Whenvelope

Step-by-step guide

Making your first box, step by step

This guide walks you through making an “Open when…” box for your grandchild, one small step at a time. Take it slowly. Nothing reaches them until you press send, and you can change almost everything later.

In the pictures, Grandma and Grandpa are making a box for their granddaughter, Emma. You’ll see your grandchild’s name where it says Emma.

We say “tap”. On a computer, that means click.

You don’t have to finish in one sitting. Everything is saved as you go, so you can stop and come back another day.

Part 1

Make your account

  1. Go to whenvelope.com and tap Start a box. It’s at the top of the page, on the right.
  2. Type your name and your email address.
  3. Make up a password and type it under “Password”. It needs at least 8 characters, and one of them has to be a number. Write it down somewhere safe.
  4. Tap the little square next to “I agree to the terms”, so a check mark appears. Then tap Create account.

  5. Open your email. Look for an email from Whenvelope called “Your Whenvelope code”. It has a 6-digit number in it.

    Not there after a minute? Look in your spam or junk folder. Some people have found it there. If it’s there, mark it “Not spam”, so our next emails reach your inbox.

  6. Go back to the Whenvelope page. Type the 6 numbers under “Verification code”, then tap Confirm email.

    The “Check your email” page: a box for the 6-digit verification code, the Confirm email button, a Send a new code link, and a reminder to look in the spam or junk folder.

    If it asks you to sign in, type your email and password, and tap “Sign in”.

Part 2

Start the box

Next comes a page called “Let’s make them a box”, with a few questions. You can change every answer later.

  1. Under “What’s it for?”, tap the big step your grandchild is taking, such as Off to college. The others are moving out, getting married, a first baby and a military deployment.
  2. Under “Who is it for?”, type your grandchild’s name, the way you’d write it after “Dear”.

  3. Under “Who is it from?”, type how you sign your letters, such as “Grandma & Grandpa”. Every letter ends with “Love,” and this name.

    The small grey line under it may say “Signed ‘Love, Mom & Dad.’” That’s only an example. Your letters use the name you typed.

  4. Under “How often can they open one?”, tap how often a new envelope unlocks. One a week is a good place to start: it makes the box last a whole school term.

    The new box form filled in: Who is it for? Emma. Who is it from? Grandma & Grandpa. Under How often can they open one?, One a week is picked.
  5. Leave the PIN empty for now; you can add one later. Then tap Next: pick envelopes → at the bottom.

Part 3

Choose your envelopes

Each envelope has a line on the front, like “Open when you miss home”, and a letter inside. There are dozens of ideas to choose from, and each comes with a starter letter you can rewrite.

  1. Scroll down through the ideas. Tap each one you like, and a check mark appears in its corner. Tap it again to take it back.

  2. Tap Add 4 to the box at the bottom of the screen. The number is however many you picked.

    The list of envelope ideas. “Open when you miss home cooking” has a check mark, and the bar at the bottom says 4 selected, with an Add 4 to the box button.

  3. Now you’re on your box’s page. Your envelopes are all here. “Needs your touch” means there’s a spot in that letter for you to fill in.

    Emma’s box page, from Grandma & Grandpa, one a week. Under the buttons Design the outside and Add envelopes, the envelopes are laid out; “you miss home cooking” is marked Not sent yet and Needs your touch.
    The first envelope, “Open when you first get your box”, is added for you. It explains to your grandchild how the box works, so you don’t have to.

Part 4

Write your letters

  1. Tap an envelope to open it. Start with one marked “Needs your touch”.
  2. Scroll down to “Your note to Emma”. The starter letter is in the big box there.

  3. Change the letter into your own words. Words in [square brackets] are spots for you to fill in: replace the whole spot, brackets and all. You don’t need to type “Dear” or “Love”; those are added for you.

    Writing a letter. Under Your note to Emma, Grandma has typed her apple cake recipe. The bar at the bottom says Unsaved changes, with a Save changes button.
  4. Tap Save changes at the bottom of the screen. When it says “Saved ✓”, your letter is safe.
  5. Tap ← Emma’s box at the top to go back to your box. Do the same for each envelope.

Extras, if you like

  • Photos: in an envelope, tap “Add photos” and pick up to 6. They’re saved as soon as they upload.
  • A gift card: tap “Tuck a gift card in this envelope”, then copy in the code from the store’s email. It stays hidden until your grandchild opens that envelope.
  • A video or a song: each has its own spot further down in the envelope.
  • An envelope of your own: on your box’s page, tap “Write your own”. Type the “Open when…” line and your letter, then tap “Save envelope”. You can add photos once it’s saved.

Nothing you write goes to your grandchild yet. Your envelopes wait here until you send them. To come back later, sign in, tap “My boxes” at the top, and tap the box.

Part 5 · If you like

Decorate the outside

This is the first thing your grandchild sees. Every box starts with a look of its own, so you can skip this part.

  1. On your box’s page, tap 🎨 Design the outside.

  2. Pick what the envelopes come in: a gift box, a mailbox or a big envelope. Then, if you like, pick colors (there are school colors too), a pattern and the words on the label.

