Bon voyage to boring banners: Joti Marra helps you make a custom send-off for your friends and family.

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Materials: scraps of fabric, ribbon, felt, pinking sheers, and a sewing machine with needle and thread

It's the perfect time of year to jump on an airplane, load up the van, or sling a pack on your back. and why not celebrate that [act? We could all use an excuse to get everyone we love together; some of us even love the excuse to Bake, tidy up and decorate. And here is the perfect eco-minded Banner for the occasion!

It's easy to make. thoroughly reusable and quite lovely, if I do say so myself. Throw a going away party and hang these stylish "Bon Voyage" bunting flags as a way to show your love for the traveler in your life. Or, cut out any number of celebratory phrases (i.e. Happy Birthday, Merry Christmas) and use the same steps to create a banner for that occasion. What are you waiting for? Spice up your walls as you celebrate travel month with NLJ!

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1 Gather your scraps of fabric and choose which colors and prints you like most together. If you're low on scraps, go to any number of fabric stores and look through theirs; most have bins with small remnants! Once you've made your choice, take your pinking sheers and cut out your triangles. You can choose how large you want the flags; I cut mine out of 10-inch by eight-inch rectangles. Cut at least nine flags to fit the phrase or 12 if you want blank flags for spacing or decoration.

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2 Next, trace your letters onto your felt and cut each of them out.

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3 Arrange your flags in an appealing way to choose which flag you'd like for which letter. Then, pin the letters into place on their respective flags, and sew them on.

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4 Pin the flags to your ribbon or a thin length of fabric. I just eyeball about how dose together I want them. Be careful you have them in the correct order so that yore" spelling's right! Then, sandwich the flags between the ribbon or fabric and sew down the strip to hold the flags in place. That's it! You're done with this easy and chic decoration that should last a lifetime.

Joti Marra is a multi-talented, craft-obsessed Ashevillian who has been finding creative ways to make things since she first learned how to hold a crayon. To see more of her work, Visit www.forestcreature.etsy.com and www.jotimarrajewelry.etsy.com.