I recently purchased several Petit Duo stamps from Prima.  I held onto the packaging, thinking that there must be something I could do with it besides throwing it away.  And then I got an idea… make it into a photo mailer / frame! 

The indented section of the packaging is nearly 4" x 6".  I trimmed my photograph down to 3 3/4" x 6" to fit in the space.  There was a slight margin to one side, and I quickly realized that I could put some embellishments within that space as well.

And on the reverse side of the photograph I adhered a chipboard journaling piece from the Angelique collection (#810061) for addressing my photo mailer frame.

I used a 4" x 8" piece of Clear Paintables transparency (#812188), colored with Copic Markers to frame my photograph.  You can get four pieces of this size out of one 12×12 sheet. 

I added chipboard letters from the Times Alpha Cream (#810054), but quickly realized that the two zeros weren't going to fit well in the space with my photo.  So I trimmed two 6s, leaving the round portion for my zeros.  I colored the back of the numbers, directly on the packaging to make the backs blend in nicely with the flowers and leaves.

I finished off my decorations with holiday poinsettia flowers and leaves, and dotted the transparency design and centers of the chipboard numbers, within the indented frame of the packaging with Build a Bauble gems (#s 400057, 400347, 400040).

And don't you know I ran out to my tiny post office to see if I'd accomplished something that would be functional – and I'm happy to report that YES, It's mailable!  About $1.51 for First Class.

So if you are looking for an inexpensive and ecological way to mail your holiday photo this season, consider this photo mailer.  It makes a pretty frame for your recipient's mantel as well during the holidays and beyond.

If you like this idea – there are even more on the PRIMAdonna blog.