The Sign of the (Happiest) Times!

John's been home for a week and two days! (I'm sorry if you feel like I've been holding out on you.) We traveled every single day for a week, with the exception of Friday. It was a whirlwind, and I promise I will share everything!

But I can't help savoring every moment. This week, I'm going to detail the pre-homecoming, homecoming, and post-homecoming (and everything in between) festivities. Let's start at the beginning: the homecoming sign!

I had made up my mind at the beginning of the deployment that I wanted to make a sign for John's homecoming. (It's even on my 100 in 365!) I was very superstitious about making the sign-- I didn't want a sign laying around for a month if the date was pushed back. Probably not the smartest move, but I waited until three days before the homecoming date to begin working on it.

It was tough to come up with the message for the sign. I thought up variations of welcome home messages-- funny (a parody of "Call Me, Maybe" lyrics), cute, sappy, patriotic. Finally, I completely ran out of time (and space on the poster) and settled on what is probably the most "me": the two most important running counts I've kept all year.

I'm a perfectionist and it was vitally important for this poster to be the most perfect poster ever. Knowing I didn't have time to hand-letter the poster perfectly-- and accepting that I'm not the most artistic person-- I decided to use cut-outs instead. I didn't like the pre-cut ones at WalMart, so I tried making them on my own.

If you need to make a poster, I'd strongly suggest you take a look and check out this very easy tutorial on how to make perfect letters. Printing and cutting them expedited the process immensely.

You'll Need:

• Microsoft Word
• colored cardstock (I bought Michaels generic pack) 
• a printer
• a scissors or Exacto blade

Directions:

Depending on your printer, you may have to change your paper settings accordingly. My printer did not need to be adjusted.

I used two-sided Elmer's photo tape to secure the letters to the poster board. It was way less messy and way more expedient than glue and it looked way more professional than tape doughnuts. (Even after a 4 hour drive and then a 9 hour drive, excited hugging, and dropping it on the ground, the letters didn't peel or fall off.)

I don't have a full-body photo of me holding the sign, but I do have the one below. (It was taken five or so minutes after John landed, so it's inestimably better than just a photo of boring, old me!)