Beyond Imagination: My Experience Creating Paper Items with Tracing Paper

Paper items using tracing paper are stylish!

You often see them on overseas Instagram, paper items made with semi-transparent tracing paper.

Invitations, place cards, menus, and more...

Items made with tracing paper exude a delicate transparency that looks chic ♡

In Japan, more and more brides-to-be are taking on DIY projects.

➡ How to utilize tracing paper for stylish paper items that anyone can create

I tried DIY with tracing paper, but...

I, Keiko from marry, also attempted to DIY paper items using tracing paper while helping a friend prepare for her wedding.

Having handmade various paper items for my own wedding, I thought it would be manageable this time as well!

However, the handling of tracing paper was more difficult than I imagined, and I struggled quite a bit!

This time, I want to share what I learned while researching at that time ♩

@chercher_ay

Cautions for DIY with tracing paper ① Printing

When you need items for the same number of guests, like invitations and place cards, it’s basic to print them all at once instead of hand-drawing.

While normal paper can be printed with a home printer, that's not the case with tracing paper.

If you want to print on tracing paper with a home printer, you need to check the following:

① Is it compatible with tracing paper printing?

② Can it use dye ink?

③ Can it print manually?

Some printers state that "tracing paper cannot be printed," so it’s advisable to check the manufacturer's website first.

After that, confirm if the ink is suitable for tracing paper printing and whether manual feeding to prevent paper jams is possible.

By the way, our home printer didn’t specify whether it could print on tracing paper in the manual.

So, I purchased tracing paper that was claimed to be printable online.

(Tracing paper is also available at 100 yen shops, but printing seems to be difficult.)

I attempted using dye ink and manual feeding and ended up failing.

Because it is thinner and slippery compared to regular paper, it jammed immediately, and I gave up...

@aririn_wedding

Knowing that printing at home was challenging, I turned to 'Kinko's,' where I could bring my data for printing.

The official website had no mention of tracing paper, so I thought, "Maybe I just have to buy it online and bring it in..."

However, when I called the store, they said, "We have tracing paper as well!"

Of course, with Kinko's commercial printer, printing on tracing paper was a breeze, so I had no worries.

(I should have just gone to Kinko's from the beginning...)

Cautions for DIY with tracing paper ② Size

The next point to watch for is the size of tracing paper.

If you want to make small thank-you tags or cards, there’s no problem. But if you, like me, want to create a place card that wraps around a profile book, you need to be careful!

The profile book is typically A5 size, but you need a larger sheet to make a band that wraps around it, which means you need to prepare A3 size tracing paper.

@macherie_dressbouquet

I found out that there are very few shops that carry A3 size tracing paper...

Even if they have it, it might ship within 5 business days. Since I’m more of a last-minute bride type, I was quite anxious.

Eventually, Kinko's had A3 tracing paper in stock, so I was able to avoid a crisis; if they hadn’t, I don't think I would have made it in time.

For those planning to print themselves, make sure to check if your local printing service center has tracing paper well in advance!

@kiyono0225

Cautions for DIY with tracing paper ③ Cutting

The third point to be cautious about is cutting. No matter what item you are DIYing, once you have successfully printed, it's essential to cut it to the right size.

This cutting was tricky!

The thin, flimsy tracing paper is hard to cut, and when it comes to making many place cards, it can be overwhelming.

Unlike regular paper, which can be marked for cutting lines, tracing paper is transparent, so there’s a risk of making jagged cuts when doing it freehand...!

So what I used was the paper cutter available at Kinko's.

This allows you to stack dozens of sheets and cut them all at once, guaranteeing a straight cut without the need for marking.

Having tried it, I think doing it with scissors would be quite challenging.

If you don’t plan to print at a service like Kinko's, it seems wise to purchase a home paper cutter. You can get one for A4 size starting from around 2000 yen ♡

(There doesn’t seem to be one for A3 size, so be careful.)

➡【Amazon】Here is the paper cutter

Cautions for DIY with tracing paper ④ Sealing stamps

A popular idea among brides is to apply sealing stamps to envelopes and place cards. I imagine a sealing stamp applied to a translucent tracing paper envelope would look very cute...

However, sealing stamps do not stick to smooth tracing paper!

You will have to experiment with glue, adhesives, or double-sided tape, but some people end up crying and giving up because they just won't stick no matter what.

If you really want to try tracing paper with sealing stamps, make sure to test the purchased tracing paper before you DIY the paper items.

@__ayanatsu__

Be careful when using tracing paper!

I shared the "points of caution when DIYing paper items with tracing paper" based on my experience.

To be honest, it was several times more challenging than using regular paper...!

However, it did turn out to be very stylish items, so I'm satisfied ♡

If I had known these points from the start, I think I could have DIY’d more efficiently, so I hope those planning to take on this challenge will proceed with caution ♩

Various manufacturers sell tracing paper, but it seems like "Classico" tracing paper is quite popular for wedding DIY.

➡ You can buy Classico tracing paper here＊

@927_wd_