DIY: Holiday Napkins Wraps – Part I

Ever had that moment when you know you’ve already created something and just can’t find it.  That was me with the Holiday Napkin wraps…I created and tested them weeks ago and then promptly lost the files.  Thankfully today I found them, and not a moment too soon! These work the same as my previous wraps, refer to this post for complete instructions.  Merry Christmas!!

The first is a sepia toned winter cottage.
Click to download: csmurf_rustichousenapkins

Or how about some pastel ornaments
click to download template:  csmurf_pastelornamentnapkins

Check back tomorrow for the “tree” edition of Holiday Napkin wraps & hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas!

Die-Cut Christmas: Food Buffet Labels

I’ve dubbed this Christmas season in our home as the “Die-Cut Christmas” because I plan to make several projects using both my Cuttlebug for die-cuts and paper punches.  First there was the Christmas Card Addresses, then the place cards and I liked how they turned out so I moved onto today’s project:  Buffet Labels.

Editor’s Note: These will actually get quite a bit of use during the holidays with not one but Christmas potluck lunches, and I’m so excited to see them in all their glory!

Materials Needed:

  • White or Ivory Text Weight Paper
  • Small pieces of Heavy weight card stock or even recycled cardboard
  • Green Cardstock or Construction paper (it’s ok to reuse envelopes, etc.)
  • Red Paper (it’s ok to reuse envelopes, etc.)
  • Glue Stick or pen

Tools  Needed:

  • Top Note Die from Stampin Up
  • Die Cutting Machine (I use a Cuttlebug)
  • Sizzix Festive Christmas Set (purchased 50% off at Joann’s)
  • Standard Hole Punch
  • Scissors or Paper Cutter
  • Computer with Word Processing Software of your choice
  • Home Printer

Getting the pieces punched out:

  1. Cut your paper.  I cut my paper ahead of time so it is easier to center it on the die cut.  Since I am using regular 8.5 x 11 paper, I simply cut my paper into fourths.  For this project I used my paper-cutter because it has the outlines for this size paper on the board so I just line it up and cut.  Each piece of paper should end up 4.25 x 5.5 inches.
  2. Setup your document in your word processing software.  I use MS Word, so I just create a new document and then set the page size to be the 4.25 x 5.5 inches of my pre-cut paper.  Then I center the document and choose my font/size of choice.  For this project I used Monterey BT which you can download for free (see my templates page for a link). This is where you could get really fancy and use the mail merge feature of MS Word to fill in from a spreadsheet, it’s a great time saver but is a bit tricky to setup…or you could just cut and paste in each one like I did.
  3. Print out your individual buffet labels.
  4. Start die cutting.  Using the Top Note Die face up in your machine, carefully center the printed page in the center of the surface.  Run through the machine.  Repeat for each printed page.
  5. Continue die cutting.  Now take out your green paper and the holly die and start working on cutting out your leaves.  A large holly shaped paper punch would also work well for this if you have one!  You’ll need 2 holly leaves per buffet label.  Note that I didn’t use whole pieces of paper when I cut out my leaves…I had some scrap paper from the edges of some green top notes I cut out earlier so I just used the scrap paper to line up over my leaves.  This is a great usage for scraps or even perhaps those envelopes from the Christmas cards you’ve already received!
  6. Punch out your berries.  Now the Holly Die comes with a berry if you’d like a single red berry…but I liked the smaller berries so I went with a standard hole punch.  You’ll need 3 to 4 berries per buffet label.  Again this is a great place to reuse paper…you can see I used the cover of an old PaperSource catalog that was in my recycle bin.

