01/31/2017

Printable Valentine’s Day Envelope Liners

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner â€“ and today I’m sharing a fun printable project to add an extra dose of love (and color) to your Valentine’s Day cards: printable Valentine’s Day envelope liners! I’ve teamed up with Courtney of Swiss Cottage Designs to offer two beautiful envelope liner patterns for you to enjoy. And the best part is that these liners are totally versatile, so you can use them with envelopes of all shapes and sizes!

Courtney created two absolutely gorgeous illustrated liner patterns celebrating two of our favorite things: love letters and flowers! The little bouquets in the floral liners are my favorite thing ever â€“ and can be used any time of year to send some love! And seriously, how cute are all those little illustrated postage stamps, airmail stamps, and wax seals?? Add ’em in to an envelope with a favorite greeting card, or use them with any colorful envelope to send a special hand written message. Bonus points if you add a bit of colorful confetti to your envelope. The more love the better these days!

These would even be fun for weddings and bridal shower invitations, no?

ribbon + scissors| ceramic dish | tissue paper confetti

We’ll need a few basic supplies before we get started:

Colorful envelopes
Text weight white paper
Envelope liner template kit (for pointed flap envelopes)
Scissors
Pencil
Ruler
Bone Folder

To make the envelope liners:

Step 1. Print your liner pattern of choice onto a letter sized sheet of text weight paper. If you don’t have a home printer, you can easily print these at your local copy and print shop â€“ my printer isn’t that great at printing pink tones, so I had mine printed at my local Staples.

Step 2. On the back of the liner, lightly trace your liner template with pencil. For pointed flap envelopes, I like to use these liner templates from Paper Source. If you’re using square flap envelopes or prefer to DIY your own template, just trace the outline of the back of your envelope onto a sheet of thick card stock. Cut the template from the card stock, being careful to cut on the inside of the lines, and trim an additional 1/16″ off the left and right side and 3/4″ off the bottom of the template. Trace the liner template on the back of each printed liner until you have enough liners for all your envelopes, then carefully cut out each liner with scissors.

Step 3. Place the liner in the envelope. Use a glue stick or double sided tape on the back of the liner (along the top triangle and just above the crease) to adhere the liner to the envelope. Don’t worry about placing any adhesive on the lower part of the liner, since it’s tucked into the envelope it should stay put. Place a ruler along the crease of the envelope flap, then use your bone folder to score the envelope liner. This will help you maintain a clean line when you close your envelopes!

Step 4. Add a fun hand written note or greeting card, and close the envelope. Address the envelope in a playful hand lettering style using a brush marker or writing tool of your choice, and voila! You’ve got yourself a snazzy envelope that is guaranteed to bring a smile to someone’s face!

Since the liner patterns are a full letter-size sheet of paper, you can make them work for any size envelopes, including larger square envelopes, rectangular #10 envelopes, and all standard size greeting card envelopes. No matter what size envelope you’re using, we’ve got you covered!

Are you as obsessed with these liners as I am? When you print them out and use them, don’t forget to share your photos on Instagram and tag #madewithosbp so I can see them! I can’t wait!!

Download the envelope liner patterns from Swiss Cottage Designs right here: Love Letters and Floral Love!

Photos by Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

01/30/2017

Custom Calligraphy Valentines from Betsy Dunlap

I’ll be honest: the last couple of weeks have been very difficult for me. It feels strange and trivial to share pretty pictures during such a time of upheaval. I know this site is a respite from our difficult political climate forÂ many of you, and I’ll do my best to share things that help lift our spirits and bring a bright spot to some very dark days. But I also want you to know that I’m very much affected by these current events, and if you’re struggling these days, you’re not alone. I spent more than six years working on Somalia at the U.S. Department of State, working closely with people from Somalia, including refugees â€“ and I have very strong feelings regardingÂ this Executive Order. I shared a few ways to help on Instagram yesterday, and I’ll continue to share more in the coming days and weeks. In the meantime, I wanted to help spread some love by sharing these beautiful custom calligraphy Valentine’s from Betsy Dunlap in her shop Litterae.

I’ve been a fan of Betsy’s unique modern calligraphy style since I first started blogging in 2008 (!!), and I seriously cannot imagine anything more romantic than sending your loveÂ a beautiful hand calligraphed Valentine! These unique custom valentines will feature Betsy’s lettering in your choice of Sunset Gold metallic ink or jet black Sumi ink on cream Italian paper and Dutch felt paper. The folded cards include a monogram or word of choice surrounded by a calligraphed circle on the outside, and a maximum 30-word message on the inside. Each envelopeÂ will feature marbled envelope liners and vintage postage stamps â€“ and of course hand written mailing and return addresses penned by Betsy.Â Valentines will ship out on February 7th, just in time for Valentine’s Day!

You can order your custom calligraphy valentines from Betsy’s Litterae shop right here!

