Has anyone ever made High school grad anouncements to save money?

[bcinohio]

I was just wondering if anyone had made high school grad. announcements to save money? If so are you willing to share a picture. I do scrapbooking and card making and was wondering about making my son's grad ann. for next year.

Thanks

 

[Pigeon]

You could just skip them altogether and save even more. I've never understood the point.

 

[Disneybuckeye]

My children all had limits on the number of people who could attend graduation. I ordered really cute grad party invites with their picture on them form a photo website and sent those to the people we invited to the party. I did not feel comfortable sending out grad invites and then saying "but you can't come to the actual graduation". Even if you can invite them to the graduation I think it is fine to make them yourself.

 

[SeansMom]

For me, it was a celebration, a ritual if you will, to send out cards. We did it for our oldest and then had a huge party here at the house. The cards were not that much, but if I was crafty I think hand made cards would be beautiful. We'll do the same for Sean who is graduating *gasp* this year.

I sent cards only to close family/friends...come to think of it, everyone who was invited to the party.

I don't think there are any hard and fast "rules" about it. The only thing I don't like is getting a graduation announcement, sending a present/money, and NOT getting a thank you note.

 

[mamaLori05]

I'm a long way from that point, but yes I would definately make my own to save some money. Usually the ones from the school are ugly anyway. I agree with one of the PP's, I don't understand them either, however when I was in HS it was a big deal to send them out. I think homemade ones would be even more meaningful!!

 

[brymolmom]

I agree...if saving money is a consideration - they are not necessary - skip it. Maybe just hand-write a note to a few close friends or family sharing your joy.

Oftentimes they're viewed as a request for a gift anyway...so you'll save people that!

 

[Jill in Chicago]

I have been paper crafting for 20 years. It is rare that handmade equals a deal. You have to factor in the cost of envelopes, and you can only get 3 cards out of one sheet of paper. If the cost of paper is 25cents per sheet that adds up quickly. Then you have any embellishments for the front of the card, unless you are using paper scraps, or a stamp you already own.

I would skip the announcements, and go with a nice, one sheet of paper invitation to the graduation party.

 

[kwitcherkicken99]

Try an outside print shop. Many will have templates that cost a fraction of what they sell them at school for.

That's how my parents did my brothers announcements. They weren't as flashy as the "school" ones (no picture of the actual school) but they looked good and were perfect for his personality.

 

[BCV2003]

I agree that it isn't necessarily cheaper but these is one, although not completed, that we made for my nieces graduation party.

When finished, it had the details printed on vellum attached below the 2010. Also behind the details was a light greyscale image of her printed on the vellum as well.

 

[williamson_ja]

Not graduation... but I made our wedding invitations to save money. They turned out beautifully and only cost me $40 for about 100 invitations! If they school ones are really expensive, I can see myself doing the same for that. I'm still 3 years away from having to deal with it, but I don't see any problem with it at all. Price it out and see how much the savings is before you decide if it's worth it. For my wedding invites, we saved around $400 for a similar product.

 

[powellrj]

I did post cards, I just used a picture of DS on the front and had the information about his open house on the back. We had a large crowd, but I think most people came from the facebook postings! I have seen the postcard still up on some relatives fridges and he graduated in 09!

 

[living20057]

Staples usually carries a nice selection of print at home options. They are blank so you have to do your own wording, but it has the year and looks very professional. They are usually 5 x 7 cards with envelopes. You can also purchase seals for the envelopes that gives it a nice touch. You can do a search and you should come up with a lot of options. Staples usually doesn't get them until May.

 

[Belle5]

I purchased from Vistaprint and made very personal announcements. It was less expensive than me trying to do it myself and we were pleased with the results. I do not like to spend a lot of $$ on something that people are going to toss in the trash! I put my son's senior picture inside the card.

 

[DisneyCrazy2]

Of the dozen open house invitations I received this past May, only one of them were the formal announcements bought through the school. The rest were mostly the 5x7 or 4x8 postcards you can make yourself at Walmart, Target, etc that had a couple photos of the graduate along with the open house information. This is definitely what I plan to do for my daughter's graduation open house this year.

 

[daisyduck123]

You could just skip them altogether and save even more. I've never understood the point.

That's what I plan on doing for DD16 this year (she has no idea about this yet though). Graduation announcements, IMO, seem like a "time to send me a gift" announcement. I figure anyone who knows us well enough for us to send an announcement to, already knows that she's graduating this year.

 

[Free4Life11]

You could just skip them altogether and save even more. I've never understood the point.

The point is it's a nice way to let scattered relatives and family friends know about a big accomplishment. And the student usually gets some cash out of the deal too. People may look down on it, but what kid going off to college can't use some extra money?

 

[disykat]

I will have some relatives expecting announcements. We plan on doing Costco picture cards with his picture, graduation date,etc. on it rather than buying announcements and enclosing pictures. I enjoy receiving those much more than announcements, so I figure others will to.

 

[erincon23]

I had (don't know why, but there they were) a box of Avery blank notecards. I took a photo of my son with his cap and gown out at a local park. I scanned the school crest and printed that on the front, then put the photo of my son on the inside, along with a poem I wrote about his high school "career." I put another small photo of him in shirt and tie on the back. Basically, since I had long ago purchased these cards, and I took the senior photo, it cost me nothing. I can't tell you how many compliments I got on the announcement! I only sent it out to family and very close friends. I may be able to email it to you if you'd like -- but it's a PDF, so I don't think I can post it here.

 

[bcinohio]

Thanks for all the help and ideas. I have a little time yet to plan. Since it is my first to graduate I thought everyone sent out announcements. It sounds like I might be wrong. Maybe I will just do an invitation to an open house party for him instead.

Thanks again.

 

[tinkermom23]

This year of the 4 Grad announcements we received, all of them were the postcard/picture type. One was the 4x6 with his graduation photo on the front and Open House info on the back. The rest were 4x6 pictures with a small photo of the Grad. as a child and another photo of the Grad today, and the Open house info was printed on the front.

Good luck with your Senior!