Weekend of wedding crafts (with tutorial)

The invitations are almost done! Well, they will be once we actually get all the details (times, etc...) locked down. But the hard part (at least I hope it was the hard part) is done! Three of my girlfriends got together with me this weekend and we had a wedding crafting party.

We watched wedding movies (including Wedding Crashers, Sex and the City and 27 Dresses before getting chick-flicked out and switching to The Tudors) while putting together 75 pocketfolds . . . and for under $30 as long as you don't count the guillotine paper cutter that I purchased (but will use for other projects as well).

I found inspiration for pocketfolds just about everywhere. Ultimately, I had Bridesmaid C design them and she used these instructions by Mrs. Daffodil as guidance. I knew I wanted rectangular invites, though, since square envelopes (for whatever random reason) cost more to mail.

Supplies:

1 sheet of 8.5" x 11" cardstock per pocketfold

1 paper cutter (I highly recommend a guillotine)

1 paper scorer/bone folder (or if you don't have one, use the edge of scissors like I did . . . but it was REALLY hard)

1 stamp of your choice (optional)
1 stamp pad (optional)

1 corner rounder (optional; after reading weddingbee religiously, I made sure to find the kind where you use your whole hand instead of just the thumb punch)

2 boxes of zips (make sure it's high adhesive!)
3 dedicated friends

Steps:

1) Cut the paper into proper dimensions. Make one cut so that you have a 5.5" x 11" sheet. Using the remaining piece of scrap (the 3" x 11" side) make a 5.75" cut. And that other scrap you have? the 5.25" x 3" piece? We found it fits nicely into the pocketfold and can be a little reception card. Waste not, want not . . .

2) Using the 5.75" strip, score the paper .25" from the edge on the bottom and right edge. Cut the strip diagonally from one corner of the scoring to the other (see diagram; cut from point A to point B). Cut triangles on outside of score line to make sure that there isn't a flap sticking out when you fold the score lines up (again, see diagram.) Note that you're cutting the part that will be folded, not the triangle itself! Fold the scored lines and trim as necessary.

3) Now that big piece you have? The 5.5" x 11" sheet? Make two score lines, one 4" from the bottom, the second line 8" from the bottom. Thus, you should end up with three sections: one 3" section on top, a 4" section in the middle and 4" section on the bottom. Fold the scored lines. I used a corner rounder for the top section so that when it folds over it looks a little less harsh, but that's completely optional.

So, the bottom third will be the part with the pocket and will hold our RSVP card, directions and reception card. The middle third will be the ceremony info (we're going to print it out on beige or cream colored paper then glue it into the middle).

4) Go back to your triangle and place a zips strip on the .25" strip that's been folded up. Try not to touch the zips! The beauty of zips is that you can cut the strip to the length desired, press it onto your paper then peel off the backing. That way you don't have to touch this super sticky tape and it will adhere better. Now stick it onto the bottom edge of your big piece. Press it down firmly, otherwise it's not going to stick. For good measure, stick them between heavy books. I found that this project made excellent use of my now retired law school casebooks. Pictured below, in order of size: Constitutional Law, Trade Regulation (a.k.a. Antitrust), Immigration (okay, this one is my fiance's but I figured he wouldn't mind), and Contracts.

5) Prettify your invitation however you choose. Or don't because it looks pretty the way it is. I found a pretty little scrolly/flowery stamp and used it on the front outside of the pocketfold. Be very careful if you use the brilliance ink pad made by tsukineko. Even though it says fast drying, it took a good few hours to fully dry. Thus, a few of ours ended up smudged, but I wasn't really going for perfection and I like the handmade look they have. Do NOT stack the pocketfolds on top of each other while they dry if you stamp them. You will end up with silver ink (or whatever color you choose to use) on the back of each invitation. After they dry, you may want to stack them up and stick them under law books (or telephone books or other heavy items) overnight to make sure those pockets really stay down.

We're not entirely sure yet how to close the invite. Bridesmaid C (and designer/engineer of these pocketfolds) really wants a wide ribbon to tie it all together. Originaly, I was opting for a thin ribbon. Now that I think about it, and given our theme, I'm starting to look into wax seals, maybe with our monogram. I think it would look really awesome, but am a little concerned with the cost.

Anyway, that's what I did this weekend! I'm super excited about how well it all turned out and how much we accomplished. Bridesmaid C was the first to show up around 10 a.m. followed by Bridesmaid L at around 11 and then Friend D at about 1. By 5 p.m. or so we were completely done and Bridesmaid L even got a start on monogram letters. Having three friends really made everything so much more efficient and was a lot of fun! We had a paper cutter, a paper scorerer, paper folder and pocket gluer. Before I knew it we had 75 pocketfolds nestled between a stack of law books. Great job ladies! Thank you for all your help!

DIY Flowers

Real Simple is my savior. I should really think about getting a subscription of it next year (after we're done saving for the wedding and honeymoon) because there are always tons of great tips -- from cooking to cleaning to gift ideas -- I love the unique ideas they have and how simple it all seems.

My current favorite Real Simple project? Turning ordinary supermarket flowers into a bridal boquet! Now, I knew from the start that I was going to do my own flowers because they are so expensive to get them from a florist. Upwards of $200 for just the bridal bouquet and I'd much rather reallocate that money and put it toward our photographer. Wedding budgets are really all about prioritizing -- photography was our top priority and flowers were close to our last priority, but that's just worked for us.

Anwyay, I was a bit terrified about DIYing my own flowers because I have no experience with floral arranging. Real Simple, though, makes it seem so easy and other bloggers have inspired me that one can do her own flowers!

Turn this:



















From Real Simple

Into this:

From Real Simple

There's also a great video tutorial on about.com on how to do your own wedding flowers. When it gets closer to our wedding date, I'll do a test run and post pictures!