My first Pinterest inspired craft

Like the rest of the blogging world, or maybe even the regular world, I've been pretty much obsessed with Pinterest for a while now. I endlessly pin crafts I don't have time for, home decor that I don't have the space for, baby pictures that I don't have babies for, and wedding inspiration that I don't have the money for. It is a beautiful way to de-stress. It has really been a God-send while working on my grad school work because it is the perfect way to unwind in between assignments. It is so mindless that it's genius. Not like my reality TV addiction because my DVR is too full for it to be an in-between-assignments thing.

Anyways, two of my very best friends in all the world got married this year and since I save every invitation/thank you card/note card/etc on my french memo board, I knew this would be the perfect Christmas gift for them. We don't usually do Christmas gifts but I knew I would make an exception for this craft.  Here is the Pinterest version...

Here is my version...

{thank goodness for Burt's Bees hand creme for Christmas!}

While some might say they may not be as lovely as the original, I thought they came out fabulous. {There are more pictures of the cream one because all of the other pics show last names & I don't think my friends want me blasting their last names on the blog} I love that you can see snippets of important information.

I did have a couple of issues, which would be something to consider if you are going to try this. First the ornament is a standard sized ornament, which ended up being kind of small. I searched everywhere for a larger one with no luck. Second, every ribbon I used look ginormous (probably due to the small ornament), so I left it out. I think that the fact that I did this craft around Christmas, when all the ribbons are mega sized didn't help. I wanted to find a charm that said "2011" but that was hard to find, too. Since I'm kinda OCD with this stuff, if I find a charm, I will totally ask for the ornament back to update it. :) This was super easy, though. Here's what I did.

1. Cut the invitation into strips, keeping the important info. intact.

2. Curl the strips around a pen to give it some body.

3. Insert the strips into the top of the ornament (after removing the metal piece, which pops right off) strategically. I kept "less important" information in the middle and then wrapped the names and dates around the edges. I also didn't use every strip, but used all strips with information on them.

4. Put the top back on. I wanted to use ribbon and charms but I put it on my tree with a hook and it still looked awesome.

I plan on doing this with my own invitation and it was such an easy craft that I can see myself making them with birth announcements, wedding invitations, first birthday invitations, and any other important document that you would want to highlight at Christmas time. My friend Kristin said it was the best Christmas gift that she got and considering she also got an iPad, I'd say it was a success!