DIY Tip Envelopes

Sometimes, the best way to say "Thanks" is with a tip.

Once, I went for a manicure with my sister and forgot to take out the tip ahead of time.  My manicurist had to go into my bag to find my wallet, and take out some money.  I almost felt like I had to tip her for getting her own tip. Due to that experience, I usually have my tip ready before I go in for service.  I now keep a stack of little envelopes in my car, just in case.

A while back, I posted about making my own gift card holder because Michael's doesn't give you one when you buy a gift card.  Again I must comment on how ironic that is considering they sell all sorts of paper crafts and supplies.   The process to make a tip envelope is similar to the gift card holder, but with a twist:  1) the envelopes are smaller  2) I run them through the printer.

I like to recycle the kraft envelopes that the kids get from school because they are big enough to feed through my printer.  You can use paper too but in the spirit of recycling, I urge you to consider using the other side of previously used envelopes.

There are two ways to make your tip envelope:

1) Print out the template found here but shrink it until it's the size you want it to be.  Then trace it right onto the brown paper.  Stencil the word "Thanks"and cut out your envelope.

2) If you have photoshop skills, you could "copy" the template onto a new 8" x 11" canvas and repeat the envelope design on your page.   Then insert the word "thanks" in the middle of the envelope, print, and then cut out your envelope. 

No matter which way you choose, you end up with a cute little envelope.   Mine are sized perfectly to fit a bill. 

But this size also works great with coins.

Just pop in your tip and seal with tape or glue.

Doing this ahead of time will help make your spa experience even nicer.  So make some extra to keep in the car.  You'll be "thanking" yourself.   Hahahaha - get it?

 Until next time,

DIY Crayon Roll

DIY Crayon rolls are so great to have around. We have several at home which hold our Crayola crayons and Pipsqueak markers. I've been sewing crayon rolls for many years now. Whenever there's a birthday or a donation needed for school, there's always a crayon roll or something handmade added to the mix. 

Our life has been taken over this month with birthdays (including my own!).  Although I did the big trip to Toys R Us, it was time to sew up a few more crayon/marker rolls for the kids that didn't have one already.

First we had to make sure we had some crayons.  I usually get a basic pack 24-pack from Walmart or the Dollarama.

I also bought some Pipsqueaks.  I use crayons if the children are 5 and under.  The kids that are 6 and above get markers.

It's so easy to pop in the crayons or markers.

I like to use velcro to keep the rolls closed.  It's so easy for little fingers.

Here's what they look like side by side.  The crayons are a bit shorter than the markers.

I like that you can see the patterned fabric peeking out.

This crayon roll was packaged together with a bunch of stuff, including this cool colouring book.

It's a nice big book to go along with some fresh crayons.

Kinda makes me want to colour something too :o)

Happy crafting,

DIY Printing on Envelopes for Valentine's Day

I love the look of a printed envelope.  It's not hard to do but looks fantastic when it's done. 

This year, I didn't do anything spectacular for the kids' valentines.  We were told by the school to fill in the "from:" section of the cards and keep the "to:" field blank.   Hubby went out and bought some scratch/sniff cards for our kindie kid that came with envelopes.  Little man filled in the card but was too sick to write on the envelope.

To help him out, I drafted something quick on Photoshop.

However, I discovered the mini envelopes were too small for my printer.   Some of you will remember that I put paper lunch bags through my printer (here and here) without any problems.   So I decided to tape the envelopes to a sheet of paper in order for it to feed properly through my printer.  Here's how:

1. Determine the smallest size of paper your printer can handle and cut a piece out.  Tape your envelope to the paper.
2. Consider doing a test run on your sample paper so you know which side the flap should go.
3. Check your work
4. All done and ready to be stuffed.

 Seeing as how this was not a "mama" project, little (sick) man was my printer boy.

The envelopes were so cute when they were all stacked up.

We had lots of time left over to do some teacher envelopes.  I love using Photoshop.  I cannot believe I used to use Microsoft Word to design my envelopes (remember this?).

Happy Valentine's Day!