Tutorial: Ladybug Invitations

So last summer my daughter turned one.  We threw a party for her at a local park and used ladybugs as the theme.   Back in August {over on my other blog}, I posted pics of her party and of the invites I designed.  Well, I put those pictures on Pinterest and since then the post has been re-pinning like crazy and I have had dozens of people emailing me asking how I made the invites.  Instead of sending the same email tutorial over and over again to each person who asks, I've decided to post a simple tutorial here and link it up.

Here’s a little background info for those of you that don’t follow my other blog.  I run a small graphic design business from home (on the side of my real full-time job) specializing in invitation design.  Normally everything I do is digital, but for this party I decided to be a bit craftier. 

Here are a few pics of the invites:

And here is how I did it:

Materials needed:

Red card stock

Black card stock

White card stock

Glue dots

Black brads

Paper cutter/scissors

Compass

For the body of the ladybug I drew up a template on my computer and added a text box over the body to type in the party details (you don’t need fancy software to do this, a simple program like MS Word will do).  I then printed the body out on white card stock and cut the paper down to fit my envelopes.

To make the wings, I cut out a red circle large enough to cover the body of the ladybug (I traced a large lid I had to make the circle, but you could easily use a compass).  I then cut the red circles in half.  Next, I cut out smaller black circles for the spots on the wings. 

Using glue dots (less mess this way), I then glued the black dots onto the wings.

To fasten the wings to the body, I just used simple black brads I found at Hobby Lobby.  I overlapped the two wings at the top just a bit and then poked the brads through the wings and then through the “neck” of the ladybug on the white card stock (side note: you may need to use something sharp to make the hole for the brad).  The wings then opened and closed to reveal the party details!

I finished off the invite with a bright red envelope and a wrap label I made (that will be another post).

It’s a simple project, but it did take some time.  Luckily though, I have a mom and sister who like crafts! J

If anyone has further questions about this project feel free to email me using the link in the sidebar!

Shared with: Will Cook for Smiles & Six Sister Stuff