DIY???? Share your tips here!!

[*TanyaJeanne*]

If you love doing DIY projects post your ideas here!!

[Carrie429]

The main thing that helped me...
If you have a kinkos - Use it! They cut paper and it doesn't cost much at all. We had them cut everything for us and it saved so much time and every cut was always exact (its a big machine that does it and it takes about 30 seconds!).
They also have a machine that will fold your paper for you!!! Again, very very cheap and fast - it took about a minute to fold 450 pieces of paper - it was exact - and it cost less than $3.50.
I will forever love kinkos for these two things.

[StaceyG]

my advice stay calm and give yourself plenty of time to complete a project. better to have it done way early then have to rush to finish or worse not use it because it was finished in time

[Angela]

And if you need help, ask for it! I have an aunt who is very crafty, and offered her help on anything....I want to put bathroom baskets together, and will need a decorated basket for our programs....so I'm going to ask her to do them for me!

[belle67]

Start early (they usually take longer than you think to do) and delegate! If someone offeres help, take it. If you need help, ask! :)

[Jaci]

I second the Kinko's suggestion! Rather than spend HOURS cutting paper for our DIY pocketfolds, I brought everything in and it was done in 15 minutes!

[Aubrey]

I wish I had known Kinkos cut paper, as I cut the paper for my invites all on my own and it took me a fair amount of time!

[KathyandJer]

I wish I knew where to find a Kinko's... there's none in my area...but it sounds like it might be worth travelling to find one! :lol2:


Oooohhhhh, found a few of them within about 45 minutes of Jer's house - heck, the time saved in folding and cutting would be worth the travel time (and money) to get there, wouldn't it?

[MsJessica07]

You'll be going there soon, right? Get them to do it (they're pretty cheap) and then you'll have another thing done!

[KathyandJer]

MsJessica - great idea...I think it will be a project to do before my trip there at Christmas - this trip is filling up quickly :lol: And the invitations aren't really started, besides the prototype! I need to finish one step at a time - STD's are almost complete, so then I'll move on to the invites :)

But we'll definitely make a trip to Kinko's - one of them near Jer's is 24 hours ;)

Does anyone know what types of files they accept???

[serda23]

I hope this link will help, I tried to see if they listed the file formats they accept and found this thing: http://fedex.kinkos.com/fpfk/index.php?CMP=ILC-FPFK31 for sending the file from your computer to theirs basically. Maybe?

[KathyandJer]

Now that is cool stuff...thanks for sharing serda! Will have to phone and see if they'll allow us to bring our own stock to print on! But that definitely is worth the trip if they'll do the folding and the cutting!

[JerAndKathy]

Now that is cool stuff...thanks for sharing serda! Will have to phone and see if they'll allow us to bring our own stock to print on! But that definitely is worth the trip if they'll do the folding and the cutting!

"As long as it'll go through the printers, we'll print on it."

[serda23]

awesome! :)

[Cindy]

Awesome link, Sarah!

[~LeAna~]

I didn't know they would cut paper! This is going to be huge for out DIY pocketfolds!

For those of you that have done this-
Do you just give them the dimensions to cut the cardstock?
Did you put multiple invites/inserts on one page?? Do you just tell them where to cut the sheets?

[Cindy]

I don't know, LeAna. That's a good question! I'm glad you thought of it!

[serda23]

Designer's use crop marks... which just means you put little lines marking where the cuts should go like this:
http://www.sarah-kennedy.com/cropmarks.jpg

[Cindy]

Sarah, I just love those invites. Too cute. Was that a program or something you drew?

[serda23]

Something I drew in Adobe Illustrator. And thank you!

[*Diane*]

Sarah, I am so glad that you are on this site. You have such great tips, you are so funny and I enjoy reading your posts. :glomp:

[serda23]

Thank you Diane! I'm glad I'm able to help!

[Kirsten]

Do a mock-up. It'll save you time and energy in the long run *especially* if you do the mock-up and decide you don't like how it looks / fits.

This has saved me a ton of time with my dress. . . The darned sleeves took 3 tries to get them to fit right.

[fromms2mrs]

DIY Pocketfold invitations

The moment I laid eyes on these things, I fell in love. Unfortunatly, planning a wedding on a budget means not being able to afford expensive invites! So I found a way around it! I made a pattern and went crazy! I am making my own, I have directions
http://www.xanga.com/FromMs2Mrs/586343720/diy-paperfold-invitations-how-to.html!!

Hope someone gets something out of it!

[nikkiscott]

Like other ladies have said take your time. DIY projects always take longer then you think. Don't get frustrated right away when something goes wrong. Cause something will go wrong. Relax and take it easy. This is suppose to be a fun time, planning and doing things for your wedding.

