May 31, 2007
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Breaking it all down…
As promised, here’s the cost breakdown of my DIY invites:
Paper: $40.00 Fabric $26.00 Embroidery Materials $17.00 Chipboard $20.00 Ribbon $31.00 Glue $33.54 Gocco Supplies $22.50 Envelopes $39.25
GRAND TOTAL
$229.29Cost per invite $2.29 All of the lovely cost details are below!!!Paper I purchased luxe cream 160g weight paper from PaperSource (ordered online with free shipping) in their large format sheets and cut it myself. Here’s the cost breakdown (and price comparison)25 flat sheets of LUXE cream paper @ $1.60 = $40
vs.
20 packs of LUXE cream A7 paper @ 5.75 = $115
(or if I settled for smaller pieces) A6 paper @ 4.75 = $95
I ended up with 625 cut sheets of paper, as well as some great scrap strips, since the paper the actually sent me was 30×20 and not 27×19 as they had advertised.
Fabric Pocketfold
The genesis for this idea came after I tried to make my own cardstock pocketfold using PaperSource cardstock. I designed and made two sample pocketfolds from my blue and cream paper, and I just sat there staring at them wondering what I did wrong. They just weren’t at all what I imagined, and I suddenly realized that I was going to need to start from scratch. I had remembered seeing really fancy invitations that were covered in silk, so I started down that research road to see where I’d end up.I went to downtown LA in search of good silk prices, but instead I found that I loathed all of the silk I could find (even the stuff that was $20/yard). I bowed my head with disappointment, and then I realized that I didn’t need silk and instead started looking for the best gold and blue fabric I could find. Ironically, that was the best cost decision I made. I found the gold fabric for $3/yard, and the blue fabric was an incredible deal at only $2 for all of it in a bulk sale area.
8 yards of gold fabric = $24
6 yards of blue fabric = $2
I ended up needing more gold fabric than the blue due to the extended size that needed to fit in the embroidery hoop
Embroidery
Now here’s where I decided to be a little fancy. I used a Singer CE-100 embroidery sewing machine… which is a nifty sewing machine that actually PLUGS into your computer and transmits the design through a USB connection to the machine.
I transformed my wedding motif into a vector design and sent it to AKDesigns (an etsy shop) who transformed it into an embroidery file for $5.
I bought the gold embroidery thread on eBay for $12 with shipping, and I still have TONS left over.
Chipboard
Some of you wondered how my invites all fit together, and the answer is simple: 4 pieces of chipboard. My pocketfolds are a bit different from others since they aren’t made from one single piece of fabric. I wanted to use two fabrics and two colors, so I had to improvise.
My first mock-up designs were made with the same cardstock that I used above from PaperSource. It worked, but it was flimsy and I disliked the overall weight of the invitation. I decided to try out using chipboard by using an old gift box, and suddenly I had my answer! I found an online eBay seller who sold chipboard in 4×6 sheets, and suddenly everything became even easier!
400 pieces of 0.028 4″x6″ chipboard = $20 (shipped)
Ribbon
I needed 4″ ribbon for the binding of the invitations, so I purchased 6 yards of midori satin ribbon at $3/yard from the fabric store. I also bought 50 yards of 1 1/2″ double faced satin ribbon from JKM ribbon for $11 to use as a substitute for the inner envelope. I also used a bit of rattail that I bought for my programs – but only about $1 of it.
4 inch ribbon = $19
1 1/2 inch ribbon = $11
Rattail = $1
The paper for the tags was leftover from the invite sheets — hooray for scraps!Glue
Each piece of fabric was wrapped around the chipboard individually and glued to the “inner” side of the chipboard. The blue pocket needed to be attached with glue as well. The two ribbon also needed to be glued in, along with the final task of glueing each blue/gold side together. As you can see, I needed LOTS and LOTS of glue. I made use of my Jo-Anns coupons whenever I could, and we ended up going through 6 bottles of Fabri-Tac.
6 Bottles of LARGE sized Fabri-Tac (@ $5.59 each) = $33.54
Gocco supplies
In order to make my invitations, I used 3 screens:
(1) Gold Rose graphic (2) Text of the invitations
(3) Titles for the inserts (4) RSVP envelope4 Gocco screens: $8
8 Flash bulbs: $8
Ink (gold & navy): $6.50
EnvelopesI had dreams of gold StarDream envelopes dancing in my head for my invitations, and luckily EnvelopeMall.com came to the rescue and easily supplied all of my envelope needs.
I purchased:
Stardream “Euro Flap” 5-3/4 x 8-3/4″ (A9)
100 Pack – $24.00
(for the outer envlopes)
Stardream Metallic “Euro Flap” 3-5/8 x 5-1/8″ (4Bar)
100 Pack – $15.25
(for the RSVP envelopes)
And there you have it! Of course, the most expensive part of this project: TIME! Since my current billing rate is so low (hello grad school!) it wasn’t as costly as it could have been… but still… hard work and long hours are what made this project successful – not the dollars and cents.
