DIY Wedding Invites (for less than $.35 each!)

Oh my goodness, I haven't posted here in a while! I really want to, but all of my DIYs lately are of wedding things. And to be honest, I want them to be a surprise to my guests! So you will suddenly see MANY more posts after July, I can guarantee it!

BUT I have officially sent out our invites to our guests, so I felt it is safe to show them on here now! You have no idea how EXCITED I am for these. They are definitely my favorite wedding related DIY yet. I designed them myself using Microsoft Powerpoint (yes, Powerpoint!) because I am too poor and cheap to get Publisher or Photoshop.

I then printed them using VistaPrint. They are an online resource that has many of their own designs, but you can also upload your own.... onto tee shirts, invites, mugs, flyers, you name it. The best part, is they are always having awesome deals. Actually, my invites were recently posted on a friend's blog, who helps brides and other people with finding the best deals via VistaPrint. Check her out here!

I created our invites like a fan. If you look carefully, you can see a small button brad in the top left corner, that holds everything together.

And without further ado, here are my invites! Certain information has been covered for our safety.

Katy Weaver Photography

Front Cover

Close-up of front cover

Entire invite, fanned out

invitation page

RSVP page. It is perforated where indicated, and guests can simply tear it out of the packet,
fill it out, and  drop it in the mail! 

This is a close up of the RSVP card itself. It is a postcard, so we didn't have to
deal with the hassle of including an extra envelope. 

This is the back of the RSVP card. See, Postcard! :)

This was the last page, stating our website, and that you could find most any information there.
We also gave guests the ability to RSVP online as well. 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE our invites! What do you think? And for them to be so incredibly affordable, who wouldn't want to design their own and print them on the wonderful VistaPrint? I can't wait to hear what my guests thought about them!

Why "Pin Now, Read Later" is a Mistake

Hello Lovelies!

I want to post today about a website I love. {Pinterest}
But not about the millions of great pins that we all drool over. More, the pins that are misleading or link to dead-ends.

One in particular I wanted to share.
Recognize this?

This particular pin, with the same or similar caption, is obviously a "pin now, read later" type. Because no one seems to actually read the blog post that states clearly this DOES NOT replace helium, and DOES NOT make the balloons float. It's the same baking soda and vinegar project all of us did at one time or another in grade school people. Did it make the balloons float then? Of course not. Why do you expect it to do something differently now? I cringe to think how many birthday decorations were thwarted by the many people who failed to actually read the article.

Other countless pins will exclaim some cool new way to do something, then as you expect to be led to a cool blog article, you are disappointed when it just leads to a copy of the image on a blank website.

Another example that went through a few months ago were the offers of gift cards ranging from Starbucks to Apple. Not one of those people who re-pinned thought to see if the pins were scams, which they ended up being.

So this is a shout out to my Pinterest loving readers: Don't "pin now, read later". Read as you go. Learn something new. This will not only help clean up your little corner of Pinterest, but it will make you less of a pinning zombie while you actually explore the pages that the pins originate from. It took me a little trial and error to get to this point, but if we can spread the word, Pinterest will be an even better resource than it already is.

{How to Make} Ruffle Pillow Cases

I really need to get into this crafting and blogging routine a little more. Now that I have a new job, and things are getting back to normal, I'm starting to have time again to make fun things! The latest project? To cover some plain black pillows we had bought for our couch. I've seen ruffled pillows on pinterest, but wanted to change it up a little by making the cover removable.

Yup. That's right: removable. For those of us who lead somewhat messy lives. I made these pillow cases in the spirit of a sham, with the opening on the back as opposed to one of the sides. This technique is nice, because you don't have to worry about zippers or buttons either.

Let me begin.

First you'll want to measure your pillow. Mine is an 18" basic black pillow from target. I measured it, and sure enough, it is true to size, being exactly 18", with my tape measured draped over the fluffiest part of the middle, in both directions.

Based on that measurement, I cut a piece of fabric to 44x19. The 44" happened to be the width of the fabric, and I like minimal cuts. I had originally planned out that for the 18" pillow, I needed double that to wrap around, and about 7-8" of overlap (including seam allowance) for the back opening. 18+18+7=44". 

The 19" width of the fabric allows one inch of seam allowance total for the top and bottom of the pillow.

With the front face of the fabric up, I folded the ends into the middle, like folding a letter to fit into an envelope. I played with the folding until the new folded length reached the 18" I needed for the pillow.

I made sure to check both the top and bottom, because sometimes the folds can end up not totally square. Measuring both sides ensures that everything is lined up right. To keep these folds, I ironed them down to make them nice and crisp.

I then folded over the ends of the overlapping sides to make a clean seam. I also ironed these down to make them easier to sew later. 

This is what it looks like when everything is ironed down. You can see that overlapping piece with the seam ready to sew. The flap underneath it has the same look. 

This clearly shows all three layers made by the folding. Make sure that you had turned the seam to the outside, as shown above for the flap ends. The face of the fabric (if you have one) should be facing in at this point. 

Unfold the fabric, and sew the short ends that you had ironed, as shown both above and below.

Place this piece aside.

Cut another piece. This piece will become the ruffle. The length will be at least double the length of the pillow. I kept the 44" from before, for ease of cutting. The width will be the width you want your ruffle to be, plus seam allowance. I wanted a wide, center ruffle, so I made the width 9" to allow for seams. 

Iron and finish the long sides. Mine is now about 8" wide after finishing. 

Another view of the finished long sides of the ruffle piece.

I then folded the piece in half, long way. To use primary school terms, folding in the 'hot-dog' direction. Yup, I just went there. I ironed that fold, to give me a clean line to follow. Then, using a long, straight stitch, I followed that line down the middle of the length. Make sure you don't back-stitch on this step. This is important so we can create the ruffle. 

Keep some length when trimming the ends of the thread. Take one of the threads, and shimmy the fabric down it to create the ruffle look.

You will end up with a piece that looks like this. Get out that other piece of fabric, and place the ruffle in the center of the middle section, as shown below. 

Make sure the ruffle hangs over, or at least matches the width of the fabric. Sew the ruffle in place, following the original seam of the ruffle.

Re-fold the side pieces of the fabric, to cover the ruffle. We're almost done! All you have to do is sew the top and bottom, to close everything up!

Trim any of the ruffle that is sticking out beyond the main pillow. Using the opening created by the overlapping layers, turn the case right-side-out. Stuff your pillow in there and....

Enjoy your new pillow case! :)