If you've ever wondered what to do with the translucent windows on security envelopes — the ones that pile up from bills, bank statements, and whatever else finds its way through your letterbox — this is the video for you. I share ten different ways to turn just that window portion (and the envelope around it) into journal elements you'll actually want to use.
What we cover
Ten project ideas using the acetate windows from junk mail and security envelopes: mini envelopes, mini booklets, page pockets, bookplates, bookmarks, belly bands, pocket pages, flip-out elements, coin envelopes, and window frames. Each idea is shown as a finished piece, with a quick look at how it sits inside a journal.
What you'll learn
How to turn a security envelope inside-out to make a mini envelope, keeping the interesting patterned interior as the visible face — then gluing or sewing the sides shut and embellishing with scraps of paper, lace, or whatever you have on hand.
How to build a mini booklet using the envelope window as the focal point, including:
- Sewing in a signature or two for actual writing pages
- Reinforcing the spine so it holds up with use
- Adding a wrap-around closure and a pull-out tag
- Tucking in a front pocket for loose bits
How to make a double-sided page pocket from two envelopes, with a strip of fabric or paper joining them so the piece slips over a journal page and can be moved around — a pocket on each face, usable as a bookmark too.
How to use the trimmed window as a bookplate, with the acetate acting as a protective layer over whatever text or quote sits underneath — a dictionary definition, a line from a book, anything that suits the journal's feel.
Three approaches to bookmarks, including:
- A sewn, flat bookmark for embellishing and using as a decorative addition
- A pocket bookmark, left open on one side so it holds a small notepad or folded notes while you read
- A corner bookmark that folds over the page edge so it's always visible when you pick up the book
How to attach a window strip as a belly band across a journal page, stitched or glued flat so whatever sits beneath it shows through — postage stamps, a photograph, a pressed piece of ephemera.
Three variations on the pocket page, including:
- A simple glued or sewn pocket ready to attach to a page
- A vertical pocket clipped into the journal with a paperclip so it floats and can be removed
- A pocket sewn directly onto a page that's ready to be bound in, with the window making the contents visible from the outside
How to make flip-out, flip-down, and flip-up elements from a single envelope piece, using the window as the face so a tucked tag or photo peeks through even when the flap is closed.
How to fold and trim an envelope into a coin envelope or paper bag, flipped inside-out, glued or sewn at the sides, with the original back flap trimmed down to close over the front — held shut with a spiral paperclip if you want to keep it moveable.
Using a bare acetate window as a frame element, slipping postage stamps, a small photograph, or a snippet of handwriting behind it so the contents are visible but protected — either glued down permanently or left open to swap things in and out.
Tips & gotchas
If the envelope has printing or handwriting on the section you're planning to use, cover it before you do anything else. Scrapbook paper, tea-dyed paper, or a torn piece of old book page all work well — the goal is just to give yourself a clean surface to embellish from. The flip side of this: if a section of the envelope has no writing on it at all, you can skip covering it entirely and go straight to decorating.
When you're making the double-sided page pockets or any project that joins two envelopes together, trim both to exactly the same size before attaching them. It sounds obvious but it's the step that makes the difference between something that sits neatly on a page and something that looks unfinished no matter how you embellish it.
Transparent stickers work particularly well on the acetate window sections — they sit flat and don't fight with the translucency the way opaque papers can.
These projects are genuinely forgiving of imperfection. Because you're working with scrap materials and the aesthetic leans into layers and texture, small unevenness in trimming or stitching tends to disappear once the piece is inside a journal surrounded by other elements.
The same principles here carry over naturally into working with other transparent or semi-transparent materials: acetate scraps, glassine envelopes, even wax paper. And if you want to go further with the envelopes themselves beyond just the windows, the full junk mail envelope journal tutorial and the envelope pockets video are both linked from the description — they take the same materials in a slightly different direction.