Putting it all together:

  1. Start with the Leaves.  Using a piece of plastic or paper, take the glue stick and cover the back of 2 of the holly leaves so the portions of the leaves that will attach to the buffet label are covered.
  2. Carefully lift them from the backing and place onto label (I found it easier to start with the lower leaf in the bottom left corner and then add the upper one afterwards).  To remove the leaf from the backing I was able to use my fingernail, however tweezers would also work well for this.
  3. Add the berries.  Using a glue stick repeat the step above for the berries, this is the most tedious step.  I think a glue pen or even school glue might have worked more quickly for this step.
  4. Cut a small piece of heavy cardstock or recycled cardboard (think cereal boxes) approx 1 inch by 3.5 inches per buffet label.
  5. Fold the first third of the cardboard strip forwards and align on the back of the label, holding in place with a glue stick or even tape.
  6. Stand it in front of your tasty dishes and let them tell the world that your cobbler is made of blackberries 😉

If you like these, you might also like the other entries in my Die-Cut Christmas Series:
Die-Cut Christmas Card Addresses
– Die-Cut Seating Cards
– Die-Cut Food Buffet Labels

Die-Cut Christmas – Seating Cards

I’ve dubbed this Christmas season in our home as the “Die-Cut Christmas” because I plan to make several projects using both my Cuttlebug for die-cuts and paper punches.  First there was the Christmas Card Addresses, and I liked how they turned out so I moved onto today’s project:  Seating Cards

Editor’s Note:  Here is where I should be totally honest and fess up that my family will in no shape or form use this for our Christmas lunch or dinner…but I can dream right?

Materials Needed:

  • White or Ivory Text Weight Paper
  • Green Cardstock or Construction paper (it’s ok to reuse envelopes, etc.)
  • Red Paper (it’s ok to reuse envelopes, etc.)
  • Glue Stick or pen

Tools  Needed:

  • Top Note Die from Stampin Up
  • Die Cutting Machine (I use a Cuttlebug)
  • Sizzix Festive Christmas Set (purchased 50% off at Joann’s)
  • Standard Hole Punch
  • Scissors or Paper Cutter
  • Computer with Word Processing Software of your choice
  • Home Printer

Getting the pieces punched out:

  1. Cut your paper.  I cut my paper ahead of time so it is easier to center it on the die cut.  Since I am using regular 8.5 x 11 paper, I simply cut my paper into fourths.  For this project I used my paper-cutter because it has the outlines for this size paper on the board so I just line it up and cut.  Each piece of paper should end up 4.25 x 5.5 inches.
  2. Setup your document in your word processing software.  I use MS Word, so I just create a new document and then set the page size to be the 4.25 x 5.5 inches of my pre-cut paper.  Then I center the document and choose my font/size of choice.  For this project I used Monterey BT which you can download for free (see my templates page for a link). This is where you could get really fancy and use the mail merge feature of MS Word to fill in from a spreadsheet, it’s a great timesaver but is a bit tricky to setup…or you could just cut and paste in each one like I did.
  3. Print out your individual name plates.
  4. Start die cutting.  Using the Top Note Die face up in your machine, carefully center the printed page in the center of the surface.  Run through the machine.  Repeat for each printed page.
  5. Continue die cutting.  Now take out your green paper and the holly die and start working on cutting out your leaves.  A large holly shaped paper punch would also work well for this if you have one!  You’ll need 2 holly leaves per name plate.  Note that I didn’t use whole pieces of paper when I cut out my leaves…I had some scrap paper from the edges of some green top notes I cut out earlier so I just used the scrap paper to line up over my leaves.  This is a great usage for scraps or even perhaps those envelopes from the Christmas cards you’ve already received!
  6. Punch out your berries.  Now the Holly Die comes with a berry if you’d like a single red berry…but I liked the smaller berries so I went with a standard hole punch.  You’ll need 3 to 4 berries per name plate.  Again this is a great place to reuse paper…you can see I used the cover of an old PaperSource catalog that was in my recycle bin.

