But we took a few shortcuts this time.
Michael's ready-to-go invitation kits. I feel like a bad DIY blogger just writing that. But I'm married - I can do what I want! I picked up two packs with 40% off coupons, and was pleasantly surprised that they came with everything needed, even down to the little tape dot to fix the belly band in place.We printed out the cards, with who-knows-what wording. There's not a whole lot of examples for second-invite wording, so I just made something up. It's probably an etiquette nightmare, but I figure it's better to let our guests know about this party before it happens, rather than spend the extra time stressing over wording.
And then, of course - I did stress. The whole thing felt "off" to me because there was pretty much zero work involved. I can't escape the bug, it seems.
So I decided I would add a vellum overlay, punched with a pretty border design. Sak and I had a hard time finding bulk vellum on-the-spot on a certain 8 PM weeknight though - so I picked up a couple pads of cheap tracing paper from Office Depot instead. It's not as durable, of course, but it gives the same translucent effect.
Sak went to work heat-embossing the envelopes; a job he luckily doesn't mind. I was happy for a chance to use some lotus stamps I had dug up from the dollar bin. You know, since I have officially declared the lotus my favorite flower ever.
But before you think that it was all smooth-sailing - let's introduce the Martha punch. Sure, it has a ridiculously cute design, but the thing has a handle straight from hell. I have bruises on both palms now due to the non-friendly, pathetic excuse for a lever.
That, and it refused to cut through my thin tracing paper without tearing. I solved that problem by sandwiching three sheets of tracing paper between sheets of scrap printer paper. Old college notes certainly came in handy!And then! Then the whole contraption decided to get stuck in the "pressed" position. The springs that lift the punch refused to pop back up, and I could not jiggle it around to free the horrible little thing. Solution? A hammer, straight to the backside of the punch.
It worked, but somehow I don't think it was made to be hammered after every use. I looked for tips online, and found that punching through wax paper can help keep the device from sticking.
It worked! Thank goodness for the internet.
After punching out some very pretty tracing paper, I slipped it inside the invitation, and we sealed the envelopes up. No RSVP cards this time, everything will be done online. Supposedly.
Eighty invitations, finished in one day! It's possible!
Are you using pre-made invitation packs at all? They certainly are less time-consuming and stressful than DIY!
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The invites are still really cute, even though they on;y took one day and were semi-homemade! Love the look of the Martha punches, but I also suffered from bruised palms after punching 250 of our invites. I used foil to sharpen it and wax paper to prevent it from sticking - but I think I'm going to avoid those border punches from here on out!
ReplyDeleteThey are very cute!! :-D And I like the vellum touch, plus the embossing and stamping. I would've just left it as it.... haha. And if you think about how many people save the invites, you feel a lot better using pre-made ones, yah? And tracing paper is a great ghetto vellum. Been there, done that. :] I like the flower cluster on the front.
ReplyDeleteThese came out so great! It would have taken me weeks though, and mine wouldn't come out nearly as nice :)
ReplyDeleteThere are wedding invitation kits made out of handmade paper, book styles and vintage styles with letterpress printed designs. Cost more than the Michael's kits though:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.invitesite.com/weddings/All-wedding-invitations.php
I like what you did with the vellum and the punches -- dressed up the invitations really beautifully!