The first thing needed for a party is the invitations.  For our spy party invitations, we used a combination of the text suggested by Erin at Chicken Babies (edited somewhat, but essentially as we found it) and the idea of mini file folders found…somewhere.  At the Family Fun site, I think.

To make the folders, I found a template online.  I used this mini file folder template from Erin Vale Designs.  I printed it at 85% scale and cut it out, then traced it onto some old file folders and cut the minis out.  (If you trace it onto the folded file folder, you can cut out two at a time.)

In the picture below, I’ve placed one of the folders on top of a CD so you can get an idea of the size.  These fit in regular card envelopes.

We really wanted the folders to be stamped “top secret, ” but a “top secret”  stamp was about $8.50 + shipping – a little steep for just a handful of uses.  Although it was a little more work, a more cost effective option was a stencil.  I found an image online that had the lettering I needed, printed it out, and cut the letters out with an X-acto knife.  Then we could stencil the letters onto the folders in marker.  (Do be warned, though, that as the marker wets the paper, it softens it a bit.  So after about five, the letters didn’t come out as crisp.  You might want to let it dry in between, or use something heavy like cardstock.  If you’re feeling really ambitious, you can buy stencil blanks and use that.)

Finally, we printed our inside text 4-up onto regular printer paper and cut it out.  Each piece was inserted into a folder.  (I glued it with just a streak of glue stick, simply so it wouldn’t fall out and be lost.)  We were pretty pleased with how these turned out.

Please keep in mind that the text came from Erin and is only very slightly modified.  But here’s our file, with the text blocks sized to fit in the mini-folders.
Spy Party Invitation