Our DIY Wedding: Part 3 - Mail

This is the last installment (I think) of our DIY Wedding series.  I'm anxious to get started on some tutorials. So, that should be coming soon.

For this last installment, I decided to cover the wedding items that had to be mailed out.

First was the Save the Dates.  We actually went rather simple with these.  One weekend, we went out with our tripod, and Eric's new camera, and took some pictures with the camera timer, and Eric doing a lot of running. :)  We picked one that we liked, did some customization on it using Paint.NET (free software), took the image to Costco for prints, and sent them out.  Here's how it turned out.

Next, the invitations.  I did all the design work and printing at home.  I printed the information on cardstock (cheap at Big Lots!) and bought some corresponding scrapbook paper for the outer cover of the invite.  I wrapped it all with a soft mesh ribbon before placing it into the envelope.  Here's how it looked.

Once the wedding was over, I wanted to make something special with the thank you cards. Here's what I came up with.  Also, I wanted to play with embossing powder and a heat gun. :)

And lastly, the announcements.  Since our wedding was on the smaller side and a destination wedding, there were several relatives and friends that we were unable to invite.  So, I created these announcements with a "save the date" / invitation to a local family bbq reception.

That's it.  :)  Hope this helps inspire ideas.

Tutorials are coming soon. :)

Easy to Make Mini Card Notepad

I thought of this project a couple of weeks ago when I saw CraftyPod's post about one of her Maker Faire projects. I recently became interested in book binding, and decided to give it a shot with two cards from one of my many deck of cards that I bought from Vegas for cheap. I don't know why, but I like collecting the dealer cards from different casinos. Anyway, I sacrificed one deck for this project.

Here's how I made it:

Materials:
- 2 cards from a deck of cards.
- paper (I used some used printer paper that had a blank side)
- contact cement (or other glue would probably work)
- some paper package tape
- some type of clamp (I used a chip clip and some binder clips)

How to:
1. I cut the paper into rectangles the size of the the cards. Stack up the paper and cut using an exacto knife.

2. Stack the paper together with the blank side all facing the same direction. Place the two cards you're going to use on both sides of the stack of paper. I like the back of the card showing on the outside.

3. Align the side of all of the papers and cards on at least one side. And clamp on opposite side so that the aligned side is exposed (because we're going to glue it)


4. Put a thin layer of contact cement on the exposed edge, and set it all aside for 5-10 minutes (to let the contact cement dry).

5. Once it's dry, put a small piece of paper packaging tape on the edge. You may have to cut the packaging tape so it isn't too big for the small notepad. I cut the tape to about 1 inch width and a length longer than the notebook. Fold down the tape and trim the edges.



And there you have it. I'd let it sit for a little while longer in case the glue isn't fully dry, but it should all hold in place.


These notepads are the perfect size to carry in your pocket. I love them already.