Halloween Toe Tag and Burnt Finger Invites

Wow it has been awhile since I have blogged. I have been working a lot, so that was taking up a lot of my time...but that isn't the real reason I haven't blogged. Mostly because my laptop died and I was too lazy to plug it in. Sad, but true. Granted I could have typed it up on my phone...but ehhh...that takes more time and I was enjoying being lazy.

However I am back online and feeling great! I have been "off" Facebook for over a month now. Ok, another lie. I have downloaded Messenger again, because it is easier to chat with some people through there. Also I have been checking about every other day...but not "liking" or commenting. Hell, I'm not even browsing on the newsfeed. But, I did sign up to go to my 15 year High School Reunion at the end of November. I have never been to a reunion yet...but I'm hoping it isn't too bad...lol.

But in the last few days I have made it official about my Halloween party. I made "Toe Tag" invites...which are INCREDIBLE! I am super excited on how they turned out. I made a bunch (more than I needed...about twice as much) that had the kids time on it (2pm-5pm). Then I made a bunch that had the adult time (6pm-???).

I saw the idea on Ebay and thought...that was super cute....but there was NO way I was going to pay $25 for 10 of these! Hell, I knew I could make them for much much less. The first thing I thought of was the gift tags at Walmart...but those were $5 for 25. Nope, still too expensive. Then I thought of all of the stock cards I had packed up...but then I would have to measure each one out and cut them...nope...too much effort...lol. But then the light bulb went off....BUSINESS CARDS!

I went to Walmart and picked up the Avery Ivory Business Cards (#27883 a pack of 100 for under $4).  I pulled up the template on their website and within 30 minutes I had a design created and ready to print. After a few "oops" prints everything was looking great. But they were too plain. I wanted them to look used and kind of gross and stained.

Then thinking back to Janelle and mine MANY conversations about crafts...I decided to stain the cards with coffee. Worked like a charm.
Granted it took me two days to drink the entire pot I made (Yes Trixi, I know I'm a coffee lightweight). Then I decided to water down a little red paint and used a straw to "splatter" paint the sheets of invites.

After they dried I ripped them apart, cut two corners and punched a hole to give it more of a "tag" look. It was cute...but not distressed enough.

I used a few of the "oops" cards and tried cutting/ripping/tearing little pieces...however they didn't seam right. Then I had the bright idea to burn the edges...GENIUS! PERFECT! INCREDIBLE! LOVE IT!

Even though I seemed to burn 8 of my 10 fingers holding the paper over the candle (with a clothespin...after awhile)....it turned out great. Heating the paper made the paper dry stiffer with a slight curl to it. I attached a piece of cordage inside the hole and thought it was finished. But Janelle..once again....came to my rescue. She mentioned how they should be in little envelopes.

Great idea...but the small envelopes were too expensive $5 for about 20....and I had printed just around 150 of them (I know...WAY too many...but I figured at least 1/2 of the kids wouldn't show up...and probably 2/3 of the adults...but I wanted to get them all done at once). So I walked around Hobby Lobby for about an hour...trying to think of what else I could use.

Ok....another lie. I forgot what I was looking for after about 3 minutes...and just kept walking around looking at all the stuff. All of the Halloween stuff was already 40% off...and I was VERY tempted to buy a bunch right away. BUT....my party is the day AFTER Halloween...so things should be even cheaper. Super excited.

It wasn't until I was checking out that I saw the clear plastic ziplock bags....for the EXACT size I needed! 100 bags for only $2.47! SCORE! I placed the invites into the bags and tried writing "EVIDENCE" in bold letters...but it would smear...or dry clearer than I wanted...so I decided not to do that (also because I didn't want to write that on over 100 bags)!

Granted as of right now...I have 40 of the kids invites done. They each have 10 to hand out to classmates (I have it listed that parents and siblings are welcome to come). The other 10 are for my youngest two's flag football team and cousins. The rest of the kid invites will go to my coworkers that have kids...and family members that have kids.

I still have about 40 of the kids ones to still burn around the edges...and I'm waiting for the adult ones to dry (because I made too many of the kids ones...I had to go back to Walmart and pick up another pack of cards to make the adult ones).

I figure since I had a WONDERFUL day today...and the Packers won...I am not tired at all. I will probably go to sleep around noon (10 more hours)...because I have to work at 7pm. That should give me plenty of time to get the kids ones finished and enough of the adult ones for the people I will work with this weekend.

So yes...if you are one of the lucky ones to get an invite...enjoy it...I might not have any feeling left in the tip of my fingers because of it!