ANG POW 2012 (RED PACKETS FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR)

As usual, every year I will whip up my tools and papers and start making ang pows (red packets) for Chinese New Year.  I've been doing them for a few years now and CLICK HERE to see some of my past ang pow creations.

This year, this is what I did.  I'm sure many people have done this before.

I was surprised I finished making them relatively fast.  Maybe it's because I had a great cutting tool by Martha Stewart - The Circle Cutter.  I got mine from Scrap-n-Crop.com.  Click HERE to see how this tool works.

So, using the above tool, I proceeded to cut 3" circles.  Rememeber:  Only square circles, not ovals. You need 4 circles for each ang pow.  To create a nice contrast, it's better to choose 2 pattern paper circles and 2 plain colored ones.

 Then fold the circles into halves.

Using a cutting mat ruler as a guide, place them at 90 degrees.  Add a little glue (enough to hold the 2 pieces together) on the flap where the pattern paper is positioned.  Once you are certain that they are 90 degrees, you can press down till the glue sticks.

I've pasted them by alternating the overlapping.

This is how it looks once they are pasted together.  That's the inside of the ang pow.

 This is the back.

See how you should fold the flaps.

When it's close, you can mark the area with a ball point pen so it's easier to punch a hole without having to punch the other papers.  This is optional.  If you don't want to use ribbons like I did, you can paste a sticker to "seal" the flaps so they will stay closed.

Hope these instructions are clear and you can start making your own gift envelopes.