How To Make The Perfect Invitation Every Single Time

**Today I'm partnering with Basic Invite to show how easy it is to make an invitation online- And so much cheaper, too!  All opinions are my own.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been asked by a couple of my good friends and a neighbor to help them create custom invitations. My friends think I'm some sort of design whiz the way I make graphics for the blog. The truth is, there are a couple of great (free) online programs that make it super easy for me to make whatever they need. And since I'm telling my secrets, here's another dirty one, I often just do it myself because it's faster for me to make the invitation then sit down and show someone how.

I realize that's not helping either one of us, really. So, below is my Invitation cheatsheet for making beautiful invitations every single time. (Note: I use Basic Invite because it has way more options than any other online stationary creator, and you can order an exact sample of the invite before you buy!)

STEP ONE: Imagine the perfect invitation in your head. The sky is the limit! What is the perfect theme, color, font, images, size... How many do you need? Do you need thank you cards, too? Do you need a formal Sweet Sixteen invitation with matching thank you cards, RSVP cards, direction cards... 



STEP 2: Go to Basic Invite and design it. With over 180 different colors to choose from and a ridiculous amount of templates, themes and fonts to choose from, and the ability to upload your own photos, you can create the perfect invite in five minutes! There is no learning curve, zero. It's that easy.

If you need a little inspiration, there is a birthday invitation maker with loads of premade templates to choose from.  

 

In addition to the virtually unlimited color combinations, themes and designs available on the Basic Invite website, I love how you can get an entire matching set with the click of a button. This is such a money saver for wedding invites and formal parties. TIP: Save money by making a double-sided card where possible--saves on postage, too!

STEP 3: Pick a complementary envelope and address them. NOTE: Through Basic Invite, you can choose from 40 different envelope colors, then send a shoutout to your attendees on social media asking for their addresses. Basic Invite captures the address, and address the envelopes for free! (Most orders are eligible for free white peel-and-seal envelopes.) #Love

I don't care what the occasion is, Basic Invite has a card, in your price range that is perfect. Friends and family of First Time Mom and Dad can save 15% off their purchase at checkout using the coupon code: 15FF51

4 Valentine's Day DIY Dollar Store Party Decorations

Last year, I started a partnership with Rustoleum that has been nothing but amazing fun. The first campaign I worked on was the, Blogger Valentine's Day Decoration Challenge. I'm proud to say, one of my ideas was featured! Since the project ended after Valentine's Day, I decided to hold off on posting the ideas until this year. I'm so excited to finally share them, I present Dollar Tree Valentine's Day Party DIY Decorations.

I started by envisioning what a fun Valentine's day party table would look like. I saw lots of bowls of candy and vases of flowers. I went to the Dollar Tree and bought everything I could think of to bring the table to life.

4 glass bowls

1 glass vase

2 bunches of silk-ish flowers

1 box of metallic tattoos

1 bag of foam hearts

1 bag of chocolate hearts. (Ok one more but I ate that one.)

Below are the things I made...

Valentine's Day Flower Vase

Step one: Paint the vase. I held the vase and sprayed all around it first, bottom, too. The paint dries in minutes. I set the vase down in the box and finished the top with a few passes of the paint and let it dry.

Step 2: Once dry, I picked up the Vase the way shown above and sprayed a few LIGHT passes of the pink glitter spray paint to LIGHTLY coat the vase. I tossed in the flowers and boom, done!

Next,  I did the candy bowl. This was super fun and ultra easy! I stuck the foam hearts to the glass bowl, spacing about an inch apart, then spray painted the glass bowl by sticking it upside down in a large box, and painting all around it. 

Once the paint dried, I peeled off the foam hearts and filled the bowl with candy. SO CUTE!!!

At this point, I was on a roll! I painted a bowl all gold and pulled out the metallic tattoos. This was as easy as following the directions on the box. I ended up tattooing a second bowl too!

Next, polka-dots because, why not?  Same as the foam hearts, I stuck dots all over the bowl and hosed it in gold paint! 

Chevron? Absolutely!

As you can see, the possibilities are endless. I should have done a few bowls in just pink glitter, but I LOVED the gold. It dried super fast, too. You can get the Rustoleum Mirror Effect paint anywhere Rustoleum is sold, it comes in a bunch of awesome metallic colors, too!