Oh, Ruby Ruby! An anniversary mood board AND something free!

I am lucky to have some great in-laws. Joel and Katrina were married forty years ago on August 29th, and all of us kids and kids-in-law wanted to honor that this year. Seth's sister Kara offered up her adorable house, and in return I offered to decorate, do the invitations, and make a lot of the food. (Ha, little does Kara know that this is not a bargain at all because I am a freak for party decorations and would have begged to do them no matter what!).

I learned that forty years is the "ruby" anniversary, which set me down the path to a red color scheme, complemented with summery pinks, peaches and yellows. I was trying to make some sad excuse for an invitation in Publisher, since we only had to send out a few to extended family and I wanted to save a few dollars. Somewhere in my clip art searches, I stumbled across Download and Print, and holy cow! Anna Skye is not only a talented designer, but a generous one as well: she offers many of her adorable, modern invitation and stationery designs FOR FREE. You literally download the design template, input your own information, and print in good ol' Microsoft Word. How easy is that?

I wavered between the love birds design and the modern chrysanthemums, but when I realized I could have the chrysanthemums printed in the colors of my choice, the decision was easy. I emailed Anna, who graciously sent me a printable color chart so I could pick my ideal shades of red, pink and orange. A mere few hours later, I had my template, which I just printed out on some spare card stock and cut down to size. Incredible!

The invitations went out today, and I have been collecting a few images here and there to amass a little mood board.

And here's how you know how much I enjoy planning a party: their party is on my actual birthday, and I don't even care. Pictures to come! Pin It