Producing a unique birth announcement

April 13, 2007

By SANDI GENOVESE
Sunday, April 01, 2007

Planning for a new baby's arrival includes designing the nursery and stocking it with everything from diapers to books. But what about the birth announcement?

Since time will be in short supply once the baby comes, it is helpful to do the bulk of the design work before the baby is born. The digital age makes it easy to send a mass e-mail to introduce your new arrival. But why not make the birth announcement as special as the new baby? It's surprisingly easy to mass-produce an announcement that truly celebrates the newest member of your family.

Everyone wants to see a picture of the new baby. So decorating the cover is a snap ... shot ... literally! Simply fasten a photo to the cover for the most personal touch of all. Depending on how long you wait to take the baby photo, you may encounter skin tone problems or a baby rash, both of which are easy to overcome by printing the photo in black and white or sepia tone. If your photo image is digital it is as simple as choosing one of the color options in the camera or in the printing process. A 4-by-6 inch photo fits perfectly on a folded card that tucks nicely into a standard A6 envelope which is available in bulk at craft stores, paper stores or online.

The inside of the card is a place to really have fun. The birth information is the only part (aside from the photo) that can't be created in advance of the baby. However, the inside message and birth statistics can easily be printed on patterned or plain paper in most any computer printer or photocopier. Lay out the information in multiples on a sheet, print and cut into singles in almost no time, making this step both quick and easy.

To create a unique announcement with individual appeal, fold the inside card to create a three dimensionality that provides the format to hang baby shoes that support the theme of the message "We added two new feet to our home". The shoes are pairs of mirror image stickers with thread trapped in between each pair but the stickers can be switched to tiny die cuts or punches of baby shoes or baby feet if stickers aren't readily available.

The inside card is accordion folded into fourths with a square window cut out of the middle two fourths. Only the first and fourth sections are fastened to the inside of the cover, but the hanging shoes need to be taped to the back of the inside card first. They are positioned so that they can hang freely in the window opening when the card is open.

For a completely custom presentation you can incorporate a photo into the postage stamp on the envelope as well. The online site of photostamp.com offers sheets of twenty stamps with the photo of your choice. The price varies based on the stamp's value but the cost of a sheet of twenty, 39-cent stamps is about $25.

Be sure to make an extra birth announcement to display in your baby's scrapbook that will be enjoyed even when the baby is grown.

(Sandi Genovese hosts "Scrapbooking" on the DIY _ Do It Yourself Network. For more information visit www.diynet.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.)