DIY Lettered Dinner Plates

I’m a sucker for any piece of flatware, glassware, or dinnerware that makes for a pretty styled tabletop, or just steps up your everyday kale salad. Sometimes you want to add your own touch though. Maybe for a birthday or to brighten your neighbor’s day with a plate of cookies that ends with a surprise note. These customized plates will look great stacked on wood and dark linens, and will most likely make the rest of your table décor a simple task. So pick your favorite fonts and what you want on each plate and follow along to make your own. Lauren

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Supplies

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step 1. You can either letter your words/phrases yourself, or create them digitally and print them from your home computer. This is a great way to incorporate your favorite fonts into some entertaining décor without needing any lettering skills! I also created a printable of my phrases for you to try first! Download them here.

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step 2. Cut and tape to the bottoms of your plates so they are centered, or where you’d like the final lettering to be.

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step 3. Trace, on the front of the plate, over your lettering with the chalk marker.

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Step 4. Remove the guide on the back and turn the plates over. Trace, on the back now, with your white acrylic paint pen, to finish of the design. Wash the front of the plate and you’re done! If you’re looking for extra protection for your lettering, you can tape off the front of the plate and spray the back with a few coats of polyurethane (available at your hardware store). If it’s just for a party or decor, the acrylic will hold up on it’s own though.

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

DIY Lettered Dinner Plates / A Fabulous Fete for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Round up your chargers and linens to contrast the bright white marker, and set your table. I love the idea of adding quotes, names for place cards, or even the menu for the night. What would you use them to display at your dinner party?

And if you missed it, download the printable of the words I used above if you need some inspiration for making your own!

Printable artwork © Lauren Saylor of A Fabulous Fete and created exclusively for Oh So Beautiful Paper. All artwork is created for personal use only and may not be altered, reproduced, or sold in any way without prior written consent.

Spring Botanical Letterpress Wedding Invitations

Spring is most definitely in the air here in DC. We’ve had several warm days, and I’m starting to see spring blossoms out in my neighborhood! I’m always a fan of botanical design motifs, but even more so for spring and summer weddings. Becca from Suite Paperie sent over these beautiful spring botanical letterpress wedding invitations that she created for a late spring wedding at the New York Botanical Garden. Such a dreamy venue for a May wedding!

Spring Botanical Letterpress Wedding Invitations by Suite Paperie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Becca: For this fun couple, we went with a design that felt like a breath of fresh, late spring / early summer air. Letterpress printed with thin lines in a delicate gray, this design paired clean and simple fonts with natural touches. We carried the playful font into a monogram that is centered inside a hand-drawn wreath, and sprigs of that same wreath are present throughout the invitation suite.

Spring Botanical Letterpress Wedding Invitations by Suite Paperie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Spring Botanical Letterpress Wedding Invitations by Suite Paperie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The letterpress printed invitation is complemented by matching inserts digitally printed on soft white stock. As for the blue floral touches? The dinner party card is framed by a pretty collage, which was dreamed up and sketched in our studio in the same style as the monogram wreath, and the RSVP card features small floral touches in the same blue as the liner. The airy feel of the invitation suite shined through in finishing touches, like a tied raffia belly band. Cornflower blue edge painting on the double-thick invitation added an irresistible touch.

Spring Botanical Letterpress Wedding Invitations by Suite Paperie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Spring Botanical Letterpress Wedding Invitations by Suite Paperie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Spring Botanical Letterpress Wedding Invitations by Suite Paperie / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Becca!

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Lindsay Nathanson

March Desktop Downloads!

Happy March everyone! This just happens to be one of my favorite months, since it’s the beginning of Spring here on the East Coast! To help celebrate, we’ve got some gorgeous new illustrated wallpapers for your desktop and phone from Bright Room Studio, The Good Twin, and Christie Montague Designs. You’ll find everything from pretty watercolor and calligraphy to modern floral illustrations to an electric ’80s-inspired shape pattern. Enjoy!

Hand Lettered Watercolor Wallpaper / Bright Room Studio for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Desktop | iPhone

March Illustrated Floral Wallpaper / The Good Twin for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Desktop | iPhone

Electric Shapes Wallpaper / The Good Twin for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Desktop | iPhone

Comparison is the Thief of Joy Hand Lettered Wallpaper / Christie Montague for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Desktop | iPhone

For personal use only. All illustrations by Bright Room Studio, The Good Twin, and Christie Montague for Oh So Beautiful Paper

Montana Calligraphy Wedding Invitations

Anna from Cast Calligraphy created two absolutely gorgeous Montana calligraphy wedding invitations for two separate weddings – one in Big Sky and one in Glacier National Park – and I just couldn’t resist sharing them both with you! Each suite features Anna’s beautiful calligraphy and simple, elegant details to complete the design. First up, Big Sky!