Putting it all together:

  1. Start with the Leaves.  Using a piece of plastic or paper, take the glue stick and cover the back of 2 of the holly leaves so the portions of the leaves that will attach to the name plate are covered.  Carefully lift them from the backing and place onto name plate (I found it easier to start with the lower leaf in the bottom left corner and then add the upper one afterwards).  To remove the leaf from the backing I was able to use my fingernail, however tweezers would also work well for this.
  2. Add the berries.  Using a glue stick repeat the step above for the berries, this is the most tedious step.  I think a glue pen or even school glue might have worked more quickly for this step.
  3. Admire your work and set that table!

If you like these, you might also like the other entries in my Die-Cut Christmas Series:
Die-Cut Christmas Card Addresses
– Die-Cut Seating Cards
– Die-Cut Food Buffet Labels

Die-Cut Christmas – Addressing the Cards

I’ve dubbed this Christmas season in our home as the “Die-Cut Christmas” because I plan to make several projects using both my Cuttlebug for die-cuts and paper punches.  And….it all started with this project:  Christmas Card Addresses!

Editor’s Note:  Here is where I should be totally honest and fess up that it  really all started because my spreadsheet was wrong and I addressed quite a few cards with the wrong zip code.  We didn’t have any extra red envelopes and after writing personalized messages in our cards I needed to find a “cover up”!  Then I liked the cover up better and set out to snazz-up the remainder!

Materials Needed:

  • White or Ivory Text Weight Paper
  • Green Cardstock or Construction paper (it’s ok to reuse envelopes, etc.)
  • Red Paper (it’s ok to reuse envelopes, etc.)
  • Glue Stick (or you could use a Xyron)

Tools  Needed:

  • Top Note Die from Stampin Up
  • Die Cutting Machine (I use a Cuttlebug)
  • Sizzix Festive Christmas Set (purchased 50% off at Joann’s)
  • Standard Hole Punch
  • Scissors or Paper Cutter
  • Computer with Word Processing Software of your choice
  • Home Printer

Getting the pieces punched out:

  1. Cut your paper.  I cut my paper ahead of time so it is easier to center it on the die cut.  Since I am using regular 8.5 x 11 paper, I simply cut my paper into fourths.  For this project I used my paper-cutter because it has the outlines for this size paper on the board so I just line it up and cut.  Each piece of paper should end up 4.25 x 5.5 inches.
  2. Setup your document in your word processing software.  I use MS Word, so I just create a new document and then set the page size to be the 4.25 x 5.5 inches of my pre-cut paper.  Then I center the document and choose my font/size of choice.  For this project I used Monterey BT which I was able to download for free. This is where you could get really fancy and use the mail merge feature of MS Word to fill in from a spreadsheet, it’s a great time-saver but is a bit tricky to setup…or you could just cut and paste in each one like I did.
  3. Print out your address pages.
  4. Start die cutting.  Using the Top Note Die face up in your machine, carefully center the printed page in the center of the surface.  Run through the machine.  Repeat for each printed page.  I won’t lie…this can get old if you have a lot of addresses to cut out.  I did mine in 2 batches while watching Christmas movies so it made it go much faster!
  5. Continue die cutting.  Now take out your green paper and the holly die and start working on cutting out your leaves.  A large holly shaped paper punch would also work well for this if you have one!  You’ll need 2 holly leaves per envelope.  Note that I didn’t use whole pieces of paper when I cut out my leaves…I had some scrap paper from the edges of some green top notes I cut out earlier so I just used the scrap paper to line up over my leaves.  This is a great usage for scraps or even perhaps those envelopes from the Christmas cards you’ve already received!
  6. Punch out your berries.  Now the Holly Die comes with a berry if you’d like a single red berry…but I liked the smaller berries so I went with a standard hole punch.  You’ll need 3 to 4 berries per envelope.  Again this is a great place to reuse paper…you can see I used the cover of an old Paper-Source catalog that was in my recycle bin.

