DIY Puppy Dog Birthday Invitation Tutorial

We’re back from a week of camping, and I’m really excited because I have so much to write about over these next couple of weeks: birthday parties, camping trips, and even getting into a little back to school fun!

Just under two weeks ago, our second boy turned two! Hard to believe, but our pup grew up! He’s loved doggies since he was very little, imitating their barking by panting, “Ha!Ha!” So the decision to throw him a puppy dog birthday party was a no-brainer.

I teamed up with Oriental Trading for craft supplies to make these cute DIY Puppy Dog Birthday Invitations. I knew I wanted to make a “punch card” style invite, and when I saw this video on YouTube, I knew that was the style for me. You can watch the video, because it’s a good one, but I’m writing this post up to show you my own way through the process of using punches to create a birthday invitation card!

Supplies you’ll need/want:

• Punches – Round in 3 sizes (one much smaller than the other two), Oval or oblong, scalloped (optional, I used it to make “poodles”) (I used Stampin’ Up punches as Oriental Trading does not carry all the sizes you’ll need).
• liquid glue stick and/or double sided tape runner (I used both interchangeably depending on size of the item I was gluing).
• brown ink pad
• brown or black fine point marker (or white if you use black for the muzzle)
• foam adhesive squares
• small sponge square
• cardstock in various neutral colors (I used brown, beige, cream, white, and black, as well as sometimes pink for the noses).
• scissors
• bone folder / paper scoring tool
• large cardstock for the cards themselves
• printed scrapbooking paper for background
• ribbon or other embellishments

Steps to creating a Punch Puppy Dog Birthday Invitation

1. Create the head, body, and feet: Punch out 1 of each of the rounds (large, medium, small, OR if you like, scalloped, medium, small) from heavy cardstock. These become the head, body, and feet of your puppy dog! Cut the smallest round in half. These pieces become the feet. (Alternatively, you can punch a second scallop and cut out 3 of the scallops for fluffy poodle feet!).

3. Create the muzzle: Punch out another medium round, and then slide that round partially out of the punch. Punch again to create an “eye” shaped piece. Set aside for the muzzle.

4. Create the ears: Punch out an oval or an oblong and cut in half. Scrape the ear pieces around your scoring tool to create “flopped” ears, or bend one down and leave one up for a quirky doggy. You can do a lot of different things to the ears to affect the personality of the puppy you create!

5. Create the nose: Using a round punch, punch a small rounded triangle from a corner of a piece of cardstock. This becomes your nose. Watch out – it’s very small and easy to lose!

6. Add dimension by sponge inking each piece. Take a lightly dampened sponge and dab on your brown ink pad until a good amount of ink comes off on the sponge. Then lightly “scrape” the inked sponge around all the edges of all your pieces until you get a thin darkened edge around each paper piece. This adds dimension, gives a “furry” look, and also separates the pieces visually from each other.

7. Create the doggy head: Glue the “eye” shaped piece onto the medium sized round. This is your head/muzzle. Glue the tiny nose piece onto the top center of the muzzle. With the fine point marker, draw dots for whiskers, and a line and smile for the mouth. Draw dots for eyes. Glue on ears.

8. Create the dog body and feet: On the two halves of the smallest round, draw three or four lines for “paws.” Glue these onto the largest round for feet.

9. Create your card. You can do this however you like: Simply fold a 4.25″ x 5.5″ card in half. Or do something a bit fancier by cutting out a longer piece of cardstock, folding in half and then folding the front half backwards to create a “Z” shaped card of sorts. (I did this so the puppy AND the invite information would be both on the front and then the card could stand up on it’s own). You may wish to glue down a smaller piece of patterned paper as a background, and a strip of ribbon to sit your puppy on. This is up to you! I used clear acrylic sheets to create a few of my cards for a “see-through” effect!

10. Assemble your puppy! First, glue the body/feet segment onto the card closer to the bottom (or atop your ribbon if you chose to add some). Next, affix two sticky foam squares to the back of the puppy head and place the head slightly overlapping the body. Now the puppy head sticks out a bit from the body for a 3D look! With your fine tip marker, carefully trace the bottom of the puppy head to create a “collar” on the dog’s body, and add a little doggy tag!

11. Attach or write in any messaging into your card!

You’re done! Enjoy these adorable puppy dog cards and personalize them in any way you like! Here’s all the versions I created!

Have you ever created a punch card of your own? Are you into card making or scrapbooking? Share your ideas or thoughts below!

Thanks to Oriental Trading for providing complimentary product to facilitate this post! All opinions are my own.