How I made my swingin’ pop-up invitations

Guest post by Melaina

pop up invite diy18 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)Tribe member Melaina not only made these rad wedding activity books for the children, but she also made some seriously awesome pop-up wedding invitations.

We figured, not only would you want to ogle them, but you may want to attempt to make something like them yourself. So Melaina was nice enough to hook us up with a “how to.” We can't wait to see what eye-popping invites y'all come up with now! So without further ado, take it away Melaina! -Megan


What you will need:

pop up invite diy01 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)First, you need to decide what you want to pop-up. In my case, I drew an illustration of my future husband and I swing dancing together, and then my future husband colored it in. But you could use any image or even a photo. I then took the image to a copy shop and had them copy the image onto card stock paper. I used card stock so that the image will be able to stand up on its own.

pop up invite diy04 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)Next I cut around each image with a pair of long-nosed scissors.

pop up invite diy05 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)I took advantage of the curvature of the nail-cutting scissors to help with the curved parts of the image and flipped the scissors around when the image curved in the opposite direction.

pop up invite diy06 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)Next I printed (also onto card stock) the background for the pop-up onto the top half of the page and the text for the invite onto the bottom half of the page.

pop up invite diy07 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)I measured the distance between the fold in the card and the background image to determine how far the pop up would be able to stick out into the card. In this case, I had 2cm.

pop up invite diy08 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)I then folded the card shut and measured 2cm on the outside of the card and made dots in two points on either side of the card.

pop up invite diy09 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)This enabled me to draw a line parallel to the fold.

pop up invite diy10 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)I then made sure that the image standing up on top of the card would not stick out too far when the card was folded. I also figured out which way the image would be facing within the card.

pop up invite diy11 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)Holding the folded card so I could see the background, I held the image along the line of the card exactly where I wanted it to appear inside the card. I then drew dots wherever I wanted the card to connect with the image.

pop up invite diy12 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)I then cut from the fold in the card towards the line I'd drawn wherever there was a dot.

pop up invite diy13 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)I then pushed the slots I'd created with my cuts through towards the inside of the card, so that I could slip a finger along the fold from inside the card and pull out the “stands” for the pop-up.

pop up invite diy14 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)I then used permanent double-sided tape to adhere the cut-out image to the “stands” inside the card. I just used a very small piece of tape where the pop-up image came into contact with the “stands.” Looks cool, don't it? But the card isn't done yet!

pop up invite diy15 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)We still have the slots, or “stands,” to hide exposed in the back! I applied double-sided tape along both sides of the card.

pop up invite diy16 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)I adhered a larger card to the card that I'd cut the slots into. Or as an alternative, you can throw in an extra page, which is then adhered to the bottom side of the pop-out card and covers up the bottom side of the slots. This gave me three extra pages to add additional detailed information about the wedding.

pop up invite diy18 alternative wedding ideas from Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)And voila! You've got a pop-up wedding invitation!

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Comments on How I made my swingin’ pop-up invitations

  1. If it’s true that invitations set the mood for the day, then yours are gonna set people up for a good time! These were fun and cute!

  2. These are super cute! They might look kind of hard for people who aren’t crafty, but I remember making stuff very similar to this when I was in art class in like 4th or 5th grade. If my 10-year-old self could do it, you can too! I love these 🙂

  3. I have noticed in looking through many bridal sites and blogs that there is not a lot of information for vendors and planners in Augusta, GA. With hopes to put Augusta, on the wedding map I would like to make a note about wedding invitations. BE CREATIVE! Your invitation should reflect the mood and theme of your wedding. A more elegant invitation can elude to a black-tie affair and a natural colored invitation with flowers and scenes of nature may hint that the wedding will be outdoors. Your custom design should fit your personality and clue in your guests as to what to expect. I love how this bride used her personality and hobbies to incorporate her wedding theme to the invitations. You did a great gob!!!!!

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