Easy-to-make (and order) birth announcements

Stamp it Jazz up anything, from the simplest store-bought birth announcements to do-it-yourself works of art, with personalized stamps from Canada Post’s Picture Postage. Simply upload your favourite new baby picture to their website, select a border and voila – your little princess will occupy the very same envelope real estate once reserved just for the queen. $28 for 20, picturepostage.ca.

Get crafty and add a personal touch to baby’s birth announcements with this simple idea:

1. Buy a box of plain note cards
2. Using a sponge roller, apply a thin, even layer of water-based craft paint to baby’s right foot. (We like white paint with blue stationery and gold paint with pink but any colour combination will work.)
3. Stamp the front of the card with one teeny-weeny baby foot
4. Write your birth announcement inside

Go fish Creating cute customized birth announcements on snapfish.ca, a photo-sharing site. To do it, upload the photo to your account (hi-res is better), drag the picture into one of the baby announcement templates and then type in your message. It truly is a snap(fish). About $20 US for 20, including shipping. From $3 each, plus shipping.

The power of PowerPoint Why not put those hard-earned Microsoft Office skills to use by creating a scrapbook that will impress the heck out of your less tech-savvy friends? Tell baby’s story with pictures from your wedding, pregnancy and even from the delivery room – if you dare. End your slideshow with pictures of your little bundle and his birth date, length and weight. All that’s left is to email your creation to everyone (or almost everyone) in your address book.

Picture perfect If you have iPhoto on your desktop, easy, customizable cards designs are literally at your fingertips. To get started, select your favourite baby picture in iPhoto then click the keepsakes icon on the toolbar; iPhoto will now help you design adorable birth announcements. Once you’re happy with your card, just click “Buy Card” and the program will direct you to an online ordering site. $2 each, plus shipping.