Vintage Inspired Origami Dress Invitations

 Hello Lovely Friends!

I hope all of you had an amazing holiday and new year season, I most definitely enjoyed mine.  Can you even believe it is already a month into 2024, wow time is flying!

I wanted to share a project with you I recently completed.  I love vintage everything, including fashion, and that was my inspiration for this project.  I made a set of six party invitations with handmade floral envelopes.  I even went a step further and tried my hand at some wax seals for the very first time!  This set is listed for sale on my website.  You can find them here > vintage inspired origami dress party invitations

There is a channel on YouTube called Gi Kerr that I came across three years ago.  She is an absolutely delightful English woman that makes the prettiest crafts centered around junk journals.  I watched one of her older videos that teaches how to make origami vintage dresses.  I made several projects in the past with the dresses, and decided to use them for this project.  Gi also has other origami goodies as well, go check out her channel.

Set of 6 Invites with Envelopes and Wax Seals

As you can see in the picture, everything came out so pretty and well coordinated, and has a great vintage look!  

I used 5" x 8" Index Cards for the Base

List of Supplies 

*Tea dyed 5x8 index cards (use one card per invite)

*Several coordinating 12x12 scrapbook cardstock papers

*Craft glue

*Scissors

*Writing pen

*Ruler

*Thread

*Alphabet Rubber Stamps

*Ink for Rubber Stamps

*Paper cutter (optional, scissors can be used)

*Embellishment items (use what you like) I used ribbon, lace, fake flowers, beads, rhinestones, distress ink, and buttons.

*Wax seal kit (I cut up crayons and used them as colored wax)

Special note - I tea stain my own paper items.  If you do not want to use tea dyed paper, you can use the plain bright white index cards as is, or decorate them however you like.  I will be making a future blog post explaining my tea dye process.  I used my small alphabet rubber stamps to make the "You Are Invited" wording.

This is the index cards after I tea dyed them

I started by folding the vintage dresses according to Gi's instructions.  I used  6x6 size squares of cardstock and they fit wonderfully on the index cards.  Once the dresses were folded, I embellished them and made them look all pretty with lace, ribbon, rhinestones, etc.  I then glued down the dresses in different placements (one per card) and embellished the cards around them to make each invite look different but cohesive as a group.

Origami Vintage Dresses

 

I did use distress ink around the edges of the paper items to give them an aged look.  The ink I used was the Vintage Photo color by Ranger.  

Embellished and distressed with ink

 

Before I decorated the fronts of the invites, I did use a black ball point pen to draw lines on the backside for writing the party details.  I chose to use a ball point pen because I did not want to take a chance that a marker would bleed through the paper.  I used a ruler to make sure the lines were straight.

Drew lines on backside for writing party details

Now about the envelopes.... I do love how they turned out, and I think the scrapbook paper I chose are beautiful florals and colors that compliment the overall look.  It took me a while to figure out how to fold them to the right size and look nice to house the invites.  I also wanted to make sure they could be used for mailing if needed.  I watched about five or six different videos and finally figured out what worked.  It was a process!  It is basically using a square paper and figuring out where to make your inward folds with the corners.  The final product turned out very nice, and they look so beautiful with the invitations.

The envelopes are made from beautiful floral papers

 I had never made wax seals before, so this was a new adventure.  I wanted to try it because I think they add a great vintage flair for sealing the envelopes.  I purchased a cheap kit off Amazon that had the warmer and spoon in it with a stamp seal and handle, and bought a package of tea lights at the Dollar Tree.  It is not as easy as it looks, I will definitely need to practice more.  I watched a video where a lady was using melted crayons to make them, and I had some so I used them instead of spending the extra money on colored wax pills.  I do love the colors.  I do not know if it was the cheap candles, or the cheap kit, but my warmer and spoon got all charred and black coated and was putting off an annoying smoke.  It might be a combination of both items being on the cheap side.  Next time I try making them, I will use a better quality candle for melting, and buy a better sealing kit.  I might even try using my mini glue gun with some colored glue sticks, that could possibly be an even better option.  I have not used seals, but many that do have said you can affix them with craft glue to seal paper.  I would think you could also try attaching them with two-sided tape.  This is definitely a project I want to play with some more, I love the whole idea of wax seals.

My first try at wax seals for the envelopes

    

I am very happy with this project.  The whole set turned out really pretty and very unique looking for invitations.  They have a wavy look to the dyed paper.  You can iron them flat if you prefer a more polished look.  I like them wavy and aged looking, I feel it is part of their charm.  I think these would be perfect for a tea party, brunch with friends, or bachelorette party.  I was even thinking of a wonderful Bible Study breakfast or brunch with a few of your closest friends.  These invitations will set the tone for a lovely and unique gathering.

One of kind invitations, envelopes, and wax seals

I have always enjoyed writing and journaling, that is why I think handwriting letters and sending them "snail mail" is a lost art and timeless pastime.  Pretty stationaries with a loved ones time penned to paper is priceless in my opinion.  I wrote a couple of letters last year to friends out of state, and it felt very satisfying and loving picking the right paper and spilling out random words of so many thoughts and happenings.  A surprise conversation delivered in the midst of a busy day from someone many miles away.  What better way is there to let people know you care and are thinking about them??  When life, or miles, separate us from the ones we love, we can still take the time to let them know "you are very special to me".

Making these invitations made me think about how life was meant to be, not how it is.  I think God created women to be the heart of the family.  There is so much joy and blessings to be found in learning and understanding how important our role is.  If you read about the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31, you can fully see how much of a true difference we can make in the lives of our husbands, children, families, and communities.  All we need to accomplish it is Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  When we accept Him and surrender our lives to Him, put our faith in Him alone, we produce fruit beyond our wildest dreams.  Life makes so much more sense when we have the Holy Spirit inside us and walk and talk with Jesus everyday!  Keep your eyes and heart on Him!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think of this project.

Until next time, be blessed,

Tonya Lea