Customized Party Invitations for Pennies on the Dollar!

This post is a re-run from the League of Super Heros and Villains Invitations post in 2009 with some significant improvements, clearer instructions and larger images so you can make your own party invitations too.

Last year J wanted a super hero slash super villain party theme. To keep things on the cheap, I had the kids arrive in their favorite Halloween costumes. Princesses can be super heroes too!

To save even more money on party invitations, I got really creative and made them from supplies I already had lying around the house. I downloaded the Star Wars font to add a graphic novel flair to the invites! I searched online until I found a graphic I liked. (Remember to check copyright and user agreements before using any image from a site.) I uploaded it on Photobucket to add some text but this can done in Photoshop or some other photo editing software.

 

Once the imagery is set up, onto wording the invitation. Wording the invitation is a critical step in establishing a great theme right off the bat! I searched the internet for phrasing ideas. This was the hardest part!

Homecoming is Here!!!

Hubby finally made it home! We had the house decorated with streams and a “Welcome Home” banner I made with the help of my Cricut machine and Glue Dots. He really loved the whole party atmosphere. Helium balloons and confetti would have made it even better but I’m working on a low budget right now plus the cleanup would have been a b#$%@!!!

Have a Kickin Valentine's

It's hard to find boy themed Valentines that aren't cheesy or "lame" as my son would say...especially the older he gets. This is why I planned to make some awesome Valentine's that are macho and play right to my kid's preferences.

My original idea was to create Secret Mission Valentines for J-Man. He loves all the Super Secret Spy stuff so I thought this would be a nice way to "man up" a valentine. I had grand plans of making tiny mission folders with secret missions, code words, along with spy glasses (black rimmed sunglasses with a red film inserts). I had dreams of making him a cool sleek black briefcase to take his Secret Mission Valentines to school, dress him in a button up shirt, black tie, black rimmed sunglasses, and slick hair. You know, like those guys in the Matrix or Mission Impossible (before they're all banged up from fighting some sort of terrorist on a boat or plane that blew up with them on board somehow killing the bad guy but the devilishly handsome good guy walks away with a little limp, some dirty smudges around his face but otherwise in great shape and wrinkle free clothes!) That was the look I was aiming for but alas those dreams of a Secret Spy Valentine haved dissolved.

After dealing with a horrible sinus infection for over two weeks, I didn't have the energy or time to find all the supplies to execute this idea properly AND make all the goodies we are suppose to take to his Valentine's Day school party. On top of Valentine related planning, I am planning J-Man's birthday excursion. (His birthday is Thursday and am obligated by the universal mom code to make cupcakes for the class. This is the day BEFORE the Valentine's Day party so I'm going to be a busy little bee the next few days.) Oh well...onto the back up plan.

The back up plan is simple. J-Man takes Taekwondo and loves it so I thought a Martial Arts inspired Valentine would be perfect for my little guy! With his help and invaluable input we worked out his new Valentine this afternoon. It's not as elegant as the one I originally planned but it does not require any cutting or pasting. He helped make it and we're awefully proud. I'll even share it with you in case you need a quick original Valentine.  (Just click the image to open a new window to either download or print the image for you own use)

The Karate Valentine is printed on plain white paper with a 1/4 page fold so it's economical and you only print what you need. All the images used are from free clipart so it didn't cost us anything to make. Just a few minutes together which is priceless!

Spooky Treats on the Ghost Train

This is awesome! There's over 100 designers who are contributing to the Ghost Train. Images, tags, brag books, and so much more will be up for grabs. I can't wait to snatch up some great free Halloween goodies. Who says trick-or-treating is just for kids???

Spring Clipboard Craft

With a few items and a creative spark, you can have a fun and attractive clipboard. This is a great & inexpensive way to spruce up your office area, jazz up a locker, or add some spunk to a dorm room.

Here's a super easy way to make your own Spring Clipboard!

Gather your supplies:

• clipboard
• scissors
  
• scrapbook paper
  
• fabric
• silk flowers
• floral wire (optional)
  
• polyurethane
  
• mineral spirits
• foam paint brush
• fine grit sandpaper
• trash twist tie
• hot glue gun
  

Decide on your design. You can use any number of fabric/paper combinations to decorate the clipboard. You can set it up like a scrapbook page or simply cover it in fabric. The design options are limitless! Have all your pieces cut and ready to go before moving to the next steps.

Tie the clipboard clip open with the twist tie. This will help in the next step.

With your foam paint brush, spread a light layer of clear polyurethane on the clipboard. Add your fabric adjusting it till your happy with it's placement. Spread another layer of clear poly over the fabric. Place your paper pieces according to your design. Apply several layers of clear polyurethane to the entire clipboard until it is thick enough to provide a smooth writing surface. Allow each coat to dry in between. Sand any air bubbles to obtain a glassy smooth surface.

