Tuesday Tutorial: Tea Wallet

The Christmas season, and with it the gift-giving season, will soon be here! :-) For today's tutorial I have a nifty little gift item that you can make to share a little holiday cheer with some of your friends and loved ones: a tea wallet.

A. Materials
Here's what you'll need to get started:

(1) 8&1/2 x 10&3/4-inch piece of cardstock for the wallet
(1) 2&1/2 x 7&15/16-inch piece of cardstock for the bellyband
1/4-inch-wide WonderTape or other very strong double-sided adhesive tape
Scoring tool
Paper cutter
Scissors
Your choice of Clear Dollar digis or stamps, designer papers, and embellishments to decorate with
(6) sealed tea bags (the kind that have a paper wrapper around them) in flavors of your choice

B. Score and Fold the Wallet
First, we will score and fold the wallet piece. When finished, this piece will house the tea bags.

1. Score the 8&1/2 x 10&3/4-inch piece of cardstock along the short side (the 8 1/2-inch side) at these locations: 1&1/4 inches; 7&1/4 inches.

2. Score the 8&1/2 x 10&3/4-inch piece of cardstock along the long side (the 10&3/4-inch side) at these locations: 1/2 inch; 3&1/2 inches; 4 inches; 7 inches; 7&1/2 inches; 10&1/2 inches.

3. Fold the cardstock along all of the scored lines you just created.

4. Turn the cardstock so that one of the long sides (the 10&3/4-inch side) is the bottom edge.

5. Place 1-inch pieces of WonderTape or similarly strong double-sided tape in each of the eight small rectangles designated by the arrows here:

6. Remove the tape backing from the small rectangles along the bottom edge of the cardstock.

7. Fold one of the long sides upward/inward, along the score line, aligning the small rectangles with the areas of the same shape above, then press to seal the adhesive on the small rectangles.

8. Turn the paper so that the other long side is along the bottom edge, and then fold it upward/inward, along the score line, aligning the small rectangles with the areas of the same shape above, then press to seal the adhesive on the small rectangles.

You should now have six small pockets, which will be what your tea bags will fit in later.

C. Decorate the Pockets of the Wallet

1. From your designer papers, cut six 2&7/8 x 1&1/8 rectangles. These will decorate the pockets on the inside of the wallet.

2. Adhere the rectangles of paper to the pockets on the inside of the wallet.

D. Score and Fold the Bellyband

Now it's time to create the bellyband -- the piece that will slide over the closed wallet to hold it closed.

1. Score the 2&1/2 x 7&15/16-inch piece of cardstock along the long side at these positions: 1&1/4 inches; 4&7/8 inches.

2. Rotate the cardstock 180 degrees, so that the other long side is now the bottom edge of the piece, and then score at these positions: 3&5/8 inches; 7&1/4 inches.

3. You should now have four score marks on the bellyband piece. Fold the bellyband along all of the score lines you just created, and lay the piece flat long-wise, so that the peaks of the folds are on the underside of the piece.

4. Locate the 1/2-inch wide section at one end of the bellyband, and fold it inward.

5. Apply WonderTape or similarly strong double-sided tape to the upward-facing surface of this tabbed section. (I usually apply two strips to completely fill the space and ensure the seal will hold.)

6. Remove the backing from the tape.

7. Fold the opposite end of the bellyband piece inward and over the taped tabbed piece. Align the edges so that when pressed closed, you will have a box shape.

8. Press to seal the tape.

E. Decorate the Bellyband

1. Using papers and digis/stamps of your choice, decorate the front of the bellyband. For my sample, I used paper scraps from my stash along with the gingerbread man from the "Christmas Cuties Color" digi set.

F. Finish the Wallet

1. Tuck one teabag into each of the six pockets inside the wallet.

2. Fold the wallet closed. In doing so, you will notice that the flap on one side of the wallet is just a bit narrower than the one on the other side of the wallet. Be sure to fold the narrower flap in first, so that the wider flap is the outermost on the folded/closed wallet.

3. Slide the bellyband over the folded wallet.

And voila! A thoughtful but simple, handmade gift to share! One last thought here for you before I close: if your loved ones aren't tea drinkers, consider other items you could place in the wallet pockets, such as scented sachets or small notecards or even balloons (not blown up, of course). I've found that a gift card will also fit into one of these pockets, so you could build a gift around that, too.

I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial. If you have any questions, please be sure to leave a comment on this post, along with your email address if you would like a direct reply. :-)