Welcome Home Banner

When the kids were much younger, Scott usually traveled to China and other parts of Asia once a year to buy merchandise, and he was usually gone for 10-14 days. One year I had the idea of making a Welcome Home banner for him. The kids and I drew on it and wrote notes and colored in the letters. It was 18" wide and probably 6-8 feet long, and it was the first thing he saw when he came in the door upon arriving home. We did this several times over the years, until they outgrew the idea and were busy with their own activities.

I guess that memory stuck with my daughter Dana longer than I expected.

Dana asked me before she left NYU Paris if I was going to make her a Welcome Home banner. I was surprised by the request, but thought it would be fun to make some sort of banner for her. This is the banner I made recently to welcome her home after her freshman year of college.  I think it turned out to be very cute, and it is still hanging in her room 2 weeks after she arrived home.

I have seen tutorials for banners like this all over the web for a few years, and I have always wanted to make one, and a sign to welcome Dana home was the perfect excuse. The pennant triangles are 2 pieces of fabric sewn together, and are approximately 7" wide x 8" long. The letters and other motifs were handmade by me from felt and then glued on to the triangles. (That thing that looks like a modified letter A is supposed to be the Eiffel Tower.) Here is a closer look at the banner:

These are not my best photos, but they will have to do.

I want to make more of these! They are fun and easy, and I have a few ideas I want to try. Here is a link to the tutorial I used: pennant-banner-tutorial (Riley Blake Designs)

Trust me, you haven't seen the last of the custom pennant banner on this blog.

And here she is at the airport with her dad, and with the signs we made to greet her there.
Her flight from NY-LA was delayed, and she arrived home about 12:30 am on a Saturday night.
The signs were the first thing she saw when she got to baggage claim.

Welcome home, Dana!