got cash?

One of the symptoms of our stuck-in-a-rut-ness over the last couple of years is that our approach to managing our money has become pretty lax. Now, I'm no financial expert, but I can tell you with 100% certainty that this is not the best approach. So we decided this week to start using Dave Ramsey's tool known as "The Envelope System" . Did you click over there and check it out? If you're not already familiar with it, go give it a look-see. (I am not affiliated with Dave Ramsey in any way other than being a big fan.)

Since I am "the nerd" of the house, organizing this system for our household falls to me. Since I am such a crafting geek, well, making it cute falls to me, too. Come on - you didn't really think I was just going to use regular old envelopes did you? I happen to believe that if you have a dull or otherwise unappealing task to do then cute-ing it up can make it a little more enjoyable. Or at least tolerable. I think of it as a spoonful of sugar that helps the medicine go down ;-)

Don't they just make you want to sit down and pay bills? Ok, maybe they're not quite that cute! But they are easy and fun and they could be useful even if you are not interested in The Envelope System. I think they would be perfect for gifting cash and in this season of graduations and weddings, I thought you might enjoy seeing how I put them together.

Start with a piece of cardstock 6 1/4" wide by 6 3/4" tall. Fold up the bottom 3" to form a flap, leaving a margin at the top for adding labels.

Lay a piece of scrapbook paper across the front of your cardstock and attach it with glue. I'm loving rubber cement right now, but use whatever works for you.

Optional: Use a 1" circle punch to punch out a semi-circle on the bottom flap. It really does make it a little easier to remove the money from the envelope. You could use other shapes, too, or skip this step.

Wrap the excess scrapbook paper around to the back and glue it down. It will not wrap all the way around and meet in the middle. I did not find this bothersome, but if you do, you could use ribbon or fabric in place of the paper and cut it to a length sufficient to wrap all the way around the envelope. That's it! Now you can embellish it however you like.

Voila! Pop it into a gift bag and you're ready to go. Oh, and don't forget to fill it with some moolah! (Please don't harsh on my terrible stamping job ;-) I was trying to hurry and get this all done before picking Baby K up from school!)

Now go forth and make envelopes! Or take a bath. Or do something nice for yourself. You deserve it!
~B