DIY Calligraphy

I read that a cheap trick to calligraphy is once you write in your normal writing, go back and trace over the longer lines and make them thicker. I used to do calligraphy a while back, but I don't want to screw up and lose a bunch of envelops.

I would be horrible at it to so don't feel bad! Luckily my FH is really good at it so I just have to buy him a set so he can do the place cards for me

That's so awesome you're working on that, way to go! I love getting hand-addressed mail, people so rarely do that anymore.

You can always try one of the "cheat" calligraphy methods! I did one using a lightbox - basically I printed out all my names/addresses on printer paper in a calligraphy font I liked, set the iPad to extra bright and flipped a pyrex dish on top of it, then set my envelope on top of the address sheet and traced it using the light with a Gelly Roll pen.

MrsO did a different method where she ran her envelopes through the printer using a very light ink setting, then traced over it with a Gelly Roll pen.

They both turned out looking like pro calligraphy! Just another option!

My roommate is my MOH, and I was like, "Oh, you can help me address things." She just looked at me and was like, "Christy, have you seen my handwriting? It looks like I'm 5." Sadly, she's right, so it's all on me!

Krisalicious, that light idea is fantastic! I would have never thought of that!

Haha, I just got a calligraphy set and started playing around with it. I'm doing it more just for fun than anything else, but I have to laugh at myself too. With practice it's slowly getting better. Slooooooooooowly At least it's fun!

@Kris Those are great ideas. Depending on the pen/light availability in your home or apt taping the papers to a window is also a great way to trace

This is the thread to my fake calligraphy

https://www.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/my-cheating-calligraphy/5374572c0fdf94cb.html

I attempted to use the lightbox method, however our blue linen envelopes were too thick for the light to shine through enough. The hardest part was printing all the envelopes since my printer was being finicky. Once they were all printed, it was just busy work to trace them all. Also after you get going (for either method) you start to learn the strokes of the font which makes it go pretty fast and naturally.

Wow, thanks! I actually have an iPad and my envelopes are white, so I might be able to pull either one of these off!

We actually just used Word, matched the font color to the invites, chose a calligraphy font and printed the envelopes on a very nice printer. Looked great. I've seen some using printed labels...works...but stands out a bit. Course all of us are hypersensitive...if I wasn't engaged..I wouldn't pay attention to how the envelope was addressed.

I was just going to make a post about Mrs. O's brilliant idea, I remember her post about that. It really is a great idea!

I know I will be doing it

I decided to do the calligraphy on the envelopes and response card envelopes. So far I have completed 50 response card envelopes, each one has our name and address on it. The person sending it back to us can write their own name on it for the return address lol. Then for the invites I am getting a little fancier. It is definitely taking a lot of time. I can only do a couple at a time before my hand gets all shaky. Basically I am just writing in fancy cursive. I made a template on a piece of cardstock that has four lines on it that I stick inside the envelope so that way each address is exactly the same size. I am glad I decided to do it now because I still have a long way to go...lol

I am using the printer in a nice font. They would never get delivered if I wrote them by hand.

My dad knows caligraphy, he addressed my sisters wedding invites and is doing the same for me.

I learned calligraphy for addressing my envelopes and made the discovery you did about my handwriting + a calligraphy pen = A-OK as well. The problem that I ran into was the alignment when it came putting the addresses on, so I cheated.

Our envelopes were cream colored, so I bought this wonderful light box from JoAnn's (bonus, it's currently on sale) http://www.joann.com/light-box-electric-6-x9-/prd36235/

I made a template on Word and printed out the addresses (inner and outer envelopes) then traced the lines through the light box. Mrs.O is right about the tracing thing... you get the hang of it pretty quickly and it goes by faster than you think. I'm sure I could write the letters perfectly now, it's just the alignment I have problems with.

I have gotten so many compliments on the envelopes, people keep asking me who I hired. LOL. I just take the credit and skip the "cheating" part.

Brilliant ideas. I saw a vendor at a Bridal Fair that addresses envelopes for Brides. The prices are outrageous. Luckily, I have a friend who will do mine.

I did mine free hand calligraphy. Everyone was very impressed. LOL The pen helps a lot and it is really nice to get beautifully hand addressed envelopes. Success to you.

I think it's great that you're hand-writing the addresses. It's so rare to receive anything handwritten these days! I handwrote the addresses for our invites, as well as the place cards and "thank you" tags on the favors. Our guests loved it! I ended up foregoing the calligraphy pen -- even with the extra fine calligraphy pen, the lines were thicker than I wanted them to be, and the guest addresses wouldn't fit on the envelopes. So, I ended up using a very fine tip marker pen, and wrote with my usual writing -- just added a few flourishes.

Good luck! I can't wait to see how your DIY calligraphy turns out!