Engagement Gift

My husband's niece recently got engaged and their engagement party was just a couple of weeks ago. We wanted to give them money to help with expenses but we HATE just sticking money in a card and calling it good. During the teen years, both she and her brother had to suffer from us being "creative" with money gifts. We've rolled it into straws, stuffed it in ugly pottery that had to be broken to get to it, put it between pages in a dollar store book, put it in gumball dispensers, etc. Fun to think up and even more fun to watch them try and get it.

Well, I wanted to do something more "grown up" and I came up with this vase full of origami boxes. Besides cross stitch, origami is one of my favorite things to do. To keep my folding skills up, I typically leave some piece of origami next to our tip when we eat out. Usually a crane since it only takes one sheet of paper. I've never stuck around to get a reaction from the wait staff, but I hope they enjoy the surprise (right before they throw it away!).

I decided to find some quotes about marriage (some funny, some snarky, some serious) and I printed them out and then rolled a $10 bill within each quote. My favorite quote was "No husband was ever shot while doing the dishes" - amen!






After rolling them up, I put a bow around each one.




Then each quote went into a box and the the last flaps were folded in place.




Ten boxes, each with a quote and $10 inside.


There is an easy tutorial for the boxes at Origami Mommy. You can just Google "quotes about marriage" for tons of ideas. Picking ten was kind of hard to do.

I ran out of time and didn't get a snap of the note that went with it explaining that the small (3" x 3") boxes were just "filler" while the 10 large (4" x 4") boxes were the ones they needed to open. To make sure no friends or other family members thought they could take one (not knowing there was money inside), I sealed the top with a circle of celophane and then added the ribbon to hide where I had taped it down.

They were very excited to see the vase and were curious about what was inside. It was fun to do and a great conversation piece at the party.