Pocky-Inspired Wedding Red Envelope

My dearest friend Jeannette got married last weekend and rather than mindlessly stuffing a red envelope with money, I wanted a more creative way of giving Jeannette her wedding moola. I dug deep into my brain's archives and recalled seeing someone's Facebook post of rolled-up dollar bills in a Pocky box and decided to do my take on it.

Things you will need: 

• box of Pocky (for reference unless you are a Pocky expert already :P)

• any light colored Polymer clay

• acrylic paint

• scissors

• X‑Acto knife

• tape (that removes easily without ripping the dollar bills)

• paint brushes

• dollar bills in any denomination

• pen or pencil

Roll the polymer clay to about the thickness of a pencil, making sure the sticks are as evenly thick as possible.

Trim the sticks with your X-Acto knife so that about 1.25" will be poking out after the dollar bills are wrapped around them.

Baking instructions call for 20 minutes at 250°F (121°C) per 1/2 inch (12 mm) thickness. I baked for about 35 minutes after feeling that the clay was still a bit soft to the touch after 20 minutes. Being patient may not be your strong suit (it definitely is not mine) but wait for the sticks to completely cool down before painting them.

Mixing the perfect shade of "biscuit."

To add that extra bit of realness, paint tiny toast marks in a coppery-brown color to one end of the sticks. I painted 5 to 6 marks on each.

Now this was an last-minute addition. Each stick was penned with a piece of martial advice, as it is always important to be reminded that a marriage/relationship is only as good as how much effort you put into. I live and breathe by the word E.F.F.O.R.T. You can jot down your favorite words of wisdom.

Now on to the money! Fold the two side and top corners towards the bill's front as seen below. This ensures that less of the whites and more of the green will show in the finished rolled-up product.

Carefully roll the dollar bill around a stick. You might need to roll a few times to get the bill to naturally curl. Once the bill is wrapped as tightly as possible, tape to hold everything in place. I placed a piece of tape on the top, middle, and bottom. I would suggest to test your tape beforehand to make sure it will adhere securely but NOT tear the bills when the tape is removed.

I designed an envelope that befittingly had a Pocky bride and groom on it. In addition, a few personalized elements were incorporated like the wedding date, their names and the Chinese character for double happiness that is commonly seen on traditional red envelopes.

After trimming, folding and gluing the envelope together the Pocky-inspired wedding red envelope was complete. It could not have come out cuter!

Yatta! (Finished!)

Needless to say my friend and her new hubby loved their red envelope. So much so that they do not want to unroll the dollar bills. Little do they know, several good-old nuggets of marital advice silently wait to be revealed. But I will let the newlyweds discover that on their own.