Putting it all together:

  1. Start with the addresses.  Flip each of the addresses face side down and apply your glue stick to the back, making sure to cover all the edges and the center of the shape.  This is also where you could use your Xyron to speed up the process but wouldn’t you just know it mine needs a refill, so I stuck with the readily available glue stick.
  2. Quickly and carefully apply the address to the center of your envelope and press around all the edges and center to ensure it is firmly in place!
  3. Add the Leaves.  Using a piece of plastic or paper, take the glue stick and cover the back of 2 of the holly leaves so that all edges are covered.  Carefully lift them from the backing and place onto envelope (I found it easier to start with the lower leaf in the bottom left corner and then add the upper one afterward).  To remove the leaf from the backing I was able to use my fingernail, however tweezers would also work well for this.
  4. Add the berries.  Using a glue stick repeat the step above for the berries, this is the most tedious step.  I think a glue pen or even school glue might have worked more quickly for this step.
  5. Admire your work and send!

If you like these, you might also like the other entries in my Die-Cut Christmas Series:
Die-Cut Christmas Card Addresses
– Die-Cut Seating Cards
– Die-Cut Food Buffet Labels

Reuse, Recycle: Leaf Seating & Food Labels

Yesterday I left you with a bit of a teaser for today’s project which also uses leftover food box cardboard.   Each year my office has a Thanksgiving lunch, and each year there is always a bit of question as to what each dish on the line is.  So, today we’ll use the scraps leftover from the banner project to make buffet labels or you could use them for seating cards as well.

Today we’ll turn those leftover cardboard box scraps into this:

Materials:
– card board scraps leftover from banner project
– marker (for lettering)
– scotch tape, school glue, or hot glue

Tools:
– Cuttlebug (or edge punch, or scrapbooking scissors)
– Cuttlebug Leaves Dies (or edge punch, or scrapbooking scissors)
– Scissors
– Shape punches (optional)

Instructions:

  1. Carefully stack the leaves dies and the card board and run through the die cutting machine (careful to use acrylic plates as indicated by each machine’s instructions).  Repeat as many times as necessary to cut enough leaves for each of your dishes or place settings.
    Note:  Don’t worry if you don’t have a Cuttlebug, or the leaves dies. You can get an equally fun look by marking off rectangular pieces and cutting out with scrapbook scissors OR also from cutting out with regular scissors and then using an edge punch.
  2. Using your black marker write on the dish names or person’s name for place cards.
  3. For leaf dies cut a small 1.5 x .25 inch piece of leftover cardboard for each leaf. 
  4. Fold each of these pieces in half vertically. 
  5. Use your scotch tape (school glue & hot glue would work well also) to attach the folded piece to the back of each of the leaves.
  6. Place & Enjoy!!

 

Reuse, Recycle – Thanksgiving Banner

If you are anything like us, you throw away several “chip board” style boxes every week, between cereal, granola bars, and yogurt packs it adds up.  Now, if you are anything like ME, then you love using chip board & kraft paper for your crafting projects…do you see where I’m going with this? 

For projects that are one-sided, why not reuse something that you would just be throwing away (hopefully in the recycle bin)?  So stick around and I’ll show you how to turn these:

Into this:

Materials:
– card board boxes destined for the trash
– scrapbook paper to make letters
– 3 yards of raffia (twine, ribbon, or yarn… use what you have)
– tape

Tools:
– Cuttlebug (or edge punch, or scrapbooking scissors)
Top Note Die from Stampin Up
– Standard Hole Punch
– Glue Stick, School Glue, or Xyron (again use what you have)
– Scissors
– Bone Folder

Instructions:

