Red, White, and Blue; Independence Day Invitations as a Paper Pumpkin Alternative
With July 4th quickly approaching (how did that happen already??), you’ll need some quick Independence Day Invitations! It’s time for those of us in the United States (as well as some ex-pats) to fire up the grills, set up the badminton net, and of course invite our friends and family to our backyards for fun feasts.
We are going to need some quick and easy invitations with some stars and stripes!
Do you have jar stamps and die-cuts? These invitations are perfect for the holiday parties: glitter, stars, and of course red white and blue.
Instructions to make these Independence Day Invitation cards:
Create a card base by folding a 8 1/2″ x 5 1/4″ piece of cardstock in half.
I used a blue-grey cardstock for my base, but white would have looked great for the invitations, too!
Cut the pendants.
To create the pendants, I used some leftover patriotic papers from a previous paper Stampin Up pumpkin kit I had picked up, but a few matching red, white, and blue patterned prints will work well, too! From 4 1/2″ squares, cut diagonally in half and quarters to get 4 triangles. Depending on how many invitations you need, cut the same number of squares so you can mix-and-match 4 pendants on each card.
Bonus Tip: Double-sided papers are great for this project. The patterns will match, and extra pieces won’t go to waste.
Adhere the pendants down to your card base.
Make the Shaker jars.
For each invitation, you will need:
- Stamped jar (1): die-cut inside and outside, and its lid
- Die-cut jar (1), no stamping necessary since it’s for the bottom
- Die-cut jar from a clear window jar (1)
- A couple buttons or low-profile embellishments for the inside of the shaker
- Red or blue glitter
Adhere the buttons down to the non-stamped jar. Sprinkle your glitter inside the center.
Cut and adhere double-sided foam tape around the edge of the stamped/die-cut jar, ensuring no holes exist. Peel off the tape backing and place over the non-stamped jar. Press down to ensure good adherence. Lastly, to complete the shaker jar, adhere the lid to the top. Now SHAKE IT! Adhere your shaker jar onto the pendants.
Die-Cut the stars.
Any extra pieces of the patterned paper you end up with will be perfect to die-cut stars from! I used a star die from the Wood Words bundle, but any punch or star die will create the same look. I cut anywhere from 2-4 stars per invitation, but play with the number and arrangement that feels right for you. I used dimensionals to adhere the stars to the card front.
Add a banner.
I chose a “celebrate” sentiment to stamp in blue with some red stars stamped on the edges. “You’re Invited” would be perfect, also! To save paper and time, I stamped the sentiment multiple times from the top of my white cardstock piece (4 1/4″ wide) to the bottom. I then stamped the stars and cut each into “ribbons.”
Finally, I cut the triangle out of the edges. If you don’t have a punch, cut down the center 1/4″ on each side, then cut diagonally to each cut from your corners. This should give you an even banner. Adhere it down to your card front.
Now all I need to do is mail them or stick them in my neighbors mailboxes!
I’m linking up and sharing my invitations with the SUO challenge and Happy Little Stampers June Anything Goes with Dies challenge!
If you are also a lover of shaker cards, please check out the other shaker cards on my blog. I created a lightbulb shaker card using a similar technique as well as some coffee cup shaker cards using a different technique! Try them both and let me know which one you find easier!
Happy Crafting!
While this paper pumpkin kit is no longer available, there are new fantastic kits every month! If you are interested, check out how the subscription works!
Simply fabulous! Get those invites out quick and enjoy the celebrations. Thanks for sharing at HLS this month.
Absolutely! Thank you so much, Ina!