Wedding Blog

It’s finally time to show off our invitations! I was SO happy with the work Laura Hooper did for us on both our STDs and invitations! Here are a few shots of the final product! If you see any smudgy-looking spots it is due to my POOR photo editing skills (I took out some personal information).

The envelope. I didn’t do inner and outer envelopes, just outer! It saved us money and was eco-friendly!

The invite

Wedding weekend activities card with Pirate Ship and Kissing Fish illustrations

Lovely envelope calligraphy

Envelope liner

I am REALLY pleased with the way they came out! My mom called me today to tell me that everyone is telling her how much they love them! She said that with all the bad news surrounding the state of the economy lately, everyone has been happy to receive something bright, cheery, and whimsical in the mail!

But let’s get to those postcards! I admit that I am a perfectionist/masochist for even attempting to improve on Laura Hooper’s amazing work! But I was comforted after my last post by how many other Weddingbee readers would have felt icky about leaving the backsides naked! My friends/family/fiance think I am pretty crazy for the lengths I went to in order to jazz up these postcards. They are probably right, but I’m happy I did it because I was thrilled with how they turned out and proud of the whole invitation suite when I (finally) sent them out!

It all started several months ago. When I had already ordered the postcards and was trying to decide how to spruce up the backsides, I came across this paper at Michael’s. I thought it would be perfect for covering the backs of the postcards. I wasn’t sure that it would match the invites exactly since I hadn’t received them yet, so I bought one sheet and decided to wait until I could tell if they were a match. Well, when the invitations arrived I discovered that the paper was, in fact, a perfect match! The fun, swirly, aqua design matched Laura’s whimsical calligraphy perfectly!

I set out for my nearest Michaels only to find that the paper was nowhere to be found! I had the bar code from the one sheet in my possession and the store clerk told me that the style, “Metallic Swirls” had been on clearance for a while and it was now sold out. In fact, she said she hadn’t seen any in a while. I was dismayed. What an amateur mistake! I had no idea paper moved in and out of stores so quickly!

I needed to send our invites out ASAP and I didn’t have the paper for their backing! I searched high and low at Michaels and Hobby Lobby for paper that matched the invites, but nothing compared to my beautiful Metallic Swirls! I decided that there HAD to be a Michaels in our area that still carried the paper. I had Mr. K go to two Michaels’ in San Antonio where he lives. Meanwhile, I visited SEVEN Michaels’ in the Austin area searching for the paper (if you’re counting, that’s nine Michaels’ between us!). At Michaels #5 I FINALLY found the paper. It was on a clearance rack buried under other paper, but I spotted it! All 22 pages of the glorious Metallic Swirls!

To adhere the paper to the postcard, I ran each postcard through my Xyron 5″ Creative Station. One advantage of going to nine Michaels’ was that I could use this coupon (which can only be used once per day per store on one item) nine times! So, with all my Xyron cartridges 40% off, using it for about 100 postcards cost me about $40. Here is the step-by-step:

Insert postcard, face up, into Xyron machine with “Permanent Adhesive” cartridge.

Crank Xyron handle until postcard comes out of the other side, encased in film and adhesive backing.

Cut film after postcard is all the way through.

Using NONSTICK scissors, trim the extra Xyron backing from postcard. It is important to do this before you remove the postcard from the film and backing. If you don’t, the edges of the postcard will become sticky and stick to the other contents in your invitation envelopes. Trust me, I know from experience.

Peel off Xyron film and backing and carefully adhere as many postcards as possible to each sheet of paper. Carefully trim the excess paper from the postcards.

The finished product. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself.

Relax with a glass of wine. Delegate all envelope-sealing duties to fiance.

Have you ever experienced a major roadblock while DIYing? What did you do?