Doc McStuffins-inspired Invitations

I am crazy.  I will be the very first one to admit this.

My Avery is turning three very soon...and I handmade her birthday party invitations.  Again.  As if the first and second years weren't lesson enough.  Do we need a recap?

Year One  (tutorial: part 1 and part 2)

Year Two  (tutorial here)

 About a week ago though, I admitted defeat.  I faced reality and the fact that I had absolutely no time to make Avery's invitations this year.  In the past, it's something that I've done and taken pride in.  This year however, I have a lot on my plate and I did not see how it could happen.  So I got on Etsy and started looking at ready-made downloadable PDF files that I could just pay for, send off to Walgreens to get printed and call it a day.  As I started looking around, I wasn't finding anything that I liked as much as the idea I had in my head for handmade invitations.  Then I talked to my friend Heather, who is super crafty and has her own business, Sincerely Sunshine, and she was all "Devan.  You can do this.  You love making things and it'll be a special touch on Avery's party."  And I'm all "Gosh dang it.  She's right!  I love making invitations for my girl's birthday parties."  So I closed out my Etsy browsing window and Heather and I started brainstorming on how to make these invites.  Heather, do you hate me?

The result was a very, very time consuming, but I think very adorable invitation.

Doc McStuffins jacket!  Complete with lots of freaking glitter.  You're welcome, every person that opened their envelope to be greeted with a pile of glitter in their lap.  

In case you need a recap, we're going on three years now of time consuming, handmade invitations.  Obviously, I have issues. 

First, you gotta buy the paper.  For the jackets, I saved money by picking up a packet of cards and envelopes together, instead of buying pieces of white cardstock and envelopes separately.  I purchased this set of 50 from Michaels.  With a 40% off coupon, I paid $6 plus tax.  Not bad.  Then, it was time to make some doctor lab coats.  Again, thank you to my friend Heather, who whipped up something at work and then sent me step by step directions on how she did it.  I can't take credit for the idea for the folding of the jackets.

First, lay out your unfolded card landscape style (long ways). 

Next, fold the bottom part of the cards upwards.  I did probably a 1 1/2 inch fold.  Just eyeball it.

After you've folded the bottom up, flip the card over, placing the folded piece on the back side.

Then, fold your outsides into the middle, creating the flaps of Doc's jacket.  Since I purchase pre-folded cards, I used the center fold as a guide for how far to bring the sides in.  Repeat for both sides.

See how when you've folded it in, it's created the pocket's for Doc's jackets?  Genius, Heather.

Now, you're just going to fold down little flaps on the top for the lapels.

Now that you have your basic jacket, it's time to add accessories!  I used Doc McStuffins herself as a guide to decide what I wanted.  Of course, Doc's stethoscope was a necessity.

For all of my shapes, I used my handy Silhouette Cameo machine.  I'm telling you. This is only the fourth or fifth time I've gotten to use this baby, but I'm in love with it.  It makes projects like this soooooo much easier.  I wouldn't have even attempted it without one.  I just wish I had more time to sit down and learn about all the cool things it can do!  

I was a little bit rusty on how to use it and create shapes, so I did have to play around with the sizes of things first.  In the beginning, I made the stethoscopes too small (tip:  always have extra paper laying around so you can play with sizes and shapes until you find exactly what you want...that way you're not wasting the paper you bought for your project).  

Too small.

So I went back and adjusted the size.  Too big. 

Once I finally got the size just right (I feel ya, Goldilocks), I loaded my glitter paper into the machine and started cutting a crap ton (yes, that's an official unit of measurement) of these babies.  I offered to pay anyone in leftovers if they'd come help me remove them all from the sticky mat, but no one took me up on it.  Curious.  

To place the stethoscope on the jacket, I wanted to make sure that the envelope could still be opened.  So I chose to do the scope at an angle so I could cut it down the middle and glue it to both sides of the jacket.  I set the stethoscope down, cut it right down the opening line and then glued the two pieces down. 

After that, I just added my other accessories.  I chose to do a nametag, pen and the bandaid from Doc McStuffin's show.  I know a bandaid isn't usually stuck to the outside of a doctor's coat, but it did make it look more "Doc McStuffin-y."  You can add whatever you want....Doc has a variety of tools to choose from.

A blood pressure cuff would have been funny.

Once you have all the pieces cut out, just start assembling.  It's a time consuming process and you'll have glitter in every opening on your body (I think my pores sweated glitter for a week), but I think the end result is worth it.

You could use this basic model (without the pockets) for a variety of different characters.  Having a Jake and the Neverland Pirates party?

Get some navy blue paper, fold the same way (without the bottom fold) and then trim with yellow to make Jake's vest.  Add buttons and his famous sword.

Having a Sheriff Callie party?

Follow the same steps with a brown piece of paper.  Add pink trim, pink bandana and sheriff star.  Maybe even a belt buckle.

Tune in soon for a how-to on Avery's birthday party favors......Sheriff Callie's Horse!