How To: DIY Peacock Themed Wedding Invitations

The first style requires little artistic skill, but good handwriting is a must. You need envelopes and at least as many sheets of cardstock as you need invitations, in either cream or peacock blue-green, plus extras, in case of mistakes. You will need the same number of peacock feathers, which can be obtained from a variety of places, including local farms, craft stores, mail order or online specialty outlets. Finally, you will need a clear-drying adhesive, a calligraphy pen and ink, as well as a basic knowledge of calligraphic letters or just a calligraphy kit, which will have pen, ink and instructions. The ink color should correspond to one of the colors in the feathers. A guillotine paper cutter is recommended, though scissors will suffice. Cut each piece of cardstock so that it is ¼ inch less wide and ¼ inch less than twice the height of the envelopes, then fold each piece of paper in half so that it is the same height as the envelopes, minus ¼ inch. Write the details on the inside of each card. Cut each feather so that it fits from the bottom left corner of the card front diagonally to the top right corner of the card. Run a thin, slightly curved line of glue from the bottom left to the top right and carefully glue the feather in place, also curving it slightly. You may need to clamp it until it dries.

For the second style, you will need enough blue-green stationery and matching envelopes to create your invitations, plus some extras. From your local art store, you will need an artist carving block in the appropriate size, a carving tool, and stamp pads or ink in black, metallic aqua, bright blue, lime green and gold, and a paint brush. For the writing, you can either do calligraphy, as above, or print the writing portion of the invitations on your computer printer. Find a clear picture of a peacock in full display and print it to match the size of your carving block. Tape it to your block and use your carving tool to transfer a line drawing of the image to the block. To simplify, the raised parts should be the body of the peacock, the base of the tail and the "eyes" of the feathers, with recessed crosshatching for the bulk of the feathers and the rest of the rubber cut away. Apply and stamp each color separately until you have created a full color peacock stamp to the front of each invitation.