Lori's Baby Shower

My sister had been thinking of a baby shower ever since she got married (three years ago). Since she didn't exactly get the wedding she wanted (due to some cultural customs and superstitions on behalf of her in-laws), the baby shower was going to be big.

The guest list was about 80 people. I'd say that's pretty big.

Their wedding was pretty small (it started out as family only, and then eventually got bumped up to include some close friends), so for the baby shower, my sister wanted to invite everyone she couldn't invite to the wedding. It started off being simple... and then escalated into quite an ordeal! I will spare the details of the "OMG what is going on?" parts of the baby shower, and focus on the invitations at this point. Because I'd like to leave some events of that day locked back into that day.

I started doing some invite mock-ups for my sister in November and after some back and forth, we ended up combining various elements to form this:

My sister is all into the pinks,  browns and polka dots (good thing she was having a girl!) so after finally getting confirmation of the location of the event (it was supposed to be at their house, but in the end, it was held across the street at the church/school where my brother-in-law's nephews all attend, which ended up being much easier...!), 45 invitations had to be created and sent off by the end of the week. We went with a chocolate brown folder with a scalloped edge on the front and a pink with white polka-dots ribbon to break up the flatness of the brown... and adorned with a cute little silver charm with baby feet stamped into it (bought at Michael's). Adorable!

The invitation itself was printed onto white cardstock (actually I used sheets of Bristol paper) where I created various sized (and shades of pink) polka dots for the background. And then... more scalloped edges. And then the white sheet was double-sided taped onto a brown backing (same paper as the folder). I also made a smaller version to accompany the invite stating where they were registered. Yes, the phone number is blurred out, for their privacy.

The invitation and folder fit into an A6 envelope. Or maybe it was A7. Something like that.

And then for Thank You cards, I used some leftover pink wedding paper from Sherri's wedding, and cut into small 4-bar sized cards. And more scalloping. You'd think I'd be tired of scalloping with a pair of scissors. But I just couldn't help it. 

On it, I taped a piece of brown ribbon (from Michael's 3 for $1.00 sale) and with a Fiskar's "seal" punch, punched out little flowers from leftover brown paper. I found a random pack of old diskette labels in my drawer (yes, DISKETTES), and assuming I will never have use for them ever again, printed little "Thank You" on the same pink polka dot motif from the invites onto the diskette labels, and punched them out using a 1" circle punch. Then I peeled back the handy dandy sticky-backs and taped them onto the brown "flowers", and double-sided taped them all to the card.

After making around 80 or so of these cards, I then realized I should have made them as folded cards so my sister could write on the inside instead of the front. Oh well. She got free cards, couldn't argue with that!

*Apologies for the lighting in the photos... I do most of my work at night at my computer desk where my only source of light is this 10-year old desk lamp.

Birthday Magnets

Back in February, we celebrated Olivia's birthday. Every year for Christmas and for her birthday, it's always such a struggle to find a gift for Olivia. The girl pretty much already has what she wants (or so it appears that way to me). So for awhile, my only option was gift cards. I know she likes the gift cards because she will use them. But after seeing Olivia receive so many great personalized gifts (she absolutely adores her family) and after partaking in a scrapbooking party at her house (where the goal was to sort through her 1000+ wedding photos from 3 years prior)... it was time I attempted to join the "personalized" bandwagon.

With some tips from Candice, my work neighbor crafter, and a quick visit to Michael's, I attempted my first round of personalized magnets. For Olivia, how more personalized can I get than use her family photos and pictures of her baby boy (yes, I admit it... I swiped some images from her family photographer's site and some more photos from her facebook page despite the possibility of there being the words "copyright" somewhere on the page... but I have good intentions!).

Not too shabby, in my opinion! I was actually surprised at how super easy it was, and how decent it came out, without prior knowledge of how to assemble them. For the images, I scaled them down (after attempting to remove the words "proof" from some of them :/ ) to sizes of about 1-1/2" in diameter and printed them out from my "free with purchase of a computer" printer. I should have printed them with actual photo paper, as the glass marbles really emphasized the inkjet printing. 

I bought two sizes of clear flat-backed marbles: one that is about 1/2" diameter and one that is about 1-1/2" diameter. With a clear super bonding glue (bought at Michael's), I squeezed a small amount onto the flat back of the 1-1/2" glass marbles and then pressed it onto the individual images until the glue oozed its' way in between all surfaces where the marble touches the image. I then took an exacto and cut the image around the marble to fit and set aside to dry for 1 day. I then used the coil of magnetic tape (bought at Joann's) and cut pieces to fit the back of the 1-1/2" marbles: the magnetic tape is perfect because it is already sticky-backed.

I then searched online for various black and white damask prints, and used them as a background for the smaller 1/2" marbles, which I also printed in green each letter of their last name per marble (with each marble having a different damask print background). Like the photo magnets, I glued the marbles to the print, cut around  it and set it to dry. For these smaller ones, I used the small round super magnets (bought at Michael's) as it was pretty similar in size. As these are not sticky-backed, I had to use (the same) glue to glue the magnets to the back of the prints.

To package, I found a simple silver pencil case holder at a nearby stationary store that was the perfect size (it was a two-sided pencil case holder, so held all of my magnets).

I hope she likes it. I know I do! And just an FYI... clear your refrigerators everyone! Personalized magnets are accompanying your birthday cards!

...and anniversary cards and Christmas cards and Halloween cards and Happy Independence Day cards and...