  1. Carefully pull apart glued seams on each of the cardboard boxes.  I use a bone folder to help open up the more difficult areas.
  2. Using scissors cut off all side flaps from both sides of each box.  For larger (cereal sized) boxes you will also need to cut the larger areas into small pieces that will fit through your Cuttlebug or Bigz machine.
  3. Carefully stack the Top Note die and the card board and run through the die cutting machine (careful to use acrylic plates as indicated by each machine’s instructions).  Repeat as many times as necessary to cut 6, 12 or 18 (depending on your selected message). 
    Note:  Don’t worry if you don’t have a Cuttlebug, or the Top Note Die. You can get an equally fun look by marking off rectangular pieces and cutting out with scrapbook scissors OR also from cutting out with regular scissors and then using an edge punch.
  4. Put leftover cardboard aside for tomorrow’s project 🙂
  5. Use hole punch to carefully punch the top area of each piece and set aside
  6. Using your scrapbook paper carefully cut out the letters for your desired message.  I like using 2 inch sized letters.  If you have letter dies you could use them to easily punch out your letters, you could also use stickers or pre-cut chip board letters.  OR you can always use old school stencils to trace letters in reverse on the back of your scrapbook paper and cut them out with scissors (that’s what I did) 🙂
  7. Use your glue product to attach letters to card board pieces.
  8. String your card board pieces with the raffia.  To be consistent I always start from the front of each piece of card board, so that the raffia piece is behind the shape. 
  9. To help keep my pieces in place I use a bit of tape on the back of each piece to keep them from sliding.
  10. Hang & Enjoy!!


Another really fun feature to this quick & cheap project is that it folds up to store really easily, so we can use it again next year! 

Price Breakdown:
Since I used boxes that were going to be thrown away, and other materials I already had literally lying around my craft table…it was FREE!!!! 

And did you notice a hint for tomorrow’s crafty post in the photos above?  Yep, check back tomorrow for another reuse project.

Semi-DIY: Halloween Lanterns

While Halloween typically isn’t a big holiday in the Smurfy household, this year will be a little bit different.  We’ve been recruited by a family member to help out at their historic district home since they have over 200 kids visit, and to bring any decorations we might have.  Since we didn’t have decorations other than some orange string lights (from football season), I decided to try to whip a few up.  I think these little guys turned out quite well, and really like that I can use them again!

Supplies Needed:

  • paper lanterns
  • battery operated tea lights (1 or 2 per lantern)
  • black construction paper
  • glue stick
  • double sided tape or white glue

Tools Needed:

Pumpkin Lanterns:

  1. Print out your jack-o-lantern template, careful to trim around as much as possible.
  2. Fold construction paper in half so you can cut two faces at once.
  3. Use a washable glue stick in a few places on the back of the template to help hold it in place while you cut.
  4. Carefully cut out your  face with a craft knife and carefully separate the pieces from the template. (Hint: Save the cut-out templates and left over black paper and use this for carving your real jack-o-lanterns!)
  5. Using double sided tape or white school glue attach your face to the assembled lantern.
  6. Add battery operated tea lights.  I usually drop the tea lights in a sandwich bag and just drop them into the lantern.  The sandwich bag keeps it from falling out the bottom.  If you want them brighter you can always use 2 tea lights per lantern.
  7. Hang and enjoy!!

Ghost Lanterns:

  1. Print out your ghost template, careful to trim around as much as possible.
  2. Fold construction paper in half so you can cut two faces at once.  In this case since I wanted to cut out three, I added an additional piece in the middle of the stack.
  3. Use a washable glue stick in a few places on the back of the template to help hold it in place while you cut.
  4. Carefully cut out your jack-o-lantern face with a craft knife and carefully separate the pieces from the template.
  5. Using double sided tape or white school glue attach your face to the assembled lantern.
  6. Add battery operated tea lights.  I usually drop the tea lights in a sandwich bag and just drop them into the lantern.  The sandwich bag keeps it from falling out the bottom.  If you want them brighter you can always use 2 tea lights per lantern.
  7. Hang and enjoy!!

Reuse Information:
The great thing about using double-sided tape is that I am able to simply pop the cutouts off the lantern when we take them down (carefully as to not rip the paper lantern itself).  This means I can take the lanterns apart and store them to use again next year or use the plain orange & white lanterns for another party.

