I have a love/hate relationship with invitations. I want to send guests beautiful, thoughtful invitations via US Mail that set the tone for the party, but I also hate forking out hundreds of dollars for something that will likely be tossed in the trash. And while I’m happy to splurge on something like Christmas cards or baby announcements, for a birthday party, I look for something more economical.
For Ruby’s 2nd, I decided to try my hand at using digital art. I didn’t totally know where to start, so I turned to the Etsy search bar. I typed in “teepee invitation” and to my surprise, at least a dozen digital art options popped up. I next typed in “teepee digital art” and found exactly what I was looking for.
For around $5, you can purchase a collection of themed digital art from a graphic designer. Many come in packages of sorts, so the only thing you need to decide on is the font. I purchased these two found here and here:
I used Photoshop to create a new image, then copied, pasted, and and resized each piece of art I wanted into the invitation. I used a little bit from each collection. Then I found a few fonts I liked and put the details on the invitation.
Once everything was how I liked it, I saved the invitation on a jump drive and headed off to Kinkos. There are two different, very economical ways to print these out. The first is to go to a copy shop, have the invitations printed on paper, then cut to size. This is what I opted for this time around and it cost me just over $11 for 30 invitations, including cuts. Not too shabby. The other option, which I have done before for a baby shower invitation, is to save the file as a jpg and print it out at a photo center, like Costco, as a 4×6. This is the less expensive option (it cost me around $6 for 40 invitations), but it is on photo paper. It looks just as good, just feels different.
For envelopes, I went to Michaels and bought a package of brown envelopes. With a coupon, it was under $4 for 50. I included a single feather with each invitation to set the tone for the Pow Wow and I love how they turned out.
I will definitely be doing this again for my next party! What are your favorite economical party invite tricks?
Up tomorrow– I’m sharing the party reveal. It was such a sweet and special day! I’m excited to show you all the details.
This is amazing! I always loved the idea…but never really knew how to execute it. Great mini tutorial. I will definitely be trying this out for my babe’s future parties!
Xo,
Traci
Thank you! It really was so easy!