Doing a sample is always helpful. Weather it be with colored paper or just plain white white paper. It will help you out and is cheaper cause they you can plan as you go.

If someone offers to help you, let them help you. Some things a person just shouldn't do on their own.

Other then that, look around at different styles before you start something. That will help you determin what style of anything you want.

Hope this helps.

[lalalola]

DON"T DO IT!!!!!!!!!!

I'm just kidding! I am so freakin happy with my DIY invites but I invested probably 20 hours total into them. If you are not willing to committ then don't even start.

Look around, I was going to buy favor tags but I easily made mine for $5 and it took maybe 1 hour to do and cut myself! And people were selling them for probably $50 for the amount I needed.

If someone offers help, take it!!!!!

[mrrr]

Like it's been said before--only DIY if you have the time! Practice makes perfect and use scratch paper if needed for multiple tries. Things might change from your original idea so be flexible. Look for sales-most craft stores will have the items you need on sale at some point. Have fun and enjoy yourself!

[Fellnlove92203]

Coupons and sales will become your best friend if you DIY! Also take your time. If you rush things, they tend to look that way. Spread your project out over a few days. If you are getting tired of that project set it aside for a couple days. If you get burnt out on it you will not want to do any more projects.

[KathyandJer]

I totally agree about the coupons... Michael's, Joann's, Hobby Lobby, AC Moore - they all have great coupons (Hobby Lobby is the best, in my opinion because they're most regular...and most common store to find. AC Moore is awesome too IF you're lucky enough to have one near you!).

[mrrr]

Do a couple to make sure it's what you like. I had one each of a bunch of different of styles of invites before deciding on one style. Then I went at it full force. I made about 50 before realizing that the potency of the glue does not go away after it dries and I had to redo all of them!

[Jaci]

Also, if you can find shortcuts, USE THEM! I was planning on making all of my DIY pocketfolds, including making the pocketfold itself, but then I realized I'd be spending more on the paper I needed than if I bought the pocketfolds from www.cardsandpockets.com (The sheet of paper I was going to use was about $4.29 a sheet and I could get four pocketfolds out of it, but www.cardsandpockets.com pocketfolds are $1 a piece! Cheaper if you buy on sale!) so I went that route instead and saved tons of time and money.

Also decide what you are willing to do. Spend $30 and have all your inserts cut perfectly in 15 minutes, or save $30 and spend eight hours cutting all of your inserts, screwing up one in ten or so. If you consider what you could have made while working at your job in that eight hours, you are really losing a ton of money!

[*Sarah*]

Does anyone know what types of files they accept???

When I was at Kinko's in early April they had a sign up that said they would charge you an extra fee if your file wasn't a .pdf.

Do you just give them the dimensions to cut the cardstock?
Did you put multiple invites/inserts on one page?? Do you just tell them where to cut the sheets?

I had them print and cut mine. I put the invitation and one insert on one page and the other four inserts on another. I told them the dimensions and drew them on the proof and they cut them. They charge you per cut so it's a good idea to try and situate them so they only have to make a few cuts.

[laurak83]

This is kind of a dumb question, but how many pieces of paper does one cut make? Do they cut 1 page at a time, or is it a stack of 10/25/100?

[Jaci]

I can't remember what their maximum was, but I believe it was 100 sheets of the 80lb cardstock that I used. I didn't need to use nearly that much though, I think I had four different stacks all cut differently, with 55 sheets being the most. You choose how much paper though, it doesn't have to be in 5 sheet increments or anything. I know two stacks were of 37 sheets.

[*Sarah*]

They told me 150 but it probably depends on the weight of paper you use.

[KathyandJer]

Kinko's limit is 150 considered as "a cut" - however, the more they cut at the same time, the more room for error as well. The stacks shift slightly from the top to the bottom so you might not get as accurate a cut doing 150 at a time. Check with them...and make sure you look over everything THOROUGHLY before leaving the place!

Kinko's has changed alot lately. They also charge extra for extra files as well :( Definitely worth asking alot of questions...and if you have alot of stuff that is one page of this or one page of that, combine them into one .pdf file to save yourself money - there are free .pdf makers out there - CutePDF is the one I use - it's easy to use...and if you get the free evaluation copy of the professional version, it allows you to create multi-page pdf's from multiple files. I was able to get all of my table numbers into one file, with the bathroom basket signs, the wish book signs and a couple of other things. It certainly saved us alot of money!

[PrairieDawn]

If you are DIYing your flowers, remember that you'll need lots of fridge space. I didn't really think about that in advance. Good thing our wedding was in the winter; all of our food sat on the back step in cardboard boxes for a couple of days. Yah, so what if the milk froze? LOL

...Pam