How I Fold seed Envelopes

A simple way to fold printer paper for making seed packets:

I do the very same way, except that I remove the paper that is not part of the triangle before folding the rest of the seeds envelope.

I learned this exact technique years ago from a former Peace Corps worker in Lesotho/South Africa.  It has served me well in many tight situations where there was seed to be gotten, and nothing to put it in. My pocket or bag, or a companion's, or a handy dumpster or trash can, always gave me what was needed....

thanks! will try it soon

Ryan Hobbs wrote:A simple way to fold printer paper for making seed packets

Hi Ryan. I do it almost the same way! I even made a printed version with the folding lines and explanation on it, for children to make their own seed-packets (at events of the local Permaculture garden group).
After folding the triangle I cut the rest off (you fold it in). That's the difference.

André Troylilas wrote:I do the very same way, except that I remove the paper that is not part of the triangle before folding the rest of the seeds envelope.

That is a neat video and all good ideas but I'm all thumbs when it comes for folding paper. Yep, I just don't have any talent for arts and crafts, I'm ashamed to admit.
4 years ago, I started saving seeds but for those of you who are like me, you can buy "favor boxes". They are made of thin cardboard, but sturdy. I get mine at Michaels [It is a craft store here in Wisconsin, but I think it may be a national chain]. They fold easily, even without instructions.
You get 100 small boxes, and if you are careful, you can reuse them. The boxes are 3"X 2" X 1.5", so you can pack *a lot* of seeds in them. I reinforce with 3" tape on the inside and the outside of the bottom, so they end up being pretty sturdy. To label the seeds without writing on them, I stick a stick up note 3"X 3"on the inside, where the lid gets tucked in. I fold it backwards after I close the box and put a thin rubber band to hold the lid shut and the label on top, visible.
I don't remember how much I paid for this box of favor boxes because it was 3 years ago, but I'm sure it must have been around $20 perhaps. [That is why I re-use!] Since I choose to reuse, I still have 35-40 that are brand new. They were were very easy to fold.
I also built 3 small cabinets [2 containing 7 drawers and 1 with 6 drawers] to hold all these boxes and incorporated 3 screened drawers, of different sizes one in each stack. (1/4", 1/8 "and mosquito screen). 3 cookie sheets that fit just so under the screen/ drawers to catch the seeds.This way, I have everything in one spot when I start gathering seeds. I can screen them, box them and label them. Easy peasy. If you need to stratify those seeds, you can stack them on the shelves in an outdoor refrigerator. The cardboard breathes, which is important if you want to keep those seeds viable!

Why, why, why?  Why must people film in portrait mode rather than landscape mode?  Turn the camera 90 degrees so that most of what you are filming will not be cut off and outside the frame.

You can't see 60% of what the person is trying to show.  Turn the camera a quarter turn please.
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Marco Banks wrote:Why, why, why?  Why must people film in portrait mode rather than landscape mode?  Turn the camera 90 degrees so that most of what you are filming will not be cut off and outside the frame.

You can't see 60% of what the person is trying to show.  Turn the camera a quarter turn please.
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I would have liked to, but I was having trouble getting it to stand up at all. It wouldn't balance on its long side so I stuffed it in a basket and weighed it down with a fist sized hunk of pink flint.

Look up origami cup, tuck the triangle bit into the outer arm. That's all I'm doing in the video.

People have been doing that for illegal white powder substances for 40 years. I do it that way for seeds also. Kinda freaked my 'experienced' neighbor out when I started opening one up in his house.

I love this! I did a lot of origami as a kid, and I've been dissatisfied with my current seed envelope options—most recently I've been using #3 coin envelopes, but I don't like that they cost a non-negligible amount, nor that the only options for sealing are insecurely, or one-time use.

I went on a little YouTube bender and tried a number of different patterns along these lines. I did cut off the extra paper to make a perfect square to have a fair comparison on all of them—not sure if they will all work while leaving the extra paper attached as in the original video. Here are the versions I tried, ranked in my opinion from best to worst:

1.
The original poster's version. I borrowed an image from this other thread discussing the same technique that I think makes a nice supplement to the video. This version is my overall winner. It's the easiest to fold, holds a lot, and closes well. The image suggests an option to add a couple staples that would improve sealing security (though I believe it is misleading about which layers to staple). The only downsides are that it's not rectangular, so if you're organizing in a box it might fit awkwardly, and the security of the seal is okay but not great—if you jostled this around it could potentially catch and open.

2.
The video uses smaller squares of paper, which is fiddly and produces a comically small envelope—great if that's what you need but too small for most uses. But you can use the exact same technique with a full-sized square and get a very nice size envelope out of it. It's very close to the same technique as #1 but with a slight variation that changes the dimensions. I like that this version is rectangular, and I find the security of the seal to be a little bit better. The downside is that one of the steps (folding the first top flap inside) becomes a bit trickier. It's not too bad with the full-sized sheet, but it could be enough to stymie someone without papercrafting experience. And with the smaller size paper it's downright frustrating.

3.
This version is pretty easy to fold, creates a nice narrow rectangular envelope, and seals securely. The video uses a printed template, but there's no need, you can fold with scratch paper and just eyeball the dimensions like all the other versions. Downside: having a fold in the middle of the seed pouch limits the capacity it can comfortably hold—if you fill a nice plump seed packet it isn't going to fold and seal cleanly any more. The result is a higher ratio of folded paper to effective inner volume, which is probably not a huge deal but bumps it down a little for me.

4.
My least favorite. Video shows a quarter sheet that again comes out very small, but can be made with a full rectangle of printer paper. Suggests a printed template but can be made without. This version is the clear winner for secure sealing if you get the little paper tabs in right, though frankly if you need this much seal security you should maybe just consider judicious use of Scotch tape or ponying up for commercial envelopes instead. Downsides: This is the most complicated fold of any of the versions. It's not rectangular, and in fact to sit flat on end, it has to be set "upside-down". Unsealing and resealing is a huge pain as you need to entirely unfold it and the creases interfere with access. Needing to re-fold the sides to seal after filling opens you up to seeds sneaking out of the main compartment into creases and folds, to later be lost or spilled all over.