How To... Make an Awesome Invite

I thought I would start to share how I make some of my projects. This one is an invitation for my daughters' birthday... Which is going to be an awesome party, but that's another post. For the invitations, I wanted to incorporate some of the party themes including: bright colors, paper lanterns. I also wanted the girls to wear those cute custom birthday shirts on Etsy. But I didn't want to wait for them to be made, or spend the money.

Another problem were the professional pictures.Most good parents get professional pictures taken of their children at least once a year. I am lucky to get them done once every few years, and even then I fail getting them ordered in a timely manner. So here I am, wanting pictures with custom shirts and themes. What is a modern math girl to do?? Solve her own problem, of course.

First, custom shirts. I found some cute white shirts and shorts on sale at Kohl's. Then I went to the fabric store and found two cute (and very bright) coordinating cotton prints, with some buttons, fabric paint, and ribbon for extra decoration. I washed them all and ironed them. Then I used some Iron-On material I've had for about 15 years to glue the fabric to the shirts.

Iron the paper (paper-side up) to the backside of fabric #1 and fabric #2. Make a pretty big area, around 1.5ft x 3ft, or however wide your fabric is.

Then use a plate to trace a circle on the paper on fabric #1.








Cut out your circle, peel off the Iron-On paper, and iron onto the shirt sticky-side down. (Make sure to note how your fabric aligns.)

Then repeat the process of tracing a circle on fabric #2 of the Iron-On paper, and draw whatever design you want within that circle. But make sure you draw it mirror-reverse!

Once you cut out your design, iron to the shirt on top of the circle. You can also play around with words or names.

Now it's fabric paint time! Use a small bead of fabric paint around the edges of your iron-on fabric. This will help with fraying as well as outlining your design.

Let dry for a minimum of 4 hours. Wash and dry as usual after 72 hours.







For the shorts, I used the ribbon and buttons to make a cute decoration. The only sewing skills you need are how to sew on a button.

Coordinating ribbon, buttons, and thread.

Make a simple bow, sew it to the shorts with a button.








Now, what about professional pictures?? I created a mini-studio in my dining room with a white coverlet and paper lanterns. I set up a make-shift light diffuser using an adjustable lamb and the matte side of aluminum foil taped to the adjacent wall.

I took a few pictures with a stand-in to get the lighting and flash setting right.














How did they turn out? You be the judge! Total cost: $60 - including 2 outfits and all materials.

Click "LIKE"

Is it just me, or are we being bombarded with people telling us what to think?

I say this because it is increasingly popular for businesses to post status updates on Facebook with the caption "Click "LIKE" if you think this is funny." First of all, I know how the "Like" function on Facebook works, thank you. Secondly, don't tell me what to do! Maybe I do think it's funny, but now I am not going to click "Like" just because you are telling me to click it.

This social feedback phenomenon doesn't stop there. I was at Kohl's the other day and the cashier looked me straight in the eye to tell me about an online survey regarding my shopping experience. She then went into some psychological Jedi mind trick of telling me that I should select 'Highly Satisfied' for all the questions because their store gets reviewed every week. She even threw in a little Sullivan Nod. Listen lady, even if I am highly satisfied, don't tell me how to answer the questions.

I am all about customer data extrapolation to ensure satisfaction. Customer surveys are important, and tracking data on past purchases helps companies send me relevant ads. That whole 'scandal' of Target modeling purchase patterns to identify newly pregnant consumers and sending them relevant coupons for baby items... I LOVED IT! It makes me happy that Target is paying attention to me and trying to give me what they think I want. Thank you, Target. I've even signed up for their Red Card so they can track me until I die.

But there is a line that a company shouldn't cross when trying to get customer data. When a business tells the consumer what to think, they aren't trying to gain information about the consumer. They are instead validating what they think of themselves through a consumer channel. I don't mind falling into predictable patterns of basic human behavior, but don't tell me how to do it. It's then that I lose respect for your business, and perhaps decide not to click "LIKE" even though I think it's a fantastic status that I would have shared.