Dinosaur Birthday Invitations and Favors!

My son is turning 2! My how time flies!

I took this photo the other day....had to share it!

I have been thinking about a theme since September for Gabriel's 2nd birthday party. I have finally settled on a design for the invitations! I wanted to go fairly fast as far as putting together the inviations....since I knew I'd be making about 20-30 (we have a huge family). I searched the internet but it wasn't so easy to find ideas as far as handmade cards.....I probably wasn't searching right. Anyway, I think I REALLY just needed a reason to buy a Cricut! Heee Heee! So I got one!!!!!


I decided on dinosaurs because we have a nickname for my son....Pterodactyl....because of this squealing-shout he does.....it's weird. He's a funny little guy!

Here is a look at the invitations. I'm not sure if my mom wants me to plaster her address over the internet, so on Saturday I'll have to make a SPECIAL one to post online. Check back and I'll add all the other dinosaur stuff I'm planning....it's still in the works!

The invitations measured 4.25" x 5.5".....standard size so I didn't have to buy specially sized envelopes....I already had a ton! I used two cartridges.....


1) Paper Doll Dress Up


2) Tags Bags Boxes & More


(Note: Many images are now shown on the back of the box for the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge....like the dinosaurs! This cartridge has TONS of images that are not shown! You would have to peek at all the images through the Cricut website to see them all.)


And if you are trying to decide between the standard Cricut or the Cricut Expression, I've got some tips. If you are going to want something that can cut a bunch of images at the same time, you might want to invest in the Expression. I had to do a lot of standing by because the machine could only cut out 2 dinosaur images from one 6" x 11" sheet (I cut down an 8.5" x 11" paper and set the height to 3" to fit on my invitation. ) And then when I made the bags, I could only cut 1 bag out at a time (height dial was set to 5") I acqtually wanted to make the bag bigger but the machine couldn't cut it out any bigger. Oh well, I'm still satisfied....I won't be doing this much! I will just be using my machine for scrapbooking and making cards...stuff I don't plan to mass produce!





The dinosaur images themselves didn't need a whole lot of embellishing. By just adding googly eyes and drawing with opaque gel pens, you can make a pretty cute dino! I drew in the dinosaur mouth, nostrils, and toes (which al already cut into the image) with Souffle 3-D opague Puffy Ink pens by Sakura. You could also draw in spots with different color pens to add character to your dinosaurs! Don't want to invest in a set of gel pens? A Signo Gel Pen looks great! If you're looking to get a little more fancy with the dinosaurs, Jessica Tolbird gives you instructions on the Cricut website (click here).

I used the Tags Bags Boxes & More cartridge to make this bag and one of the extra dinosaurs I cut for the invitations! Simple but cute! I stuffed it with Gabriel's favorite candies....M & Ms, dum dums, and twix....and a dinosaur!

I'll be posting more photos so check back! Having a toddler means doing things a little bit at a time!!!!!!!! A very challenging thing for me! I'm just happy he's not glued to the TV!!!