Oh Nuts Blog

If you're planning a wedding, or another large celebration, chances are you're trying to strike a balance between having all the perfect touches and keeping costs down. Weddings can be extremely expensive, and it's often difficult to find room in a budget for favors for the guests to take home. If you've been looking for a beautiful, inexpensive way to thank your guests for coming to your wedding, consider making your own Jordan almond wedding favors. Jordan almonds, covered with a glossy sugar shell, are a very traditional wedding favor and are symbolic of the sweet life the bride and groom will share together. I'll show you how to assemble these favors to create beautiful paper cones filled with Jordan almonds, all for less than $1.25 per favor.

To make these wedding favors, you will need:

• Craft paper. I found this beautiful paper in the scrapbooking section of a local crafts store for 99 cents a page. The beauty of using scrapbooking paper is that it's a heavier weight, so the favors are more sturdy and substantial, and there are a huge variety of patterns and colors available. Choose something that goes with your theme!

• Decorative touches, like stickers, small flowers, ribbons, or decals with your initials. I'll be using small pearl fasteners from the bridal section of the crafts store.

• Common office supplies: a ruler, a pencil, scissors, and heavy-duty glue. Especially if your paper is patterned or oddly textured, you will need a stronger glue than your typical glue stick.

• And most importantly, Jordan almonds! I'm using the pastel Jordan almonds selection from Oh Nuts. These are some of the best I've tried. They come in really pretty subtle pastel colors, they're fresh, they're huge, and they're only $5.99/lb.

Start by measuring your paper. My craft paper was 12" by 12", and I measured off 8.5" from one corner of the paper. Draw a straight diagonal line from the top corner to your 8.5" mark at the bottom.

Cut your triangle out. You'll have enough leftover paper to make a second triangle later. You now have a triangle with one leg measuring 12" and one leg measuring 8.5". Note that this triangle makes a large-sized paper cone (about 5" long) so if you want smaller cones, you'll need to experiment and find a triangle size that works for you.

To start folding the cone, hold the paper with the pattern side down, and the point of the triangle facing inward toward you. Keeping your thumb in the middle of the paper, fold the short end inward, forming a cone shape.

Take the long side and wrap it around the cone, bringing it all the way around to the front.

You now have a cone shape, but you probably also have a large hole in the tip, which isn't very attractive. You'll need to adjust the fit of the cone in order to make that hole smaller. You can do this by wiggling the outer layer--the long leg of the triangle--around, adjusting the angle in order to shrink the hole at the bottom of the cone. You want the hole at the tip of the cone to be so small as to be invisible.

We want to give our cone some stability, so take the "tail" of the outer wrap layer--that longer triangle leg that you just finished adjusting--and cover it with glue. Fold it to the inside of the cone and press firmly so that it sticks and you can hold the cone without worrying about it falling apart.

Now it's time for the fun part! Fill the cone with Jordan almonds, leaving some space so that you can fold the top over and seal the cones. For my cones, I used about ¼ cup (1.5 ounces) of Almonds per cone.

Spread a thick layer of glue on the top of your envelope, and firmly press it down on the cone to seal it. Finish off the cones with whatever decorative elements you'd like--stickers work beautifully (and provide an extra level of sealing strength), or ribbons, or buttons, or anything that fits with your wedding.

These Jordan almonds wedding favors look so beautiful, no one will guess how easy and cheap they are to make. The cost breakdown for these particular favors are:

• Paper: 99 cents/page, two triangles per page: 50 cents
  
• Pearl fasteners: 40 pearls for $5: 12 cents
  
• Almonds: $5.99/lb, 1.5 oz per favor, so over 10 favors per lb: 60 cents

The cost is great, but the bigger bonus is getting completely customized wedding favors that look gorgeous, perfectly fit your colors and theme, and, most importantly, will make your guests realize how much you value and appreciate their support at your wedding.