Cost Breakdown:
We already had most of the tools necessary for this quick Halloween decoration, so I just needed to pick up a couple of supplies.  I only made two stops, Michael’s where I had a 20% entire purchase coupon and the local dollar store, Dollar Tree.  If you don’t already have construction paper and glue you can easily pick those up at the Dollar Tree as well.  I refer to my local dollar store as my “small craft store”.

White Lanterns: $1.00 each with 40% total purchase coupon at Michael’s
Orange Lanterns:  $1.50 each minus 40%  fall decor sale at Michael’s
Battery Operated Tea Lights:  $1.00 for package of 2 at Dollar Tree
————————————————————————————————–
Total for 6 Lanterns (including tax):  $8.02 or $1.33 each

DIY – Lining Envelopes – Making Templates

One of the simplest and most cost-effective ways to jazz up your DIY invitations, thank you notes, save the dates, etc. is with lined envelopes.  I used liners to take “just ok” but economical Michael’s Thank You notes to the next level (you can see them in this post) but since I’ve been asked several time how to line an envelope and where to find templates, I decided to just create a post on making your own template for lining envelopes and list out the best resources I’ve found.

There are quite a few DIY guides out there to how to make envelope liner templates, and I’ve used quite a few of them.

  • This one from Being Crafty has quite a few references to helpful templates
  • Paper-Source is of course the go-to for premade liner templates sized to match their envelope stock.  They sell the liner templates in a package that contains the 4-bar, A2, A6, A7, A9, 5 3/4″ square and 6 1/2″ square templates.  They are made from a sturdy plastic and if you plan to use either Paper Source or Waste Not Paper envelopes the $9.50 is worth it for a perfect match.
  • Paper-Source also sells precut envelope liners in quite a few prints and solids (for those who want the look with less work). These will also fit Waste Not Paper envelopes as well.
  • For the really custom look, You can also create your own envelopes with the Paper Source envelope template kit.  This $15.00 kit also contains sturdy plastic templates for 4-bar, A2, A6, A7 and 5 3/4″ square envelope sizes.  I’ve used these to make envelopes from old maps and lined them with a solid paper that turned out really cute.

But what happens when you don’t live near a Paper-Source, and don’t have time to have the templates shipped to you?  Or what do you do if you have envelopes with square flaps?  or pointy flaps?  Then you do what I’ve done several times through the wedding planning process, make your own template!  It’s really not hard at all….

Tools Needed to create Envelope Liner Template:

  • A piece of Stencil Plastic or other clear plastic to make liner template
  • Black Sharpie Marker
  • Scissors
  • Kraft Knife & cutting pad

Materials Needed for Lining Envelopes:

  • White School Glue Stick or Double Sided tape
  • Printed Paper for liners (a thinner paper works best, I used thin scrapbook paper or a thicker wrapping paper)
  • Envelopes to be lined
  • Kraft Knife & cutting pad
  • Bone folder
  • Optional heavy books to hold paper still

Instructions for Creating  your template:
The one thing I like to do when I’ll be using a particular sized liner over and over is to create the template in a bit more sturdy fashion to keep the wear and tear to a minimum.

  1. Take one envelope and place it on a firm surface like a cutting mat.
  2. Place the sheet of stencil plastic over the envelope, tape it to your table to help hold it in place if needed.
  3. Using the Sharpie marker start tracing around the inside of the flap on the inside where the glue-line stops.  This will allow the liner to fit right below the sticky part that seals the envelope.  Follow the glue line to the outside edge of each envelope.
  4. Next trace just inside of the bottom edge of the envelope.
  5. Finally place a ruler to connect the top lines with the bottom line.  Move this line just inside the outside edge of the envelope to allow the liner to slide down inside the envelope.  Repeat on the other side.
  6. Cut out the liner and label your template with a sharpie so you’ll have it handy next time you need to line a new envelope of this size

