Crafting an Invitation

For the cost for $18 and about two hours to assemble, you can create some very elegant formal invitations. This article provides a guide on how to build the invitations.

We used the invitation template that can be found here.

Materials used: Colored, patterned paper; Plain, colored card stock and matching envelopes; Patterned corner punch; Exacto knife; Scissors or straight paper cutter; Mounting tape squares. All of the materials for this invitation can be purchased at a craft store.

How to Craft a Formal Invitation

The patterned paper needs to be 8 1/2 x 11, if not that size already cut it down to that size. When selecting paper you can often times find stock patterns that either come with matching envelopes or at least find some envelopes with a base color that matches the primary pattern color.ÂÂ

Take the invitation template, modify it to your liking depending on the occasion and fill in the appropriate information. Print out the information on the patterned paper in black and white with the printer set to “highest quality” as seen in “Properties” in the Print status box.

Cut and separate the individual invitations from each page at about 3 1/2 wide by 5 1/4 high. We cut the card stock at just shy of 4 x 6 so that they would provide a natural border to the invitation along the edges and still fit into the envelopes easily.

The next step was using the corner punch to decorate the corners of the patterned paper to reveal the card stock behind it. We needed an Exacto knife or a razor blade in some cases to fully remove the punched fragments without tearing the paper. The paper had to be removed carefully from the punch each time because some of the partially punched parts lodged in the corner punch. It was easy to avoid tearing them after doing several successfully.

Using five mounting squares per invitation, we placed one in each corner and one in the center of the patterned/printed paper, avoiding the punched area. We then did our best to center the invitation over the card stock for a uniform border and pressed them together. We snipped the mounting squares in half as triangles to do the corners so that we missed the punched area.

They were immediately ready to be placed in the envelopes and mailed. The invitations earned numerous compliments.