DIY – Lucky envelopes for cookie favors (or whatever else you want to put in there!)

I’m enjoying a siesta in Madrid now and figured I should share some of my simple, styling DIY projects from a not really DIY kinda girl.  Don’t worry Taiwan and Spain travel logs will be coming soon too!
I love seeing DIY projects, but not necessarily  doing them if that means I have to buy lots of random materials and tools (if you want me to invest in a rotary cutter, I really gotta use it!).  Basically, I’ll only do it if it’s really easy.  Yep, I am the lazy, every-woman Martha.

You may recall that I mentioned using these lovely but painstakingly tedious to assemble ivory boxes with scalloped edges as favor boxes for my NYC wedding (thanks dear brother for bringing them from Shanghai!).

We filled these with homemade pumpkin cookies and pyramid tea bags (recipe here).  We displayed this sign to note to our guests to open and consume the favors fairly quickly (my funny new aunt thought this was a signal to take 8 boxes so she could really throw down on some cookies).

I wanted to do something similar for our Taiwanese reception and I like sharing cookies.  Taiwanese people don’t usually give weddings favors but they are familiar with giving and receiving lucky (red) envelopes.  I was inspired by some fun gold wrapping paper, which was still lucky and in our color scheme, and lack of suitable cardstock (oh I missed you Michael‘s).  My mom also suggested including pictures of us with a London or NYC background so we included 2″ x 4″ pictures of us with the Brooklyn Bridge reflected in the background.

Picture tip:
Kodak picture machines are great for reprinting pictures in a variety of sizes, especially smaller sizes.  Note some photo shops may not have the machines to print sizes other than passport size.

So here were my materials:

• wrapping paper (could also use cardstock but then would need a bone folder as well).
• sharp scissors (fabric scissors rock)
• cardboard (cardstock would be great)
• glue stick – a STRONG one
• pictures
• heart hole puncher

1. I designed a template in PowerPoint including at least 1″ of give on each side (more if the contents are bulky).
2. I printed and glued the template to cardboard and cut the shape out.

3. I used this stencil to cut out the shape from the wrapping paper (note: you can cut multiple sheets but hold them tightly together or they will be misaligned)

4. I folded and glued the seams.

5. I glued the pictures to the front of the envelopes.
6. I punched the heart shape on the top of the envelopes.  I was going to use ribbon to tie the envelopes but couldn’t find any.  I still liked the heart shape though!

There we go!

Definitely use strong glue because my poor aunt and brother had to reglue my pictures and seams because the cookies kept on popping out (also why you should incorporate a decent amount of give in the envelope template).  But DIY envelopes are good for a variety of flat objects you may want to include.