Pocketfold Invitations - How-To

This post is very long and pic-heavy, so please bear with me! :)

Thank you for your comments on my invitations! I'm glad you like them. One of you asked about the total cost for making these. I believe that with cardstock, ribbon, glue, and laser printing, it came to about $2.00 per invite. However, it will be cheaper for all you Americans out there, as you won't have to pay the exchange rate, duty, and shipping costs that I did for my cardstock from Anchor Paper (one disadvantage to being Canadian, I guess).

Here is my basic cost break-down:
Cardstock: $1.50/invite
Ribbon: $0.15/invite
Printing: $0.30/invite

I also got matching Silver Ore envelopes for about $0.15/envelope.
Postage will be $1.18/invite + RSVP postcards ($0.56/postcard).

A few cost-saving tips for pocketfolds:

- You can save a bit if you decide to print your invites at home on an inkjet instead of paying $0.50 a sheet for laser printing. Inkjet would work fine if you don't use metallic/glossy cardstock (otherwise it smudges a lot I found).

- buying paper online from companies such as Anchor Paper is cheaper than buying each sheet of paper individually at Michael's or another craft/paper store. I didn't do this because I was extremely picky about colours and couldn't find the right colour of purple anywhere online, but I definitely suggest doing this. I can almost guarantee that it will save you money. I would recommend Anchor Paper (definitely), LCI paper, and Paper-Source. If you're Canadian like me, see if you can get the paper shipped to a friend in the States, and get them to send it to you. UPS to Canada is incredibly expensive.

- DON'T make your invitations square, as I did. Square invitations cost more for postage since they are not a standard size. Expect to pay over a dollar in postage for each invite if you make them square. I found this out after I started cutting and printing everything. Oops.

Anyway, as promised, here are the instructions for my pocketfolds. Sorry if they are at all confusing. Some things are difficult to explain. I added pictures, so hopefully that will help clarify anything. )





Materials I used:
- 12 x 12 Plum Tree cardstock (from Michael's, also available through http://www.papercompany.com/)
- 12 x 12 African Daisy cardstock (from Michael's)
- 11 x 17 Silver Ore (Aspire Petallics) cardstock (from Anchor Paper, http://www.anchorpaper.com/)
- permanent double-sided glue runner (I got mine from Michael's)
- ribbon (from Michael's)
- a good ol' 25%-off entire purchase coupon for Michael's (found in Brides Magazine)
- paper trimmer (I used a big, heavy-duty professional one - not the cheap one pictured)
- paper scoring tool (I used a scoring board with a rotary blade)
- scissors
- laser or inkjet printer


THE POCKETFOLDER:

1) Cut a 12 x 12 sheet of plum (or your colour of choice) cardstock in half so that you now have two (2) 6 x 12 pieces.

2) Score the 6 x 12 cardstock down the middle and fold it so that you have two (2) 6 x 6 sections. You can use a bone scoring knife (pictured), but I prefer a rotary scoring blade table - you can measure right on the table and positition the cardstock so it doesn't slide. It also scores much more nicely I find.






3) Now for the pockets that hold the inserts. Take another piece of 12 x 12 plum cardstock and cut off 7 inches. You now have one piece that is 7 x 12 and one piece that is 5 x 12.



4) Take the 7 x 12 piece and cut it into three (3) 7 x 3.5 pieces. You will have a little bit extra at the end.



5) Take the 5 x 12 piece and cut it so that it is 5 x 7 (keep the 5 x 5 piece you are left with for later).

6) Cut down the 5 x 7 piece to 7 x 3.5. You should now be left with four (4) pieces that are 7 x 3.5, and one piece that is 5 x 5.



7) Take the 7 x 3.5 pieces and score them so that three of the sides have a half-inch tab. Fold in the tabs and you should be left with a piece that is 6 x 3 (with 3 half-inch tabs).




8) Take a pair of scissors and cut off the bottom corners of the pocket at a 45 degree angle so that when you fold in the tabs they don't overlap. Then cut the tabs at the top of the pocketfolder at an angle so that you won't see them when you glue the pocket on.




9) Using a glue runner, apply glue to each of the tabs and stick it onto the bottom-right side of your folder. Be careful with positioning, because with permanent glue, you may not be able to reposition. Press down firmly (I use the boning tool) to make sure it really sticks well.



THE ACTUAL INVITE (and backing):

1) Take a 12 x 12 piece of yellow cardstock (or whatever colour you'll be using for the invitation backing). Cut it into four (4) 5.75 x 5.75 pieces.


2) Centre and glue the pieces onto the left side of the folders.


3) The actual invitations will be 5.5 x 5.5. I used 11 x 17 paper and was able to fit 6 invitations per page.



4) Print the invitations on 11 x 17 paper before cutting them to 5.5 x 5.5.

5) Glue the invitations onto the yellow backing.



THE INSERTS:

I made three inserts. The largest was the map and directions, the middle one was an RSVP postcard, and the smallest one contained "other details" including our wedding website and alternate location for the ceremony in case of rain. You can, of course, make them to be whatever you need.

1) Design your inserts so that the biggest one is 5.5 x 5.7, the middle one is 5.5 x 4.8, and the smallest one is 5.5 x 3.9.

2) Again, I used 11 x 17 cardstock for printing these, as I could fit more on one page. To make the most of the space, I printed the largest insert on the same page with the smallest insert. Make sure you print them before cutting them down to size. For my directions insert, I printed a map on one side and directions on the other. For the RSVP postcard, I printed the rsvp information on one side, and the return address on the other. If you do this, again, make sure you print before you cut.






3) Cut the inserts to the right sizes, then insert them into the pocketfolder.




THE BELLY BAND:

1) Design a monogram or another design to fit into a 2 x 2 square.

2) Print your monogram or other design onto some cardstock (I used Silver Ore - the same colour as the inserts). Cut them into 2 x 2 squares.

3) Cut some yellow cardstock (or whatever colour you're using) into 3 x 3 squares.

4) Cut some plum cardstock into 2.5 x 2.5 squares. I used the extra pieces from the pockets - you should have a number of 5 x 5 pieces left over from them. Simply cut these into four (4). You will probably need to use additional sheets as well, as the "scraps" might not be enough.

5) Glue your monogram/design onto the purple square. Do not glue these onto the largest square yet.



6) Choose some ribbon that you love. Try not to choose skinny ribbon; thicker ribbon looks better, in my opinion.

7) Measure out how much ribbon you'll need to go around your pocketfolder. It should be about 12 inches.



8) Make sure that your pocketfolder is stuffed with everything that is supposed to go inside it before you glue the ribbon in place.

9) Position the largest square onto the centre of your pocketfolder. Position the ribbon around the pocketfolder so that the ends are laying on the largest square. Make sure that everything is centred.

10) Using a glue runner, put a little of bit of glue where one end of the ribbon should attach to the largest square. It's easier to apply the glue to the cardstock than to the ribbon (at least I find). Do the same for the other end of the ribbon. MAKE SURE THAT YOU DON'T MAKE THE RIBBON TOO TIGHT. YOU SHOULD EASILY BE ABLE TO SLIDE IT OFF AND ON THE POCKETFOLD.


11) Glue the two smaller squares onto the larger square.



...ET VOILA! PARFAIT!!! :)