On being uncrafty and asking the gals

I'm far from being crafty. I can assemble Ikea furniture, but I'm too impatient and critical (and a shopaholic) to make things myself. I figure I'm keeping people who sew, knit, etc., in business! Etsy for the win!

Since the economy tanked, do-it-yourself projects (DIY) have become uber-common in the wedding sphere. "So, you love personalized napkins? Break out a screenprinting machine and do them for a fraction of the cost!" This works for people who like spending time doing crafty things and spending money buying crafty gadgets. I'm more of a "click and credit card" gal (at least I'm honest).

Unless it involves a computer. College exposed me to some desktop publishing programs, so I'll at least give real simple paper products a try.

Case in point? "Making" cute cards to ask my friends to be part of the wedding. I use quotes because I'm not really a DIY bride -- call me a resourceful one: I know when to leave things to professionals, but I'll do my darndest to still get a deal.

I bought a set of blank white notecards and envelopes from Target ages ago, thinking I'd make my own cards for holidays (my shopping side got the best of me, and I splurged at Paper Source). I came across a free customizable graphics service offered by The Wedding Chicks. The blog teams up with fab designers and presents the freebies in a super easy-to-use interface. Win and win.

I picked out the bicycle built for two design and spent a few minutes experimenting with colors. I simply changed my page setup in Microsoft Word to the notecards' size, added some cute dotted brackets and punctuation (go grammar!), and printed. Time spent: 20 minutes for the cards and about an hour to write memories and funny stories for my ladies on the back. :)

Ta da! (personal photo)

Though I know the cards weren't necessary, it was easy to do, the ladies loved them -- and who doesn't love getting snail mail?! The whole "We're getting married" thing really started to sink in as I wrote to my best friends how much they mean to me. It was a fun project that was great for all involved!