FolkFusionista's library card Save the Dates are pretty perfect, seeing as her future husband “J” is a Librarian and they are both bibliophiles. She's also been kind enough to provide a how-to…
J provided the call numbers, we bought a date stamp that will serve its purpose throughout the planning and wedding day, and we decided on a name for the book about us — Matrimony and Mayhem! Finally, as a little joke, we added our previous wedding dates to the check out card, crossed out. Both of us have been checked out before, so we felt it was only apropos!
What you will need:
- Cutting mat
- Metal ruler with cork backing
- Bone folder
- X-acto knife
- Double-sided tape
- Mechanical pencil
- [Our designer friend] Kristel provided the template for the envelope/pocket.
After printing them on stock we got from a local paper source named XpedX (same top quality at much better prices for large amounts than the fancy craft paper shops), we had to cut them all out by hand, being sure to mark the lines where we had to fold before cutting.
Then we have all the folding, which was J's job. (Yes, that's Admiral Ackbar on his shirt.)
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We used double-sided tape on the two tabbed pieces bent inwards and folded that over.
Inserting the card in each pocket, this is what the pre-stamped piece looked like.
Then we had to stamp the insides. Kristel had ordered our stamp for us online. We used archival ink in black from Michael's after trying out several embossing powders and colors. It just made more sense to make it look like an old image from a book than try to make it look embossed.
Making this an item that J and I worked on together really made a difference: we set aside time and assigned tasks. We had a goal of a certain number to get done before stopping. It ended up being a great time listening to podcasts and working on our save the dates together. A reminder of WHY we were sending these out, after all.
Oh my gosh, this is so adorable!
LOVE this! As much as I go to the library, it would be COMPLETELY apropos!
I plan on getting married in a library and had this idea for my invites too! It’s awesome to see it put into action so successfully!
I LOVE this idea – and the execution of course! I’ve worked in my local library for years, and am a total bibliophile, so this is definitely getting bookmarked! I would love to have at least part of my wedding in a library, like Bre! Fantastic!
This is my favooooorite save the date idea EVER.
So cool! These are incredible.
I’m a librarian and I totally love these! Did you actually type out the cards or have them printed somewhere?
Hi! We used a typeface that most resembled actual typewriter font, and matched the letterspacing and baseline inconsistencies to make it look like it was actually typed. It was a little OCD, but totally worth it for the result, and having them printed was much faster than typing each card.
What Kristel said. She’s the master, and the sane one that stepped in when I said, “I’ll just type each one manually!” Otherwise, they would have never gotten done!
Actual library cards weren’t formatted in a way that we preferred. Kristel redesigned those as well to fit what we wanted – especially since we wanted text on the back.
We used local print shop Clark Graphics for the printing and cutting of the library cards.
Admiral Ackbar says ” its a trap! ” best line ever!
These are all kinds of rad!
Thanks for taking the time to show how you made them.
I love this idea. It’s so creative.
So entirely adorable! One of the cutest STD I have ever seen! Love it!
What a great idea!
Would you or your designer friend be willing to share the template?
The stamp you used is perfect. Do you know where Kristel got it? Thanks so much for sharing this idea!
She designed the stamp and then just send the graphics to a stamp order place. I don’t recall which one exactly.
Definitely stealing this idea for my wedding invites! Girlfriend and I are both huge bibliophiles 😀
I can’t see this mentioned in the post, but where did you get the library cards from? Are they the sort of thing you can get at a stationery store?
You can get them on etsy.
We actually designed them and had them printed. I did buy library cards, but they didn’t fit what we needed to print on them.