Thursday, January 26, 2012

Homemade Invitations

I have always had a love for stationary, cards, anything paper! When I was a child, I loved collecting stickers...I had numerous sticker albums filled with lots of fun stickers! And, I always loved going to camp and getting new pen pals! Writing letters was such a fun hobby - and picking out the stationary or card was just as much fun...return address labels, cute stamps, you name it - and, I loved it! And, still do...cute paper, cards, labels - anything paper makes me smile...I always say, maybe one day I'll learn more about graphic design...But, for now, I'll look for ways to be creative:)

For Elisea's birthday, we had a small party with her church friends...I knew I wanted to do a pancake and pajama party...LOVED the idea when I saw it online a while back...what could be better, kids waking up and heading over in their pj's!

My PRO list for a similar party:
1. Parents don't have to change their children out of their pj's!
2. Children 3 and under are usually most happy in the morning!
3. Pancakes are an economical choice when planning on a budget and super-fun to do w/children with all the fun toppings!
4. And, that could mean an omelette bar and coffee for the parents! Which is also budget friendly:)
5. A morning party means it's over by lunch which gives you as a family the rest of the day together!

So, as you can tell, I was super-excited about this party...and, even though I knew I could tell our friends by word of mouth, I still love a cute invitation! Just one of those things that I find joy in...So, I started looking online...

These were all adorable options I found...And, I love etsy and have used it before for invitations.
 via etsy

via etsy

via etsy

But, for budget friendly purposes, I decided I would try and make our own.
And, this is what I came up with...nothing incredibly special,
but pretty cute I think.


First,  I opened Word and changed my document size to 5x7.
Next, I added 2 columns onto the document.
I then googled for a pancake graphic image.
And, found this one:

via google

Then, I just typed the invitation.  I had previously downloaded the fun fonts
I used from here.  I had this pack of plain white greeting cards, so I used these
 to print the invitation on...you could also use a regular piece of cardstock.

 I had this pink cardstock leftover from Elisea's first birthday, so I cut it to the
right size and used it for the back of the invitation.

Lastly, I grabbed this ribbon I've had for years, and cut two strips and taped
them down using the scrapbook adhesives - love these squares!


End Result:

So, next time you have a party and need invitations, check out your own supplies first! It really is fun to think of ways to create something using only
what you already have...especially if you enjoy making things!
 Here's for inspiration! 

4 comments:

Maury @ Life on Mars said...

Very cute and looks professional! Nice job!

Christy said...

Thanks, Maury!!

The Fryes said...

Too cute! I love the pancakes and pajama idea and your invites turned out great!!

Christy said...

Thanks, Courtney! It was a super-fun party and the invites were fun to create! Thank you!! :) So fun to hear from you, too!!