How To: Pocketfold Invitations

One of the first 'wedding' things I decided I wanted to do myself were the invitations. I knew I didn't want to spend a whole lotta moolah (like you didn't know that already!) and I secretly think I can do anything...I blame Mom for putting that thought in my head.

The obvious route seemed to be the self-assembly type of invitations. These come pre-scored and cut...all you have to do is print out the words for the invitation and then put them together and VOILA! Instant invitation! My sister-in-law used them for her wedding and they were lovely! However, after much searching I just couldn't find one style or color that really fit with my theme. They just weren't going to work for me.
When I realized that was definitely out, I figured I could just buy the pocketfold portion online in whatever color I wanted and then just make the inserts myself...BRILLIANT, right?!?!

Did you KNOW that JUST the pocketfold is AT MINIMUM $1 each?!?!...and that doesn't even include shipping?!?! Which means that if I needed, say, 100 invitations I'm out $100 just for the pocketfold!?!?! Mmm-kay, cupcake...you can keep your pocketfolds!

So, I went into disaster mode and pulled out everything I had stashed away in my closet for crafting and made a few trips to my local Hobby Lobby and started brainstorming and eating Nestle Toll House cookies like mad...because I needed the carbs for all that brain activity, yo!

Knowing that I had easy and plentiful access to 12"x12" sheets of card stock at my local Hobby Lobby, I hit em up during a sale for supplies. All the DIY instructions I had seen online (for example: here) required at least 20" in length on the paper...a full 8" more than I had with my 12"x12" paper...but I didn't let that deter me. After two mock ups and some major tweaking, I ended up with...

And at less then $1 (including ribbon, paper, cardstock, vellum,...everything!) each, I got perfectly unique invitations for my wedding. I think they were well worth the extra hours!

My husband does not agree.

Want to know how I did it? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway ;)

Start with basic 12"x12" cardstock...available at all stores that sell craftbooking supplies...and cut away the 7 3/8" x 5" section as outlined below:

Once you've cut away that section, you are left with an 'L' shaped piece. Trim 1/2" off the pocket flap end (see illustration below). Depending on how you want your pocket, you may want to flip the piece horizontally so that the 'L' is backwards like this:

I marked out on the diagram above each of the three folds you will be making to delineate the top flap, body, and then pocket of your invitation. To create a clean fold you can use a bone folder or a score attachment on your Fiskars paper cutter if you have them. I just used the back side of a butter knife to score/crease my folds and this worked well for me (plus I saved myself a whole $8 dollars...whoop whoop!!). A lot of the tutorials I found online suggest affixing the pocket flap with 1/4" double sided tape...I used paper glue without a problem soo...to each his own!

 If you want your top flap and/or pocket flap to have a decorative edge (like those shown in the illustration above), you will want to cut them BEFORE folding and gluing/taping your pocketfold invitation.

 

Once your pocketfold is finished, it's only a matter of printing out and cutting your inserts and the body of your invitation. I had three inserts in my invitation and I wanted a 3/4 inch 'header' for the top portion of each insert...so I made my inserts the following sizes:

From the smallest to largest insert, the dimensions were:

RSVP Insert: 5 1/4" x 4 1/8"

Information Insert: 6" x 4 1/8"

Directions Insert: 6 3/4" x 4 1/8"

This way the header for each insert did not overlap the larger insert behind it. 

The last piece of my invitation was the body.

I chose to not have an additional paper that was slightly larger behind it to better border the body...but I image a 6 3/4" x 4 3/4" piece of cardstock behind the main body of the invitation would set it off nicely.

Like this:

 I also added a piece of vellum to give it that 'official' look...but I didn't keep the dimensions and don't have the original anymore so...do your best to eyeball it ;)

After the pocketfold was assembled with all inserts and everything glued into place...I wrapped it all with a pretty ribbon and hot-glued a paper medallion with my wedding 'logo' in place (if you tuck a piece of parchment paper behind the ribbon then you wont glue your medallion to the invitation...only to the ribbon..which makes it easier for invitees to get the ribbon off and open the invitation without totally destroying it!).

I have no idea how much time it took me to make them all (nearly 100 for my wedding!) but I got exactly what I wanted for a LOT less...so, of COURSE, I think they were totally worth it!

My husband STILL does not agree...

Happy wedding-invitation-making to all you brides on a budget!