Recycled Envelope Organizer

Keep misplacing important notes, bills, or receipts? An envelope organizer can keep things together and easier to find. I made this one for a family member that keeps misplacing important mail.

Envelopes, like those that come as reply envelopes in some junk mail, as many as you want your organizers to contain

• envelopes do not need to be the same size, but this is easiest if they are all about the same height

Cardboard, cereal or cracker boxes work well; need to be as big as your largest envelopes

Paper, like from junk mail, ads, or magazines

Yarn, cord, ribbon, or rubber band

Glue or glue stick (I used regular school glue, but a glue stick would have been less messy and have dried quicker)

Ruler or straight edge

Pencil

Scissors

Take the largest two envelopes (if they aren't all the same size) and trace them onto the cardboard.

Cut out the two pieces.

Spread glue all over each piece and press the front of one the envelopes to the cardboard. Make sure to get glue to the edged of the cardboard.

Set aside to dry.

Cut strips from paper. You will need 1 less strips than your number of envelopes. So, if you have 6 envelopes, you need 5 strips.

• Strips should be at least 1 inch wide. Wider strips are easier to fold, but you don't want the strips to be so wide that they will interfere with the envelopes. 2 to 3 inches works well. Strips don't need to be exact.
• Strips should be slightly smaller than the width of the envelopes.

Fold the strips in half long-wise. You want the folded strips to be the same length as before, but half the width.

• If you are using paper where you want a particular side to be the "showing" side, that side should be the inside of the fold.

Note: To correctly connect envelopes, the strips need to be attached with the fold at the bottom on the envelopes.

Put glue on one side of a folded strip. Press it to the bottom of one of the envelopes. Center lengthwise if the strip doesn't cover the full length of the envelope.

With the strip folded, put glue on the second outside part of the strip. Press the bottom of a second envelope to the strip.

Repeat until all but the back envelope are connected.

Before attaching the back envelope, add the ties. This can be yarn, cord or ribbon. Fold the tie in half (or use two pieces). Glue to the connecting paper strip with the ends of the ties pointing down. You want them to be able to tie around the outside of the organizer.

Attached the back envelope.

The organizer is now functional. If desired, you can decorate the outsides or even the envelopes with additional paper, glue, paint, markers, or anything else you might use on paper.