In Love: Calligraphy

This weekend I am hoping on having all of the wedding invitation pieces printed out, that way we can begin cutting, gluing, and assembling them, in order to get them out the beginning of May. That leaves the envelopes to be dealt with asap! I love the look and feel of calligraphy, it's so whimsical and romantic...what I don't like about it is the price. Seriously, weddings are expensive enough, I don't need to drop bucco bucks on something that 80% of the recipients will throw right in the garbage!

Here are some of my inspiration pics!

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So I plan on doing fake calligraphy myself. You may be tilting your head to the side and saying, but how? Well I have two options. Option 1, feed every envelope through the printer individually and print the addresses on, then go over my hand. (The envelopes are a metallic silver, so I'm thinking a light grey ink)

Or option 2, print the addresses on sheets of paper, place the paper in the envelope and then use a light box to trace the address. I actually don't know how plausible option 2 is because the envelopes might be too thick. 

So these are my only two options I have come up with. Now I have a million questions for you. Does anyone know what is the better choice? Which one is easier? And does anyone else have any other options? Also, does anyone want to come to Upstate NY and help me address 100 envelopes? There will be wine involved I promise!

DIY Envelopes

I started making thank you cards for my bridal shower way back when. (I knew everything would come fast, and it is! And I wanted to have things I could accomplish early out of the way; I will post about them later) The problem was, I made them about 4" x 5", and I could not find any envelopes that were the right size.

So, I decided to make some myself. This week, my favorite craft store ever, is having a sale on books of scrapbook paper. I found a 180 page book that was on clearance for $8 and received 40% off on top of that! So it cost me around $5 for a $20 book. Then I just bought some double sided tape and was ready to go.

First I made a template based on my card size. The side flaps are 1", bottom half is 3", and the top flap is 2".

I traced the template on the back of the selected paper.

This is what it looks like cut out.

Then I scored and folded the edges so they were all crisp.

All folded and ready to be taped.

Put a strip of tape on each side to connect to the side flaps.

And you have an envelope!

Now just do it a million more times to get the number you need. If I made the 180 envelopes that I could with this pack, they would end up being less than 3 cents each. That is pretty awesome for something custom!

Altered Books

One of the trends I have noticed this year are the use of books. That's right books, couples are repurposing books in all ways for their special day. They have lovingly altered books for wedding programs, guestbooks, and even invitations! It adds a sort of vintage charm to your day. Check out these inspiration pics! The first of a program made out of a book and the next invitations sent out in the fronts of books that the guests then keep after the fact.

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Is anyone using used books, or altering books for their day?