Balloons, garlands and “Happy Birthday” banners will always be party classics, but if you’re looking to elevate your next celebration, it’s time to try something new– banner painting. This trend of adding custom messaging and colorful designs to brown paper is the newest way students decorate for parties.
Senior psychology major Phoebe Cates started her banner painting business “Phoebe’s Banners” this past year, blending her passion for art and design. Using brown parchment paper as her canvas, Cates designs and hand-paints celebratory banners for all kinds of occasions– from birthdays and organization events to everyday milestones.
“I have this thing where I feel like everybody should be happy and celebrate their birthday,” Cates said. “It’s cool to just be a part of people’s celebrations.”
She began painting banners after becoming a UT fraternity sweetheart in spring 2024. While they aren’t an official member, a “sweetheart” is typically a woman who is chosen by the fraternity to represent the organization at social functions, help organize events and maintain strong ties with its members.
This is when she discovered not only a talent for banner painting, but a genuine passion. Cates also has a background in freelance graphic design work, which helped her decide to start her own business where she could practice this newfound hobby and make money while doing it.
“I thought, ‘Wow, maybe I could actually make some profit off (painting banners),’” Cates said. “And they’re really pretty easy to make and they’re pretty fast, at least for me.”
When receiving a banner inquiry, Cates begins by chatting with her client to learn more about the event and the vision they have for the banner. She says that some clients come with a specific idea in mind while others give her full creative freedom—often leading her to turn to Pinterest for inspiration.
“We’ll just go back and forth, and I’ll say, ‘Tell me if it’s ugly or not,’ and then we adjust the design,” Cates said.
Quoting and planning a banner design typically takes around a day or two, with painting taking about a day, but Cates encourages her clients to reach out a week in advance to prepare.
Her base price for a 2-by-4 ½ foot banner is $50, but she offers discounts if the client decides to buy more than one, or if they’re buying for special milestones, like 21st birthdays. From there, if the client decides to add more than four colors or certain designs, there is an added fee.
“If you’re in dire need of something, or somebody canceled last minute or the first one got ruined, then I can turn those over pretty quickly,” Cates said.
Some banner painters use a projector to trace and paint their designs. Cates does everything by hand from start to finish. She says the most challenging part about this hobby is her need for perfection.
“You can always spot something wrong,” Cates said. “I’ll stare at them for two hours thinking, ‘Hmm, this is ugly,’ and then I’ll tweak something and go, ‘Okay, maybe it’s not that bad.’”
Cates biggest piece of advice for anyone wanting to take up this hobby is to just go for it. If it doesn’t come out the way you envision, you can always start over or paint over it.
“If you have a side gig in college that you want to start and you’re like, ‘Is anybody actually going to buy this?’ people will,” Cates said. “Art is art.”
