Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Sophie In Wonderland: Invitations

Where have I been? It’s Mid-April and it’s my first post of the year!  Well, without going into all the details which could possibly bore you, 1) We’ve had some computer problems that had us sending in the laptop, not once, but twice. Not having a computer kind of makes it hard to get much done.  2)  I’ve been working out with trainers and eating better. That’s good for me and good for you, because I’ll be posting some healthier recipes in the future, (Don’t worry, I’ll still be making some tempting recipes as well, just enjoying them in moderation.) It has taken time to grow accustomed to being so busy in the evenings (when I go to the gym) which is the time of day I normally write my posts. So forgive my absence, I hope to get back into the swing of things now.

So to kick things off this year, how about a party?  My sweet daughter’s birthday is April 1st.  Now of course, you all know that is April Fool’s Day, which is a cool enough birthday to have, (we’re gonna make sure she knows all the best pranks,) but how cool is it that her name Sophia is the Greek word for Wisdom.  Pretty awesome, right? 

Sophie wanted her 4th birthday to be an Alice in Wonderland party.  We ended up planning it for April 14th so it was actually an Un-Birthday party.  I was really excited about this theme because I’ve been wanting to plan a tea party for a while.  This gave me the opportunity to pull out all the stops and make a fabulous party.

First things first: The Invitations.  I put these off until the last minute because I was hoping to get our computer back to make them.  It was not to be, so I borrowed a laptop and did the best I could with what I had.  I found this really great blog Vintage Disney Alice.  It has some pretty cool stuff on it.  But then I followed link on the sidebar to the blog Animation Backgrounds.  Jackpot!  I snagged an Alice background to use for the invitations.

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Of course, this is the rabbit hole through which Alice follows the White Rabbit.  Since I didn’t have my Photoshop, I was desperate for a free photo editor with a magic wand tool to cut out the background of this picture of Sophie.

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I finally came across paint.net.  I used the magic lasso tool to erase the background.  It took a while, but I did it while watching TV, so it was a two-birds-with-one-stone kind of thing. 

Here is the end result.  It isn’t perfect, but I was pleased with the outcome.

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I added some instructions.

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I printed these as 4x6s at a one-hour photo in the neighborhood. 

Then using either Microsoft Power Point or Word, (I can’t remember),  I made the rest of the invitation. I used different fonts and colors to achieve the quirky look.

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I made them just smaller than 4x6 then printed them onto an Avery 8 1/2 x 11 sticker sheet.  I was able to fit three invitations on the page, then I cut them out and adhered them to the back of the photo.  Wal-Mart had pastel invitation envelopes which were perfect for these invitations.

These were super cute invitations and suitable for framing too! While I was in the mood, I also did one more picture of Sophie, this time IN Wonderland.

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We framed the first picture and this one as well and used them to decorate at the party.  You’ll see that soon enough.  Check back later this week for more posts about Sophie’s Un-Birthday Tea Party.

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