Homemade Party Invitations

In the rush of getting everything together for a party it is quite common for little things to be forgotten or unnoticed until it is almost too late. One of the things that tend to be commonly forgotten are the party invitations. Because these little cards are so important and yet so easily forgotten, many people simply grab some generic premade invitations from the local grocery store and hope—or trick themselves into believing—that everything is going to be OK.

Instead of being like everyone else, show a little spark of individuality. Bring back a touch of classic elegance to your parties by making your own homemade party invitations. By spending at most a couple of hours completing a simple arts and crafts project, you are can make your next party truly unique.

• Computer generated. One of the more common, and easy, methods that a person could use to make their party invitations. To say that a cottage industry has built up around using the home computer for such simple graphic design projects would be an understatement. Simply purchase the program of your choice from any software store and by using card stock that can be purchased at any office supply store or hobby store you can have professional quality personalized invitations at a mere fraction of the cost.
• Scrapbook style. I call it scrapbook style simply because you use many of the same materials that you would when scrapbooking. While these invitations tend to be more "country chic" in their appearance, they can provide a wonderful hint of homemade thoughtfulness. Simply put, when people see these types of invitations, they are going to know that you put a lot of effort and thought into your party.
• Old fashioned. This style could possibly be more accurately called "old school." To truly achieve the older, more antiquated and more romanticized look of days gone by just use a little imagination. To begin, I would suggest watching a couple of classic movies to help inspire you. The first show that I would suggest watching would be The Count of Monte Cristo, which shows some great ideas for party invitations. The next movie that I would suggest watching would be Pride and Prejudice. Each of these invitation styles can easily be achieved in the home through the use of card stock, ribbon, parchment style paper and calligraphy pens.

Finally, it must be mentioned that whatever style you decide to use for your invitations, don't forget to include the basics. These basics would be answers to the simple questions of who, what, when, where, how and why. If you have the answers to these questions, then the invitations are going to serve their purpose of informing your potential guests of all the information they will need to decide whether they are coming or not. One final word of advice about invitations though is to make sure that you have included a "cut-off" date for the guest to let you know whether they are coming, as well as a means for them to contact you. This allows for proper communication as well as the ability to plan their respective schedules.