Envelope Diorama Tutorial - The Love Note Valentine Edition

I’m throwing back today to a creative paper craft concept I developed a few years ago: The Envelope Diorama. Essentially, an envelope diorama is exactly how it sounds, it’s an envelope containing a little visual story or a snap shot of life, except that due to the envelope shape, it’s contents are more 2D than 3. The other difference, is that the contents of my diorama are yours to move about however you like! Come to think about it, it’s almost like a diorama/paper doll smash up!

I created these little story crafts during a period of time where I was obsessed with snail mail! I wanted a way to send a letter that was more of an experience, that allowed my letter receiver the opportunity to interact and play with the mail I sent them. So I began creating these little envelopes that were full of my illustrated characters and things from their worlds! The idea was that you would open your envelope and a little piece of life would tumble out, like a picnic, a dance party, or maybe a trip to the zoo!

One of my favorite ones I ever created was the Love Note diorama and Valentine! One, because it was an envelope filled with a love story, and two, because the envelope itself was made from a heart shape! I had been seeing these great tutorials that showed you how to fold a heart into an envelope and just had to try it out. It worked like a charm!

So how do you make your own envelope diorama Valentine, well it’s super simple. First, think of what you would like your diorama snap shot to be about. Now try to think of how you would show that story in a simple and fun way. For example, I had the idea of a romantic stroll under fluffy pink clouds, with soft mountains bobbing on the horizon. So I created some romantic looking characters cut from watercolor paper, illustrated with pen and ink and watercolor pencils. Then I cut out some mountains, clouds and some hearts from some scraps of Japanese paper I had lying around. For the envelope, you could just use regular old envelope, but making one from a heart is SUPER simple and SUPER fun. Here is a quick tutorial! I wrote a little “love note” on mine.

Last step is to fill your envelope, close it up and then give it to your Valentine! I guarantee a love filled reaction, lots of smiles, and a whole lot of love story!