Guide · 3 minute read

Before it's opened: the small joy of an envelope

When a letter arrives, we rarely tear it open straight away. We turn the envelope over, check who it's from, hold it for a moment. Your envelope is seen before your letter is; the words inside come a few seconds later.

Those few seconds

Finding an envelope with your name written by hand, tucked between the bills, can change the rest of your day. Before you've read a single line, you know someone thought of you and sat down to write.

The envelope owns those few seconds. However long the letter is, the first meeting happens with it.

What we remember is often the envelope

Think of a letter you got years ago. You may not remember every word inside, but you remember the stamp in the corner, a little star drawn on the edge, your name pressed hard into the paper.

An envelope is the face of a letter. It speaks in the same voice as what's inside, just more briefly.

Part play, part conversation

The best thing about making an envelope is that nobody is grading you. There's no right or wrong one: a pumpkin, a teacup, a leaf, whatever comes to mind when you think of that person.

It usually takes five minutes, and those five minutes are as much fun as writing the letter. Sometimes you even find your first line while you're busy with the envelope.

A small wink to the other person

Everything you put on the envelope is a quiet way of saying "I know you". A cup for someone who loves coffee, an umbrella for someone who likes walking in the rain. So they smile before they open it.

The time on the road is part of the gift

On Letterbird, letters travel according to distance; sometimes it takes a few hours, sometimes a day. The wait makes the envelope worth more: when it arrives, the other person feels the time in between too.

Your own envelope, now on Letterbird

After you write your letter, you can pick a plain envelope and make it yours with stickers, a stamp and a wax seal. It reaches the other person exactly the way you left it.

The kraft envelope and the Autumn Friends set are open to everyone; all it takes is a few minutes.

It doesn't have to be perfect

A slightly crooked sticker, a leaf that ended up too big... It all makes the envelope a little more yours. Just as a handwritten letter is lovely because of its small flaws, so is an envelope you made yourself.

Make an envelope today

Think of someone, pick an envelope, put a few small things on it that remind you of them. The letter will take care of the rest.