Here's the Scoop ...

The teacher appreciation committee at my kids' elementary school held an ice cream social event for the teachers and staff last week. I suggested to the other committee chair that we put an actual invitation in their mailboxes the day or two before instead of just emailing out the details. I didn't find what I was looking for when I searched online for pre-made printable invitations, and didn't have the time or budget to order anything, so I decided to make my own using various digital scrapbooking materials and such. I'm usually such a frustrated novice with digital creations because I don't know how to do so many things. But this time I was thrilled with the final project and thought I'd share it here.

The ice cream sundae image is from the Ice Cream Shoppe kit at digiscrapkits.com. This was the only component that I had to pay for, and it was only $1.00 (for the whole kit, which includes other images). The colorful row of chevrons element came from the free Seasons of Change Mini Kit by Shannon McNab, and the button and twine bow elements came from the free In the Garden collection by Gennifer Bursett (both are from Design House Digital). And last, I did the polka dots with the medium polka dot overlay, one of a free three-pack that I found at digitalscrapbooking.net. I designed the invitation in Photoshop Elements at 2 3/4" x 6," so that I could print four on an 8 1/2" x 11" page.

For the toppings labels, I created a sheet of a full chevron background just by duplicating that single-row chevron element from the Seasons of Change Mini Kit, then added white rows and the names of the different toppings. The font is Henparty (love that name!). The labels were then punched out with a large circle punch. Some we used as tags on milk bottles and others we adhered to tent cards.

I also printed out a cute "here's the scoop ... you're sweet" design onto full-sheet sticker paper, punched them out with a circle punch, and stuck them on the cups for a sweet message. The "sweet" graphic came from another Design House Digital freebie -- the I Do Freebie. I just re-colored the letters to match my color scheme.

And just to be silly, I made a Keep Calm and Eat Ice Cream print  :)

We found lots of good display ideas on Pinterest, and we ended up making good use of all the antique/flea market/farmhouse-inspired pieces I've been purchasing from Decor Steals and Antique Farmhouse all year ... milk bottles in a wire crate for the sprinkles, a glass-top button box to hold some of the dishes we used for toppings, small galvanized buckets for the syrups and whipped cream, cute fabric-lined wire baskets for the cups, and a wooden yardstick crate for the napkins.

The teachers were grateful and we hope they left feeling a little bit spoiled!


Taking good pictures in a drab cafeteria with flourescent ceiling lights using an iPhone is way beyond my skill-set, but I'll share some not-so-great photos anyway.

Thanks for visiting!