diy photo announcements.

In an attempt to save money and resources, we opted to announce Caleb's arrival via our blog, Facebook, and email.  We considered sending birth announcements after receiving numerous coupons in the mail for free ones, however the cost of shipping and postage didn't seem worth it.  Also, by the time we received the announcements and found the time to address, stamp, and mail them, Caleb would have been a month or more old!  And let's be honest, how long do people actually hold on to such announcements?  A month?  If you're like me, they might stay on your fridge until Christmas, but then what?  They go straight into the trash!  How can I justify spending loads of money on a piece of card-stock that someone is just going to throw away!?

Anyways, at 7 weeks old, a dear friend of my was generous enough to snap some family photos of us during a visit.  They turned out beautifully and I feel in love with this photo instantly.  

photo by Mackenzie Lee Photography

It's such an amazing representation of our little family right now and I wanted so badly to share it with everyone.  Once again I posted it on here and Facebook, but I realized this time that we have a few family and friends who do not have access to Facebook and rarely use internet in general.  I decided that it was worth printing some "announcements" for these dear friends and sharing this awesome photo with them.

So, here's my super simple "announcement"....

First I opened the photo in Photoshop Elements.  Then I added the text "hello."  I saved it as a .jpg and uploaded it onto Walgreens one-hour printshop {and saved 33% with their deal of the day!}. 

I didn't even spring for card-stock, just printed them on typical photo paper.  I wrote a little personalized note on the back of each and popped them in generic business envelopes {classy, right?!}.  I did use a little washi tape to fancy them up a bit, and was sure to write "do not bend" in hopes of keeping the photos from being ruined in the mail.  

Super simple and cheap, only $.60 each {$.14/photo & $.46/stamp}.  Because we only sent these to a select few friends and family (a total of 7), the entire cost was only $4.20!

Thank you Mackenzie for this amazing photo!  You're awesome, love you!

**I'm sure you could use any number of photo editing software - there are many online for free and even some available through print shops!