TY_002

Instructions for Using an Envelope Liner Template:
Paper Recommendations & Notes:

Now, you are ready to use your liner to cut out the liners from your selected paper.  I recommend a thinner stock of paper for envelope liners for several reasons.  1) it is easier to work with when it comes to folding down the flaps and 2) it doesn’t add as much extra weight to the envelope.  For those using liners for wedding invitations or the such you know how much drama extra postage costs can be.  So a thinner liner paper equals less added weight to worry about paying for later. For the most recent set of liners I used thin scrapbook paper from a bulk “My Minds Eye” book of papers.  I liked how it had a variety of “vintage” floral prints.  If you are making 4-Bar sized envelope liners, a piece of 12×12 paper you should be able to get 4 liners with a small piece left over that would be a perfect size to reuse as a belly band if you are also DIY’ing your invitations. You’ll also find for A7 & A9 liners you will have less wasted paper left-over if you use standard sized paper (8.5 x 11), with A9 liners using the standard paper will also equal less cuts!

Cutting Out Your Envelope Liners:
There are tons of how-to articles out there on how to cut out envelope liners, and they are all equally helpful.  Everyone has to find the way that works best for them.  Some cut out each liner individually after using the template to draw around the back.  That works wonderfully, however, I had over 100 of these to cut out and I found that a little too slow.  So I came up with a slightly different way to go faster with more uniform cuts.  Again there is no right or wrong way to do this…just find the method that words best for you!

  1. Place your cutting mat on a sturdy flat surface.
  2. Stack 2 or 3 sheets of your paper to be cut so that all the edges are perfectly in line.
  3. Place stack of paper onto the cutting mat, making sure that everything is still perfectly aligned.  I like to line up the paper using the grid on my mat to ensure I end up with straight lines.
  4. Optional:  Place a couple books or other heavy objects in the middle of the paper to help keep everything firmly in place.  Sewing or pattern weights would also work great for this. 
  5. Lay your liner template down in the bottom left corner of the stack of paper.  Take care to align it on both the bottom and left sides, which will give you fewer cuts to make.  And few cuts = saved time!!
  6. Using one hand to hold the template steady, use the other to run the Kraft knife firmly around the edge of the template.  Make sure to apply enough pressure to cut through all the layers of paper, and keep the knife blade firmly against the edge of the template for the smoothest cuts.
  7. Remove the liners you just cut and move the template to line up again in the lower left corner of the paper.  Repeat on the top section of  your paper after you have cut all the way across the bottom.  If you are using wrapping paper make sure to cut off a piece that is no longer than your cutting mat so it is easier to manage.  Once you have all your liners cut out…it’s time to put them in the envelopes.
  8. Slide the new liner inside the envelope and line it up so that the top of the liner is just below the glue line. 
  9. Turn the envelope over to the front side, and flip the flap backwards so you are looking at the back of the liner paper.
  10. Apply glue stick to the back side of the liner paper
  11. Press flap firmly down onto glued area.
  12. Flip the envelope back over and use the bone folder to carefully run along the inside edge of the fold while you close the envelope.
  13. Once closed use the bone folder to run along the fold to ensure the envelope will stay closed.  

(Optional Tip):  If you have a Scor-Pal (mine came in really handy during the wedding prep) you can set up a scoring template and easily score all your liners really quickly.  To do this line up the base of the envelope in the upper corner and mark the correct line on the tray with a post-it note to serve as your template to know where to score each liner.

Using this method I was able to cut 16 liners in 5 minutes, which is MUCH faster!  Hope this helps a few of you out, and if you have questions please don’t hesitate to email me.

**Note** I do not work for nor do I receive any support or benefit from my recommendation of any products or corporations.  These are purely my options based on my experiences with these products and corporations.

DIY – Seating Card Napkin Wraps

I promised when I posted about the menu’s that I would post the napkin wraps.  I couldn’t use the original graphics since they aren’t mine to share, but I was able to put together something similar.  Hopefully it will help someone else looking for a quick and economical way to do seating cards.

