Gettin' Crafty: Baby Shower Invites

So, I'm not the crafty type. I don't hoard buttons or save bottlecaps for the ever-elusive craft project--I'm just lazy and don't throw them out.

But, lately, I"ve gotten the crafty bug. I want to hot glue EVERYTHING! Think Paris Gellar's craft corner: 

It started with making hand-made Christmas ornaments out of scrabble tiles for my friends and family, then bachelorette party invitations. Now: baby shower invites! 

My friend Becca just found out she and her husband are expecting a baby girl in September. Having no siblings and therefore no potential nieces/nephews, I am claiming "aunt" to all of my friends' kiddos. That starts with helping throw a baby shower in June for the beautiful mama!

So, I as in the process of creating some invite on Vistaprint. Easy, cheap, cute, right? But then I got to pinning. Oh boy, Pinterest can be the devil. It can make you think you are crafty when really, you're not that crafty (I've since created a board called "Crafts I'd like to make, but let's be honest"). I saw the CUTEST baby shower invites. So stinking cute. And then I thought, I bet I could make those! So one morning, I had a few minutes to spare before work and some leftover card stock from the bachelorette invites and voila! A prototype was born.

So, I went to Archiver's to collect more scrapbook paper. Again, surprisingly, not a whole lot to choose from. But I made do and got lots of supplies. Did I tell you there were 75 ish folks invited? Yep, I got LOTS of paper.

After I made the prototype, I pulled it apart and traced the top on all of the colored paper I had. You can fit four per page whether letter size paper or 12" x 12". I bought 12" x 12" because they had more color/pattern options.

But then I was looking at the patterned paper I bought and thought: hey, I bet these would look cute if I made onesies. So again, I made a prototype and traced away.

I also designed the "invite" portion to glue on the back and a business card size insert that had registry info on it. 

All parts have been cut and are ready for assembly:

I use a plain old Elmer's Glue Stick. It works pretty great!

I had some scraps from the scrapbook paper, so to give the registry inserts a polished look, I glued them onto a larger piece of scrap.

The finished product:

You thought I was finished, right? Nope. Remember the whole 75 ish invites thing? It's still a work in progress. But I loved these too much to scrap the idea and go buy pre-made invites.

I've had tons of fun making these and I've been showing them to anyone who halfway cares. Because they are pretty cute. And relatively easy to make. I'll let you know how I feel when I've finished them all!

UP NEXT....ABC has released the cast of this season's Bachelorette! Stay tuned for an in-depth analysis of these "winners" the producers picked out for our girl Des. AND, listen to this podcast to prepare.

DIY Bachelorette Invites

So, my best friend is getting married in July! Naturally, I'm throwing her a bachelorette party! We're doing something a little different--going to paint pottery at this awesome place called Baked Goods in STL, grabbing dinner at a great Italian place called Gianino's, and then heading out for dancing and drinks at Jive & Wail.

While at Baked Goods, we'll be dong a personal shower and I cannot wait! Instead of just listing the bride's sizes on the invite (which I designed on Vistaprint--super easy, great price!), I thought I'd make a separate insert inspired by Pinterest.  Here's my take:

I got my supplies at Archiver's because I had a gift card. I was looking for pre-cut bras/panties or bra/panty stickers. Surprisingly, no such luck at the scrapbooking mecca. As I was on my lunch break (already running late), I had to improvise on the spot. So, I decided to make my own cutouts and get super crafty. To make 18 inserts I bought:

• 3-12" x 12" bachelorette themed, double-sided pieces of card stock
• 3-8.5" x 11" pink, raised dot pieces of card stock
• 1 Galaxy Marker in white

I cut the 12" x 12" paper into six 4" x 6" pieces. To make the bra and panty shapes, I folded a scrap piece of cardstock in half and free-handed half a bra and panty. This is not as easy as one might think--I am so not artsy. And clip art was no help! Thankfully these shapes are symmetrical so I only struggled through half the shape, knowing the other half would automatically match once cut. I think I ended up with a pretty good stencil:

I then traced eighteen of these prototypes (folded in half) along the fold of a strip of the pink paper. Then I cut them out. A lot of cutting. Are scissor hands a real thing? Like tennis elbow?

Glue each bra and panty (glue sticks work best in my experience).to a piece of the 4" x 6" paper and decorate with the galaxy marker. I wrote the sizes on the bra and panty and then decorated with some dots. Here's the finished product:

I typed up registry info and pasted it on the back too--in case someone didn't want to go the lingerie route. It's important to make guests comfortable!

If you're super crafty/techy, you could probably make a template that is printable. I encourage you to do so, but I know that each of my invites look unique and that's kind of cool!