DIY Shower Invitations & Decor

As I've mentioned before my sousin Jaclyn is getting married in October and my sister and I are co-maids of honor. The other wonderful bridesmaids and the two of us decided to throw Jaclyn her shower in July and I've been crafting ever since.

It started with the invitations. I had an idea in my head and managed to get it into paper form pretty easily. (Some personal information is blurred out.) I bought the purple cover and matching envelopes from envelopemall.com. From what I've seen they have the best prices on envelopes out of any online store out there and have an excellent selection of colors and brands. I've ordered samples from them before and their customer service personnel are all very friendly and accommodating.

The ivory paper is actually some resume paper I've had forever and the ribbon came from Michael's. Each of these invitations fit into a long policy 10 envelope. I liked the different shape of the invitation and knew that this was a chance for me to do something creative since J&A decided to get store bought wedding invitations.

Two weekends ago Julibean and I started working on some decor elements. We're hosting the shower in our backyard, so we wanted to add some simple pieces to the canopies and to the trees in the yard to bring some of Jaclyn's favorite color (purple) into the space. We searched around for ways to create pretty and simple centerpieces and decided to make luminaries.

We bought small glass filled candles at the dollar store and wrapped vellum around them. Then we decorated them with the same cut outs that I used on the invitations. I don't have a photo of one while the candle is lit, but trust me, they look very pretty and were really simple to make.

I also came across these fabulous easy to make paper poms from Martha Stewart. You can actually buy kits to make these at Michael's since they carry her craft line there, but we were able to make them ourselves at home without the kit.

We wound up making about six or seven of these poms in different sizes and shades of purple. They look a lot better hanging up than sitting on a table. I hung one from my chandelier to give you a feel for them. When a breeze hits them and they spin a little they look soooooo pretty. And they were really simple to make and despite the fact I have tiny shreds of tissue paper on my floor we definitely had some fun putting them together.

So we have paper poms, little luminaries and we've gone ahead and purchased Jaclyn a fantastic tiara she can wear because obviously the shower is all about her. :)

I also decided I wanted to make Thank You notes for Jaclyn as part of my shower gift to her. I know she'll use them and I had plenty of purple cover paper left over so I got to making them this weekend. We've invited about 45 people to the shower, so I still have quite a few to make, but I'm getting there.

I designed them to match the invitations and go along with the whole fun little flower theme we have going on. I found a set of cute little stamps that said things like "Thanks a bunch!" and "I really loved it!" and those little messages are the kinds of sentiments that Jaclyn would definitely like to impart on her friends and family.

So once I finish the Thank You cards, which I made to fit into A2 sized envelopes, then I just have a few more poms to create and we are set for decor!

Then all I have to do is practice my calligraphy a little more. I'm going to hand address all of the wedding invitations for Jaclyn & Andy. So I've been working on exactly how things should look and how certain letters should connect into others. Calligraphy is definitely a dying art and it has long been something I have had a passion for. I haven't pulled out the stops yet, since my different pen nibs are in need of a cleaning, but it's interesting how your medium can change your end work. Same name with same style of writing in a regular marker, a ball point pen and a special calligraphy marker...all have a different kind of attitude to them.

We'll see which style and which pen the bride and groom like the best, I can adapt to a certain degree with my handwriting. I'm excited to get going with more wedding craftiness, but my hand is definitely tired from just the practicing. When you've spent the past four years typing everything instead of writing it by hand, writing a lot suddenly is really a pain :P