(source: Climie+Co, blurred names by me)

Tools Needed:

Supplies Needed:

  • 8.5 x 11 paper of choice – I used Luxe White text weight from PaperSource but the thinner variety of watercolor paper also works well
  • Double Sided Table or glue dots
  • Folded (in 1/4 fashion) Napkins to Wrap

Instructions:

  1. Download the Napkin Wrap template and customize with your guest’s names.  You can also change the blue flowers to your own graphic.  I used them again for a house warming party with cute little houses.
  2. Do a test print to ensure you have your printer settings correct on regular paper.  I can’t stress this enough.  Every printer is different so it’s easier to test on regular paper and adjust until you have it aligned, etc.
  3. Print out your napkin wraps onto your paper.
  4. Using the light grey lines that seperate the areas as a guide, carefully cut out your wraps.  I found it easier to cut one page at a time, which did take a bit longer…however I did this part of the process while watching a movie so it didn’t seem as lengthy. 🙂

Now it’s time to wrap your napkins.  Prefold your napkins with a pocket (if desired) in the 1/4 size.  Basically this means folded in half then folded in half again.

  1. Using a napkin as your template place a wrap and center it over where you would like them to line up.  Turn the set over and make small pencil marks on the back of the wrap at the edges of the napkin.
  2. Use this wrap as your template to score the wraps where they will fold over the edge of the napkins.  This is optional but I found it MUCH easier to work with the scored wraps.  I used post-it-notes to mark the lines and create a template of sorts with my ScorPal to quickly score all 100 of my wraps (10 minutes max)
  3. Now get to wrapping….line up the wrap and use a small piece of double sided tape to hold the pieces together in the back.
  4. Insert the Menu and you are finished!
  5. I then used lunch sized paper bags to bag up the napkin sets for each table and handed them over to my DOC to place on the tables.


    (source: personal photos)

If you have any questions leave me a comment or an email!

* flower graphics created with free Photoshop brushes from http://www.freevectordownload.com

Semi-DIY – Hometown Reception Invitations

Like I mentioned in a previous post we used clearance invitations for our hometown reception and I think they turned out lovely.

hometown_004

Tools Needed:

Supplies Needed:

  • Martha Stewart Eyelet Invitation Kit (currently on clearance at WalMart and Big Lots)
  • Thin scrapbook paper or wrapping paper for envelope liners (optional)
  1. Download the templates from the Martha Stewart to your computer.  
  2. Use these templates to put together your text and graphics for your invitiations, response cards, and return addressing on the envelopes.  Since we were using these for a hometown reception I could use elements to tie them to our wedding invitations.  We used the same colors and fonts,  I even included a flower from that set as well.  
  3. Print out your invitation first on the templates provided in the kit, this will allow you make sure your margins, etc are correct.  You can also do this with the response cards and envelopes.
  4. Print out the remainder of your items.  I printed my invitations in groups of 25, but you’ll need to rest to see how many your printer works best with.

Optional Steps:

  1. We then rounded the corners to give it a little extra “something”.  It actually went fairly quickly.  
  2. We also used a fun wrapping paper from Ikea to line the envelopes.  I wish I had a photo of those since they really made the invitation look much different from a “home printed invitiation”.

hometown_001

Price Breakdown:

3 invitation kit sets (found on clearance at walmart) = $27.00
2 rolls of wrapping paper for liners = $5.99  from Ikea
Color Ink for Printer (already had from previous project) = FREE
Stamps for 120 invitiations = $56.40
======================================
TOTAL $ 89.39 for 120 invites so $0.75 per invite 🙂

I lucked out and found them at WalMart on clearance thanks to the wonderful Weddingbee boards, but now I read that you could find them even cheaper at your local BigLots.  I think they turned out really cute…especially given we spent $0.74 per invite!