Dora the Explorer Party: Invitations

I’m one of those crazy people who would rather spend 4 hours trying to mail merge her address book into labels rather than take an hour to hand address envelopes.

So, it should come as no surprise that I hate filling in pre-made invitations. 

Besides, I like to pretend I’m all Martha-esque and make my own invites.  Because beautiful invitations set the stage for the tone of the party.  At least that’s what I think Martha would say. 

These Dora the Explorer invitation cards really only took a few hours to put together.  Assuming you know what you’re doing.  And because I like you, I’m going to provide a tutorial. 

This just saved you like 6 hours of your life. 

You’re welcome.

Tools:
White 8.5 x 11 cardstock 
Purple (or color of your choice) 8.5 x 11 cardstock
Digital Image (this one is courtesy of Google Images)
Computer with Microsoft Word
Color printer
Glue stick
Paper cutter (this will save your sanity)

1.  Set up your MS Word document with the following formatting: landscape, 3 (3 inch) columns, 0.5 inch margins all the way around (including between columns), text (centered).

2.  Add your text to the top of each column.  I used 18pt as the top line and 14pt on the next line.  I’m lazy, so I just copied and pasted it in each column.  Because typing 26 more words is just too much work for me.  

(And if you were wondering how I got the accent above the A?  Hold down the alt key and type 0225.  That will type an accented lowercase A.)

3.  Copy and paste your image below the text.

4.  Add a text box below the image and to add background color go to Format → Text Box → Fill → Color and select the color of choice.

5.  Type your party details in the colored text box.  I used 18pt for her name for emphasis and 12pt for the what, when, and where.  More copy/paste…

6.  Below the text box put your RSVP information (10pt).  And of course, copy/paste.

7.  You might have to tweak the spacing to make sure it all fits and looks proportionate.  If anyone knows how to upload a Microsoft Word doc, I’d be happy to post the printable, but Google Docs kept ditching the formatting.

8.  Print out as many invitations as needed, remembering that you’ll get 3 out of each sheet.

9.  Use a paper cutter to cut background cardstock into three equal pieces.  Making sure they will fit in a normal legal sized envelope…

10.  Cut and trim the invite cards so that there is roughly an even amount of background card visible.  

11.  Glue the invite card to the background cards.

12.  Stuff envelopes and mail!  If you are really an aspiring Martha, you can also use this fantastic tutorial on how to line an envelope with pretty paper to make it all fancy like.  But I’m not that ambitious.

And of course, this type of invitation could be adapted to virtually any party theme and embellished in a variety of ways.  The best part?  It fits into a regular, easy to find envelope.  I’ve got a harrowing story about trying to find 5 x 7 envelopes…  But I’ll save that for another day.