Celebration banners
Birthdays, first birthdays, showers, bachelorettes, welcome-home signs, etc. Heavy duty kraft paper with four grommet holes so it hangs flat and straight.
BANNERS BY CONNELL
Hand painted since 2024 · Birmingham, Alabama
Custom banners, painted by hand
Hand painted for the people you love.
What this is
No printer. No vinyl cutter. No template.
Every banner is painted start to finish by one person, on heavy kraft paper, for one specific celebration. That is the whole business, and it is why yours can say something no shop has a file for.
What I make
Game day & Greek life
Tailgate banners, bid day and recruitment backdrops, senior night, homecoming, graduation. Painted in your chapter or school colors, ready before the weekend.
Canvas fabric & specialty
Canvas fabric backdrops with appliqué letters. Reusable, and built to survive more than one celebration.
Pricing
Three sizes, one flat price each
Mockups and design help are included in every price, not billed on top.
3 × 3 ft · Square
$35
A name and a short phrase, or one big number.
3 × 5 ft · Standard
$45
The most ordered size. Fits a doorway or a wall.
3 × 6 ft · Large
$50
Long wording, big rooms, photo backdrops.
Recent work
How it works
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Send the details
Occasion, size, date, exact wording, pickup or shipping, and any inspiration you have.
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Approve a mockup
You see a digital version first. Change anything you want before a drop of paint is used.
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Pay half, then half
First half at approval, the rest once the painting is finished and photographed.
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Pick up or ship
Local pickup in Birmingham, or shipped anywhere in the US for a flat $12.
Ready?
Got a celebration coming up?
Ten days of notice and there is no rush fee. Less than that and it still gets done.
About
Connell Curtis
Graphic designer, painter, and the only person who touches your banner.
I studied graphic design at Samford University, where I learned how to make things look right — kerning, hierarchy, color that holds together, and the difference between a design that is finished and one that is merely done. I still use every bit of it.
But the projects I kept returning to were the ones I made with my hands. There is something a loaded brush on a wide roll of kraft paper gives you that a laptop cannot. So that is what I do now.
A printed banner says you remembered. A painted one says you sat down and made something.
Every banner is painted start to finish by me. No vinyl, no print shop, no template pulled off the internet. Your letters carry the small variations that only come from a hand, and I can make you something that does not exist anywhere else — a specific inside joke, a color lifted off your invitation, a shape nobody sells.
The design training is why the process runs the way it does. You get a real mockup before I open a jar of paint, so you can move the wording, change a color, or throw the idea out and start over. By the time I start painting, you already know exactly what is coming.
I have painted first birthdays, twenty firsts, bachelorette weekends, showers and game days. My favorite orders are the odd ones. If you have an idea and you are not sure it is possible, send it anyway.
Tell me what you're celebrating
Send the occasion, the date and the wording. A mockup comes back.
Services
What I make, and what it costs
Flat prices, published up front. Nothing is quoted after the fact.
3 × 3 ft · Square
$35
A name and a short phrase, or one big number.
3 × 5 ft · Standard
$45
The most ordered size. Fits a doorway or a wall.
3 × 6 ft · Large
$50
Long wording, big rooms, photo backdrops.
Every price includes
- A digital mockup, and as much back and forth as it takes
- Heavy duty brown craft paper with four grommet holes
- Borders and graphics
- Hand painted lettering in the style and colors you choose
Add-ons
- Rush — under 10 days before the event +$15
- Shipping anywhere in the US +$12
- Gingham background +$10
Local pickup in Birmingham is always free. Gingham costs extra because it is painted line by line.
Seasonal
Game day, bid day, senior night
Fall and spring in Alabama run on a calendar, and these book out fast. Get on it early.
Tailgates and game day
Team colors, scores, rival call-outs, house signs. Painted the week of the game so it is current.
Bid day and recruitment
Chapter colors and letters, theme banners, house backdrops sized to photograph well.
Senior night and graduation
Senior night, signing day, graduation, and the big yard sign nobody else on the street has.
Ordering for a chapter or a team? Ask about multiples — several banners in one order paint faster than one at a time.
Beyond paper
Canvas fabric and specialty
Canvas fabric backdrops with appliqué letters, and anything that falls outside the standard paper sizes.
Unlike paper, canvas holds up to being folded, stored and hung again, so a fabric banner can come back out year after year. Custom quote — if you can describe it or show a picture of it, it can usually be built.
The process
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Send your details
Occasion, size, date needed, exact wording, pickup or shipping, inspiration pictures. The order form walks through all of it.
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Review the mockup
Change the layout, the colors, the wording — anything. Nothing gets painted until you are happy.
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Pay the first half
Half the total is due at approval. That is what reserves your spot on the calendar.
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Pay the second half
The rest comes due when the painting is finished. A photo of the real thing comes with it.
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Pick up or ship
Once the balance lands it goes out for pickup in Birmingham, or gets dropped off to ship.
Questions
How far ahead should I order?
Ten days before your event is the sweet spot, and it avoids the $15 rush fee. Game day, bid day and graduation season book out further than that, so aim for two to three weeks in those windows.
Can I change the design after I approve it?
Small changes, usually yes, if the painting has not started. That is exactly why the mockup step exists — it is the free, unlimited part of the process. Once paint is on paper, a change means a new banner.
How do I hang it without ruining it?
Four grommet holes come standard, so twine, ribbon or command hooks all work. On a flat wall, painter's tape at the corners holds well and comes off without pulling paint or drywall.
Will it survive being outside?
It is paper, so it handles a dry porch or a covered tailgate but not rain or sustained wind. For anything genuinely outdoors, ask about a fabric version instead.
Do you ship, and how is it packed?
Yes, anywhere in the US for a flat $12. Banners ship rolled in a tube so nothing creases across the lettering.
How does payment work?
Half once you approve the mockup, half when the painting is finished. Nothing is charged when you submit the order form.
Ready when you are
The order form takes about two minutes and shows a running total as you fill it in.
Gallery
The work
Real banners from real parties. Select any one to see it larger.
New work goes up first on Instagram at @bannersbyconnell.
Want one like these?
Send the picture that caught your eye and something in that direction gets built.
Order
Order a banner
A mockup usually comes back within one to two days. Nothing is charged here — payment happens after you approve the design.
Next
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A reply, with questions
Usually within one to two days, covering anything unclear about the wording or the look.
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A mockup to react to
A digital version of the banner. Change whatever you want. Nothing is painted yet.
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Half now, half later
First half at approval, second half once the painting is done and photographed.
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Pickup or shipping
Set out for pickup in Birmingham, or dropped off to ship once the balance is paid.
Prefer to talk it through? Message @bannersbyconnell.