I did make my own birthday banner from an idea/source I found online. It was really cool to make and probably a lot cheaper too. I got cardstock scrapbook paper on sale, and only used 6 sheets total. It was probably $3.00 or so to make.
I found this article from Martha Stewart, that gave you the font print to start.
I downloaded it and then actually veered a little from the original project, because instead of printing the entire alphabet and making copies, as suggested. I zoomed in to make the letters a little bigger and then took screen shots of the letter I needed. You can do this on a mac by holding apple+shift+4 at the same time. Then you move the arrow to take a photo of whatever you want. So, I literally took photos of the letters I wanted and then moved them into Word and printed them. After, I printed them. I cut them out. And then Jake actually made tiny slits in the top of each one with a utility knife. He placed the letters on a small piece of cardboard while he cut, so as not to bend the letters. Then I strung them on a string, and since you made double cuts in each one, they move where you want and stay there too. It was really easy and I can maybe even use this again, I will definitely save it for awhile and see if I can.
Have you looked at silhouette machines yet? I can totally see you using that thing up. I'm considering putting it on my Christmas list, but I'm not sure I'm ready to be addicted to it yet! =)I love your banner and the stitched streamers are great. I wanted to do that for Julia's party but ran out of time. I just bought paper today to do a thanksgiving banner. Yea!