Simply Beautiful Handmade Baby Shower Invitations

Invitations do more than announce when a celebration is going to take place. It also tells the attendees what kind of party to expect. The perfect invitation gives the guests an idea of the theme, the degree of formality, and how the party is going to be celebrated. Sometimes, commercial invitations can't come close to doing this job. That's when handmade baby shower invitations come into play.

Thankfully, handmade baby shower invitations don't have to be complicated or difficult to make. The simplest type of handmade baby shower invitations are created and printed out on the computer. That way, the wording inside tells the guests everything they need to know and it's personalized especially to express the personality of the guest of honor.

Of course, the handmade baby shower invitations don't need to remain unadorned. An assortment of three-dimensional decorations can be added to the invitation. For example, an invitation may be printed with a garden background then little fabric flowers and sparkly little insects like butterflies or ladybugs may be glued on to it. Adding glittery highlights with glitter pens is a nice finishing touch.

More elaborate handmade baby shower invitations incorporate paper lace and ribbons in the final design. A terrific idea for a baby shower invitation would be to print out a cradle or baby buggy onto the cover of the invitation. The body of the cradle could be embellished with a cross-hatch of baby ribbons in coordinating colors while the edges are finished with frilly lace. A handwritten note announcing the shower would be a perfectly old-fashioned finishing touch on the cover.

Origami can also be added to flesh out the handmade baby shower invitation as well. There are numerous figures that can be made using origami and the detailed instructions are available on the internet. A really cute invitation for a baby boy could start with printing out the cover of the invitation with the backdrop of a pond. Add a few fabric flowers to provide points of color, some lily pads cut out of green construction paper, and fix a little origami frog to the lily pad just by his feet. The rest of the frog will stand away from the cover, making the invitation a three-dimensional work of art.

A very interesting paper based invitation involves cutting out figures from construction paper. A traditional symbol of a baby shower would be a baby bottle. These can be made three-dimensional too, using orange construction paper for the teat glued on to a white base. A light blue strip of paper can be pasted down the middle of the 'bottle' to add fullness to the figure. After you've made several baby bottles, it's time to make the base. Fold a plain-colored rectangle of approximately a quarter of the construction paper into accordion pleats. Make sure the paper's sturdy enough to stand.

You could cut out a basket or bowl shape out of brown or other color construction paper and add in details with a black pen or a pen in a darker color than the base. For example, a basket could have the basket-weave pattern drawn onto it. Paste the bowl or basket to the front part of the accordion. Then arrange the baby bottles at the back to look like they're sticking out of the basket. Write the invitation on the accordion folds.

These handmade baby shower invitations are unique and wildly different from what you can buy. It's more than likely that they'll be kept as keepsakes by the guests, rather than just be tossed out in the trash after the baby shower is over.