How to Make a Happy Birthday Sign

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happy birthday image by Michael Kempf from Fotolia.com

Birthday parties and celebrations bring a host of decorating ideas, no matter the age of the birthday person and guests. Birthday signs are popular to bring attention to the name and even the age of the guest of honor. Outdoor yard signs announce that this is where the party is or a person in this household is celebrating a birthday. An indoor sign adds to the colorful decorations and also adds to the surprise of the special guest at a surprise party. Both types of birthday signs are used to announce a milestone birthday.

Outdoor Yard Sign

Position letter stencils on a piece of foam-core poster board. Position the letters in different ways until you are satisfied with the arrangement of the wording for the sign.

Trace the letter stencils with a pencil. Trace one letter at a time, in the order in which they are arranged, in order to keep the proper spacing and have room to trace all the letters. If the traced lettering doesn't turn out the way you wanted, erase and try again. If desired, trace lettering on both sides of the sturdy poster board.

Paint the letters of the sign. Use a variety of paint colors or a color of your choice. Ink markers will also work well to color the lettering. Draw, then paint, or freehand paint any extra designs you desire on the sign. Let the paint dry, then turn the sign over and paint the other side, if you want a two-sided sign.

Push a wire into the bottom end of the foam core, about six inches from each each side edge of the sign. Push carefully to keep the wire moving in a straight line. About half of the wire should be pushed into the foam core and the other half should stick out the bottom.

Push the wire ends of the sign into the desired place in the lawn outdoors. Place the sign so that the decorated sign faces the street. If both sides are painted, place the sign so that both sides show from the street.

Indoor Banner

Place desired letter stencils on paper banner as you wish them to appear on the finished project.

Paint the lettering with desired colors of paint. Ink markers will work in place of paint. Paint or color other decorations onto the banner, if desired. Let the paint dry before hanging the banner.

Staple a length of string onto the banner at the top of each end, one on the left end and one on the right end. Push thumb tacks into the wall where the banner will hang. Place the tacks so that the banner will hang fairly tightly without sagging. Tie the loose end of the left string, then the right string, around thumb tacks to stretch the banner and hold it securely.