Five Tips for DIY Birth Announcements

When Grace was born, I knew I wanted to design her birth announcement myself.
I designed the birth announcements for both JT and Isabella,
and I wanted to make something special for Grace too
.
JT's was an actual paper craft announcement that had little polka dots in
various sizes that were hand punched by my fantastic mother.
It was a square design and I loved them.
They were totally a labor of love.
I need to find one and show you all!

Isabella's was a digital design that I made in Photoshop.
I totally stressed taking the picture for the announcement,
because newborn photography ain't no joke!
She wouldn't stay just so, I couldn't get the lighting right,
my black Moby wasn't cutting it as a backdrop and my postpartum
emotions were running on HIGH!!!



I decided that I would have Grace's newborn pictures taken by someone
more qualified than myself and save myself the stress this time.
Luckily, my friend Tiffany is a fantastic photographer,
lives down the street and is co-room mom with me and is all around
about the sweetest lady you'll ever meet.

Guess what? Even though I didn't take the pictures,
the whole shoot was still stressful!
Grace did not want to cooperate and refused to stay asleep and let us
mold her into the adorable newborn poses I had pinned on Pinterest.
She was wiggly and wanted her pluggy and it wasn't anything like I imagined.
Tiffany, on the other hand, was cool and collected and had done her
homework, so she knew that Grace most likely wouldn't cooperate.
Guess what? The photos still turned out adorable.



Her little personality shone through and when I got the images back from Tiffany,
my heart was full with memories of those first few days with my
squishy little newborn baby girl and all her personality.



I am so grateful for Tiffany and her patience with us that day.
I showed up an hour late and then I had to feed Grace because she was
already starving again after our 5 minutes car drive.
Tiffany spent a good two hours with us and all the time
she put me at ease and told me not to worry.
They were just the words I needed to hear at that point of being a new mom again.



The other great thing about having Tiffany do the shoot, was I got some pictures
of Grace and myself together.
::GASP::
I let someone take pictures of me?!
True. Story.
I was hesitant to do it, because on a normal day I don't pose for pictures,
let alone 9 days after having a baby.
However, I'm so glad I let her snap a few of us together.



This way, at least Grace will know she had a mother when she was born.
Maybe not when she's 5 because I never appear in any photos, but
at least there is proof I was there when she was a teeny tiny newborn.



After I got the photos back, I hunted around on Pinterest for design ideas.
I wanted something simple and sweet.
I also wanted a two-sided design so I could show off more of Tiffany's great photos.
Below is the final design.



So, my five tips for DIYing your own Birth Announcements are:

1. Have someone else take the pictures!
Even if it is just a tourist you find at Disneyland that has a fancy camera,
let someone else take the pictures and you be in charge of choosing
which cute headband the baby is going to wear.

2. Take the pictures within the first two weeks.
I'd say the first week if you're up for it, because my little Gracie
was already too alert by day 10 of life to be mold-able and so all the
fancy tricks I'd seen on Pinterest.

3. Search on Pinterest for design ideas.
There are so many great ideas out there that it can be overwhelming.
Perusing Pinterest while nursing in the middle of the night
 for ideas that others have pinned is a great way to narrow down to what
direction you want to go is a great way to pass the time.

4. Print double sided.
Do one large photo on the front to give Grandma the close
up she's been waiting to see and a collage on the back so you can
show off all the great pictures your friend Tiffany took for you.

5. Send a digital copy to local friends.
Stamps are EXPENSIVE!
Save some cash and email out a digital copy to people you see on a daily/weekly basis.
They've heard the birth story and seen your squishy a million times.
Send the hard copy to Grandma and Aunt Ida.
They appreciate the hard copy and will put it in their journal,
while your local friend will toss it next time they clean off the fridge.