With the holiday season approaching, I’ve noticed a lot of friends and family planning visits back to wherever they call home. My youngest sister is backpacking in Europe right now, but she’ll be coming home to Canada in a couples weeks. I thought this DIY suitcase garland would be a fun way to welcome her of course it would work for a going away party too! I’ve added a few Canadian accents to my party, but you could easily customize your decor to match your city or country. You could even make a few extra suitcases and use them as party favors!

Supplies: Cardstock, washi tape, scissors, glue stick, string, alphabet stamps, ink pad

Step 1: Use this free template maker and adjust the dimensions of the “Card Box” – I made mine 7cm x 5cm x 2cm. Save the file and print. To spell “Welcome home” you’ll need 11 boxes, so if you can fit two on one page, print six sheets. Cut out all boxes.
Step 2: Use a bone folder and ruler to crease the box along the fold lines.
Step 3: Use a stamp and ink pad to stamp each letter in the center of the big rectangle.
Step 4: Glue the box together along the long thin flap.
Step 5: Fold to two end flaps in – no need to glue these, they should be nice and snug.
Step 6: Use thin washi tape (or cut wider tape) to apply two stripes around each end of the suitcase as shown.
Step 7: Fold a piece of washi tape back on itself so that you have an unsticky piece about 1 1/2″ long. Fold each end at the 1/4″ mark and apply glue to these two flaps. Attach to the top of the suitcase as the handle.
Step 8: Once finished all the suitcases, open both ends again and thread a piece of string through each box. Close the flaps so that the string is wedged into the top-back corner of the suitcase – this will make sure the garland hangs evenly.