1st Birthday Countdown - The Invitations

Well, Little J's very first birthday is coming up here in a couple weeks, so it's safe to say I have birthday on the brain and you'll probably be hearing a lot about it this month!  The inspiration pot continues overflowing with ideas, but for last few weeks I've been trying to narrow it down my favorite ideas (which is easier said than done with Pinterest in the mix!).

So let's start with the invitations. Perhaps the most simple, greenish idea for invites would have been something digital, like an Evite, but the crafty girl in me HAD to create something with my own two hands! And of course I needed something physical to put in the baby book. Do people keep baby books anymore? I have to admit, it's been a bit of a struggle for me. I put so much time into keeping all our photos backed up (including organizing them in iPhoto and adding them to Picasa - thankfully my Time Capsule backs them up automatically), up to date on Facebook, and I LOVE making Shutterfly albums and updating my two blogs (my family blog and this little blog right here). Once I finally get to the baby book, it feels a little redundant. Whoa tangent. But seriously, do any of you keep baby books? How do you keep up with it all? I'm always looking for new simplifying tips!

Back to the invites. Like I said, I really wanted to do something crafty. My original inspiration came from here. I loved the idea of sewing paper, but instead of the dots I wanted to incorporate flag bunting (inspired by another DIY project I hope to complete for the party). I also knew I wanted to use 100% recycled and recyclable paper. I looked around online for what I needed, but thankfully was nearby an awesome paper store a couple weeks ago and was able to pick up some!  So here ya go:

1) Cut out triangles for my "flag bunting" (I'll tell you how I cut them so nicely and symmetrically in an upcoming post about another HUGE, non-birthday related project). Printed the invites 4 to a sheet to use the least amount of paper but still produce a decent-sized invite.

2) Marked my center point for the tip of my center flag.

3-4) Placed my center flag and eyeballed the placement of the other two flags. I used tiny dabs of double stick adhesive tape to keep the flags in place before sewing.

5) Sewed a straight line to complete my "flag bunting."

6) Admired little J's first birthday invites before addressing them in their recycled "brown bag" envelopes.

So, here are my questions for you: Do you usually send physical, snail mail invitations or stick with an email or Evite? And, how do you feel about asking or not asking for gifts? I added a, "Gifts are welcome but not necessary. Or, feel free to pass along a gently used book or toy," line(s) to our invites. I would love to hear any or all of your suggestions for how to tactfully keep gifts/toys/clothes/kid stuff under control, especially around birthdays and holidays!