On Manor Drive: Invitations and Cupcakes!

I am excited to be co-hosting a baby shower in a couple of weeks. So, when my friend Laura made these shower invitations I thought I could make mine too. Any excuse to take a trip to Hobby Lobby, right?

The baby's rooms is going to be a mix of black and white zebra print and lime green and white giraffe print. So, I picked up some black and white cardstock, zebra print scrapbook paper and ribbon. Sounds simple right? Ummmm, no! Easier said than done. I spent WAAAAY too long in that store trying to decide between all of the different types of paper and ribbon. Let's just say I got some cardio in because I walked laps around that store.

First, I lined the envelopes with the zebra print scrapbook paper. I used a template to cut the paper to size and then adhered it to the inside of the envelope using glue dots (good for scrapbooking, safe for photos).

Next, I cut my cardstock to size (8.5" x 6.5" for the black, 8" x 6" for the white) and printed the wording onto the white cardstock. I left about a 2" blank space on the invitation for the ribbon. To attach the ribbon, I poked two holes (about an inch apart) in the center of that blank space. (I used scissors to do this.) I cut a 15" strip of ribbon, pulled one end of each strip through each whole from the underside to the front side and tied a knot in the center. I trimmed each end so they wouldn't overlap the edges of the cardstock and used glue dots to adhere the ribbon ends to the front of the invitation. This way I was sure they would lay flat and not cover up any of the text.

Last, I used glue dots again to attach the white cardstock to the center of the black cardstock, with the back of the ribbon sandwiched in between.

The shower is actually a diaper shower. So, for an added little touch, I fastened a safety pin to the center of each ribbon.

The knot in the ribbon made the envelopes a little bulky and kind of expensive to mail. I actually had to put the invitation in the envelope face down (instead of face up) to get the envelopes sealed. Nevertheless, I think they are cute and the shower is going to be great!