My oldest is turning 5. Already! She is super excited to have her first real, everybody's invited, birthday bash. In fact I've been stalling her planning process since before Christmas! Now is the time. So we planned it all out and, like with everything I do, we strategized. What would be most fun? What would be the most economical? What would be a reasonable amount of work to put in? These were all questions we needed to address, and did. A beach bash was decided on and a guest list and menu were made.
First up in the execution stage: the invitations. My oldest was adamant that we mail invitations. I get that, kids LOVE mail. Heck, I love mail that isn't a bill, right? I didn't want them to look cheesy or mass-produced, that's clearly not my thing. But of course I didn't want to spend an arm and a leg on something that, ultimately, will just be thrown away. So I reverted to an old standby I love to employ, stamps and ink.
I have an enormous amount of brightly colored card stock. I was at the craft store months ago and they had a sale. So I have roughly 2000 pieces of card stock, rainbow colored, that cost me $25. That's like what, a penny a page? I also have a pair of decorative cut scissors. Side note here, these things are kind of a pain in the rear to use. I have mastered the use of them but I still don't get the result I want all the time. Their use requires patience. You've been warned. Straight scissors would work just as well, and quicker, too!
My oldest and I went to the craft store and purchased a new stamp for the endeavor. She had settled on a beach theme so we focused our attentions in that direction. Lo-and-behold, a mermaid little girl, with long flowing hair. SOLD! (Less than $10...and I know I'll use this one again!)
I typed up our invitation and printed it, in columns, to get 2 to each page. I cut the card stock in half the short way, getting two invitations per page. We stamped one side of each invite and let them dry. Then we folded each one in half, creating a small card. Then we glued the invitation to the inside and wrote a short birthday message on the inside cover.
I also, sealed it together with a small tab of glue and used the back as an address label and sent the whole thing through the mail. No envelopes to buy. We did pay for stamps, around $15. She is so proud of her invitations and I'm thrilled to have a huge number of people invited for such a low cost.To top it all off they are cute, unique, and partially designed by the birthday girl herself.
That's what I'm talking about! Phase one, complete.
Simple City Sam
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