Wednesday, August 24, 2011

School Theme Baby Shower: The Invitations

I styled the main invitation card for my sister in law’s baby shower after a library book card.  This worked perfectly with the school theme I had planned! 

A note was included at the bottom, explaining that we were collecting books to build the baby’s library and asked everyone to bring a new book, unwrapped to the event. It was so much fun to see what books everyone brought!

I made sure to use a typewriter font for the appropriate items, but then used a handwriting font for the bottom note. I’m convinced that little details like this establish a tone or mood for an invitation. The handwriting font gave the note at the bottom more of a conversational tone, while the typewriter font seemed more official (and vintage!) for the details of the event.

IMG_2809 No Personal Info
Included in the invitation was a handstamped bookplate. We asked guests to include a special note to Baby Duncan on this bookplate and adhere it inside the book. This was such a sweet addition to the gifts. These books will be treasured by Baby Duncan (and his mama and daddy) for years to come.

Finally, behind all this was another card, the same size as the invitation “library card”. This note gave directions to the shower and listed where they were registered, etc. (Credits for the digital word art and borders on this card – Echo Park, “For the Record”).

Everything was contained in a cute little pocket of alphabet block and polka dot papers, adorned with a paper ruler and a little tag announcing “it’s a boy!”. Then each invitation was included in a coordinating lined envelope.

I was so excited to make these invitations – I can say without a doubt that I had more fun making these than any other invitation I’ve made (including the Hello Kitty wedding dress ones, but that’s another story!). There is something special about putting so much love into a detail like this when you are throwing an event for someone you care about. I hope the guests could tell from the invitation that this was an important event!

Of course, these invitations can be customized for so many other fun events – a back to school bash, a graduation party, a book club or book swap party! This school theme works with so many different events.

Coming up Friday, I’ll share the coordinating wreath I made for our front door!

UPDATED: I've decided to offer the library card (plain and with the Date/Time/RSVP headings) as a free printable based on popular demand! You can find it in various formats here. If you use it, please let us know! We'd love to see how you use it! Cheers!


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Linking to:
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18 comments:

Randi~Dukes and Duchesses said...

Those invitations are just fantastic! I love them so much.

Christine {Pure Joy} said...

Love this idea, Heather! Way to think out of the box.

paige said...

These are amazing! Serious creativity and amazing design!

party flyers said...

Great idea, that really suits the school theme. The handstamped bookplate is gorgeous by the way. Looks a bit vintage as well because of the the typewriter font. Great job, people will definitely get inspiration from those pieces.

Tracy said...

Hopping over from Somewhat Simple's Linky Party to invite you to link up this fabulous project with us too….hope you'll visit…:)
Tracy
http://www.craftjunkietoo.com/2011/08/tgif-linky-party-22.html

Lissa (Bellenza) said...

I totally agree with everyone...these invites are seriously creative! And I just adore the idea of building a child's book collection (will have to keep that in mind for upcoming toddlers' birthdays in the family!).

Heather Vo said...

Thank you so much, ladies!! I'm so glad you liked them! They were a total labor of love and I enjoyed every minute of putting them together!!

Anonymous said...

Saw you on Craftgawker and love your invite!! Homemade feeling without the tacky. Great job...

Margaret said...

Thank you so much for sharing the templates for these fantastic invitations! I used it for my own "bookish baby shower" invitations here: http://goo.gl/43LIo (more about how the shower itself turned out here: http://goo.gl/cWPWI). The guests all raved about them. Such a great idea!

Unknown said...

I love this invite! Is there any way to get a template for the book plate?

Heather Vo said...

For those that have asked about the bookplates, I made those using a journaling stamp! I can't find the particular stamp, but if you search "journaling stamp" at Amazon or a scrapbooking online shop (or visit your local scrapbook store), you can find a similar one! Good luck!

Lynnea Barnett said...

I love these invitations! We are doing a classic children's book theme for my son's first birthday party. Where did you get the alphabet paper/design? Is it the echo park brand? Thanks!

Rachel Betsy said...

i want to buy these for my baby shower, where can i get them??

Debi at Life Currents said...

Thank you so much for the library card template! You made the invites so easy!!! And, I got so many compliments on how cute they were. Check them out here: http://lifecurrents.dw2.net/marias-baby-shower/
Thanks again!!! :)

Unknown said...

This invitation has completely inspired me. Thank you! I'd love to know where you found the cardstock to make the pockets with. Thanks

Wanda - expecting !!!!

Unknown said...

I was wondering about the library card file. It won't let me write anything onto it from any of my computer applications. Am I doing something wrong? I downloaded it but cannot put any font on the template. Please help!

Maureen said...

I really love this one. Very simple yet very effective, really inspiring as well.
Anyway, thanks for sharing :)

Chris Zeller said...

This is exactly what I'm looking for as an invite for my daughter's book-themed birthday party! I saved the .jpg file, and I am able to use a typewriting font on it on www.picmonkey.com. Thank you for sharing!

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