Personalized birthday sign

My niece designed the birthday banner for my son, JT’s first birthday party, that I thought was very creative and resourceful. Not only did it look better than anything I could have bought at Party City or Target, it was very personalized and “couture,” and it also saved me a few dollars.

Here is what she did:

1. Search for a favorable font (Google: free fonts).

2. Print each letter of the sign to fill the entire 8.5×11 sheet of heavy card stock.

**Tips**

• I recommend using ivory or yellow colored card stock as it will show the letters better. White is too stark, and I don’t prefer it.
• Letters should be in the color of your theme to make it look more “couture.”
• Standard black lettering on white paper will not look good. You might as well go out and buy a pre-made banner
• You may purchase card stock at your local office supply store (OfficeMax, Office Depot, Staples),  paper specialty store (Paper Source), or craft store (Micheals, Tall Mouse). If you do multiple parties, you may want to visit a Kelly or Xpedex near you, as you can buy in bulk prices.

3. Using a paper hole puncher, punch one hole at the top corners of each sheet of paper to string ribbon through.

4. String ribbon through. You could either weave the ribbon through the holes front, back, front, back style (wasting a lot of ribbon, but quicker to achieve finished product), or cut ribbons to desired length and connect the letters tying knots at each corner of the paper.

**Tips**

• I recommend using a wider ribbon, like 1″-1.5″ as the color will show up better against your backdrop (wherever you decide to hang it).
• Use a softer type fabric ribbon such as satin or organza as it will allow the banner to hang better.
• Try to refrain from using the skinny gift ribbon because it tends to make the sign look homemade. Remember, when making your own products, the key is to make it look “personalized” and “couture”, not “homemade.” Something as simple as choosing the right ribbon can make a big difference.

5. Attach the banner to the backdrop. Depending on the material of the backdrop, you will either use tape (for a wall), or white head pins (for fabric). Another option is to leave the ribbons at the ends of the banner longer so that you can tie it to a wall sconce or a tree.

6. In order to maintain the continuity of our King of the Jungle safari theme, she added some store bought ceiling decorations in the shape of a lion, monkey, and zebra to the edges and center of the banner.

**Tips**

• You could print pictures relating to your theme from online.

I had my sister copy this technique for my first son, NT’s CARS birthday party, 2 weeks after JT’s birthday. She did it in a rush, used white paper with black ink, so it did not look as nice. However, adding a few CARS ceiling decorations I bought from Party City made it look a bit more festive.

What would you recommend to tweak this project? If you’ve done it, how did it work for you?