Don’t be scared of the DIY

We have had quite a few questions about the DIY nature of our products…sometimes from people who have bought things and want to know the best way to create them, and other times from people who want to use our designs but are scared of the DIY nature of it all!!

Well, I would like to tell you – DON’T BE SCARED OF THE DIY! Not only am I writing this post to help walk you through it, but how fabulous will you feel when people come to your party and “OOOOHHHH and AHHHH” over all of your cute details, followed with “Where did you find these?” and you shrug and say “Oh, those, I made them…easy”. Yes, you know what I am talking about…that feeling of success and you can claim it all!  SO, let’s get started –

DIY Invitations – there are several ways to do these

#1, truly do it yourself. We recommend  you purchase heavy bright white cardstock to print on ( 110lb is great and you can find it at most office supply stores).  You use the PDF file with 2 designs per sheet and print them out on your home computer, then cut them out. If you have a paper trimmer (for scrap booking, etc.) this is the best way to ensure a straight edge, but if not – just use a good old-fashioned pair of scissors!  Guess what the best part is…if you mess up, just print another one…in fact print 2 more…or 12…however many you need! Don’t you hate ordering invites just to remember that you forgot to give one to Miss School Friend and O.M.G. you are out??? No fear, just print one more!You can buy colored envelopes almost anywhere nowadays, and white ones are even easier to find.

#2, but your printer stinks (or it’s broken, or doesn’t exist in this day of laptops)!!! Ok, take the PDF file to Kinkos, then follow #1 OR take the JPG to anywhere you print photos and have them printed the exact same.

#3 but you really want them to look nice and very professional! You have a few options, for one, you can contact me and we will give you pricing on having them printed for you using the press print company we use or you can order them from a website that allows you to upload your own design such as www.vistaprint.com or www.mpix.com. The best part here is that you will receive the envelopes automatically! (Yes I do understand option #3 isn’t REALLY DIY, but you did customize the invitation, right? Good enough!)

DIY Printable Party Circles  – For these you need both heavy cardstock (like the 110lb we discussed earlier) or full label paper if you want to make stickers (office supply store in the shipping labels section) and a circle punch, available in craft sections or craft stores.

Print these out on your home computer, or at a printing company like Kinkos, then cut along the black lines, line up your circle punch over the design (we recommend a circle punch with a clear backing for perfection) and punch it out! You can use these items for return address labels, custom stickers, cupcake toppers, favor tags…let your imagination run WILD.

DIY Water Bottle Labels – again, print these out on your home computer, or at a printing company like Kinkos, but you will need to purchase the labels which can be found online. However, we know some of you like to delegate, so how about just sending the PDF file we customize for you straight to a site like THIS ONE who will print them for you! Nice, right?

DIY Snack Cups – For these you need both heavy cardstock , a pair of scissors, and glue. We will actually send you a PDF instruction sheet to show you where to cut, where to fold, and where to glue….simple!

We hope this helps so you can DIY and live to brag to all of your friends about how  (in the famous words of my two-year old daughter) “I DO IT MYSELF”