Big Sky Montana Calligraphy Wedding Invitations by Cast Calligraphy / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Anna: When people think Montana wedding they think rustic, woodsy, outdoor, etc., but that was not the case for Molly and Jonnie’s Big Sky wedding. Molly has exquisite taste, and wanted a modern, fresh, and timeless design.

Big Sky Montana Calligraphy Wedding Invitations by Cast Calligraphy / Oh So Beautiful Paper

We created a simple crest for her to reuse throughout the event, which was letterpress printed and foil stamped in rose gold by Birdwalk Press. They loved the look of the loose, extended lettering and carried the style throughout their stationery pieces.

Big Sky Montana Calligraphy Wedding Invitations by Cast Calligraphy / Oh So Beautiful Paper

A custom details card and rehearsal dinner invitation were included, along with a welcome BBQ invitation – and of course the cowboy boots were requested, this is Montana after all! This family was one of the most kind hearted I’ve ever known, and it was a pleasure designing the suite for Molly and Jonnie. Sending my love and congrats to them!

Big Sky Montana Calligraphy Wedding Invitations by Cast Calligraphy / Oh So Beautiful Paper

And next – the Glacier wedding invitation suite!

Glacier Montana Calligraphy Wedding Invitations by Cast Calligraphy / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Anna: Meredith and Rich adore the mountain scenery in Glacier National Park and in surrounding areas, but they didn’t want their wedding invitations to be too rustic. Their wedding invitations were intended to be clean, simple, and to reflect the natural beauty of Montana. The talented Ice Pond Press printed each invitation and details card on a thick cotton paper with two tones of gray. We found the perfect photo – not too feminine or masculine, not too detailed but not too obscure. A mix of type and calligraphy were used to create the save the date and then replicated for the invitation, RSVP, and thank you notes. The event took place on a beautiful August day and was perfectly executed by Goldfinch Events in Whitefish, Montana. Congrats Meredith and Rich!

Glacier Montana Calligraphy Wedding Invitations by Cast Calligraphy / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Anna!

Calligraphy and Invitation Design: Cast Calligraphy & Design

Letterpress Printing, Big Sky Suite: Birdwalk Press

Printing, Glacier Suite: Ice Pond Press

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Orange Photographie

Camp-Theme Foldout Wedding Invitations

Happy Monday everyone – and happy Leap Day! I always love it when wedding invitations contain an interactive element, and what could be more interactive than a foldout invitation that slowly reveals its details to the recipient? These camp-theme foldout wedding invitations were created by designer Jessica Roush for her own wedding in a Wisconsin state park! Screen printed in two colors by the bride and groom, the invitations start as a 6-inch square before unfolding to an 18×24-inch poster!

Camp-Theme Foldout Wedding Invitations by Jessica Roush / Oh So Beautiful Paper

From Jessica: The initial inspiration for our wedding invitation was a fold-out adventure map: the kind where your eye meanders, with lots of interesting and quirky details. We wanted something outdoorsy and camp-themed to reflect our low key Wisconsin State park wedding.

Camp-Theme Foldout Wedding Invitations by Jessica Roush / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Camp-Theme Foldout Wedding Invitations by Jessica Roush / Oh So Beautiful Paper

The invitation is 18 inches by 24 inches poster-sized, and folds up to roughly 6 inches square. The front section you see when you open the envelope is intended to have the main information, the basic when and where.

Camp-Theme Foldout Wedding Invitations by Jessica Roush / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Camp-Theme Foldout Wedding Invitations by Jessica Roush / Oh So Beautiful Paper

When you unfold the invitation, more information is revealed, including a hand-drawn map of the park, a map of Wisconsin, an RSVP, a quirky wedding necessities illustration, and an outline of South America. The map of South America alludes to our post-nuptial plan of quitting our jobs and traveling South America for 6-7 months! (You can follow those adventures right here!)

Camp-Theme Foldout Wedding Invitations by Jessica Roush / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Camp-Theme Foldout Wedding Invitations by Jessica Roush / Oh So Beautiful Paper

All of the typography and illustrated elements are drawn or hand-lettered by yours truly. They were tediously hand screen printed by my husband and I in two ink colors. The save the dates are printed by SmartPress, and the thank you notes and envelopes are DIY with custom rubber stamps. Creating our wedding invitations was by far one of my favorite parts of the wedding planning process!

Camp-Theme Foldout Wedding Invitations by Jessica Roush / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Camp-Theme Foldout Wedding Invitations by Jessica Roush / Oh So Beautiful Paper

Thanks Jessica!

Check out the Designer Rolodex for more tal­ented wed­ding invi­ta­tion design­ers and the real invi­ta­tions gallery for more wedding invitation ideas!

Photo Credits: Jessica Roush