Graduation Announcements & Saving My $$

As you all pretty well know my oldest daughter is graduating from high school this year.  Hard to believe, but true.  The class ring and announcement rep visited the school and my daughter didn't even bother to bring home the brochures because at $6.95 each for the cheapest ones she knew full well I wouldn't go for it.  And she's correct.

We made our own!  And to be honest I think they are much better than anything we could've purchased.  Plus they are tailor made, just for her.  I wish I could show you how I made these and all the cool details, but there is too much of her personal info on them that I'm sure she doesn't want on public display so I'll just have to tell you about it.  And you know how much it cost to make these?

Nothing!

My daughter is a math whiz so for the background we did a parabolic cure as a watermark.  That part I can show you.  Then I used Microsoft Publisher and a blank postcard template to make the announcement.  I was able to grab the school logo online and add it in along with all the pertinent information and dress it up with different fonts and font sizes.  Once it was completed and we both proofed it we were ready to print.

I used white cardstock to print four per page and ran it through our old printer, first the background and then the announcement itself.  Once printed I used my paper cutter to cut them to size.  Invitation envelopes I already had on hand will be used to mail them out.

I made up the invitations to her graduation party pretty much the same way, printed them out on colored paper I already had on hand and cut those to size as well.  We will be tucking those inside with the announcements.

I made her some return address labels with the school logo on them and some Class Of 2019 labels to seal the envelopes with.  I already had blank label stock in my stash to use for those.

The last thing to complete was her photo collage and get those pictures printed up at Walgreens.  I had an online code to save 50% OFF on the printing and regular price is only 33¢ each, but half price is even better!

Walgreens has loads of templates to help you put something together
I opted to use my own design, but if you don't want the hassle check these out

The only thing left to get is stamps and that is going to be the most expensive part of the process with postage currently at 50¢.  So for less than a dollar we are going to send out the announcement with an invitation and a photo.  I'd say that is much more affordable than $6.95!  And that was just for the announcement itself.  You still have to put a stamp on it!

I love graphic design so this was one of those projects I thoroughly loved doing.  Tapping into my creative side while saving a ton of money is the best!  Plus I stayed true to one of my goals by using up what I already have on hand and my other goal of spending less.  And another big project is marked off the list!  Yes!