Envelope Surprise DIY

This is a project for a campaign I'm doing with Yahoo! Mail on keeping in touch with family and friends. This idea can be used for anyone that is having a special day but is perfect for when you want to do something for someone that lives far away (Mother's Day anyone?) The idea is to get some envelopes and get friends and family to "sponsor" each envelope. In each envelope is a an email and some sort of special treat or poem or drawing. Kind of like a birthday or Mother's Day advent Calendar. For example I would write a little lovenote to my friend and then include a certificate to take her to lemonade that day. So the person can open one everyday to get a sweet note and surprise!

What I love about this is you don't have to do anything expensive, just take the person for a treat or write them a poem. The other thing I love is that it is pretty easy to do. Just have people email notes or artwork then all you have to do is print them out and tuck them in the envelope. It's a generous and thoughtful gesture that doesn't take a lot of time or money.





Materials Needed:

-Envelopes in several colors we used A6 from Paper Source
-2 Packages of Vinyl Letters in Helvetica. Get these from any art store
-Double Sided Tape to hang the envelopes
-Emails and Gift Certificates from every person (this part takes the longest to round up, so start on this early.)


Step 1. Contact friends and family about the project and ask if they want to contribute. Give them a deadline.

Step 2. Place the numbers on each envelope. They are self adhesive so its easy!

Step 3. Print out emails and surprises and place them in the envelope. (You may need to go pick up a few gift certificates in person around town.)

Step 4. Hang all the envelopes up somewhere the person will see it everyday with double sided tape. Then surprise them with it on the first day and show them how it works.







This would be great for someone just graduating from high school or college. Notes of support or fun things getting them through the last days of finals. It would work great for Father's Day or Mother's Day. For a Coworker (would definitely brighten up someone's work space.)




A special thanks to Aubrey Trinnaman for the beautiful photos and to Alexis Birkmeyer for pulling together the details and being our lovely model (plus, isn't her hair amazing!)

All photos by Aubrey Trinnaman for Oh Happy Day