On the 1st day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

♪ ♫ ...an invite to Christmas Eve. ♫ ♪
                    

Welcome to the first day of Brookie's Cookies' Twelve Days of Christmas!  Today we are tackling Christmas invitations.

My dad's side of the family has always had our Christmas on Christmas Eve.  It's been that way for the 29 years I've been around, and I'm sure it's been that way for even longer than that.  Everyone know it's Christmas Eve after my dad and uncle get off from work (they're letter carriers and don't have the luxury of having Christmas Eve off).  Even though this is common knowledge, I still felt the need to make invitations.

I think I will always feel the need to make invitations...for almost everything.

I can't take full credit for this invite.  I did have some inspiration help from Vista Print, but I love that I can re-create and make items my own.  Even if I did misunderstand my mother and ask everyone to bring a dessert...  Santa's bringing us cavities for Christmas!

I used my trusty Paint Shop Pro to make the invite and printed it on leftover card stock from our wedding.  I used leftover envelopes from our wedding as well.  Love using what we've got!

Someone's turning 30!

Thank God it's not me.  Not until March anyway.

My husband is turning the big 3-0 the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  He's not too excited about it.  He's more excited about something else that's happening that day...

The UofM vs. Ohio State game.

He's a huge Michigan fan.  Don't believe me?  This is our house:

Yes, our house is "maize and blue."  Not technically those colors, but close enough.  The door and shutters almost look black in this photo, but they are definitely blue.  All we have to do is tell people we're the Michigian house, and they immediately know which one.  I actually think the color combo is rather charming. 

Since the biggest game of the year is on his birthday, I suggested throwing a small get-together for our family and his close friends.  He agreed to that.  I don't think he would have let me give him a party otherwise.

Now, you know how I like designing invitations.  I couldn't let this important birthday slip by without coming up with something special.  And I think I did!



I really think they turned out pretty great.  Well, the second version turned out great.  I kind of forgot to include the date of Ryan's birthday/the game on the invitations that were mailed out.  Oops.  I figured that everyone who was invited knows and loves Ryan, so they would know the date without me having to tell them.  Right?  Wishful thinking? 

We've had a few RSVPs so far, so I'm pretty sure our guests figured it out.  They're smart people.  :)

You are invited...

to a tea party! 

It's official.  The guest of honor has received her invite in the mail, so let the posting commence!

Now, I can't take full credit for the design. While searching Google Images for "tea party invitations," I stumbled upon an invite that got my creative juices flowing. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find that site again.

To make the invites, I used my trusty Paint Shop Pro (since I don't have Photoshop), Google Images (to search for the lavender clip art), leftover envelopes from our wedding, and cardstock that I picked up at JoAnn Fabrics.  Gotta love those 40% off coupons!

I printed two invites per 8.5" x 11" page, used my paper cutter and an exacto knife to cut them out, and my bone folder to help create crisp folds.  The final invite dimensions before folding was 3" x 10". 

To attach the tea bag, I used my new favorite gadget, the Tiny Attacher by Tim Holtz.  I then used my exacto knife to almost completly cut out the square under the flap like a real tea bag would be.

I didn't think I'd ever love an invitation that I made myself more than our wedding invites, but this one comes in at a very close second place!

Here's one final look at all the parts of the invite...with all personal information removed of course!  :)