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| the back side of the envelope -- the flap tucks in to close it |
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| the front side of the finished envelope |
Friends of ours have invited us for a Chinese New Year dinner tomorrow night. I asked my son's girlfriend about how she celebrated Chinese New Year when growing up. One of the things she told me about was making a gift to children (and unmarried young adults) of money, in a red envelope.
So, I set out to make a couple of red envelopes. I bought a square of scrapbook paper, and followed the instructions on this youtube video for an origami envelope. I practiced once first, on a square of newspaper. I thought it was quite easy to do. Also, I thought it might be a good solution for other gift envelope needs, like a gift card, or a homemade coupon-type gift.
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| not tucked in, the small item or cash slips into the folded up lower edge |
Just thought I'd share. And happy Chinese New Year!
Hi Lil,
ReplyDeleteI love this idea. I make jewelry and this would be perfect
for giving as gifts. Thank you for the idea.
Hope you are having a relaxing week end.
Blessings
Patti
Hi Patti,
DeleteOh, small envelopes out of pretty paper would be perfect! And these were easy to fold.
Thank you. I hope you're enjoying you weekend, as well!
I have seen money given in a red envelop, in fact my kids have gotten it a few times from friends, but I've never seen it given in an origami envelop. Love it.
ReplyDeleteHi live and learn,
DeleteVery interesting. I don't think any of my kids have received red envelopes of cash as gifts before. The origami was fun and relaxing to do, as well. I'm going to keep origami, in general, in mind for relaxation for the future.
The company my son works for is owned by a Chinese woman. She gives out $10 in a red envelope to every employee as a Chinese New Year token. Now that I think about it, I got a dollar once that way from one of my co-workers.
DeleteInteresting, live and learn. This was all new to me.
DeleteI like that! Very clever idea.
ReplyDeleteHi Belinda,
DeleteIt was easy to fold, too! I made a couple and I like how they turned out.
Thank you for this...I love folding origami. Like you, I find it very relaxing. In the you tube lineup, I see an origami gift bag video that may come in handy too.
ReplyDeleteYHF
Hi YHF,
DeleteI was so focused on folding these envelopes that I didn't even check what other projects were in that line-up! That's me -- so intent on one thing, that I miss the rest!
I had forgotten how much I enjoyed origami, until yesterday. I'm going to have to remind myself of how enjoyable this is, in the future.
I found it interesting that this video showed how to calculate the paper size for whatever you are wrapping, instead of guessing (very important for us frugal types lol): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TuSN6YeoYg
DeleteI tried her formula and it works!! So for wrapping my little sample sized bottle of body lotion, I calculated the paper size to be 9 1/2" for the length and 8 3/4" for the width...perfect!! A little on the long side for the length, but she may have mentioned that the extra is given since there are various ways to finish the top of a gift bag.
Such good ideas...I'm stoked because a lot of times I want to wrap a small present and don't have the perfect sized box for it. Or don't want to spend money on a too large sized gift bag.
YHF
On second thought, the formula worked for my small bottle of lotion (only 3/4" thin in depth) but I think the formula presented in the video for paper width size should be 2x depth not just 1x. Imagine wrapping a cube with that formula!!
DeleteYHF
I love this idea. What a wonderful skill to have to fall back on when you need to give different gifts.
ReplyDeleteI have a question that has nothing to do with this and I hope you won't mind my asking. I have an acquaintance in Washington who claims she asked at 4 different stores (Wal-Mart, Albertsons , Fred Meyer, and I can't remember the fourth) and said they didn't have cream of tartar in their stores. She even claims she went to the baking section and still couldn't find it and claims she even asked some employees about it and they didn't know what she was talking about. Are the stores that different from my one and only store here in SD. Didn't you just have a column on cream of tartar?
Hi Susan,
DeleteWow! that's news to me. I haven't bought cream of tartar in a traditional grocery store in ages. But I did buy some very recently at a natural foods store, in the bulk bins. The name of this store is Manna Mills. Also, at Fred Meyer, in the natural foods section, I think they have cream of tartar in the bulk spices section (where you scoop your own). we had a chain, here, TOP Foods, for many years, that also sold Cream of Tartar in bulk bins. I'll check QFC the next time I'm in there. COT is just obscure enough that your average employee might not know what it is. But I'll check the next time I'm in a store, and get back to you (I was just in Fred Meyer this afternoon, I could have checked there.) But for your friend, I would suggest she look to the natural foods stores, especially if they have bulk spice bins (scoop your own). Whole Foods has bulk bins, and many of the stores have spices in that section, too. Is your acquaintance in western Washington or eastern? I just can't imagine a store not carrying it. Practically anyone who has ever made snickerdoodles knows that most of those recipes call for Cream of Tartar.
Also, I just checked McCormick's website (the little spice jars with red caps), and they have COT on their site, which would indicate that it is part of their line of spices carried in stores.
I'll check the next time I'm in a store, as this sounds very odd.
Who knew that cream of tartar was considered exotic.
DeleteMy friend is in western. Washington. I will tell her what you said and see if she can go from there. I too was thinking of McCormick's when I told her to look in the spice section. I will tell her to try the bulk buns in the natural food stores.
DeleteI believe she was trying to make cloud bread which is a low carbohydrate bread. I have made it before for my gluten free friends.
I thought it was odd that she couldn't find it in any of those scoresheet I can find it in my one and only store. Thank you Lili.
And yes Live and Learn who knew.
Gung hai fat choi, everybody! Sara
ReplyDeleteSara, I'm assuming the translation is "Happy New Year". Correct?
DeleteWell, then -- gung hai fat choi!
Beautiful envelope. I love pretty papers like that--that would be a fun way to give a gift of money.
ReplyDeleteHi Kris,
Deleteyes, this would definitely "dress up" a gift of cash to special someones!