An Invitation to a Shower

Oh, I had so much fun at Meg's bridal shower last weekend that I'm still reeling in the giddiness it gave me. Therefore this must be a good time to post the lovely (if I do say so myself) work I did on the invitations to the shower.

There are three other bridesmaids but I was quick to volunteer for the task of doing invitations, because I absolutely adooooore all things stationery and lettering. I still write letters to my friends and family -- when I'm not too busy writing them postcards.

I picked up two sets of invitations at a super-discount in some random liquidation sale in Lafayette -- the kind where half the boxes are already opened, some of the merchandise is expired, and all of it looks like it may have fallen off the back of a truck. The two sets were aqua with brown swirly decor and brown ribbons, or classic cream with cream colored ribbons. After much deliberation, I decided upon the aqua and brown. Meg's official wedding color is slate blue, but I doubted anyone would quibble with different colors for the bridal shower.

Now I couldn't just use the invitations as instructed. I don't have a picture of what the kit intended one to do (and I can't get a good one now since I'm stuck on the rig) but if you peek into this "example of a messy workspace" photo I took, you might be able to pick out a couple details from the picture on the lid of the box on the left side.


I had to find some way of throwing my own personal touch in them as well. After brainstorming and multiple shopping trips to Hobby Lobby, I came up with a plan. This plan involved a great deal of perusing the Scrapbooking aisles, and learning a lot more than I ever knew about scrapbooking and its accessories. I have never seriously entered the scrapbooking aisle before, which surprises me since I love stationery as I do. Perhaps its the sheer popularity of the art that turns me off. I much prefer the obscure and old-fashioned hobbies one might remember one's grandmother enjoying -- like crocheting lace doilies.

I started with the invitation holder/folder thing. Why do a simple bow with the ribbon meant to wrap around the folder, when I can do something different and more creative? So I found these things called "brads" in lovely "antique metal" finishings. Brads have two metal prongs in the back which you push through a small slot/hole and then fold to keep the brad in place, much like the reusable manila envelope closure ubiquitous in office-land.


So all I had to do was cut a slot through the folder, push the brad into place, and arrange the ribbon accordingly to achieve the lovely result:


The ribbon included was too long for such an undertaking, so I trimmed the extra off, sure that I could find somewhere where I might be able to use it.

While browsing the brads selection, I found another set of brads in the same finishing that were too perfect to pass up. Teeny tiny antique metal heart brads. I knew I'd find a place for them somewhere, and sure enough I did. Meg's sister planned a surprise scrapbook filled with memorable photos and helpful/heartwarming notes written on pretty paper to present to her at the shower from all her guests. I bought some handmade paper with flower petals pressed in the pulp to include in the invitations for such a purpose. Once I had the RSVP card, envelope, the decorative paper and a small instruction card all prepared I took the leftover ribbon, wrapped it around the pile, and used a teeny tiny heart brad to secure the bunch.


Gotta love my personalized Swiss Army knife.


Ah, Charming!

Once I had those assembled, I affixed the invitation itself to the inside of the folder using the double-sided tape provided by the kit, and slid the packet of RSVP supplies into the folder's pouch (which also conveniently hid the brads' tabs).


I used two separate fonts for the invitations: "Maynard" for the body text and "Lapointe's Road" for the decorative parts. I downloaded them for free ... from ... somewhere ...

And eventually I put all the pieces together and mailed them out, with precisely six weeks before the shower and in PLENTY of time to send in the RSVPs and the scrapbook insertions (Sigh. I still haven't written my note for Meg).


And in case you didn't get enough of my messy workspace, here's another photo for you to laugh at how untidy I can be mid-project. My poor housemate had to put up with my monopolization of the 6'x6' dining room table while I completed these pieces, and she is a saint in so many ways I cannot begin to count.


At least I had the foresight to cover our beloved table with an old sheet so as to prevent crafting-induced-damage to the beautiful wood! Perhaps the purple stains from the suit-making extravaganza taught me a lesson which stuck. No, not really. I just love the dining room table that much that I'll go out of my way to be kind to it.

We even used the color scheme from the invitations as a basis for the rest of our decorations. And here is my favorite photo from the entire event.


The shower went off splendidly. I would say "without a hitch" but unfortunately one of the bridesmaids, Meg's younger sister, got a horrible stomach flu the night before the shower and her fun was inevitably spoiled.

Aside from that, we had great fun. Huzzah!

P.S. Special THANKS! goes out to Rebecca who kindly lent me her printer for the project, and even kindlier isn't mad at the fact that I haven't returned it yet.