Wedding Blog

Since we are on a strict budget for the wedding, I decided early on that I would DIY as much as possible (without taking too much on), to save a dime here and there. I fell in love with the idea of pocketfold invitations early on, but websites selling them at over $1/piece, I knew this would be pricey. However, with the help of this DIY pocketfold bio, my creative mind started building a template.

In my template, I have 7×19 inch pieces, and divided it originally as: 3″, 5″, 5″ with 6″ on the end for cutting the pocket out. (Note: I only really needed 7×17 inch pieces for this project if 19″ is hard to find or if you are custom ordering your paper.) However, after scoring my first one, it just didn’t fold into one another naturally. So, I went to another knottie’s blog (heatherkj’s Road to the Aisle) and found in her blog, that she had one 5 1/8″ score then one 5″ score, so that it would fold into one another smoothly. I tried that, and it worked (and it still fit in the A7 envelopes I bought!). 

So here is how to make a pocketfold in 5×7 size. Once, I got in the swing of things, I could pump out 15 of these each hour that I really paid attention to it. This was rare though, because I would mainly do this while watching my reality TV.

Using a Fiskars paper cutter with cutting and scoring blades, you can line up your paper straight with the edge at the top of the cutter to make sure your scores are straight and beautiful. There is a ruler along the cutter to help you find your exact edge for your score for up to 4 inches, and there is an expandable ruler that folds out from under the cutter as well, which you will use for the 5 1/8″ and 5″ scores. Remember, you are only using your scoring blade (grey) at this point. You don’t want to accidentally cut a fold!

Also, the quicker you run the blade along, at least I found, the lines are straighter. Make sure you apply a fair amount of pressure but not too much. You can practice on scraps for a while, but it doesn’t take very long to get a feel for the scoring blade.

For the first score, you will score at 3″, then fold to make a nice flat crease with a bone folder.

 
Here is your first score…it’s hard to take pics and hold down the scorer and give you the idea at the same time, but yeah… here ya go!

For the second score, go another 5 1/8″ (using the fold out ruler under the cutter).

Here I am mid-score!

For the final score, go another 5″.

Here is where you will see the long 6″ leftover piece I ended up with for the “pocket” that I really didn’t need in the end.

Now, this is how to make the pretty pointy edges for the pocketfolds using the template you made.

Take the opening edge and line it up against your 3″ piece, then using a pencil, trace the edge onto your invite. Then cut along the traced edge, either using your cutting blade (orange) or just regular old scissors.

Now, using the same edge on the pocketfold template, invert it and draw it into the 6″ edge (or 4″ if you do the 17″ long piece of paper). The trick is, you want the inner point of the pocket to be 2″ wide. So, what I did was I measure 2 inches inside, then used that as the guide point to draw the pocket in. I used my cutter to cut the pocket, but you can use scissors here too!

Here is the pocketfold before you tape the folder in after all the cuts and folds.

Now, cut pieces of tape onto both the pocket and the 5″ side of the paper. This is another pointer I found off heatherkj’s blog. It helps the tape to stay permanently for the folder.

For this tape, the red tape backing helps you to see where you put the tape and position it. However, peel this off and stick the edges together to form the pocket!

Oooo..ahhhhh..the pocket! (I’m such a happy dork that these look great!)

Here’s a stack of them… there are two this size in total!

And here is a stack of untaped folders. I did end up finding that doing this in steps - score a bunch, cut a bunch, then tape a bunch… it’s easier and a bit quicker!

I used the Strathmore textured paper, which was on clearance at Mister Art because the Marina Teal color was being discontinued. I got the paper for about 80 cents/sheet, and bought up all 40 something odd pages of it! Then, I brought them to Kinko’s and had them laser cut the sheets into 4 pieces. Since the paper is 19×25 inches, it cut into 3 pieces at 7 inches tall, with a 4 inch tall piece leftover along the 25 inch. side. The cuts cost about $5 total, and really saved me quite a headache of cutting perfectly straight 19 in. long pieces.

Now for the supply list:

* Large art paper that is at least 7×17 inches in dimension and is a thick cardstock (80 lb-110lb). (I recommend either Mister Art for the Strathmore paper or Anchor Paper for other brands. Anchor Paper actually carries the Strathmore line as well and still has Marina Teal!)

* Fiskars paper cutter with cutting and scoring blades. I bought my paper cutter years ago at Wal-Mart, so they won’t look the exact same as the one in the pictures you will see. The cutter is also at Michael’s, and you can often get this 40% off with the weekly coupons. The blades are also at Wal-Mart and Michael’s.

* bone folder (Mine doesn’t look like a standard one you will find, but they were in a two pack at Michael’s for $2)

* Terrifically Tacky Tape (at Michael’s for $3/roll, but what I did is bought a bunch at a time with a 25% off TOTAL PURCHASE coupon found in every Bride’s or Martha Stewart Weddings magazine). I found that I needed a roll for every 15-20 invitations.

* Pointy edge templates…you can use scraps to make the perfect pointy edges :). Mine went in/out about an inch on each side total. Just draw it out in pencil until you make what you like!

* pencil to trace pointy edges onto invites

So there you have it brides - how to make a pocketfolder, and it ends up working out to about 35-40 cents/pocketfolder vs. a little over $1. If you start early and do a bit at a time, it’s not as daunting as some people say it is. As a scrapbooker/crafty person, I found this FUN.