    The Design the outside page. Under What they come in, the gift box is picked: a navy box with gold stripes and a label that says For Emma.
  3. Tap Save design at the bottom. To see how it will open for your grandchild, tap “▶ Watch it open”.

Part 6

Buy envelopes

Making the box and writing your letters is free. You pay when you send: each envelope you send uses one envelope from your account. There’s no free trial. Envelopes come in packs:

  • 12 envelopes for $15
  • 30 envelopes for $29
  • 60 envelopes for $49
  • 120 envelopes for $79

Envelopes you don’t use stay in your account for your next box. They don’t expire.

  1. Go to your box’s page and find the part called “Send it to Emma”. On a phone, it’s below your envelopes. On a computer, it’s on the right.

  2. If it says “You need 2 more”, tap Get envelopes →.

    The Send it to Emma panel: two envelopes are ticked and two still need a touch. It says Sending 2 uses 2 envelopes, you have 0, You need 2 more, with a Get envelopes link.

  3. Tap the button under the pack you want, such as Get 12. The packs have names like “Small box”, but they’re only envelopes: you’re not buying another box.

    The Envelopes page: You have 0 envelopes. The Small box pack is 12 envelopes for $15 with a Get 12 button, and the Full box pack, marked Most popular, is 30 envelopes for $29 with a Get 30 button.

  4. Stripe’s payment page opens. Stripe is the company that takes the payment, so we never see your card number. The page’s address starts with checkout.stripe.com.

    Type your card details and tap Pay. If you have a discount code, tap “Add promotion code” first. Changed your mind? Tap the back arrow at the top of Stripe’s page, and nothing is charged.

  5. You come back to Whenvelope, and it says “Thank you!” Tap Back to the box →.

    Back on the Envelopes page after paying: You have 12 envelopes, a green note saying Thank you! 12 envelopes added, and a Back to the box button.
Were you given a gift code? On the Envelopes page, type it under “Have a gift code?” and tap “Use code”.

Part 7

Send it

  1. On your box’s page, find “Send it to Emma” again. The envelopes that are ready already have a check mark. The ones that still “Need your touch” don’t; finish them first, or send them another day.

  2. Pick one of these three ways for the box to reach your grandchild. Each one sends the envelopes with a check mark.

    Send the link yourself

    Tap Send 2 and get the link. The number is how many have a check mark.

    The Send it to Emma panel with two envelopes ticked. It says Sending 2 uses 2 envelopes, you have 12, with a Send 2 and get the link button.

    Then tap Copy next to the link, and paste it into a text message or an email to your grandchild.

    After sending: the box’s private link, starting with https://whenvelope.com/b/, with a Copy button next to it.

    Or: we email it to them now

    Scroll down to “When it arrives”. Type your grandchild’s email address, then tap Send it now.

    Or: we email it on a day you choose

    In “When it arrives”, type their email address, pick the day and the time, and tap Schedule it. Until then, their link just shows a countdown.

    The When it arrives panel: Emma’s email filled in, a day and a time, and the buttons Schedule it and Send it now.

That’s it! Your grandchild opens the link on their phone or computer. They don’t need an account or an app. They open the envelopes one at a time, at the pace you picked.

After you send

  • You can still fix a letter: open it, change it, and tap “Save changes”.
  • To add more, add envelopes the same way as before. Then find “Send more to Emma”, tick the new ones, and tap the Send button.
  • If you delete an envelope before your grandchild has opened anything in the box, you get it back.

Part 8 · If you like

Ask family to write one

Someone else in the family can write an envelope too, with their own letter and photos. They don’t need an account.

  1. On your box’s page, tap Ask someone. It’s next to your envelopes.

  2. Under “Who are you asking?”, type what your grandchild calls them, such as “Aunt Lily”. If you like, suggest an “Open when…” line for them.

    The Ask someone to write one form: Who are you asking? Aunt Lily. An idea for them: Open when you miss your family. A Get their link button.
  3. Tap Get their link.

  4. Tap Text it or Email it to send them their link.

    Now send Aunt Lily their link: her private link, with the buttons Copy link, Text it and Email it.
  5. Until they finish, their envelope shows in your box as “Waiting for Aunt Lily”. When they’re done, send it with your own, the same way.

Their link opens only that one envelope, not the rest of your box. Up to 10 letters from family in each box don’t use any of your envelopes.

If you get stuck

The code email didn’t come.
Look in your spam or junk folder for “Your Whenvelope code”, from hello@whenvelope.com. Still nothing? Check that your email address is spelled right, then tap “Send a new code”.
I closed the page before typing the code.
Go to whenvelope.com, tap “Sign in”, and type your email and password. We’ll send you a new code.
I forgot my password.
Tap “Sign in”, then “Forgot it?”. We’ll email you a code to make a new one. Look in spam or junk for that one too.
I can’t find my box.
Sign in, then tap “My boxes” at the top of the page.
Something else.
Email us at hello@whenvelope.com. Tell us what you were trying to do, and we’ll help you finish your box.

Ready when you are.

Start a box