Another benefit of handmade

I really like nice paper. Stationery, notecards, that kind of thing. I like sending notes and cards to people, and I like having an assortment of blank cards and stationery on hand. I very rarely allow myself to browse the stationery section at stores, because I will almost certainly find something that I really, really want to buy. The truth is, I have enough cards to last for a long, long time.

This morning I opened my stationery box to put away the leftover invitations from Elise's birthday party. Then I realized that I will never use them. I started digging through the box to see what other "leftovers" I had. This is what I found:

• Six "topiary" bridal shower invitations
• Seven "umbrella" bridal shower invitations (the last bridal shower I threw was nearly two years ago)
• Six "Noah's Ark" baby shower invitations (my niece - the baby of honor at that shower - will be five next month)
• Six "clothesline" baby shower invitations
• Seven birth announcements (I guess we could use them when we have another kid!)
• Two "butterfly" party invitations (from Elise's 1st birthday party)
• Four "Curious George" party invitations (from Elise's 2nd birthday party)
• Five general invitations

What do you do with leftovers like those? I don't know. They look nice...I have each bundle tied together with ribbon. But I'll never use them. I suppose I could save them for the next time I throw a shower, and just send out assorted invitations, but to be honest, I'm not that thrifty. I like to pick out invitations that I think the person of honor will like.

I ran into this same dilemma with Christmas cards last year. I had leftover Christmas cards from every year that we've been married - maybe even some from before we were married - and they added up to a lot of cards. I couldn't bring myself to throw them out - they were perfectly good cards! So I swallowed my hesitancy to send a friend the same Christmas card that they received two years ago and I just sent out my 40 leftover cards. My apologies to those of you who have received duplicate cards from me.

This brings me to my point. (I know, you were wondering if I had one.) With handmade cards, this problem of leftovers isn't there. You can just make the exact number of cards that you need. You can personalize each card to the tastes of the recipient. I have only made a handful of cards, and they did take a fair amount of time, but they were fun to make. I'm not committing to anything, but I think I may try to make the next "batch" of cards that I send. And if anyone has any ideas of what to do with these 43 leftover invitations, please let me know!