For those of you who celebrate Cinco de Mayo or the Kentucky Derby, you’re going to want to go ahead and save/pin/bookmark these adorable Derby de Mayo party invitations from Lauren Chism Fine Papers for future inspiration! Lauren and her husband host an annual Kentucky Derby party (you can see some past examples here), and she faced a wee bit of a design challenge when the Kentucky Derby fell on Cinco de Mayo earlier this year. The resulting papel picado-inspired invitations are super cute – take a look!

From Lauren: As our annual derby party comes around each year, the (self-imposed) pressure mounts – how do I keep designing something new for the same party, year after year? It’s always a challenge, but this year, the universe threw me a bone and the Kentucky Derby fell another celebratory day, Cinco De Mayo! The excitement mounted… Fascinators and Sombreros? Mint Juleps and Margaritas? Southern Snacks and Tex Mex Treats? Yes please! So just like that, Derby De Mayo was born!*

*(Side note: I then googled it, and being that the derby is the first weekend in May, this turned out to not be the most unique idea in the world, but whatever, it was a new original theme for us!)

Apparently, all I need is a good theme to kick-start my creativity, because from there, the ideas were flowing. I really wanted to do some kind of papel picado inspired design, but I wanted to make it reasonably affordable (I can get carried away sometimes), so I found a way!

The ‘flags’ are just A2 cards, digitally printed and die-cut with the scallop shape that my printer offers. To make them more realistic, I went through and punched holes in every scallop… one. by. one. My toddler even got in on the action ‘pretending to help me’, so it was a family affair. It actually wasn’t that bad and made it more affordable than ordering a custom die.

I don’t typically design with a lot of color, but with the Derby Day invitations, I tend to get some practice and this was the ultimate color exercise. Over the years, we’ve made some reusable derby items, like napkins and koozies, so I picked our ‘signature’ green and blue and paired them with pink and orange. They are bright, fun and festive. I love how they turned out and our guests seem to love them, too!

Thanks Lauren!

Photo Credits: Lauren Chism Fine Papers