This post is from my friend Bethany from Bethany Actually. Thank you, Lewus!

When I was in college, my roommate Erin used to get letters from her friend Aspen in handmade envelopes. Aspen created them from magazine pages, and Erin and I thought it was so cool we started making them ourselves.

Back when I used to send real mail to people, I made these envelopes all the time. If I noticed an interesting full-page ad in a magazine I’d tear it out and save it for future use. I don’t make them as often as I used to, but every now and then I need an odd-sized envelope or am feeling crafty. I’ve made them from wrapping paper, scrapbook paper, and old calendars too. It’s a fun way to make mail special. Of course it’s also environmentally friendly if you’re using old magazines or calendars, so yay for reusing and reducing!

Today, I’m going to use a page from an old Forces of Nature wall calendar. I suggest you read the whole post before attempting your own envelope because it’s a little confusing at first, but once you figure it out it’s easy-peasy.

First gather your supplies:

Step 1: Choose a pretty picture, and figure out which portion of the picture you want to be the front of your envelope. Just be sure to leave about an inch of space for the side flaps and enough space for the top and bottom flaps so that when you fold them in they will overlap. (Yes, I know that’s confusing. It will become clearer as you read, I hope.)

Step 2a: Flip the page over and trace around the envelope in roughly the same area. Or you can use a ruler to measure and draw a rectangle in the size you want.

Step 2b: To create the flaps, draw lines from the corners of your rectangle as shown in the photo above. I like to color in the corners to show that those are the pieces I am going to cut off. Whenever I forget to color in those corners, I inevitably cut along the wrong line. See?

Don’t do this! I cut along the wrong line!

Step 3: Emphasize the lines you want to cut by drawing curly lines on them, or marking them with a red pen, or something. You can skip this step if you’re not a ditz like I am.

Step 4: Cut on those curly lines so the colored-in corners are snipped all the way off. See?

You can trim some length off your flaps if they’re irregular.

Step 5: Fold all the flaps in and crease along the lines you traced around the envelope (or drew with a ruler) in Step 2a. Leave the side flaps folded in.

Step 6: Spread some glue on the bottom flap where it will come into contact with the side flaps, being careful not to leave glue where it will stick to the main part of the envelope. Or—and this would make more sense and I don’t know why I didn’t do this—on the side flaps.

Step 7: Fold the bottom flap up and press on the glued parts for a few seconds.

Voila! A beautiful handmade envelope.

When you’re ready to use your envelope, just stick the letter inside and either glue the flap shut or tape it with strong tape. If the envelope is light-colored, you can address it with a black Sharpie. If it’s dark-colored, you can write the address on a printer label. Stick on a stamp, drop it in the mail, and make someone’s day!

Baby Bug’s Guest Post from secretagentjo on Vimeo.

This post is from Amy from doobleh-vay. Thank you, Amy!

Traditions and rituals act as the glue that holds the distant fragments of our childhoods intact. When we close our eyes and think back about being children often we recall with clarity the rituals and traditions that were constant. The trips to the lake, the holiday parties and pageants, the birthday crowns, the first day of school breakfast, the bedtime kisses, the special secret code you had with a parent, the Halloween costume making, the valentine boxes… All of the beautiful deliberate motions our parents went through to string meaning between small days.

I have been working on carving out my own family traditions these past couple of years. I really want my boys to have memories that can comfort them and inspire them when they are adults and have their own families. Here are a few of the traditions I am doing:

I have been loving a book I bought secondhand a couple years back called The Book of New Family Traditions by Meg Cox.

It is ace and has a ton of fabulous ideas for starting your own traditions and rituals. Some of my favorites are simple things:

I love this book!

Traditions in families can be so powerful to children. I think they allow for bonding and the creation of strong family ideals. The traditions that you begin now will give your children more and more certainty in their lives. It is the small things that we pass down to our kids that will matter the most. The time we spend together and the love that is cultivated between us as we focus on our family. The world is often harsh and demanding, but allowing children to know that inside the family is safe and secure is priceless. I want terribly for my children to always think of our home and family as a safe haven and a place where magic really does happen.

What will you pass on to your family? Please leave a family tradition that you practice or hope to someday and let’s build an idea library that will be a source of inspiration.