Lucy's invitations are printed, and I am LOVING them. Pictures do not do them justice - they are printed on the prettiest pearlized card stock.  I took the file to Staples and they printed 15 4x6s for me (five sheets of paper) for just under $7.


I already had some 4x6 envelopes on hand, but they were just white and well, that's boring. It felt wrong to put something so pretty into something so plain, so I decided to jazz them up a bit.  Ready for the easiest DIY project ever?



I simply went on Google and searched for "vintage lace background," found the one I liked, opened it up in Publisher to the size I wanted it (just slightly more narrow than the envelopes) and printed them off.  Then, using a paper cutter, I cut them down to size.



My next step was to glue my paper and then just slip it in the envelope, pressing it down to make it stick.



The only problem?  Slapping pretty paper on the inside doesn't help the envelope look pretty upon arrival.  So I took my same lace image, opened it up in Publisher, cropped it down to the sizes I needed for return labels and address labels, then typed up the addresses in both.  I printed them off, cut them  out and glued them on with a glue stick.

Seriously - easiest upgrade ever.  Best part?  It was free.  Between designing these invites myself and fixing up some envelopes I already had, I managed to spend less than $7 on a great first party impression.  Hope our friends and family enjoy opening these up!

Go big or go home, right?  I'm completely immersed in birthday planning right now and I am having so much fun.  This kind of thing?  It's kinda my jam.  I'm starting as early as I can and working on little projects along the way.  I want to have everything outside of food done a week out so I can just relax and enjoy my baby's big milestone.  I'll share details along the way.  First stop: invites.  I knew I wanted to have a really girly, lace and pearls themed party, so I perused Pinterest and Etsy and found a few invites that I was inspired by:

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I picked and chose elements from each invite, but I mostly loved the structure of the first one.  I used Photoshop to put the whole thing together, and this is what I came up with:

Personal info removed because hi, internet crazies.

I love the result.  They are super feminine with just a punch of glitz. I'm contemplating putting actual glitter where the glitter graphics are, but I don't know if everyone wants the mess that may come along with that.  I'm still thinking about it.

The to do list:

• Make guest list
• Make invitations
• Send invitations
• Buy cups, plates, napkins, utensils
• Wrap utensil sets
• Create a menu
• Find punch dispenser
• Find lace table cloth
• Make tissue poms for above table
• Make tinsel garland for front of table
• Find and paint large frame for photo booth
• Create chalkboard thought bubble for photo booth
• Make bowties for photo booth
• Find costume pearls for photo booth
• Make and frame suggestions for photo booth
• Make party hat for Lucy
• Print black and white pictures to hang on twine between trees
• Find quilt for Lucy to open gifts on
• Find vintage sheets for guests to picnic
• Test cupcake recipes (twist my arm!)
• Find naturally sweetened recipe for smash cake
• Find cupcake stand
• Find table (borrow from church or Y?)
• Make display tags for food
• Make large bubble wand and bubble mixture for kiddos to play with
• Repaint cornhole boards (if there's time)
• Buy and wrap the nugget's gifts