Save This Date!

I told you that I had finished our STD cards, and since they are trickling into mailboxes all across Southern California and New York, I can finally reveal them to you. I must say that I am quite proud of this spectacular DIY accomplishment. A special thank you to Debbie, my MOH, who was willing to hand feed every card into our lousy printer in order to get the best results.

My first step was making STD stickers. I knew that I could not afford getting magnets made, so I figured that stickers were a more budget-friendly alternative. This way, guests can just take the sticker and place it directly on their calendars. For this project, I used:

-Love Birds stamp from Michael's ($1)

-Fiskars' Round N' Round Punch ($10.38)

-Avery 8.5"x11" full sheet labels ($12.98)

-Chianti ink pad ($2.49)

-Leftover cardstock ($0)

-Glitter fabric paint from my grandmother's stash ($0)

I know that it seems costly, but I plan on using my round punch and full sheet labels for other wedding projects. Total cost for the project if I break it down to each label sheet I used and the stamp: $4.89

I made a template on Microsoft Word and then printed it out onto a full label sheet. I then punched them out and stamped them. I learned that I definitely have trouble centering things and I was too rushed. I even cut slits on all of the backings of the stickers for easing peeling. I also added some glitter to the hearts on the images. I made another template that said, "Mark your calendars. Just peel and stick." I printed this out onto some card stock and attached each sticker using double sided tape. I hope people realize that it is a sticker and make good use out of it.

A few days later, I finally tackled the actual STD card. As I mentioned before, I had purchased three boxes of Target invitation kits for a total of $20.10. I decided that I would print our STD cards on what will also be our RSVP cards since we had so many at our disposal. Easy enough, right? WRONG.

Debbie and I sat down in front of the computer and played around with numerous templates, fonts, colors, wording, and spacing. When we finally agreed upon the appearance of the card, we were faced with problems with our printer.

We had numerous mishaps where words would print out completely blurred and/or crooked. Some words were left out all together. Our printer also decided to eat a couple of pages or sometimes not pick anything up at all. It was a collaborative effort, but we managed to figure out the source of the problems and adjust accordingly.

The project turned into an assembly line. Debbie was in charge of making sure that everything printed out smoothly. I was to hand stamp each card with my "Save This Date" stamp from Michael's ($4.79) with gold ink ($3.59). In the end, we accumulated about twelve unusable cards. Not shabby for two girls using a temperamental printer and a stamp that was produced crooked.

These cards along with the stickers were enclosed in the envelopes that I had hand embossed earlier.

I volunteered Debbie to address the envelopes because her handwriting is much classier than my own.

Here is the final set that was mailed out to our guests:

Breakdown of costs if I do not include the cost of supplies I will use for later projects:

$4.89 for stickers + $4.79 for STD stamp + $6.7 for card stock and envelopes ($20.10/600 pieces x 100) + $17.30 for postage ($0.42 x 40 envelopes + $0.92 for special postage to France)=$32.14

Cost of each STD= $0.30 when not including postage

I've heard numerous positive comments about our STDs so now I am even more anxious to make our invitations. If Brandon lets me, I think I will print out our invitations on our own printer instead of sending it out to a professional for $60+.

I learned something about myself. I don't think I'm a Minzilla after all! I was not bothered by all of the flaws that I saw in the STDs and sent them out anyway. Debbie was incredibly worried that I was not as critical as she thought I should be. Perhaps my anal-retentiveness ways of the past have faded. Life has suddenly become easier.

I think the next post will be a guest post by Debbie on the hunt for the perfect bridesmaid dress...if there is such a thing.