La's DIY Blog...

[tallone14]

Would you be willing to share the steps for the papel picado invitation and using a Cricut to achieve those results? Your invitations are beautiful!

[brownsugarbride]

Lala-Would you mind sharing the program that you used to cut out your invitations?

[brownsugarbride]

ETA: Rather, what template did you use? I know you mentioned that you used your cricut machine.

[LaLa1116]

Hi!

I said cricut because I figured more people know what that is...I actually used a silhouette machine (which is very similar).  I designed the template in adobe illustrator and then opened that in the silhouette program.  I drew the shapes based on an invitation I saw on Etsy, (but couldn't imagine paying $400 for just 25 invitations).  It is an extremely time consuming process and illustrator is not an easy program to use unless you have been trained or have experience with it.  There are many similar papel picado invitations available on Etsy now though if you're interested in saving yourself the headache.  Good luck!

[brownsugarbride]

Originally Posted by LaLa1116 

 

Hi!

I said cricut because I figured more people know what that is...I actually used a silhouette machine (which is very similar).  I designed the template in adobe illustrator and then opened that in the silhouette program.  I drew the shapes based on an invitation I saw on Etsy, (but couldn't imagine paying $400 for just 25 invitations).  It is an extremely time consuming process and illustrator is not an easy program to use unless you have been trained or have experience with it.  There are many similar papel picado invitations available on Etsy now though if you're interested in saving yourself the headache.  Good luck!

 

Thanks so much!  Your intuition is absolutely correct---I am not trained nor do I have experience with any of this! LOL LOL   Luckily, I have a wonderful friend who has a design background and who used to own a card business. She told me that she could do it, but I assumed she had a cricut machine. Actually, she has a machine and software that sound very similar to what you have, and will be doing my invites. Yay for awesome friends!

 

P.S. Yeah, $400 for 25 invitations.  No way for my budget!

[tallone14]

After reading this thread, I looked through the Cricut library. There is one pattern set that sort of looks like this style if you were interested in using Cricut to make these. While I don't think its an exact match, the Damask Decor cartridge has a similar style, shape, and could be a good substitute if you didn't have the Illustrator skills.

[LaLa1116]

Hi everyone!  Sorry I've been slacking on updating this blog!  We are at the 3 month mark now and it has been very busy around here!  We just got a new puppy and my bridal shower was yesterday  But today it is back to work!  Here are some of the DIY projects I've been working on. As always, please feel free to comment here or PM me for any details or help.

 

These are the clear acrylic tumblers we purchased from discountmugs.com.  We thought because we are going to an all inclusive, our guests would appreciate the larger size and with Mexico's warm weather, the insulation will keep drinking colder.  I made the label and had a seller on etsy.com print them onto water proof labels.

 

 

These are our welcome bags.  I bought canvas bags, created the transfer and ironed it on.  It was a very time consuming project, but well worth it!  You can see more details instructions in my welcome bag post.  We are from Philadelphia and huge Phillies fans, so this bag is a combination of 2 of our favorite things...the Phillie Phanatic and Corona. I added welcome tags attached with yarn in our colors.  Can't wait til our guests see these.

 

 

We wanted to add some candy to the bags to highlight the location/theme, so we chose coconut taffy with palm trees, coffee flavored chuppa chup lollipops, champagne jelly belly chews & margarita sour balls (I like these because they are also mint green!) I added labels to the jellies and sour balls because they arrive in huge bags ...

 

 

 

I also made "Wedding Week Survival" bags filled with medicine and the essentials.  I printed "Too Much Food, Too Much Booze, Too Much Sun, Too Much Fun" on glassine bags.These included travel sizes of sunblock, aloe, hand sanitizer wipes, chapstick,Tums, Dramamine (for boat the Las Caletas), Advil, flossers, Emergen-C, tic tacs (mint green of course) and gum.

 

  

 

More to come...

[LaLa1116]

I am the GM of an Irish pub here in Philly, so I have access to some great welcome bag extras.  My Corona rep gave me all of this stuff for free!  Poncho beer coozies, flip flop bottle openers, sombrero (bottle opener) and maraca key chains, and lanyards for our room keys holders.  She also gave us 4 Corona tee shirts and sombreros for the groomsmen, LOL.  I told John he has to wear the sombreros onto the plane, because we don't have room in the luggage.

 

  

Our welcome tag has a picture of dreams on front and says, " I take this room key with me, to beach chair and bar stool, for soused or for sober, until I depart."

 

 

 

 

[1BeachBride]

Hi! I just joined and this is my 1st posting.

You are really doing a terrific job! Your guests are going to be thrilled. That's so awesome that you can get all those freebees from your job.

 

I'm planning even though my wedding is a ways off. I'm finding that the items for my Welcome Bags add up quickly. And every time I say "Okay, that's it. I'm not adding anything else." I see something else with a beach theme or my colors that I must have for my guests. LOL

[LaLa1116]

Here are the bridal party gifts...

 

We are buying the girls an hour long massage at Las Caletas on the morning of the wedding.  We are also giving them mint green robes by Love Ophelia and earrings from Etsy to wearing during the wedding.

  

 

Our groomsmen will receive an engraved flask/cigar holder and torch lighter.  We are having a cigar roller at the wedding, so we thought this would be a cool gift for the guys.  We are also giving them engraved credit card/wallet size bottle openers.

 

Our friend is officiating our ceremony, so we got him a gift as well--an engraved torch lighter/bottle opener.

 

 I wrapped these gifts in kraft bags with homemade tags and tissue in our colors - mint green and coral.  The "LOVE" on the tag is a tribute to the Love statue in Philadelphia where we got engaged. 

 

 

I will post our ring bearer and flower girl gifts as soon as I take photos of them.