DIY Wedding: Save the Dates

Just a quick note: October marks my first wedding anniversary, and I'm commemorating it by sharing some of of the DIY's and projects I did leading up to the wedding. Hope you enjoy this week's project: Save the dates!

Usually they're magnets, but it seems like no matter what, save the dates are always the same. So and so are getting married! There is a floral print, a script font, a pair of doves. But no. That simply didn't reflect my personality nor Mark's.

OK, so save the dates aren't that big of a deal. They're not even really a wedding requirement. But these little guys were definitely fun to make.

This project was a little bit of trial and error. A friend had screen printed save the dates, so I guess I got the idea from her. I got my friend Laura to sketch up some things, and we ended up picking the tree and a ketchup bottle. (For those of you who don't know, the Heinz plant originated in Pittsburgh. You can still read Pittsburgh on the label if you ever come across a bottle or a packet.)

And here's what a couple of the final projects looked like:

Laura potentially could've sketched up 50 of these, but instead, opted for another method: The almighty screen print!

I know screen print stations can be made at home, but since I've only screen printed things a handful of times, and I'm usually a pretty messy person as it is, I decided to go to a screen print shop to get them done.

Artists Image Resource, a Pittsburgh shop, has open evenings to use the studio and get some assistance. It's as simple as putting the image on a transparency, screening the image, and cutting to proper size, like so:

Yay! At this point, this is where the idea to use the watercolors came in. Mark and I had painstakingly chose a color to screen print with, a rust colored paint, but it didn't quite pop as expected. But we didn't fret. The guy who helped us screen print actually suggested the watercolors, so we went with that. It was a little time consuming, but in the end, every person got their own, unique card.

So once all of that was done, I addressed the back and sent them in the mail! Simple as that. :)

Save the date cost:

Cardstock, $10; Screen printing rental/assistance at AIR, around $30; Watercolors, $5; Postage, at 21 cents each x 60, $12.50;Help of friends, love.

Total: Around $60

Do you have a favorite save the date you've received from a friend or family member?