Create your pen holder by wrapping half the length of the floral wire around a skinny marker or an over-sized pen. Add any embellishments like buttons or ribbon. Use the other half of the floral wire to hook to the small hole on the clipboard's back.

Add your flower to the clip with a dab of hot glue.

You can make this using photos, newspaper clippings, post cards, etc. Pinking shears would also add a little something to the fabric design but I don't have any so I just trimmed mine with a straight edge and rotary cutter. You can also use modge podge or even a paint glaze instead of the clear polyurethane. No matter how you put it it together, this makes a great gift and can be customized to fit anyone's personality and home decor!

I was inspired by Christy Nelson's May Craft Challenge. Once you sign up for her challenge, Christy sends you the SUPER SECRET craft packet along with the directions on how the challenge works. Once you get your crafty goodies, then it's up to you to create something unique and upload the photos to her Flickr group. I can add anything to the list of Christy's supplies but I had to use at least a little bit of EVERYTHING she sent. This is where it gets challenging!

So what did you create this month???

League of Super Hero's & Villains Invitations

This is the theme of Joey's birthday party next weekend. How fantastic does that sound? To set the tone of the party and our guests expectations, I got really creative with the invitations. I managed to find and download the Star Wars font which added a little extra oomph to the invites! I found a graphic I liked online, loaded it on Photobucket and added some text. I searched the internet for ideas on wording my invitation-which was the hardest part! I used a word processor and printed it on regular copy paper. To give the text the scrolling appearance, start the first line with a small font then enlarge the font every few lines. Toss in some tin foil and off white/beige colored card stock and you've got a great party invite.

I cut the card stock in half length wise for an overall size of 8"x5 1/2". The cards were folded in half so it opens from the bottom up. From there it's a matter of cut and paste!

 

The first image is the invitation cover. I glued a tin foil square to my card stock then glued the printed images to the tin foil. The second image is the invites message mounted to the inside bottom half of the card stock. I wanted to include a Schedule of Events to give everyone an idea of what we'd be doing and the refreshments we're serving. This was mounted to the back of the invitations.

To make things a little easier for the parents, I also created a Save the Date card. Again, it was very simple using the graphic I created for the invitation cover and the most pertinent information all printed on a business card. I wanted to jazz it up a bit on the inside so I mounted tin foil to the upper inside flap. Photo corners secured the card inside the invitation to ensure it made it from here to school to the child's home! So far everyone's loved the invitations! I just hope the rest of the party turns out just as wonderful!

Just a note to all you paper crafters out there-I don't know how you display your creations so lovely! I tried snapping some pictures and scanning; still my presentation doesn't compare to how so many of you display your gorgeous creations! I bow to the paper crafting queens of bloggyland!

Inexpensive & Original Infant Gift

So there's a new bundle of joy you wish to welcome into the world but have no idea how to celebrate other than the traditional diaper bag gifts. Well ponder no more! I have a completely unique, original, & totally frugal gift idea to offer the new blessing: Decorative Print Art

The idea came to me after my third child, Daniel, was born. I wanted to decorate his crib area with something that was original, tasteful, & inexpensive (let's face it-after three children, money gets tight). His crib was in a common area of the house, a dining room converted to nursery (not only was money tight, so was space). I surfed the net a little, where I found tons of information on infant visual stimuli (don't bother asking me how I stumbled on it, I just remember finding the images & having that "WOW what a great idea" moment). There was tons of medical jargon & research (boring, right?), but then I hit the jackpot. There were tons of images designed & published for parents to use. I had the images I wanted to use now, I needed a way to display them where they looked nice but were in a place Daniel could see them. I didn't want the room to be over-powered by the strongly contrasting images since his nursery was in a common area. I chose a 3x3 print out of the image inserted into clear photo corners (typically used in scrapbooks) which was placed on a slightly larger piece of cardstock. The clear photo corners allow me to change out the print when Daniel got older & found different types of images interesting. A couple of holes punched at the top of each corner with some raffia threaded through & tied into a nice bow finished the item. My card stock backing was cut at 4x4 1/2. (1/2" wider than my print except at the top which was 1" wider than the image to allow for the ribbon)

Now to figure out how to display them. We already had a nice mobile a family member had given us during a baby shower so I chose to use the clear 3M hooks & hang them by his crib area. If you prefer to make a mobile, you may want to put an image on both sides of the card stock. Additionally, this would look wonderful printed as an 8x10, matted & framed.

The possiblities are endless and limited only to the creativity of the person taking on the project. This project idea is easily customizable with different images and applications. Additionally this would make a great baby shower, birthday, Christmas, or even a christening gift.

Here is a pdf from http://baby.zorger.com of the 20 different free images that can be used for a project like this or feel free to find your own online.

Happy Crafting!