Impress your family and friends this Year of the Rabbit 2023 with this cute Chinese New Year Ang Pow candy pouch! This candy pouch is made from ang pow/red packet/red envelope and you can fill it with lots of sweeties and chocolates. If you are feeling rich, you could even fill them with cash instead! Everyone would love to receive one! Or you can make a few to decorate your house or your house plants.
Today, I will show you two different sizes of candy pouches, which I made from small and large rectangular sized ang pows. There is not much difference in the step-by-step instructions. The only difference is the stapling on both sides of the pouch, which I will show you in the photo.
This candy pouch craft only uses 6 ang pows and will look great as a gift, display or wall decoration. It is so easy to make too. For the small rectangular ang pows, it measures approximately 14 cm by 12 cm by 11 cm (h x l x w), not including the red string or Chinese knot tassel. For the large rectangular ang pows, it measures approximately 17 cm by 13 cm by 9 cm (h x l x w), again, not including the red string or Chinese knot tassel. The rating of difficulty is 2 out of 5, which should take roughly 30 minutes to complete.
This craft will work well with ang pows containing big gold wordings and semi-thick materials. If your ang pows are too thin or soft, they will not keep their shape very well. If the ang pows are too thick, the materials might have lots of creases and tears around the corners.
To make this, you will require:
- 6 long rectangle ang pows / red envelopes
- Stapler & staples
- Ruler & scissors
- 50 – 60 cm red string or red satin ribbon
- 1 Chinese knot tassel
Step-by-step instructions:
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To make the exterior of the candy pouch, you will need 4 ang pows. Fold the ang pow into half horizontally but don’t press the fold all the way down. Instead, just press the two corners of the join down. This is a marker for later use.
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Start from the bottom sides of the ang pow by folding both corners inward. Make sure that you fold the design on the ang pow inwards to the back of the ang pow. Repeat for the other three ang pows. I like to use a ruler to guide me.
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Fold the ang pow into half vertically but don’t press the fold all the way down. Instead, just press the two corners of the join down. This is a marker for later use.
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Now fold the top sides of the ang pow inwards from the top middle marker of the ang pow to the halfway point marker of the ang pow. Make sure that you fold the back of the ang pow inwards to the front of the ang pow. Repeat for the other three ang pows. Again, I like to use the ruler to guide me.
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To make the base of the candy pouch, you will need 2 ang pows. Fold 1 ang pow into half horizontally but don’t press the fold all the way down. Instead, just press the two corners of the join down. This is a marker for later use.
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Fold all four corners of the ang pow inwards. Make sure that you fold the design on the ang pow inwards to the back of the ang pow.
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Fold one ang pow horizontally to fit in between the gap of the base of the ang pow as shown and staple as close to the end of the ang pows. This ang pow helps to cover the holes on the side of the ang pow. As for the large rectangular pouch, it helps to secure the exterior ang pows.
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To make the pouch, lay the four exterior ang pows around the base as shown. Now staple as close to the fold as possible. Also, I like to put two staples on both end corners of the ang pows. It will ensure the pouch won’t have any gaps or holes.
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To staple both sides of the ang pows, take two corners of different ang pows and overlap each other as shown to staple. I did fold/tuck in a tiny corner so that it will not have sharp corners pointing out of the pouch. I only used one staple on each side. If you wish, you can put a few more staples to secure them.
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If you are using the large rectangular ang pows, straighten the corners and staple them onto the base of the ang pow’s flaps as shown.
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Now we are going to staple the top. Make sure all ang pows are bent in the middle before stapling them together.
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Staple one side of ang pow number 1 to ang pow number 2 only as shown. Try to staple it close to the joint, please see the photo. I placed one near the middle and two on the end of the ang pow.
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Staple one side of ang pow number 3 to ang pow number 4 only as shown. Try to staple it close to the joint. I placed one near the middle and two on the end of the ang pow.
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Now we are going to make the cutting for the top part of the pouch. Cut from the middle towards the top (diagonally), just above the middle staple and before hitting the staples on the top. Cut a 7 cm slit. Do the same for the rest. Cut carefully, especially for those corners that are not stapled. I would recommend cutting around 1-2mm above the folds.
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Take both cut flaps of the same ang pow, cross them over like how you might cross arms and staple them together. Please see the photo and do the same for the rest.
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Fill the pouch with goodies. I think chocolate gold coins will be very welcome for many children.
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Wrap the Chinese knot tassel around the neck of the candy pouch. Use either a red string or ribbon to close the pouch.
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Now the candy pouch is ready to be gifted!
I hope you like this candy pouch idea! Do you prefer the small or large version of this candy pouch? Personally, I love the large candy pouch as I can fill it with a lot of goodies in there!
Let me wish my readers a Happy Chinese New Year, especially to those who celebrate. May this new year bring you and your family affluence in health and wealth!
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