23 March 2011

For The DIY Bride - Semi-Pocket Fold Invitations

I made up the name "semi-pocket fold". Call them what you like. LOL!
I was really fascinated with the trend of pocketfold invitations.
But with an initial guest list of over 350, my rough calculations put the total at around $800 just for materials. I just couldn't see it happening. I visited a local bulk paper store with full intentions to make my own (or at least attempt to). One of the workers showed me this neat idea and that's what I went with.

It doesn't have a flap over the front to create a folder. But it DOES have a pocket on the back for inserts and that serves the purpose.

This was my very first DIY project and I really wished I'd waited because I found graphics I liked much better later during the planning process but no way was I about to redo 100 invitations.

So basically you have a 5x7-inch invitation with a 2.5 inch (I think) pocket on the back to put your inserts in.

To Make the Pockets
I took my black letter-sized cardstock to Office Max to have it cut to 5x9.5 (7 inches for the front of the invitation and 2.5 inches for the pocket on back. If you want a different size pocket just change your measurements accordingly). As much as I love to save money I'm also all about the shortcut. They cut the whole stack at one time in a couple of minutes and it costed less than $5. (Kinko's provides the same service and the prices are usually about the same).

If you go to a copy center to have your cardstock cut, ask them to save the scraps! Otherwise they'll throw them away. If you plan on doing other projects, those strips of paper may come in handy. Besides, it's yours. You paid for it!

Using the scoring blade on my paper trimmer, I scored a line 2.5 from the bottom edge, applied double-sided adhesive to the left and right edges and then folded the pocket up at the score line.

To Make the Invitations
I designed my invitations to be 4.5 x 6.5 inches because I wanted to leave a black border around the edges. If you don't care to have a border then just go with 5x7 inch invitations. I relied on Office Max for the printing and cutting.

IMPORTANT THINGS TO REMEMBER
1. These invites can get pretty heavy - especially if you add several inserts and put embellishments on the invitations. I recommend doing a mock invitation and put it in the envelope and take it to the post office to be weighed. If you are using inner and outer envelopes take EVERYTHING to be weighed. If it weighs over an ounce you'll end up having to use $.60 stamps.

2. Carefully plan out every single detail before finalizing your design. Make sure you're able to find envelopes the correct size/color. You'll want your envelopes to be at least 1/4 inch larger than your invitation. It's much easier to adjust the size of your invitations in the beginning rather than after they're all assembled.

Ok that's all I can think of for now. Hope that helps someone. If I think of anything else I'll update. And certainly feel free to ask if you have any questions.

~m

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