One Dozen Eco-Friendly DIY Party Invitations

DIY Party Invitations

DIY Party Invitations

Evites definitely have a place in our world. In fact, they’re the most eco-friendly way to send a party invitation, as they require the fewest resources to manufacture, send, and dispose of.

But of course there’s still a place for the printed invitation, especially one that’s hand-crafted from eco-friendly materials, perhaps even hand-delivered. If you’re sending an invitation for a very special event, a physical invitation is a great way to help your guests feel special from the first moment. And if it’s a theme party that you’re inviting your guests to, then a handmade invitation is the best way to get that theme started weeks before the party date.

If you’ve got a party that you’re planning, check out this list of DIY party invitations. They all use eco-friendly materials, and they can all be adapted for a variety of party themes:

1. cardboard blockThis invitation consists of a cardboard cube embellished to look like a block. In the tutorial, the cube is made to represent a Minecraft grass block (for those of you who know what that is!). The cube would also be super cute decorated like a building block and used for a baby shower or young child’s birthday party invitation.

2. DIY envelopesHere’s how to make your own envelopes to go along with your handmade invitations.

3. doily dressAdd this doily dress to the front of your handmade card–it’s perfect for a bridal shower or princess-themed party.

4. hand-punched embellishmentsWith a good design program and a nice printer, you can DIY tons of fancy-looking invitations using sustainable materials, but it’s the little details that make them stand out. Hand-punching embellishments makes even the fanciest invitations look like they cost way more than they did.

5. message in a bottleThis is a really fun invitation, because your guests have to physically break the seal on the bottle to recover the invitation and read it. It’s perfect for a pirate party, but can be adapted to anything beach-themed.

6. pocket invitationYou have to have a lot of paper supplies for these, but you can source them sustainably and save money by doing all the assembly yourself. These invitations work well when you want to enclose something else, such as a menu or RSVP card.

7. scrollFor these invitations, you need dowels or sticks, paper, and the creativity to come up with a royal invitation. To make these invitations fancier, you can write the message by hand with lovely ink and calligraphy.

8. tea party invitationFor all your tea party needs!

9. tiny buntingThe tutorial calls for washi tape, but you could use any material, especially fabric scraps–just glue the two sides of the bunting together. This is another embellishment that would work well for a baby shower, but it would also be cute for a small child’s birthday party or any summer event.

10. translucent invitationThe secret to this invitation is vellum. It would work with any theme or style, as long as you’ve got an interesting background for the vellum.

11. watercolorUse this method as an easy way to embellish simple printed invitations.

12. wax sealsThe trick to DIYing this is to use crayons!

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Written by Julie Finn

I'm a writer, crafter, Zombie Preparedness Planner, and homeschooling momma of two kids who will hopefully someday transition into using their genius for good, not the evil machinations and mess-making in which they currently indulge. I'm interested in recycling and nature crafts, food security, STEM education, and the DIY lifestyle, however it's manifested--making myself some underwear out of T-shirts? Done it. Teaching myself guitar? Doing it right now.

Visit my blog Craft Knife for a peek at our very weird handmade homeschool life, and my etsy shop Pumpkin+Bear for a truly odd number of rainbow-themed beeswax pretties.

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