Photo Credits: Betsy Dunlap

01/27/2017

Hazelnut Bourbon Hot Chocolate

December and the holidays may belong to punch, champagne, and egg nog, but January and February are definitely hot chocolate season. Hot chocolate is absolutely delicious on its own, but why not dress it up a bit? So far, we’ve madeÂ a Tiki Hot Chocolate with rum, cinnamon bark syrup, and orgeat, and a Smokey Mezcal Mexican Hot Chocolate. But in keeping with our Hygge theme for this month’s cocktail recipes, I wanted something warm and cozy. This Hazelnut Bourbon Hot Chocolate absolutely does the trick!

Hazelnut Bourbon Hot Chocolate

2 oz bourbon (we used Four Roses Bourbon)
1 tsp hazelnut syrup*
8 oz hot chocolate
Ground cinnamon andÂ nutmeg to taste

Make the hot chocolate to your liking, then add the bourbon and hazelnut syrup and give everything a stir. Garnish with your favorite hot chocolate topping â€“ mini marshmallows, whipped cream â€“ and some ground cinnamon and freshly ground nutmeg if you like. Enjoy!

*To make the hazelnut syrup, spread 8 ounces of whole hazelnuts over a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.Â BakeÂ at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. While the hazelnuts are baking, add 2 cups of Demerara sugar to 2 cups of water in a small saucepan. Slowly melt the sugar in the water over medium-low heat. Once the sugar is fully dissolved, turn off the heat and set aside. Remove the roasted hazelnuts from the oven and peel. (FYI â€“ I found the easiest way to peel a hazelnut was by roughly rolling the hazelnuts together on the parchment paper) Combine the hazelnuts and simple syrup in a blender or food processor and blend until the hazelnuts are coarsely ground. Strain the resulting hazelnut syrup through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth, then transfer to a swing bottle or jar for storage. Store the syrup in a cool, dark place for up to a month.

This Hazelnut Bourbon Hot Chocolate isÂ warmly nutty and rich, with undertones of spiciness and heat. Perfect for curling up on the couch to watch a movie on a cold winter night, or for drinking around the fire pit with a group of friends! But think of this recipe as more of a guide, not a hard and fast recipe. Want less heat? Try using one ounce of bourbon instead of two. Or if you have more of a sweet tooth, consider upping the hazelnut syrup to 1 1/2 tsp (or to taste). You really can’t go wrong!

Pink Mug: Paper & Clay

Pink Platter: Suite One Studio for Anthropologie

Photo Credits: Nole Garey for Oh So Beautiful Paper

01/27/2017

Well Said Type | 171

FONTS: Archer & Gotham

01/26/2017

The Everyday Mother

As any mother knows, those first few weeks and months can be a total blur of feedings, diaper changes, and very, very, very little sleep. When my first daughter, Sophie, was born four and a half years ago, I remember feeling totally overwhelmed by all the questions from nurses and doctors. How many times did she eat last night? How much did we think she ate? How many diapers did we change? Sophie was born three weeks early and didn’t have allÂ of the extra baby fat of a full term baby, which made it even more important to track her details and make sure she was eating enough. But the only tools that we had to keep track of her details were phone apps and an ugly workbook provided by our hospital. Today I’m super excited to introduce you to a brand new notebook designed to help moms and dads keep track of all the baby essentials â€“ The Everyday Mother!

The Everyday Mother is actually a side project from one of our beloved Designer Rolodex members, Jackie Mangiolino of Sincerely, Jackie. While pregnantÂ with her son Richard, Jackie developed HELLP Syndrome,Â an extremely rare, potentially fatal pregnancy complication that can only be cured by delivery. Jackie welcomed her beautiful baby boy in May 2016 â€“ 14 weeks early. The Mangiolino family spent 99 days in the NICU, and during that time Jackie came up with the idea for The Everyday Mother.

During Richard’s stay in the NICU, Jackie had to keep meticulous notes on her pumping, so she decided to create a template for herself that she could also share with other NICU mothers. After Richard left the NICU, Jackie had to track even more baby details, so sheÂ expanded the original template toÂ make it into a beautiful, spiral bound notebook that ALL families could use. And not only is The Everyday Mother more beautiful than an app on your phone, but it can be used by anyone helping with the baby during those early months â€“ grandparents, nannies and sitters, friends, etc. There’s even a space at the bottom of each page for notes, so The Everyday Mother can double as a quasi-baby book for those bleary first few months.

The Everyday Mother is a spiral bound notebook designed for tracking daily essentials: feeding (breast, pumping, bottle, or all three), diaper changes, and sleep patterns. It even has reminders for mom so they remember to take a shower and drink plenty of water! The hard cover features gold foil printing and gold corner protectors, so it’s durable enough to be tossed in a diaper bag regularly. And the petite size â€“Â 8.5″ x 5.5″ and about .75″ thick â€“ meansÂ it won’t take up a lot of precious diaper bag space. The Everyday Mother includesÂ 180 template pages, covering the first six months of life (or about until when solids are introduced), along with an emergency contacts page and Jackie’s favorite lactation cookie recipe.

Check out The Everyday Mother right here!