I’ve just been looking through my scrapbook and noticing that I kept many of my friends’ baby shower thank you notes. And I had to tell you about them. Well, the truth is, my girlfriends and I were talking about what we keep in our scrapbooks and when we all went home to check, you can imagine our surprise when we each found over a dozen baby shower thank you notes. Then we chatted about why we kept all these. And our answers were all the same – when somebody goes to all the effort to make a special thank you and to include pictures of shower/ baby, etc., we want to keep their creations. So, my friends elected “the baby shower queen” to share our favourite ideas with you. So, I hope you get a few ideas from what my friends and I have been doing over the years for our thank you notes.
First of all, you can add a creative touch to thank you notes you buy, OR you can design amazingly beautiful thank you notes from scratch. Just give your creativity a chance and you may find yourself designing a true thank you keepsake… one that your friends will keep in their scrapbooks.
Here’s our “5 Favorite Ideas”.
(Just a note: as you know, I am not a computer expert, so all my tips can be done without a computer or with one.)
IDEA #1 USE BABY’S PICTURE OR A SHOWER PICTURE AS THE BACKGROUND ON THANK YOU PAPER
Fancy Writing Paper With Personalized Background Image On It …..This can be done with or without your computer. If you’re like me, you do it without; one of my friends uses her computer and gets fantastic results.
First, select fancy writing paper, standard size (8.5 X 11 sheets), a kind that does not already have a background picture on its main writing surface. Make sure you buy paper that will feed through both a copy machine and your computer’s printer (in case you decide to compose and print your thank yous on your computer). Office or business stores sell prepackaged and by-the-sheet fancy papers. Online is another good source for papers, especially if it’s hard for you get to the store or if you live in a small centre where fancy paper selections may be limited.
Next, choose a picture that would make a nice background on your fancy writing paper. Select one from the shower or something that reflects the shower’s theme. If baby was at the shower, her picture on the background is as good as it gets! Whether you have your picture copied onto your fancy paper as a background, or you do it on your computer yourself, just make sure it is light like a background, so you can write your thank you over top of it. The “wow’s” you’ll get will be well worth the effort.
Now with your background picture copied or printed onto your sheets of fancy paper, you are ready to hand-write or print your thank you notes. Do it right over your background picture of baby or shower theme, or whatever else you selected. Awesome!
IDEA #2 MAKE A COLLAGE OF PARTY PICTURES AS THE OUTSIDE COVER OF YOUR THANK YOU NOTES
This is a fun idea and people always like to have pictures from a party they attended! Get a bit of help from your local print shop, or do this all on your computer. Don’t opt to do this on your computer, unless you have a good printer and scanner.
Select your favourite 6 to 12 pictures from the shower. I have only done this using actual prints. I’m sure there are settings on most computers to make an electronic collage, but this is beyond me. So, I won’t try to explain how to do this on your computer, but rather I’ll tell you how I do this with the help of my local print print shop. I cut and paste the pictures into an attractive collage, sized to one side of 8.5 X 11 paper. Next I go to my local print shop and get colour copies of the collage printed onto one side of fancy paper that will show off the pictures and fold smoothly in half (don’t fold until a bit later).
If you are writing your notes by hand, fold each collage (collage on the outside) in half across the width of the paper (outside 8.5 X 5.5) and write your note inside. If you are going to do your notes on the computer, compose then print each onto the blank side (your note will be inside and your collage on the outside). Then fold your page in half. (I find it easier to feed an unfolded sheet of paper through my printer).
Note-your collage can be placed horizontal or vertical on your paper, depending on how you plan to print or write you note inside. (horizontal or vertical). Be unique. Let your creativity be your guide.
IDEA #3: BUY PICTURE FRAME CARDS AND USE A PICTURE OF BABY OR A PICTURE FROM THE SHOWER
The front of the card looks like a frame and all you add is that one special picture.
Try this one (I have a few friends who use picture frame cards every Christmas and put their family picture in it. Of course I keep all these, so it is fun to see how much their children grow and change every year).
I started to think “why not use this for a baby shower thank you”. So, one of my friends did. She got cards with nice, summery frames on the front, because her shower was in June. She chose a different picture for every guest’s card, and everybody was thrilled. This one is simple and worth trying.
IDEA #4: (THIS ONE IS MY PERSONAL FAVORITE) THANK YOU BOOKMARKS
Make thank you bookmarks – this is awesome fun. I know, I have made bookmarks to mark a few special celebrations. For baby’s shower, you can personalize each bookmark and make it your thank you card, or you can send a bookmark with your thank you note.
If you are a scrapbooker, you’ll probably have lots of ideas and supplies for this one. If you had a special baby shower poem, a bookmark is a great way to share it with everybody. These can be done by hand or, if you’re into computers, some softwares have set-up for bookmarks. For a special effect, laminate your bookmarks. Who wouldn’t keep and use such a great little thank you?
IDEA #5: PERSONALIZE PURCHASED THANK YOU CARDS LIKE THIS
All this creativity a bit too much for you? Then buy your thank you notes. Try for something elegant and different. Then do something different. Add a personal touch to your notes by including a mini picture collage (4X6 or whatever size will fit in your card) from the shower, or a c.d. of pics from the shower or even a bookmark.
Hope we helped by giving you a few ideas on baby shower thank you notes. I’d love to know. My girlfriends are going to be wanting to know, as well. If you have a minute, leave me a comment and let me know.
Thanks for reading.
Marisa