Invite guests to write birthday messages on a decorative banner.
If you're throwing a party for a friend or family member turning 21, celebrate the milestone birthday in style by decorating the room with a personalized banner. Use basic craft supplies and simple techniques to design nostalgic, humorous or whimsical signs that the guest of honor will want to save as a memento from the special occasion. Does this Spark an idea?
Personal Messages
Design a 21st birthday banner that allows party guests to add personal messages for the guest of honor. Create the sign by cutting 21 shapes such as circles, hearts, flowers, stars or squares out of card stock that coordinate with the party decorations. If desired, save time by buying card stock, die-cut shapes at a scrapbooking or craft store. Make a hole at the top of each shape with a hand-held hole punch and thread the shapes onto a piece of string, ribbon or clear fishing line. Hang the banner at the party where the guests can easily reach it and provide a basket of colorful markers, crayons or paint pens that loved ones can use to write funny, heartfelt or sentimental notes on the pieces of card stock.
This Is Your Life
Turn photographs into a simple birthday party decoration to drape across a wall, window or doorway. Gather 21 pictures of the guest of honor, one photo from each year of her life. Make reprints or color copies of the images instead of using original pictures for the banner since you'll be punching holes in the snapshots. Place the photos in chronological order, and use a hand-held hole punch to make holes in the upper-right and upper-left corners of each image. Use pieces of ribbon or string to tie the pictures together to form the banner.
Memory Lane
Take the guest of honor down memory lane with a happy birthday banner that reminds him of old times. Use butcher paper sold at teacher-supply and art stores as the background of the sign. Write a birthday sentiment across the center of the banner with markers or acrylic paint. Make color copies of memorabilia from his childhood, such as art projects from elementary school, awards certificates or school spirit ribbons from high school, name badges from part-time jobs, ticket stubs from movies or take-out menus from favorite restaurants. Glue the items around the birthday message to serve as meaningful accents.
Time Machine
Create a whimsical banner that salutes the year in which the guest of honor was born. Use letter die cuts sold at craft and scrapbooking stores to form the birthday honoree's name and date of birth across a piece of butcher paper. Fill the rest of the space with photos or text about items that reflect the birth year, such as local and world events, No. 1 songs, movies and books, teen heartthrobs, new cars or food and fashion trends, for example.
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