A couple people during the party asked me how I made the “Happy Birthday Emily” banner. My mom taught me how to make this several years ago and we usually make one for every party we have! It’s pretty easy, but it does take a little while. And for this particular banner…my mom made it all by herself because her helpful hand (me) accidentally passed out around 7pm because of that darn jet lag. (Sorry, Mom!) Anyway, we put together a how-to so you can make one of these banners too!

Here are the supplies you need:

STEP 1 is to go shopping! The circle cutter, the mat, the ribbon, construction paper and the letters can all be found at Michaels. And the scalloped-edge circles can be found on Etsy.

Cut out one 7-inch circle per letter. Push down hard on the center of the circle cutter to hold the paper in place and the push down on the blade and hold it down while swinging the blade around to make a full circle.

Use double-sided tape to stick the scalloped edge circle in the center of the circles you just cut out of the construction paper.

Glue the back of the letters and paste them onto the center of the scalloped-edge circle.

Using the X Acto Knife slice a straight line just wide enough to fit the ribbon through on both edges of the circle. Then, thread the ribbon down through the slice on the left and up through the slice on the right so that the ribbon goes behind the circle and not across the front of it.

Then, repeat for each letter, stringing them on in order to make your word. Use a new piece of ribbon for each word. Then, place one word on the wall at a time so that you can accurately space and center the words. We used packing tape to stick it to the wall. And voila…you’re all done and ready to party!

You can have the banner say anything you want. It doesn’t just have to be for birthdays. I made a “Happy Mothers Day” banner a couple years ago, you could make one with your baby’s name on it to hang in his or her nursery, at my graduation party it said “Pepperdine Bound”! Get creative with it and have fun!

When our mom finally convinced Emily to let us throw her a party, I stopped what I was doing (that silly research paper…it could wait) and began planning! I live for this kind of stuff. I asked if Emily had anything in mind as far as the color scheme and she said she really liked black and white polka dots with maybe a pop of color. So, I took that and ran with it! For the next hour that I procrastinated writing my paper, I found everything we needed…plates, napkins, balloons, cake topper, color coordinated candy, cups for the candy etc. I emailed everything I found over to my mom and she ran around and picked it all up and a couple other finishing touches along the way. She is the best…she taught me everything I know about being a crazy matchy party planner. We had so much fun planning it together for our sweet Emily!

I thought having a photobooth at the party would be so fun so I looked up DIY backdrops on Pinterest and I found this one! So, I asked the best builder in all the world (Steve!) to help me out building the structure. Then, we stuffed away with tissue, set up the camera and voila…a photobooth! It was so fun to see everyone get creative with it and it’s such a fun way to document the party!

^^Yes, that’s a pink and black bow on Ivy!

It was such a group effort to make this party a success! We couldn’t have had that photobooth without Steve, our friend, Julia, brought the photobooth props, our friend, Tom, helped prepare many batches of the Pink and Grey cocktails, and our friend, Annie Banannie, whipped up the most delicious food! Thank you to everyone who helped out and to everyone who came and celebrated Emily! We had so much fun last night.

And to Emily: It’s amazing to me how much you have accomplished before this milestone and I can only imagine what is in store for you during this decade! I hope your 30s bring you so much happiness, success, and some of your best memories! I love you to the moon and back. Happy Birthday!

P.S. We missed you so much, Allie! Hurry and get your cutie patootie up here!