Remember how when we picked this weekend for you to come down and visit, I said my only potential conflict was that June 30 is a close friend’s due date?

Well, no worries. She was early!

(No details/pictures since its not my baby, but I will share what I made for her.)

First of all, the four of us had plans to play cards last Friday night. We learned Euchre from one of the girls, and my very pregnant friend and I won two of three. Go us! We had wrapped up and I was in the kitchen with the other two girls, when she-who-was-pregnant walks in and announces, “I have to go. Right now.”

Um, ok. We know, we’re all leaving. No need to be abrupt. So one of the girls says, teasingly, “Why, do you need to go have a baby?”

“I think my water just broke.”

….

We were KIDDING! What do you MEAN you’re ACTUALLY GOING TO HAVE A BABY?!?

So she went home and headed to the hospital in the morning and 25 hours after her water broke had an adorable baby girl.

Of course I had to make a welcome card (They actually didn’t know in advance what they were having, so I had a generic boy and girl card made, but then decided they wouldn’t cut it).

I cropped out the name part (my lettering is still not great anyhow–summer project!)

I love how it turned out. Its just wire attached with brads and dimensional stickers. They put it on the door of the hospital room (and my friend took a picture for me because I forgot). This is the friend we threw a shower for, so I was excited to work in another clothesline like the shower decor.

But everyone needs a welcome home, right?

The process was pretty simple.

1. Choose a set of coordinating paper

2. Measure out pennants (mine are cut from 12 x12 scrapbook paper. I cut each piece to 6×12, then measured to 6 inches on one side and 3 and 9 inches on the other. Then I just connected the points with a ruler.* Save the scrap for the letters.

3. Write each letter backwards/mirrored on the back on the paper, so that the letters will be properly oriented when cut out. (I’m good at mirror writing. I have no specific advice, but I could take pictures if you want?)

3a. Start with just the name, because tracing out all those letters freehand and then cutting them takes forever.

3b. Ask your boyfriend what he thinks.

3c. Immediately regret 3b when your boyfriend insists it should say “Welcome home name”

3d. Sigh, and trace out welcome (home won’t fit). Do not admit it does look better (because you knew anyhow, you just didn’t feel like doing it).

3.1 I actually laid out a pattern of flags I wanted and then figured out which paper to use for the letter as well to make sure things weren’t too close together and there was enough contrast to easily read the letter. (Also, I apparently fail at organized lists. Must be due to not working.)

4. Lay everything out on the floor to get an idea for how it should look.

5. Use a 1/16 hole punch (the same one I use to start holes for brads) to punch holes in each corner of the flag. To keep it consist, I put the flag as far in as it goes. My flags are just scrapbook paper, so I was able to easily punch through three at once.

6. Measure and cut your string. I used curling ribbon, which worked really well for me.** I also brought twine and thin ribbon, but I think the curling ribbon was the least slippery (I used it because it was the best color, but whatever) and the holes being slight too small helped. I used a piece of scotch tape to create a point on each end of my ribbon so it would be easier to push through each hole.

7. String the flags together. Be consistent about where the ribbon shows.

8. Borrow your friends’ spare keys, get into the new family’s house, and hang your banner up. Try to take a picture, but realize that because you hung it in a window, the sun shining in makes it impossible to see anything other than triangles.

9. Leave the house.

10. Realize you don’t have your sunglasses.

11. Go back. Agonize over opening their windows since you know they are coming home later today and its much hotter in than out. Puzzle over whether babies can have fresh air. Realize you are being ridiculous. Open windows.

12. Leave again.

(Steps 8-12 totally optional)

I saw the new parents again today, and turns out they were planning on buying this kit from Paper Source on the way home from the hospital, along with pre-cut letters to make a banner. And they were all impressed that I did the whole thing from scratch and it was exactly what they wanted and it totally matches their living room—yay go me!

Bonus: My coworker had a baby awhile back and I had a couple kids help me slap together a stars-and-onesies garland to hang around his room when he got back. It wasn’t worth a photo. But when he told me he might take part of it down to use as decoration, I told him we would make him something real instead. N & A, two lovely girls who do not even have him as a teacher, had a blast helping me out. We made stars (like those in our header) and then passed them off to the art teacher so he could do “something cool” with them.

He totally delivered. We helped finish it up on the afternoon of the last day of school, and then found the parents (my coworker brought his wife & baby to school that day!)

They weren’t in his room, but we ran into them and his wife said the mobile (N was holding it) was really cute. I replied, “Oh good, its for you!” but she didn’t hear me. When her husband/my coworker walked out, he asked, “Did you make that for us?” since he had seen the stars before and knew we were doing something, and his wife gave him a “how rude” look. It was pretty funny, but I think they liked it a lot. We thought it turned out well.

No how to for this one–how to for the stars is coming soon and to make it into a mobile, find my art teacher (he used heavy wire for the hoop and then fishing line and hot glue (I wonder if needle and strong thread would work too?). But anyhow, I didn’t do the tricky part, just wanted to show my girls hard work!

What would you do to welcome a new baby home?

*I just saw a pennant template on Pinterest. It’s a triangle with a trapezoid on top, so that it makes a flap to fold over. I would not actually recommend that, but to each their own. And it’s not like I’ve done it more than once 🙂