DIY Library Themed Invitations for Book Birthday Party

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Well, baby girl’s second birthday is coming up in December!  For her first birthday, I threw her a crazy awesome princess birthday party.

For her birthday this year, I’m planning on a bookworm and library birthday party theme since she LOVES to read. I haven’t nailed out all the specifics yet, but I did put together her library themed invitations.

I’m super proud of how they turned out, and I want to share a tutorial for how to make these book themed invitations.

I really wanted them to look like an old school library book checkout card, which was the motivation behind these cute little book themed invites.  It just brings back such good memories of my elementary school days when life was so much simpler!

Also, it had been so long since I’d seen an actual library card and pocket in the back of a book that I actually had to Google images of library card pockets.  Oh, such good times!

DIY Library Invitation Supplies

These invitations were easy to put together and did not require any fancy equipment like a Cricut!   Just a few things that you’ll be able to find at your local craft store.  Here are the supplies you’ll want to collect:

  • Nice, sturdy card stock in your choice of color.  This will be the outside pocket.
  • Coordinating scrapbook paper or wrapping paper.  This will line the inside of the pocket.
  • Off-white card stock to make the invitation itself
  • Glue and scissors
  • Optional: cute glasses ribbon for envelopes or heart paper punch for decoration on outside

How to make your own library themed invitations:

Making the Library Card Outer Pocket

First, I started with simple pink card stock by Recollections (Michael’s brand) to make the card holder.  The dimensions of the piece of card stock that I cut to fold are: 8.5″ height x 4.25″ width.  This is going to be the outside of the library card pocket.

The next thing you’ll want to do is craft the lining of the pocket.  For this, I had this great floral wrapping paper I got from a Grab Bag at Michael’s.

A glue stick worked best for adhering the paper to the card stock.  All you need to do is glue the lining on top of one side of the pink card stock.  No need to go down farther than the fold since that area won’t be seen.

After making the lining, I folded the card stock up approximately 3.25 inches from the bottom.  I used liquid glue right along the edges of the pocket to do this.  Then, I let everything dry overnight.

Once the library card pocket dried, I made a small heart of the floral paper for the front of the pocket using a heart paper punch.  This part of the tutorial is fully optional, but I thought it was a nice touch!

Making the Library Card Invitation

Then, I made my own Microsoft Word template for the invitations themselves based on images I found of actual library cards.

I printed each invitation out on a cream card stock to make sure it was just thick enough to not be injured in the mail.  After cutting the cards out, I stuck them into the pocket that I had created.


Here’s what the library themed invitation looks like from the front and back.

Adding Pizzazz to the Invitation Envelope

As an optometrist, I have all sorts of eye-themed ribbon available.  I thought a glasses ribbon would be a great addition to the backs of the envelopes.  Thus, I cut a short strip and just glued it to the bottom of the flap on the back of the envelope.

The Finished Library Themed Invitations

Making the template took a while, but once I had made it and had a vision of what the final product would look like, putting the cards together only took an evening to do.

If you liked these library themed invitations and want to see how the rest of the book party went, check out these posts:

11 Comments

  1. Melanie Hunter says:

    I love this! I would love to have this template to do the library card invitations. Thank you!

    1. Will get it to you tonight when I get home!

  2. Thanks for sharing! I would like the library card template. I am going to host a library theme birthday party for my daughter’s first birthday!

    1. Just sent it! Let me know if you don’t get the file 🙂

  3. I would love the template! They look great!

    1. Just sent it. Let me know if it doesn’t get there!

  4. I’m throwing a book themed birthday party for my daughter and would love to have this template for the invitations! They are adorable! Thank you!

    1. On their way!

  5. Kristi Biglin says:

    Hi!

    Love the invite! Could I please have the template?

    Thanks!

  6. Kristi Biglin says:

    I love this! Could I please have the template!

    Thanks!

    1. On its way!

Comments are closed.