All text and photos (c) 2010 Elizabeth LaBau

Even though kids are heading back to school soon, summer is still in full swing, which means we can be enjoying weekend pool parties and barbeques well into the next month. Along with necessities like sunscreen, snacks, and cold drinks, consider adding candy leis to the list of must-haves at your next big bash.

Candy leis are the perfect accessory or party favor for summer parties--they're playful, colorful, and are a fraction of the cost of traditional flower leis. Here's what you need to make your own candy leis:

Colorful Candy! Candy will be the focus of the lei, so choose candy that tastes great, with an appearance that will really "pop." I'm using Zaza Chewy Fruit Candy and Rainbow Twists, both available from Oh Nuts. There's a great selection of colorful bulk candy on the Oh Nuts website. I think these Fruitomila candies, Laffy Taffys, Sour Balls, and gumballs would also work well.

You will also need cling wrap and curling ribbon.

To make candy leis, start by unrolling a long strip of cling wrap. You'll want at least a yard, but go longer if you're making leis for adults.

Place little clusters of candies an inch apart down the center of the cling wrap. If the candies are very large, just put one, but if they're medium-sized then three or four usually works well--you want the candies to be noticeable, but not so large as to be bulky or uncomfortable.

Take the far edge of the cling wrap and fold it in half so that the candy is encased in the middle of the cling wrap.

Now take the outer edge and fold it back into the center, so you have a double layer of cling wrap around the candy.

At this point I like to pinch between the candy clusters to seal the cling wrap together. It's not entirely necessary, but I think it makes it easier to keep everything in place and to keep the candy clusters together in the candy lei.

Cut the curling ribbon in strips about 6-8 inches long.

Tie the curling ribbon in a double knot in between each cluster of candy in the candy lei, then curl it with scissors. Make sure you also tie the ends tightly.

Bring the two ends of the candy lei together, and tie them tightly with a double knot, curling that ribbon as well.

Your candy lei is now finished! You can also leave it untied and make a candy garland to string across walls or tables. Candy leis and candy garlands make awesome party favors and decorations for summer picnics, pool parties, barbecues, and graduation parties. Ready to make your own candy lei? Start by browsing the Oh Nuts candy selection.

All text and photos (c) 2010 Elizabeth LaBau

Rosh Hashanah falls out this year on September 8th in the evening and continues until nightfall on September 10th. The holiday transitions into the Sabbath on that Friday night.

Rosh Hashanah marks the time when the Jewish people begin saying prayers of repentance for the upcoming Yom Kippur holiday, which falls out 10 days later.

Rosh Hashanah is unlike the typical New Year, where the calendar restarts, but rather falls out on the first of the 7th month of the year. This is because Rosh Hashanah is a celebration of the creation, not the calendar. The Jewish calendar restarts on the first of Nissan, which typically falls out around April.

On the Jewish calendar Rosh Hashanah begins on the 1st of Tishrei and continues until nightfall after the 2nd of Tishrei.

The shofar , a ram’s horn is blown at the synagogue to remind the Jewish people that judgment day (Yom Kippur) is on its way. It is way to frighten people to wake up and repent for their sins.

This holiday is for the Jewish people to repent and make better resolutions for the upcoming year. We try to erase our sins in order to help inscribe us in the Book of Life. We ease the judgment process by doing teshuva, tefila and tzedakah.

Teshuva is a form of repentence. During the month of Elul, we begin reciting “selihot” which are prayers that express our regret and remorse for our ill deeds during the year. Tefilah, means prayer. We try to intensify our prayers in order to get ourselves in the mindset for Rosh Hashanah. Tzedakah can be any form of giving charity.

Take a look at our Rosh Hashanah 2010 Gift lineup

Rosh Hashanah Honey Gifts

Rosh Hashanah Gift Baskets

Rosh Hashanah Traditional Foods

Rosh Hashanah Favors

Rosh Hashanah Judaica Gifts