Piece de Resistance: Burlap Invitations

I knew I wanted something really different for our invitations. I scoured etsy.com for ideas. I googled “country/rustic/vintage/chic wedding invitation” so many times I lost count. After searching “burlap” on etsy, I immediately fell in love with this from TheBlueEnvelope.

Being the creative/cheap person that I am, I figured I could do something like that, and I was immediately hooked on the idea of incorporating burlap in the invitation. As for the fonts and look of the actual invitation, the above would work. I also liked the playbill invitation that usually had the bold fonts like below.

While I wanted the actual invite to look nice, I concentrated more on the look of the overall invitation, and not just the wording and fonts. As far as the design of the invitation, I had decided our invitations only needed to be a panel invite (vs. the booklet):
1. That’s all we needed information wise (hello! 21st century, visit our website!)
2. It would be cheaper postage and require fewer materials (cheapskate in me, which often helps me make my final decision when I’m torn between options)

Once I had decided on the general layout, I tried a few different ideas and developed the below process.

Materials I needed:
*mod podge
*postcard sized invite
*some sort of card stock 5x7 (I used kraft paper)
*paint brush
*burlap rectangles cut 7x9
*sewing machine that can do special stitches (not pictured)


1. You will need to trim your 5x7 card stock about a quarter of an inch, making them 5x6.5 inches. I started out not doing this, and after making 10 or so, realized that with the burlap around the outside and twine(see final product below) that it wasn’t all going to fit comfortably in the envelope. Trimming the kraft paper would make them fit perfectly.

2. Glue the cut kraft paper onto the middle of the burlap rectangle. It should leave about an inch or so of burlap on all sides of the kraft paper.

3. Cut the burlap at an angle like below. It doesn’t have to be perfect, because once you glue the invite on top, you won’t really notice.

4. Glue the lengths to the kraft paper, holding for a few seconds for the glue to set. Then glue the widths. I stacked books on top of mine and let them dry over night to let everything set.

5. Glue the invite onto the middle of the burlap covered kraft paper. The invite should cover the kraft paper that showed thru the glued down burlap flaps, making the completely covered burlap side the back.

The final step is a little tricky. You have to make guilt inducing faces at your future MIL in the hopes that she will once again pick up the slack and help you out since your sewing machine isn’t high tech enough to make the special stitch that’s required to finish the invites. It also helps if your fiancé is saying that nobody should help you since this whole thing was your idea to begin with (that really helps with the guilt!). But, if all goes well, you end up with the below! I love them, and can’t wait for everybody to see them!

**Disclaimer: Be careful with the mod podge!!! The smell is very strong and it seems to have a strong effect on puppy’s! They become very lethargic and seem to pass out right on top of your feet every time you’re gluing, when normally they just run to the other room when you bust out your crafting supplies! It’s probably best to open a door or window to aerate the room.


What was your proudest DIY? Or was it something you bought?