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The book \"The Envelope Mill\" had some nice clear templates that gave you standard sized envelopes. The book is out of print, but it's easy enough to unfold any envelope, trace it onto cardboard or semi-clear plastic, cut out the template, and bob's your uncle.
Works great with old calendars. Make up a dozen, tie them up with a ribbon, and voila, a nice little hostess gift.
The post office will still deliver anything with proper postage, although they may search anything that looks suspicious to them. If you're sending an odd-shaped object, put double postage on it. You could literally mail a chair or a tire or bean-bag chair (all unwrapped) or anything you want, as long as it's addressed correctly and has proper postage.
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You've got to be careful of the paper weight you're using. Too light and the postal machines will chew it up. Tried this back in the 80's when the instructions given suggested using old magazines. My friend never got my letter. A blackened, destroyed envelope arrived at her house in a plastic bag and an apology from the post office for the damage.
They have \"wacky new US Post Office rules\"? Then I wonder how this company that gives away free postage paid envelopes with ads on them, gets around that.. - see [commercial-archive.com]
I'm picturing dreadful looking ads plastered all over those envelopes.
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I used to LOVE doing this - magazine pages worked for me! Would do it for pen pals (before I was online).
The BEST though, was using the Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue pages.
Those also make good wrapping paper.
You think lazy people are gonna make their own envelopes? really??
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When I had penpals through Mensa (don't laugh, I was young), I got all kind of weird envelopes (not to mention letters) from folks. I remember one guy writing from Ireland and he had recycled stationery to make envelopes. At the time, I just thought he was too poor to afford new stationery. Maybe he was.
The guys who wrote from prison always had nice new envelopes, although with some pretty psychedelic ballpoint-ink art on them. Who knew so many smart and artistic men were incarcerated?
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@AtomikB:
Remember that with a lot of that kind of stuff, \"proper postage\" will include oversize (1 cubic foot for priority mail, measured at the largest possible dimensions, over...I think it's like 40 or 50 pounds, but less than 70 pounds for parcel post, and over like 108 inches length + girth...
Hey, here's a good summary, better than I've seen on a postal site. Ebay IS good for something after all!: [pages.ebay.com]
Anyhow, non-machinable charges are like 10 bucks or so on things I've mailed.
The post office uses automated cameras and software to read the handwriting on envelopes and process the mail. For logically arranged addresses, the sytem is extremely accurate -- and the most important part is the arrangement of the blocks of text. Drawings on the envelope and superfluous text, however, can be confusing to the camera and screw up the delivery.
Scrapbookers and stampers have been hand-crafting envelopes for ages. You can buy cheap plastic templates for almost any standard sized envelope at a stamping or scrapbook store. Place plastic template on leftover paper, draw around, cut, fold, tape, you're done.
While nice to broadcast to the wider world, this idea is less than revolutionary.
I don't know. It's not that I'm against reuse/recycling, it's just that with those wacky new US Post Office rules, you don't really want to give them a reason to return or refuse your mail. Those federal workers tend towards non-humorous automatons.