Make Your Own Birth Announcement

If you are the creative type, or just want a really customized announcement, then to make your own birth announcement is a great idea. It's really fun to do and it can even save some money. You do not have to purchase a bunch of wallet prints to make these birth announcements. You can either print them to wallet size off of your computer, or even just make one handmade baby announcement and then have it color copied 2 or 4 times to a page. Cut them out and send to all of your loved ones!

materials needed to make your own birth announcement:
12 by 12"" cardstock
plain white paper or scrap paper
decorative paper or wrapping paper
ribbon
rubber stamp letters
stamping ink
paper punch
glue stick and/or glue runner

To make your own birth announcement you must start with the baby's photo. You do not need to use the pictures they take in the hospital. These are usually pretty expensive, and a little impersonal too. Take your digital camera with you to the hospital, or even take the picture later when you go home. Dress the baby in something cute and colorful. For really great results dress the baby in something in which the colors match your chosen decorative paper.

Think about taking a family picture to make your own birth announcement. Maybe a photo of Mom and Dad with Mom holding the baby. Want to make one with big Sis or Bro announcing the baby. Why not have the picture of their sibling holding them for the first time? All of these will make for a really warm and sentimental baby announcement. To make your own birth announcement definitely makes the announcement a sentimental family keepsake.

Once you have chosen a picture, you have a few choices. You could splurge, buy a ton of wallet photo's and attach them to the announcements with photo corners.
Another great option is to simply resize the photos you have on your computer, and then print them out yourself. You can even print them onto regular white paper. Always choose the best printer options to get the best results.
If you do not want to use up all of your computer's printer ink then just bring the photo to a copy shop to have it color copied. Color copiers usually have an option to duplicate a picture many times onto a single sheet of paper. Then all you have to do is cut them out.

You will also need to get the text set up onto the cardstock used for the base of the announcements. I recommend using 12" by 12" cardstock, but you can also use an extra heavy 8 1/2" by 11" cardstock. You can usually buy either of these cardstocks by the sheet at most arts and crafts stores. You can get cardstock by the ream from an office supply store. Either way you will be able to make 4 baby announcements per sheet of paper.

The easiest way for you to figure out how to get the text onto your birth announcement is to start putting the announcement together first. This way you will get a good idea of where you want to place the text onto the card. Start by cutting your cardstock into quarters. You can cut these by hand using a good paper cutter if you want, or take the easy way out and have the paper cut for you at a copy or print shop.
Once the cardstock is cut get out a ruler and you baby photo. Place the photo into the upper left hand corner of the cardstock just to measure about how much space the photo will take up on the cardstock. Keep in mind that you will be placing a slightly larger piece of decorative paper underneath the photo.
The baby block / baby bracelet decoration will only take up about an inch and a half at the bottom of the announcement (or wherever you plan to put it.)

Once you have your measurements taken it's off to the computer to print the text. I recommend using a good desktop publishing program to place your text but you can certainly pull it off using a word processor. Set the document settings so that the page is the same size as your cardstock. If you are using 12" by 12" then your document will be 6" by 6". Set the margins to take up the space where the photo would be, or even place a blank object where it would be to get the text centered and placed in the correct position.
If you're not so computer savvy, but you really want to make your own invitations, I can help. I offer custom printable text templates just for this kind of situation. Just fill in the forms and let me know that you are going to make your own birth announcement.

Once you have your text printed it is time to start decorating! Start by adding your photos to the announcement cards. I layered decorative paper under the photo on mine. All I did was simple lay my photo on top of the decorative paper and draw a faint pencil outline around the pic about 1/4" from the edge. I then used a ruler to hold the paper down and tear the paper out in a straight line. Essentially the paper will be torn on all four edges. Do not place too much importance on getting it to look like a perfect rectangle.
Use a glue runner or glue stick to attach the decorative paper to the upper left corner of the announcement. Leave about a 1/4" or less of space between the edge of the card. Now attach the photo on top of the decorative paper. I like to place my photo just a little crooked.

Cut a length of thin satin ribbon just a tad bit longer then the announcement. Use some glue to attach the ribbon onto the card going straight across.

Now get out your plain white paper Start in the very corner of your paper. Use Rubber stamp letters to make an impression onto the paper. Use any color ink you might like. You can create any words on the announcement you like. I wrote "New Baby", but you could also use "Welcome", or "baby Girl", "Baby Boy", or whatever you like.
As you stamp each letter use some scissors to cut the letter out in a square. Now attach these to the card going across the ribbon. To make sure you get them arranged correctly you may want to arrange them without glue first, and then attach with glue one by one. I actually used a glue runner to attach these to the announcements. I find that glue stick gets on your fingers and you tend to smudge the stamping ink. Another great alternative, probably even better than a glue runner, is to use glue dots.

The last decoration to add to the baby announcements is the paper punch decorations. I used hearts but you can certainly use any shape you like. Simply punch them out and use a glue stick to attach them to the card wherever you see fit. I think they look cute placed here and there about the block lettering. Add a couple towards the top of the birth announcement to fill in the top a little.

Make your own birth announcement in this same style for a new baby girl or boy. Just change up the colors and the decorative paper to match any theme. You could even make holiday and seasonal birth announcements. The paper punches could be snowflakes for winter, leaves for fall, little suns for summer, and flowers for spring!

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