheet. I find that Michael’s Craft Store carries enough designs to keep anyone happy!

I have found some exciting blank note cards with beautiful pictures and the accompanying envelopes are truly works of art as well. These note cards are made by a company called Tree Free Greetings and have a theme to suit everyone’s interests. The front and back o the envelope is printed with a design and the inside of the black card has a very pale picture that is easily written over.

One last thing that I also enjoy is making my envelopes exciting! I use my digital camera and take pictures of my pets or places of interest near my home. I print the picture out, cut it to fit the front of whatever sized envelope that I am using and glue it on with rubber cement. I then print out an address label on plain white paper for my penpal and glue that on the front of the picture.

My penpals really seem to enjoy getting these envelopes as it sticks out from the rest of the boring bills and they get to see some photos from me as well!

Any of these ideas will make for exciting mail but the best part is in the fun of making a really unique letter!
Got any Creative Stationery Ideas? Help us with new ideas... please pass them on! Thanks! Wendy